God is great and so beyond our feeble comprehension – that He – the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the Sovereign King of Kings would step down into darkness, would step down into the midst of His creation, to reconcile us to Himself.
How great is our God, that He would humble Himself thus – taking on the very likeness of that which often defies and hates Him, so that He could – through His love – repair the relationship sin had torn asunder, to restore the image of God in us.
God is bound to His word, He has never made a promise that He has not fulfilled, or that He will not fulfill. All His promises are sincere, and He will deliver.
In Genesis 3:15: we find one of those promises – the promise of salvation, the promise of life, the promise of restoration!
Genesis 3:15:
15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
What God is saying is this – (To the devil) I will send One, I will anoint and appoint a Savior who will destroy the power you have over mankind. A Messiah will come and He will crush your head under foot, He will tear up the death warrant you signed with Adam’s hand!
In simpler terms – Jesus is coming, and you will be defeated!
In many prophecies throughout the Old Testament, as well as through types found in these books, we find that same promise repeated over and over again.
Finally though the old establishment, under the law, starts to fade as our Savior is born in a manger, as our King is born from the seed of a woman – the Son of a Virgin is birthed.
This starts a rather dramatic set of events culminating in a climax of mass proportions – a climax which keeps on keeping us on the edge of our seats today! Oh, wonderful is the blood of Christ, washing away our sin and shame!
The old establishment of the Church under the law has been replaced by the new one which is known by grace and mercy – God’s great love which endures forever.
We find that to truly understand Christ, we have to understand this promise that God has made, we have to understand that God loves us, that God wants to have a relationship with us – His creation.
Pastor Leon de Kooker, who played a very big role in mentoring me a young christian, and later as a young pastor, was fond of telling this story in some of his sermons, the origin is unknown to me, but it rings true and stays with me –
There once was a little boy who built a ship, and a fine ship it was! The boy built this ship, and probably with great excitement, took it to the nearest possible place to watch it sail. As it was on the water, a great wind came and blew it away, and the little boy couldn’t find it again. Dismayed he returned home.
God created us, fearfully and wonderfully, He formed us, with love, and tenderness! He blew His breath, His life, into us, and brought us to life! However, we found ourselves tempted, spirited away by the winds of wickedness, Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, and Adam had his share in the iniquity as well, and thus they were cast out of the Garden. Because of the sin of man we found ourselves immersed, soaked, drenched in death.
Pastor Leon’s story doesn’t stop there; its ending isn’t one of sorrow and loss –
The little boy was sad, utterly depressed probably, and one day as he was walking past the various shop windows, he saw his boat in the window of a pawn shop. Excitedly he entered the establishment and encountered a man behind the counter. “Sir, that is my boat!”
“Well son, that’s all well and good, for a R150.”
“But sir, I made that boat!”
“But some other boy sold it to me just the other day, it’s mine now. If you want it, you’ll have to pay.”
The boy sped out of the shop, running home to smash his piggy bank. He gathered all the money he had, and even borrowed more from his parents, and sped back to the shop. Moments later he came out with his ship. Walking down the street, cradling the toy boat in his arms, he said: “You are mine. I made you, and now I have bought you! You are double mine!”
God made us, and lost us because of our decisions. God lost us, but He wanted us back – He wants you back. He wants to cradle us in His arms. God lost us, and He knew that He would have to buy us back. For this Jesus, the Anointed Messiah came – to buy back His creation with His precious blood! To fulfill the promise of salvation and restoration. To free us!