Day 1: God's promise: a descendant will crush the serpent.
The proto-gospel announces that God will not leave humanity in defeat; a promised descendant will wage war against the serpent and win, showing that Christmas is the beginning of God's rescue plan for a broken world. This promise means that God wins even before the birth of Jesus, and that victory is intended to change each person's story from shame to hope. Hold fast to the truth that Jesus came to crush the power of the enemy and bring restoration to your life. [01:00:38]
Genesis 3:15 (ESV) 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.
Reflection: In what one area of your life do you need to believe that God will bring victory, and what is one concrete step you will take this week to invite Jesus to bring that victory (a conversation, a moment of surrender, or joining someone in prayer)?
Day 2: Sin leads to hiding from God's presence.
When Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden they hid, and that image captures how shame drives people into secrecy rather than into relationship with God and others. If you find yourself keeping a mask on—afraid that people would run if they saw the real you—know that the entrance of Jesus into our world is God's way of saying he sees you and still comes near. Allow the invitation of Christmas to call you out of the bushes and back into honest fellowship with God and community. [37:48]
Genesis 3:8 (ESV) And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
Reflection: What are you currently hiding from God or others, and who is one safe person you will choose to tell or one action you will take this week to step out of hiding?
Day 3: The enemy's first lie: God is a liar.
The serpent twisted truth and convinced Eve that God's warning was withholding goodness, revealing how sin often begins when people believe they must seize blessing on their own terms. That lie still tempts us to take what God intends in his timing and try to force it into our timeline, producing brokenness rather than life. Recognize how half-truths and the desire to be "like God" distort your sight, and practice receiving God's timing and boundaries as signs of his goodness. [42:13]
Genesis 3:4 (ESV) But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die."
Reflection: Where have you believed the lie that God is withholding good from you; name one thing you've been trying to take into your own hands and one simple way this week you will surrender that to God's timing?
Day 4: Blame shifts away from personal responsibility.
When confronted, Adam blamed the woman and Eve blamed the serpent—both moving responsibility away from themselves—and that pattern of shirking blame still fractures relationships today. The passage calls people to own their choices rather than point fingers, and it highlights how passivity or avoidance opens space for sin to take root. Consider how honest confession and taking responsibility can begin healing where blame has caused distance. [49:45]
Genesis 3:12 (ESV) The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate."
Reflection: Think of one recent time you shifted blame instead of owning your part; what is one specific relational step (an apology, a conversation, or a change of behavior) you will take in the next 48 hours to begin repairing that harm?
Day 5: Following God or following the enemy.
Jesus' words in John 8 make the stark point that neutrality is not an option—people are either aligned with God's kingdom or the ruler of this world—and that sobering truth should shape how we live. This challenges the comfortable idea of "waiting until signing day" and calls for active allegiance and daily choices that demonstrate whose kingdom we belong to. Let Christmas unsettle any complacency and motivate intentional steps to follow Jesus in word and deed. [57:50]
John 8:43 (ESV) Why are you not able to understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
Reflection: Which daily habit or influence most clearly shows you're leaning toward the world's kingdom rather than God's, and what single habit will you replace or adopt this month to demonstrate active allegiance to Jesus (for example, time in Scripture, weekly serving, or regular accountability)?
Sermon Summary
Merry Christmas. Today I traced Christmas back to the beginning—not to Bethlehem, but to Eden. I walked us through Genesis 3 to show the prototype of the good news: God’s first promise that a child of the woman would crush the serpent. Before manger and cross, there was a word from God in a garden. We considered the serpent’s lie—“God is keeping good from you”—and how it still whispers today, twisting partial truths to fracture trust. We asked why the tree was in the garden at all, and I suggested it wasn’t a trap but a question of timing and trust; taking a good thing outside God’s timing always breaks something inside us.
We saw the fallout: hiding, shame, and blame. Adam blames Eve—and beneath that, blames God. Eve blames the serpent. I called men to reject passivity; when shepherds go silent, sin gets loud. Yet even as we hide, God comes walking in the cool of the day, asking, “Where are you?”—not because He lacks information, but because He longs for restoration.
God’s word to the serpent is both surface and depth—like an iceberg. On the surface: a lasting hostility between those aligned with God and those aligned with the enemy. Beneath: a singular offspring—Christ—who would be bruised yet crush the serpent’s head. Jesus names this stark allegiance in John 8: we’re not moral free agents; we’re for Him or against Him. But the promise in Eden announces Christmas before Christmas: God wins. The heel is bruised at Calvary; the head is crushed in resurrection.
So I invited us to locate our own hiding places and our own blame stories. Where do we need God’s win to become our win? Where does shame still script our choices? Jesus does not stand far off; He comes near, takes on flesh, and leads us back toward Eden—back into presence, freedom, and hope. That’s the meaning of Christmas written into the first pages of Scripture: in a world of failure and fear, God keeps pursuing, God keeps speaking, and in the end, God wins.
Key Takeaways
1. Christmas starts in the garden. God’s rescue plan didn’t begin at Bethlehem but in Eden, when He promised a Deliverer after the first rebellion. Seeing Christmas this way enlarges our hope: the incarnation is not a reaction but a revelation of God’s eternal purpose. Before we fell, God already knew how He would come for us. This anchors us when our personal beginnings feel broken. [37:25]
2. Lies twist truth to fracture trust. The serpent didn’t deny everything; he bent enough truth to make defiance feel wise. Sin often comes wrapped as insight, progress, or self-fulfillment, yet it quietly displaces God’s timing and authority. Discernment means asking not just “Is this good?” but “Is this good in God’s way and God’s time?” [42:13]
3. Shame hides; God still pursues. After the fall, the first sound is God walking and calling, “Where are you?” Divine pursuit precedes human repentance. We cover ourselves with explanations, achievements, or silence, but God’s question invites exposure that heals, not exposure that humiliates. Grace begins where our hiding ends. [47:14]
4. Passivity creates space for ruin. Adam watched, then blamed; abdication is not neutrality—it is leadership outsourced to the enemy. God calls men to initiate protection, presence, and spiritual direction in their homes. When we set the tone toward worship and obedience, we close doors the enemy loves to enter. [51:10]
5. The bruised heel crushes the head. Genesis 3:15 forecasts the cross: a real wound to Christ, yet a decisive victory over the serpent. Hope is not denial of pain but confidence about the ending. Because Jesus was bruised, the final word over sin, shame, and death is not endurance but conquest—God wins. [60:38]
[74:24] - Resource recommendation: So What’s the Difference?
Bible Study Guide
Bible reading (ESV) Genesis 3:8–15 8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 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.”
Observation questions (look closely at the text and what was presented)
What actions do Adam and Eve take as soon as they hear God walking in the garden, and what does their response reveal about the change in their relationship with God? [37:25]
How does God’s question “Who told you that you were naked?” move the conversation beyond the surface issue of fruit to expose deeper realities about knowledge, shame, and responsibility? [37:48]
What specific words does the serpent use to Eve in Genesis 3:4–5, and in what way does that statement twist truth rather than simply denying it? [42:13]
What two levels of meaning are present in God’s promise of “enmity” and “offspring” in verse 15 (think both the surface conflict and the deeper, singular fulfillment)? [55:56]
Interpretation questions (help the group think through what the text means)
How should the image of God “walking in the garden” inform the group’s understanding of God’s intent toward people even after sin enters the world? [37:25]
In what ways does the serpent’s tactic of bending truth (offering part-truths as permission) help explain how people today justify taking good things outside God’s timing? [42:13]
How does the “iceberg” of prophecy (a visible, ongoing hostility and a hidden, singular promise) shape the way the group reads Genesis 3:15 as both present reality and future hope? [55:56]
What does the phrasing “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” communicate about the nature of the coming victory—not a painless rescue but a costly triumph—and how does that affect expectations about suffering and victory? [01:00:38]
Application questions (personal, practical, and pastoral)
Where in your life are you hiding from God or others because of shame (places you cover rather than bring into the open)? What would it look this week to bring one specific hidden thing into the light? [47:14]
When have you been tempted by a lie that sounded like growth or insight but actually displaced God’s timing or authority (a time you took “a good thing” too soon)? How can you practice asking, “Is this good in God’s way and God’s time?” before deciding? [46:02]
Identify any area where blame is the default response for you (blaming others, circumstances, or God). What is one concrete step you can take to own responsibility instead of shifting it? [50:00]
For those in leadership or parenting roles: where has passivity allowed harmful things to enter your home or relationships? Name one specific protective, spiritual habit you will start (or restart) this month. [51:10]
How does the promise that God “will win” change the way you tell your own story of failure—especially the parts you replay in shame? What truth can you speak to yourself the next time shame rises? [01:01:24]
If the life of Jesus is the decisive act that crushes the serpent’s head, what concrete practice (daily prayer, confession, worship, Scripture memory, a trusted accountability conversation) will you adopt to live in the reality of that victory? [01:00:38]
Is there anything you need to surrender to receive the gift of Christ’s victory (a habit, a relationship, a lie you believe)? If so, what is the first practical step you will take this week to hand that over to God? [01:04:28]
Sermon Clips
Christmas begins in the beginning. In the very first book of the Bible, we find the story of the creation of the world and the creation of mankind. Where God created everything by the word of his mouth. He spoke it into existence. And he created everything good. He created a garden on planet earth. And in it, he placed the first man and first woman, Adam and Eve. Made them to know him and enjoy him forever. He would spend time with them every day, walking with them in the cool of the day. Every evening when things would get dark, he would walk with Adam and Eve and talk to them. Spend time with them.
[00:38:53]
(38 seconds)
#ChristmasBeginsAtCreation
Now, Adam and Eve were innocent. They were sinless. The world was perfect at that time. They were fully known. Fully loved. But along the way, they made a decision that broke relationships. Broke a relationship with God. Broke a relationship with one another. Broke a relationship with them and their children and us. And that decision was to turn against what God told them to do.
[00:39:30]
(29 seconds)
#SinBreaksRelationships
You see, in the beginning when God created everything, he told Adam and Eve, hey, I want you guys to go fill this world and multiply. I want you to, like, shepherd it and steward it. And you can eat from any tree in the garden except for one. There's one in the middle that you can't eat from. It's the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat from it, you will die. So don't eat from it.
[00:40:00]
(21 seconds)
#StewardTheGarden
But that's not probably what the snake is in this story. It's probably a lot more like this, a dragon. And the reason we say this is because the serpent, the snake in the garden, is not just a snake that's creeping along the land. It seems to have legs. It can speak. It's also doing the will of Satan. And over and over again in the Scriptures, you find this imagery of dragons connected to the enemy of God, to the great serpent, Satan.
[00:40:48]
(31 seconds)
#SerpentIsDragon
So, Satan tells the very first lie. And it's a humdinger. Because what he does is he says that God is a liar. So, the first lie is saying, hey, Eve, God is lying to you. And you can't trust him and you can't believe what he's saying. Because God is keeping something good from you. The reason he doesn't want you to eat from the tree is not because you're going to die, but because God doesn't want you to be like him. That's what he says. That if you eat from this tree, you're going to change and you're going to be like God.
[00:42:23]
(31 seconds)
#FirstLieGodsTruth
Now, this lie is insidious because it does a couple things. One, it takes part of the truth and twists it. Eve doesn't drop dead the minute she eats the fruit, but she does die eventually. And up to that point, she would not have. So, death does enter the world through the sinful choice that she makes. Furthermore, you find that there is something that changes within them, that they do become aware of the world in a way that they were not before.
[00:42:54]
(25 seconds)
#LiesTwistTruth
And I think that's true for all of us. All of us want to have all the information. We want to be in control. We want to be gods of our own story and our own reality. And when we do, when we look to supplant God or take his place, there's a brokenness that happens within us. And there's a brokenness in relationship that happens within us.
[00:43:52]
(26 seconds)
#StopPlayingGod
And that lie continues to be in existence today where we hear the voice of that liar telling us, hey, listen, God didn't really say that. Or maybe God's keeping that from you. Or maybe you can't have that relationship. Or you can't go have that experience. Or you can't have that fulfillment. But if you did, man, you'd be so much more fulfilled than what God is telling you. And I think a lot of us do the same thing.
[00:44:18]
(33 seconds)
#ListenToTruthNotLies
And I really believe that as I've really thought and pondered this and thought about the goodness of God and his character and who he really is, I've really come to this place where I've said maybe the tree in and of itself wasn't evil. It wasn't a trip or a hook with like a bait on it for them to take, but rather it was a choice that they made to defy God and take something that he had for them outside of God's timing.
[00:45:28]
(32 seconds)
#TheyChoseDefiance
You see, I believe that God is good. He cares for people. He's for us. He would not set us up to fail, to trick us or bring sorrow and loathing and hunger and sickness and death and horror into the world. But it does seem that when we take things that are intended for our good and our joy and then take them outside of God's timing, God's parameters, that's when brokenness happens. You see this in relationships? When, you know, men and women are made to be in a relationship with one another, meant to be together forever, meant to find fulfillment in that relationship. When we seek fulfillment outside of that marriage relationship, brokenness happens.
[00:46:00]
(36 seconds)
#GodsTimingMatters
So Adam and Eve hear God. He's coming. They hide. For the first time in history, they're scared of God. They're scared of seeing what he might say or that he's going to see them and what they've done. There's this shame that enters into the equation. And what happens when sin occurs is we begin to hide. We hide who we really are. Adam and Eve realize that they've been naked. They're like, we're covering up. That's a great metaphor for the way that people operate when they sin. They begin to hide. They don't want anybody to see. You begin to carry a mask.
[00:47:38]
(39 seconds)
#StopHidingBeSeen
And many of us have been carrying a mask around ourselves the whole time we've been here at First Baptist or the time we've been in our life. Why? Because we're afraid deep down within us that if people really saw what we're really like, they would run. And they would not love us. That's what Adam and Eve are feeling. They're like, man, if God sees us, he won't love us. And so they hide.
[00:48:18]
(26 seconds)
#DropTheMask
And here is the reason why Christmas matters. Because of the brokenness, the shame, and the hiding that we all have because of our sin. Because we've said, God, I don't really want you. I want everything that you've made and everything you can give me. But I don't really want you to be in charge of how I do it or when I do it or what it looks like. I just want all the stuff. God, I don't want you. And that's where you find being the foundation for the reason why Jesus came at Christmas. Because of the brokenness and dysfunction of the world. The fact that sin has entered the world. That's why Christmas was necessary.
[00:48:45]
(48 seconds)
#ChristmasForBrokenness
And hidden behind that accusation, you find that Adam's not just blaming Eve, is he? Who's he blaming? He's blaming God. He's like, you, you were the one. God, it's really your fault that this whole thing happened because she messed up and then I messed up. But it's really you who did the problem. Here, it's not. It's your fault, God.
[00:50:19]
(21 seconds)
#BlameGameWithGod
Well, if you read the story, you find that Adam's standing right there just watching. Eating chips. Just watching the whole thing go on. Adam is incredibly passive. Instead of saying, hey, snake, we're not doing that. Hey, Eve, let's go a different direction. Adam's like, what's going to happen? Maybe he's like, why don't you eat it and see if you die first? And if you're okay, maybe I'll try it too. He's passive.
[00:50:58]
(25 seconds)
#CallOutPassivity
Now, is he their physical father? No. But because they're following after him, they are part of his kingdom. And they are following the deceiver by continuing to speak lies against Jesus. So there's a way that God sees the world, the way that Jesus sees the world. You're either for him or you're against him. You're either following Jesus or you're following Satan. And that's a scary, scary concept because I think a lot of us in America, we think that if we're not following Jesus and we're not like doing Wicca, right? Or like doing like pentagrams or whatever, that we're sort of like free agents. And at any point, like we can make a commitment, put on our hat. We're like, all right, I'm team God.
[00:57:34]
(48 seconds)
#ChooseYourSide
That person is Jesus Christ. Who was struck with the spear. Who is bruised for your transgressions. Who came at Christmas to give his life away so that he could crush the end, the head of the serpent. And here's what you find in the story of Christmas in Genesis 3. The true meaning of Christmas is this. God wins. That's it. Even though we sinned. Even though brokenness has entered into the world. Even though there's shame that's riding all over us. Even though we're afraid that we'll never be loved. Even though we feel like we're naked and we're afraid. God will win.
[01:01:06]
(48 seconds)
#ChristmasMeansGodWins
He will win. He will conquer sin, death, and the grave, and the enemy. He will win. And that's the promise that we have at Christmas. That Jesus Christ has been proclaimed victorious before his birth. And we find that here in the proto-gospel. The promise of the king.
[01:01:54]
(22 seconds)
#JesusConquersAll
If you trust the promise that I gave you, that I am going to be with you and I am for you, you can come back to Eden. You see, the funny thing is that Jesus doesn't just stay in heaven and go, man, I'm sorry you guys messed up. I'm going to start over on another planet. He says, no, I'm going to come. I'm going to become one of you so I can bring you back home. That's the beauty of Christmas.
[01:03:11]
(29 seconds)
#JesusBringsYouHome
Where does God need a win in your life and in your story? Where do you need to claim Christmas over your story in your life? What shame are you covering up, terrified that somebody, if they saw it, they would not love you anymore? Here's the good news. We are all a mess. We are all broken. Second, we all don't measure up to God's righteous standard. But Jesus has come so that we can have life and we can have hope.
[01:03:45]
(33 seconds)
#ClaimChristmasHope
