When through Adam and Eve we chose the path of disobedience, God could have written us off – and maybe start again. Or give up on us altogether. But no. God is true to Himself. The fact is – He loved us.
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT
In the Bible, we quite often see the word “covenant”. Dictionary says it means: ‘An agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment between God and His people’.
The covenants which God made with different persons or peoples throughout the history, have this one strong thing in common: God’s love is His motivating force. He wants to make us happy. He wants to Save us. To bring us back to Himself. Cleansed, purified, transformed, sanctified, perfected back to the degree from which we have fallen. But also so thoroughly convinced that “God’s ways” are the only way to eternal happiness – that, at the end of all this, the whole universe will be forever safe from another rebellion – resulting in loyal, loving, willing allegiance to the supreme Goodness of our Loving God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ our Redeemer.
“What do you conspire against the Lord? He will make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time.”
Nahum 1:9 NKJV
““My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
When the tragedy of disobedience in the Garden of Eden came about, Jesus, the Son of God stepped out, and of His own free will offered Himself to be man’s substitute. To take the penalty for man’s sins upon Himself – and die in our stead. That was the moment when the grand plan of Redemption which was kept in the hearts of God and His Son Jesus since time immemorial – was put into motion. That plan has now been activated.
“… the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.”
Revelation 13:8 NLT
The Father accepted His offer, and in a few cryptic words left us this promise:
“Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.””
Genesis 3:14-15 NLT
Yes. Lucifer was caught by surprise. Satan couldn’t possibly imagine that God would go that far. That God would willingly take the consequences of man’s fall upon Himself. But God’s love is a stranger to the cold and loveless heart of the selfish Lucifer, and it was this Divine love which spelled the devil’s doom.
Those words in Genesis 3:15 are known as the first Messianic prophesy in the Scriptures. I see it as God’s pledge that He will find a solution and repair the damage which our sin has caused. As more information became available, we became astonished at the magnitude of the price our Redemption elicited from the Father and the Son.
““For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 NLT
Love! That is the sum and substance of the energies required to consummate our Salvation. Anything less would have fallen short. Thank You Father. Thank You dear Jesus.