Day One -- Hope
Read Genesis 3
The Bible tells us that the LORD God planted a garden east
in Eden, and it was there He placed the first man and woman. They were unique
to all of His creation for they were image-bearers, meaning God created them in
His own image. This could not be said of any other creature formed by His hand
–no angel, no animal and no plant bears this moniker; humankind alone bears
this mark and this name –Image bearers of the Most High, This garden where He
placed them was designed to meet all their needs. Besides the Tree of Life which was in the
center of the garden, the most meaningful part of the garden was that they
walked with their Creator in unbridled fellowship. In close proximity to the tree of life was
the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Lord God commanded these first
two humans not to eat of it for in the day they ate of it, they would die.
One day, the midst of Garden, the serpent in all his cunning
spoke to Eve and tempted her to eat of the forbidden tree. In the exchange, Eve sorely misrepresented
the character of God and partook of the forbidden fruit and persuaded her
husband to do likewise. Their eyes were
opened and they knew shame for the first time, and so they hid. When the Lord God came walking in the garden,
He called them out and elicited a confession; However, Adam blamed Eve while
Eve blamed the serpent who had nothing to say. In the end, the Lord killed an innocent animal
– blood was shed for sin and clothes were fashioned out of skins replacing the
skins that had been so hastily constructed.
The concept of substitution was introduced, but that wasn’t all; the
Lord promised to send the ultimate substitute in Genesis 3:15, which is known
by theologians as the proto-evangel—the first gospel. The coming Savior would be born of a woman
and in the Satan’s power diminished and destroyed. As we think about hope --- let us rejoice
that Christ was born and that He died and arose. He ascended to Heaven --- we have hope even
in the dark situations of our lives.
