Joanne Sher: Editor/Proofreader : Heads and Heels

And I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. Genesis 3:15 NKJV

Advent, the time of preparation before Christmas, has officially begun. A time to think of Christ's coming - and His coming again. And twice in five hours yesterday, I found myself in the third book of Genesis.

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The first time was in my quiet time reading. Yesterday was the first day of "Emmanuel," an advent SheReadsTruth. (Join me - it's sure to be great. Click on the SheReadsTruth link or sign up through YouVersion here.) We talked about how even as Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, God provided - and announced - a reason for hope. A plan to make us right with Him again.
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Just a few hours later, the Sunday morning sermon at Good News Baptist Church was about the hope of this verse - the promise of the hope in her Seed.

“No sooner was the wound given than the remedy was provided and revealed.” - Matthew Henry

Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, and had a perfect life - they walked with God, and talked with them in the beautiful Garden of Eden. But they sinned, and because God cannot bear to be near sin, the fellowship was broken, and they were expelled from His presence.

But...

Though Satan the serpent would bruise the heel of Eve's seed over and over again, her pinnacle Seed, Jesus Christ, would do much worse to Him. Still, even the Son of God would be bruised in the heel -

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pick a chapter of the gospels, and I can almost guarantee there will be a bruising of some sort. But in the end, it is not a blow to the heel that destroys the Seed. Instead, His blow to Satan's head is the fatal one. The one that allows us to be seen as righteous in God's sight. The one that gives us the hope of Heaven.

The one that was foretold to the very first man and the very first woman - and so to us.

Heavenly Father, thank You for this season of advent, for the reminder that you had this all planned from the beginning - and that you never leave us without hope. Help us to remember Satan's wounds are never fatal to our faith, and that we, and You, have already won. And help us to celebrate Your Son's first coming in a way worthy of its splendor, and to anticipate His second with hope and encouragement. In His name we pray. Amen.

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We're discussing this here, and at Living by Grace on Facebook. Won't you join us?

Does this generally "negative" passage now give you hope? What other Bible verses give you encouragement in unexpected places?