Long Expected Devotional – Week 1
Sunday, December 3rd
THE MAN OF HOPE | HEBREWS 2
“What is man, that you are mindful of him….?” This is the most natural response for us to give upon hearing the Good News of the coming of our Lord. It is natural because we easily observe the many wonders of God’s creation every day, from the vibrant colors of the fruit in the produce aisle at the store to the birds chirping outside the kitchen window. We are naturally struck with awe and wonder by a mountaintop view or contemplating the depths of the sea upon finding a tiny shark’s tooth on the shore of a beach.
God’s creation often serves to humble us into understanding that we are merely just individual men and women. So what value is in humanity that the God of all creation would be mindful of us?
The answer to this question is quite ironic: the value that God sees in man has nothing to do with humanity’s accomplishments, but instead has everything to do with who God is. In Genesis 1, we are given the creation account and in it we see God speaking everything into being (v. 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26).
Man is set apart from the rest of creation in that 1) he was made in the very image of God (v.27), and 2) God breathed the breath of life into this creature (2:7). God was mindful of Adam/mankind before Adam even existed, and yet upon his existence he provided no added value by his conduct but instead perverted this innate value through the corruption of sin in the fall (Gen. 3).
In that moment, when Adam and Eve are hiding from God, mankind displays no true value: he is weak, guilty, and altogether useless. In response to Adam’s rebellion against Him, God did not respond like we might expect an omnipotent Judge to respond to a cosmic crime of disobedience by destroying mankind and starting all over again.
But God, in His anger towards their sin, responds with justice and grace in offering up His own Son (Gen. 3:15), displaying His mercy and kindness by honoring the value He placed on them before the foundation of the world.
So, we are given this hope, the hope in the coming of the second Adam, Jesus Christ. He did not come for the sake of angels (Heb 2:5, 16), but for the redemption of flesh and blood. God, the Creator, and Sustainer of all life became a man so that through His death on a tree—a tree that He spoke into existence—He may redeem all His sons and daughters and defeat the curse of death that we brought upon ourselves (Heb 2:14, 17-18).
Such hope is only realized once we put our “trust in Him” (2:13), by “Him” I mean the Man who Charles Spurgeon describes in this way:
“My Master will not be satisfied with the acknowledgement that His character is lovely, His doctrine pure, and His moral teaching super-excellent. He will not be content with your admission that He is a Prophet greater than any prophet who ever came before or after Him. He will not rest satisfied with your admission that He is a Teacher sent from Heaven, and a being who, on account of His virtues, is now peculiarly exalted in Heaven.
All this is true, but it is not the whole truth; you must also believe that He who, as man, was born of the Virgin, and was dandled upon her lap at Bethlehem, was, as God, none other than the everlasting Lord, without beginning of days or end of years. You do not receive Christ in very deed and truth unless you believe in His real humanity and actual Godhead…
So, in order to be saved by Him, you must receive Christ as being God as well as man.”
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- What about being human makes us more valuable than angels?
- How does Genesis 3 shape the way we think about Christmas?
- Is it enough to believe that Jesus is God?
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DAILY READINGS
Monday: Genesis 1:1-13
Tuesday: Genesis 1:14-23
Wednesday: Genesis 1:24-2:3
Thursday: Genesis 2:7-9, 15-18, 21-25
Friday: Genesis 3:1-13
Saturday: Genesis 3:14-24
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