Star of Wonder: 5-Days of Advent to Illuminate the People, Places, and Purpose of the First ChristmasSample

The story of Christmas began not in a stable, but in the Garden of Eden. God knew Adam and Eve would choose to sin, and Jesus would have to redeem corrupted creation. He also knew the final result would be worth the suffering and sacrifice. In Paradise, the restored Garden, He would finally be able to fellowship with people created in His image, people who had freely chosen Him and learned to love Him.

Genesis 3:15 has been called the protevangelium, the initial proclamation of the Gospel. It’s the first of many prophecies that foretell Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection. A seed of the woman would be our salvation.

After turning Adam and Eve out of the Garden, God waited. While He waited, He taught people through signs, patterns, and prophets. He called Abram to leave his home in southern Babylonia and established the nation of Israel through this obedient man.

He waited as the Israelites suffered in Egypt, and then He sent Moses to deliver them. He gave the children of Israel a Holy Law. He waited until they had completely disobeyed that Law and the warnings of His prophets, then sent them into a seventy-year-long Babylonian exile.

Yet He did not leave them hopeless. Through His prophets, He spoke of a coming Prophet and King, a righteous Branch who would shoot up like a sapling from the trunk of Jesse.

He waited until the civilized world was connected with roads, until His people lived again in Israel and longed desperately for their Messiah.

Then God sent His unique, divine Son. The birth of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of God’s plan for the human race.

As you prepare for another Christmas, consider the wide scope of history—from the first until the last, everything in the divine plan revolves around the Incarnation and birth of Christ. As you pull out the holiday decorations, look for the big picture—the beginning and the end, the human failure and the glorious finish. Be mindful of what has gone before . . . and grateful for what the future holds.