Waiting for the Serpent-Crusher: Advent Hope in Genesis

Devotional

Day 1: Promise of the Seed who will defeat evil

The ancient promise announces a coming offspring who will enter history to oppose and ultimately crush the power of the serpent; this is not a distant fairy tale but the hinge of hope for every wounded heart, showing that while the enemy will lash out and wound, his attacks are ultimately ineffectual because the decisive victory has been secured in the promised Seed. [11:33]

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: Identify one area where you still try to wage spiritual battle in your own strength rather than trusting Christ’s victory; today, write that struggle down, confess it to God in prayer, and ask Jesus to be the serpent-crusher in that specific place.

Day 2: Deception leads to disobedience and separation from God

A crafty question softens the edges of God's command and leads to muddled memory, rationalization, and then disobedience, producing shame and hiding rather than honest confession; when people trade God’s clear word for a whisper that promises independence, the result is separation and the desperate attempts at self-covering that reveal how powerless human efforts are to restore right relationship. [03:42]

Genesis 3:1-7 (ESV)
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Reflection: Think of a recent choice where you softened or rephrased God’s clear instruction to justify your action; confess that decision to God today and, if appropriate, tell a trusted Christian friend or mentor what happened and ask them to pray for accountability this week.

Day 3: God’s command reveals human responsibility and consequence

God’s provision in the garden came with clear limits and responsibilities, and those commands expose both human freedom and the reality that choices carry consequences; the warning that disobedience brings death shows that humanity is dependent on God’s wisdom and care, not on its own independence, and that obedience is integral to flourishing under God's rule. [01:32]

Genesis 2:16-17 (ESV)
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Reflection: What specific command from God are you presently minimizing or neglecting? Choose one concrete action today (stop an activity, set a boundary, or begin a spiritual practice) that aligns you with that command and carry it out before the day ends.

Day 4: Christ will return to save those who await him

The first Advent secured the decisive defeat of sin’s power, and the promised second Advent will not overturn sin again but will consummate salvation—bringing full healing, restoration, and the final making of all things new for those who eagerly wait; thus present suffering is held in hope, framed by the assurance that Jesus will come to save and to welcome his people into the final restoration. [20:29]

Hebrews 9:28 (ESV)
so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Reflection: Choose one concrete way to live today that demonstrates hope in Christ’s return (for example, initiate a reconciliation conversation, give sacrificially to someone in need, or commit to a regular act of worship); do that specific thing before the week is out and note how it shifts your hopes this Advent.

Day 5: Faith in Jesus and love of others define true obedience

True faith is not a list of moral achievements or small satisfactions in this world but a dependence on Jesus alone for forgiveness and renewal that naturally overflows into loving others as he commanded; Christians are called to a holy discontent with worldly substitutes and to a faith that yields continual repentance, trust in Christ’s work, and concrete love for neighbors. [27:25]

1 John 3:23 (ESV)
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

Reflection: Who in your life needs the practical love of Christ this week? Choose one person, plan a specific loving act (a visit, a call, a meal, or a note), and do that one concrete thing today to point them toward Jesus.

Sermon Summary

Advent is a season of waiting, but not of empty waiting. From the very beginning, God seeded hope into the story. In Genesis 3, after the beauty of creation, vocation, and companionship, a serpent tempts humanity to doubt God’s goodness. We reach for what God withholds, believing the lie that we can be like God. The result is the Fall: shame, fear, flimsy self-protection, and hiding. Yet even there, God comes walking and calling, not because He lacks knowledge, but to offer space for confession and mercy. Instead of repentance, we deflect and assign blame—patterns that still echo in our lives.

God speaks truthfully about the consequences of sin—pain, toil, and death. But before He addresses Adam and Eve, He addresses the serpent and plants a promise: the seed of the woman will crush the serpent’s head, though His heel will be wounded. It’s a shadowed promise, but a real one—whispers of a coming Deliverer. God then clothes the guilty with the skins of another, a first hint of necessary sacrifice, and sends them into a hard world with a living hope.

Centuries later, the seed of the woman arrives through a virgin—Jesus. He confronts the curse head-on: feeding the hungry in a world of scarcity, healing broken bodies in a world of pain, and ultimately dying in our place to deal with the root—not just the symptoms—of our ruin: sin. At the cross, the serpent’s head is crushed. And yet, like a headless snake, evil still thrashes; we live in the “already and not yet.” Our hope is not in this age. Jesus will appear a second time to save those eagerly waiting for Him. He will make all things new—healing wounds, restoring relationships, and ending the reign of death.

So the call is clear: abandon self-salvation projects. Bring nothing but your need. Place your faith only in Christ. Walk in repentance, saying “no” to the fruit that cannot satisfy. Set your hope beyond what money, medicine, elections, or effort can achieve. If our hope can be purchased or built here, it’s too small. We celebrate the first Advent and live with holy longing for the second, trusting the Serpent-Crusher to finish what He began.

Key Takeaways

1. Sin hides; God still seeks God’s “Where are you?” is not a hunt for information but a doorway to mercy. He moves toward us even when we are stitched together with fig leaves of excuses and fear. Refusing repentance only deepens the distance; confession is the path back to life. The God who seeks also saves. [06:56]
2. The serpent’s head is crushed Jesus did more than treat symptoms; He dealt with sin at the root by bearing the curse in our place. The cross is not a temporary bandage but a decisive blow against our ancient enemy. Evil still writhes, but it has lost its head and its future. Our hope rests in a victory already won. [18:16]
3. Hope set beyond this world If our dreams can be bought, scheduled, or elected, they are too thin for the weight of eternity. Scripture calls us to desire a kingdom that cannot be shaken, a home that suffering cannot touch. This frees us to endure present losses without losing our anchor. We wait for what only Jesus’ return can accomplish. [26:02]
4. Faith means empty-handed dependence We cannot crush the serpent by moral effort or partial self-improvement. Faith is not doing our part so Jesus can do the rest; it is abandoning all other saviors. We bring our sin and need, and Christ brings cleansing and wholeness. Repentance becomes our ongoing “yes” to Him over lesser hopes. [21:56]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:45] - Advent: Waiting with Promises
[01:32] - Image of God and Vocation
[03:42] - The Serpent’s Deception
[05:45] - The Fall and Fig Leaves
[06:56] - God Seeks; We Hide
[10:01] - The Curse on Humanity
[11:33] - Promise of the Serpent Crusher
[16:40] - Virgin Birth: Seed of the Woman
[17:21] - Jesus Reverses the Curse
[18:16] - Cross: Head of Serpent Crushed
[19:23] - Already/Not Yet Hope
[21:56] - Faith Over Self-Reliance
[26:02] - Set Your Sights Higher
[29:19] - Prayer and Benediction

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading (ESV)
Read Genesis 3:1–21 together out loud.

Genesis 3:1–21 (ESV)
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden,
3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
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.”
16 To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

Observation questions

Read Genesis 3:4–5. What three claims does the serpent make to Eve about God and the forbidden fruit? How does that question God’s goodness and motive? [03:42]
Read Genesis 3:7–8. What immediate changes do Adam and Eve experience after eating, and what does sewing fig leaves together reveal about their first response to sin? [04:14]
Read Genesis 3:9–13. How does God’s question “Where are you?” function in this scene—what opportunity is being offered to Adam and Eve that they do not take? [06:56]
Read Genesis 3:14–15. How does God address the serpent before He pronounces the curse on Adam and Eve, and why does verse 15 stand out as a promise rather than only a punishment? [11:33]

Interpretation questions
(Third‑person, concrete, and leading toward application.)

How does the preacher interpret God’s “Where are you?” as a doorway to mercy rather than a search for information, and what does that interpretation suggest about God’s posture toward sinners? [06:56]
The sermon highlights Genesis 3:15 as a shadowed promise that the “seed of the woman” will crush the serpent’s head. What is the significance of “seed of the woman” (rather than “seed of the man”) for the sermon’s claim about the virgin birth and Jesus as the promised Deliverer? [13:55]
The speaker contrasts Jesus reversing effects of the curse (feeding, healing) with Jesus dealing with the root—sin—on the cross. How does the sermon argue that the cross is a decisive blow (not a bandage) against the serpent’s power? [18:16]
The sermon uses the “already and not yet” idea: the head is crushed but the serpent’s body still writhes. How does the preacher use that image to explain Christian hope for the present and the promise of Christ’s return? [19:23]

Application questions
(Make these personal and specific — each one tied to something said in the sermon.)

The preacher says God calls so we will confess, but Adam and Eve deflect and blame others. Where in your life do you tend to hide or make fig‑leaf excuses instead of confessing? What is one specific sin you can name and confess this week to a trusted Christian friend or leader? [06:56]
The sermon warns against self‑salvation projects and urges “empty‑handed dependence” on Christ. What is one “project” (a habit, plan, relationship, or work) you are relying on for security that you need to stop trusting and instead bring to Jesus in prayer this week? Be specific. [21:56]
The sermon says if hope can be bought, scheduled, or elected, it’s too small. Where have you practically set your hope on something temporal (money, career, approval, medical outcome, an election)? What concrete step will you take today to reorient that hope toward Christ (a prayer, Scripture memorization, a conversation, limiting news/social media)? [26:02]
The preacher points to Jesus’ works (feeding, healing) as signs that he reverses the curse, but ultimately the cross deals with sin. If someone doubts that their sin is forgivable, what is one specific verse or gospel truth you could share with them or commit to read for yourself this week to remember that Jesus saves the farthest and deepest sin? (Name the verse or truth and when you will read/share it.) [23:28]
Because “the head is crushed but the body still writhes,” Christians still suffer. Identify a present suffering in your life (loss, strained relationship, chronic pain, anxiety). How will you hold that suffering this week with “holy longing” for Christ’s return — practically: what will you pray, who will you ask to help carry it, and what promise from Scripture will you repeat? [20:29]
Advent is described as waiting with promises. How will your family or small group mark this Advent differently this year to keep the tension of “celebrating the first Advent” while “longing for the second”? Give one concrete practice you will start (short nightly readings, a shared prayer for Christ’s return, a service project that points beyond comfort). [15:18]

Use these questions to guide your group’s time together. Pray briefly at the start, read Genesis 3 aloud, discuss honestly, and finish by asking for accountability on one concrete step each person will take this week.

Sermon Clips

``But Jesus dealt with that sin by taking its curse upon himself. He died on the cross in our place taking on himself the full weight and penalty of our sin paying all of its price for all of our demands. God said that on the day that you eat of it you shall die and the death that Jesus died was the death that we all deserve for our sin. And in taking away our sin taking away the judgment that we deserve he has crushed the head of the serpent. [00:18:10] (39 seconds) #JesusPaidItAll

But friends the promise of the Bible is clear in Hebrews 9 it says that Jesus having been offered once to bear the sins of many crushing the head of the serpent will appear a second time not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. You see Adam and Eve and all the generations that followed them were waiting for the arrival of the serpent crusher and so when Jesus was born that was the first advent of that promised snake killer. [00:20:12] (33 seconds) #WaitingForJesus

But Jesus is coming again in a second advent not to crush the head of the serpent because that has already been done but he is coming again to save us to heal us to restore us to redeem us to make all things new and so everything that has come about in this world downstream as a result of sin every broken relationship every wounded body every twisted mind everything that has come about as a result of sin will be made whole again and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. [00:20:45] (43 seconds) #AllThingsMadeNew

And so what it means then to be a follower of Jesus to be a Christian has little to do with anything else and really only to do with this is your faith in Jesus is he the serpent killer that you need are you depending on his death as the one and only way that you can be forgiven of your sins or are you still thinking that you can crush the head of the serpent on your own because we have that tendency to think that we can right there's a lot of ways that we're just overgrown children who think that no I can do it myself. [00:21:36] (46 seconds) #TrustJesusAlone

We have a tendency to think that we can do this that we can that we must get ourselves cleaned up and once we've done our part then Jesus can take care of what's left we hope in some ways that God grades on a curve right I just really need to try hard and hope for the best but to be a follower of Jesus means that our faith must be only in him we must know that we bring nothing to the table except our sin and our neediness but bringing our sin and bringing our neediness and our brokenness what do we find that he welcomes us that he embraces us that he makes us clean that he makes us whole. [00:22:21] (51 seconds) #GraceWelcomesAll

So this morning maybe you don't believe that the head of the serpent can be crushed for you your sin is too dark your sin is too deep your sins are too many to be forgiven but what we see time and time again in the Bible and in the lives of our brothers and sisters around us is that Jesus delights in saving those who are far from him his grace is super abundant it is able to cover all of our sin and he loves to save those that everybody ourselves included see as being beyond saving. [00:23:12] (44 seconds) #NoOneBeyondGrace

So if we have faith in him then the way that we will reveal that and demonstrate that is to walk in repentance and faith to constantly be turning away away from our sin and placing our faith in him to say no that fruit that I have been told not to eat I know that that will not satisfy no this lesser thing will not satisfy no this other thing cannot bring salvation it is only Jesus who can do for me what I truly need but that is the present component of our faith that is the here and the now. [00:23:57] (47 seconds) #RepentAndBelieve

There is a future component as well because following Jesus isn't about achieving a comfortable prosperous happy respectable life in this world but rather in this world Jesus promises that we will have tribulation but he reminds his disciples right after that he says but take heart I have overcome the world he is the serpent crusher he is the one who has come to overcome the world and so you might be brought to poverty through no fault of your own you might suffer from broken relationships that you thought were steadfast and immovable. [00:24:46] (53 seconds) #HeOvercameTheWorld

You might have everything that you placed your hope and your faith in taken away from you are these signs that God has forsaken you are these signs that God has forgotten you but that he didn't care in the first place absolutely not because our hope isn't in this world our hope isn't in this life our hope isn't in the success of our business our hope isn't in the moral achievement of our families but our hope is that Jesus is coming again the serpent crusher is returning to heal all of the hurt that the serpent has caused. [00:25:38] (49 seconds) #HopeInHisReturn

He is coming again to welcome us into our forever home and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and so if your hope is something that can be satisfied in this world if money can buy it if medicine can provide it if time can build it if an election can produce it if your hard work can make it happen then your sights are set too low you are thinking too small and your faith is not in Jesus but your faith is instead in the things of this world but the things of this world the apostle John says are passing away. [00:26:27] (47 seconds) #EternalHopeInJesus

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