Very appropriately, we call Christmas the “season of light.” This title recalls how the Old Testament heralded our Savior’s coming as a light of hope dawning in the darkness of sin and death. “The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned” (Matthew 4.16, cf. Isaiah 9.2).
The first time we see hints of this joyful light is in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 where God pronounces judgment on the serpent and the first couple’s sin. We could call this the first prophecy of Christmas. It was the first appearance of grace (the undeserved favor of God), and God’s grace was wholly unexpected at that point!
In that chapter, Adam, led by Eve who was herself led by the serpent (Satan in disguise), defied God by eating the forbidden fruit. Very soon, God came to the Garden to demand an accounting and pronounce judgment on our first parents for their sin. What darkness! What terror! God had promised death in the event of their disobedience and now God was coming to mete it out.
But instead, God pronounced only a token judgement. God’s light shone in the darkness. Yes, the couple was cursed with expectations of pain and death, and also expelled from Eden; but then - and this is the wonderful and unexpected part - God promised a Deliverer who would come from the woman as her offspring. Addressing the serpent, God said: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Genesis 3.15).
This promise of Satan’s defeat through a mighty Deliverer is the first appearance of grace, the undeserved favor of God. This is the dawn of God’s plan to bring redemption to the world sitting in the darkness of sin and death. We know this Deliverer as Jesus whose birth we celebrate at Christmas. Christmas, in a sense, is the most wonderful and surprising grace of all!
In promising the Deliverer, God has given us three gifts. The first gift is the conversion of a people chosen by God. How significant that God’s promise is spoken to Satan! God declares He will not let Satan have Eve as his captive. He will create enmity in her heart for Satan. God is graciously intervening and claiming the woman as His own, giving her a new mind and a new heart. This is part of the good news of Christmas. God is promising the conversion of an innumerable host solely according to His sovereign grace and power. Has His saving light dawned in your heart?
The second gift in God’s promise is conflict. God declares that He will create enmity between the serpent’s offspring and the woman’s. Here is the promise of conflict between the godly descendants of the woman and Adam who believe God and walk with Him, and the ungodly descendants who do not submit to God and continue under Satan’s power.
Is this conflict between the two humanities a good thing? Yes. In a sense, it is a gift of grace. God uses the world’s hatred to push His people to a greater dependence on Him. God uses evil to test and discipline those He loves, and one day He will deliver them from its presence and power altogether.
The third gift in God’s promise is that of a Deliverer. God promises to send One from the offspring of the woman who will do battle with the serpent and conquer him. But while it is true that the Deliverer will crush the head of Satan, it is also true that Satan will crush the heel of the Deliverer. Triumph for the Deliverer will come only through His own suffering.
Here is prophesied the drama of Christ’s incarnation. As long as the Son of God remained enthroned in heaven, He was unassailable to Satan. In other words, Satan could not touch Him. But from the moment the Son became incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary as Jesus, and born of her, He could be threatened by the murderous devil. His plots were many, shrewd, and varied, but Jesus continually escaped unhurt.
Satan persisted and entered the heart of Judas, one of Jesus’s own disciples, and moved him to betray his Master. Jesus was tried, falsely accused, and crucified. Satan rejoiced. He had murdered the God/man. But, as prophesied, it was only a bruising and not a defeat. On the third day, Jesus rose from the tomb as Conqueror over death!
Satan could not see that, far from battling successfully against the Almighty, he had actually carried out the purposes of the all-wise God. God had used Satan’s hatred and the hatred of his offspring to punish Jesus for the sin of Adam and Eve and all their chosen offspring. We are freed from the guilt of our sin, our bondage to the devil, and death and hell through the suffering and triumph of Jesus. Have you received Jesus as God’s greatest gift to you?
