While we wait for Mary and Joseph to arrive at Bethlehem so Jesus can be born, let’s look back in time to the beginning of mankind. It is only the third chapter of the first book of the Bible and mankind has already discovered sin. The other thing that was discovered along with sin was a game called, “Passing the Buck.” Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the Serpent. Punishment, as you might recall, was divided up between all three of them, but in addition to the punishment there was a prophecy:
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
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: 14-15
The offspring of the woman mentioned here is referred to as a “he.” A specific, single, person who would crush the head of Satan. Many people look at this passage as the first reference in the Bible to the need for a redeemer.
Q: Is it possible that God created the universe and all of the people in it knowing that we would sin and knowing that there would be a battle between good and evil?
Certainly in His Sovereignty and foreknowledge He knew what would happen. Thankfully, in knowing what would happen He also provided what we need in Jesus – the one born of the woman who would crush Satan’s head and give us victory over sin, death and Satan.