STP Devotional for the Week of 9/16/24
To begin our study of the Names of Jesus we are going to start at the beginning of the Bible with Genesis 3:15. You might be wondering why we would go back to the Old Testament to learn about Jesus? Well, to tell you the truth, the whole Bible is about God’s ultimate plan to save His people. What was that plan? You probably guessed it - Jesus’ death and resurrection. So, let’s go back to the beginning and see God working out His plan in the Garden of Eden.
You remember the story of Adam and Eve and how they disobeyed God by listening to the lies of the serpent and eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. How they hid from God because they realized they were naked and how God cared for them by making clothing for them. Let’s pick up in Genesis 3:15 where God is scolding the serpent and telling him His plan for overcoming evil in the world.
“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 3:15
This may seem like a lot of big ideas, but let’s think about it for a minute. Do you know what enmity means? It’s a deep hatred or hostility. So God is putting a deep hatred between the serpent (the devil) and the woman’s future child. Who would eventually be born to crush the head of the devil? You’re right! JESUS!
Can you understand why it’s important to begin our study of Jesus’ names by looking all the way back to the promise God made in the beginning? From Adam and Eve’s first sin, God knew Jesus would come to defeat Satan, so He told the serpent straight up right there in the garden that he would be defeated..
“The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” 1 John 3:8
So who is Jesus? Yes, the SON OF GOD. From the very beginning God had a plan to defeat Satan through the “seed of the woman.” God sent His only son…do you know the following verse?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
It’s the Son of God, Jesus, who fulfilled God’s plan to offer salvation to the world. This should bring you great hope and encouragement. We get to live at this moment knowing that the Son of God came to save us from our sins. We get to share that message with others, and we can rest in the fact that God keeps His promises which means Jesus is coming back someday!
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