| December 2nd, 2025 Hello! Thank you for joining us for the 2025 Advent Digital Devotion! This devotion will be published twice a week from now until Christmas, occurring on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Each devotion will be written by either Matt Sparks (Northside Baptist), Will Davis (Polkville Baptist), or Rob Rash (Calvary). Every Tuesday, we will include links to all three churches’ worship services so you can see how the other churches are exploring The Promise of Christmas. Well, I think that covers everything. Let’s jump into our first devotion! |
| I will put 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 3:15 As a young child, there was one thing I always looked forward to at Christmastime—receiving my chocolate Advent calendar on December 1st. With great anticipation, I waited each day to open a tiny door and discover the sweet reward hidden behind it. Of course, the greatest prize came on the 24th, when the final door revealed the chocolate Santa Claus. But the joy of that calendar went far beyond the chocolate. Each door I opened reminded me that Christmas Day was coming. I knew that soon I would gather with family, enjoy a wonderful meal, and be tucked into bed early, barely able to sleep because of the excitement of the morning still ahead. Every little door pointed forward to the main event—Christmas morning. Today, I live with a far greater anticipation—not merely during Advent, but every day. I now wait for the return of a far greater gift: the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The same Jesus who came in humility will come again in glory. And when He returns, every Christian will enter into final salvation and eternal life with Him. This promise did not begin in Bethlehem. It began before the foundations of the world were laid. Before time ticked its first second, and before the dawn of the first morning, God had already written this story of redemption. This promise is called the gospel—literally, “good news”—the hope not only of humanity, but of all creation. But the good news cannot be understood unless we first grasp the bad news. We are familiar with the biblical account of creation. In a mighty display of power, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit created all things ex nihilo—out of nothing—by the word of His power. On the sixth day, God created mankind in His own image and likeness and declared His creation “very good.” Humanity was given authority and dominion and free access to every tree in the garden—except one: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then the enemy entered the story. Satan—the ancient serpent—confronted Eve and twisted God’s Word: “Did God really say…?” “You will not surely die.” “You will be like God.” Eve saw that the tree was desirable. She took and ate, and she gave some to Adam, who stood with her—and he ate as well. In that moment, all of creation fell into sin and death. This same deception still works today. Satan leads people to doubt God’s Word, desire what God forbids, and exalt themselves as their own authority. Scripture describes this anatomy of sin as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” The rebellion of Adam and Eve did not simply change them—it cursed the entire world. Yet even in the moment of judgment, God spoke mercy. In the midst of the curse, God made a promise. Speaking to the serpent, He declared: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15) Theologians call this promise the Protoevangelium—the first announcement of the gospel. Right there in the wreckage of Eden, God revealed His rescue plan. A Savior was coming. One born of a woman, who would suffer—but who would ultimately crush the enemy and reverse the curse. And that promise—the promise that began in a garden—would one day be fulfilled in a manger. Just like my childhood Advent calendar, every page of Scripture was another door opening, moving history closer and closer to the day when Christ would come. Not simply to be born…But to die. And not merely to die…But to rise. And not only to rise…But to return. That is our Advent hope. Not just that Christ has come…But that Christ is coming again. Written by Dr. Matthew Sparks |
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