Genesis 3:15; Galatians 4:4-5
Through all the warm family gatherings, behind the age-old traditions, beyond the cheer of gift giving and even the nostalgia of our own childhoods, there is a longing inside each of us. The Spirit of God moves over His Word in the Old Testament showing us that prophecies were made about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That same Spirit who recorded those prophecies, which were fulfilled in Jesus, moves over us and whispers to all who will listen, “There is something more . . . ” This Advent season we will explore that something more as we discover the meaning of the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Lord Jesus as interpreted by the New Testament.
We begin with one of the most important and potent verses in all the Bible — the words given by God to the devil, still in the form of a serpent, in the presence of Adam and Eve, sticky juice from the forbidden fruit still on their hands and lips. God had promised that if Adam and Eve would keep His command, they would live; but if they violated His commandment, they would be punished. However, in the midst of pronouncing the punishment, there is a word of hope.
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).
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (Galatians 4:4-5).
Prophecy — Judgment, and Promise
We hear a lot about dream homes. That usually means a farm or that perfect house with the extra guest room or a cute bungalow with the sunny back porch. But there is another dream home.
It is the dream home Frederick Buechner wrote of in his book The Longing for Home. He asked a question about that dream home on behalf of all of us:
What is the connection between the home we knew and the home we dream? I believe that what we long for most in the home we knew is the peace and charity that, if we were lucky, we first came to experience there, and I believe that it is that same peace and charity we dream of finding once again in the home that the tide of time draws us toward. The first home foreshadows the final home, and the final home hallows and fulfills what was most precious in the first.1
I believe he is right. I meet all kinds of people going every which way, but I think that beneath it all, they are searching — no, longing — for home.
