Advent Devotional: Week One - Saturday

Scripture Reading: Genesis 3:15

“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.”

Here we see God’s redemptive promise to send a savior into the world to save His people. This could also be called the covenant of grace, for man sinned against God and disobeyed Him, which leads to death. Yet, God graciously chose to save His people instead of leaving them to die in their sin and to suffer His eternal wrath and judgment.

For hundreds of years God’s people looked forward to the day when Christ would come into the world and save them. They unfortunately didn’t understand what that would look like. They were wanting and expecting for Christ to be a political leader and didn’t understand that He must suffer and die for their sins in order to secure eternal life for His people.

However, they still looked forward to that day when the Christ would come to save them from their sin. Like them, we today look forward to the day when Christ is going to return and wipe out sin for all eternity. As Christians, we long for the day when sin will no longer rule, but will be abolished for all eternity.

We await the day when Christ returns to set up His eternal kingdom and His words in Revelation 21:3b-4 will be fulfilled, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

We long for the day when Christ returns to set up the new heaven and new earth and make all things new, when sin and death are no more, and all wrongs are made right, when all of the wicked are judged and thrown into the lake of fire, when all of God’s people will reign and rule with Him, praising and worshiping Christ, our God and Savior for all eternity in glory, for Him and with Him.

Like the saints of old, who longed for the coming of Christ to save them from sin and death, we long for the return of Christ to completely abolish sin and death. They held onto God’s promise of the coming Savior. We too hold onto the promise of God for the return of Christ and eternal life with Him in the new heavens and new earth. God said, “Behold I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:5) and Jesus promised, “Behold, I am coming soon.” (Revelation 22:7a).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, prepare our hearts for the glory of your coming, the fulfillment of all your promises. Amen.

Advent Singing: Deceived by Subtle Snares of Hell (Isaac Watts)

Deceived by subtle snares of hell, Adam, our head, our father, fell; When Satan, in the serpent hid, Proposed the fruit that God forbid.

Death was the threat'ning: death began To take possession of the man His unborn race received the wound, And heavy curses smote the ground.

But Satan found a worse reward; Thus saith the vengeance of the Lord "Let everlasting hatred be Betwixt the woman's seed and thee.

"The woman's seed shall be my Son; He shall destroy what thou hast done; Shall break thy head, and only feel Thy malice raging at his heel."

He spake; and bid four thousand years Roll on; at length his Son appears; Angels with joy descend to earth, And sing the young Redeemer's birth.

Lo, by the sons of hell he dies; But as he hung 'twixt earth and skies, He gave their prince a fatal blow, And triumphed o'er the powers below.