Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel. –Genesis 3:8-15
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel. –Genesis 3:8-15
The first question of the Bible–God asks it–“Where are you?” Where are you, Adam? Where are you, Eve? They were hiding, of course.
On this third day of Advent 2011, God still searches us out no matter how or where we hide. The news of the coming of the Christchild is news that God is not content to leave well enough alone.
The lies of the serpent aren’t the last word.
The broken relationship between Adam and Eve is not the end of the story.
The promise is first stated here–Satan, his work, his lies, his efforts to bury us, alienate us from God and others will be crushed decisively.
“He will crush your head”–Christ comes to our world to crush the head of the Serpent. That’s good news! What does it mean to you today?