Advent 2

December 2, 2024

 If you want to get picky about it, Advent really begins at almost (literally) the beginning. After telling us how God created everything, the book of Genesis tells us how the Serpent Satan messed it all up. The result of that first temptation and sin was a threefold curse; one on the man, one on the woman, and one on the serpent. The latter is the focus of our thoughts today.

“And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” —Genesis 3:15

That bruising wouldn’t happen for thousands of years, and wasn’t accomplished at Jesus’ birth, but that birth set everything in motion. And it was all anticipated from the very beginning. God is all over detailed advance planning. Two things come to mind:

1. When I was a newbie preacher, I needed someone to cover for me on a particular Sunday some weeks in the future. A friend agreed, and every Friday I asked him how he was progressing on his sermon. His repeated reply, “The Holy Spirit will lead me” didn’t give me much confidence. I was right. Don’t confuse laziness with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit doesn’t do things spur of the moment. Our God plans ahead.
2. When it seems everything is going wrong, remember God has a plan. Like Jesus our Lord, you may get bruised, but it’s nothing compared to the bruising being doled out on that old Serpent, the devil. Your wound may hurt, but his is fatal. That’s what Advent is all about.