The entire Bible is really the story of God blessing mankind by sending his Son Jesus to rescue us from sin and wickedness.
66 books. Over 40 authors. One story.
The Old Testament is the set-up of God's plan to send Jesus. The New Testament is the story of Jesus' arrival, and the aftermath of that arrival.
To put it another way, the Bible is the story of God making and keeping a big promise.
After Adam and Eve chose to disobey God's command and brought death into the world, God immediately gave them a promise of rescue. He looked directly at Satan and told him that he would send someone to crush him and his evil rebellion: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:15, NIV).
In Genesis 11, we read another account of God promising to bless sinful mankind. He tells Abraham and his descendants that they would serve a great purpose in the world. They would be God's messengers to mankind, and God's way of shining light into a very dark world.
Most importantly, one of Abraham's descendants would become the one to fulfill that promise made previously to Eve that one of her offspring would crush Satan.
Do you need someone to help you crush Satan's power and influence in your life? If you read Abraham's story, you'll see that he needed it. And so do we.
That's why God promised a Savior from the very beginning. And that's why God delivered on that promise. He delivered so that you and I could be blessed with forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
And that's way more than a pinkie promise.
"The Lord had said to Abram, 'Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 'I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you'" (Genesis 12:1-3, NIV).
Our Bible reading for Tuesday, January 6, is Genesis 11:10 - 13:18, Matthew 5:21-42 and Psalm 5:1-12.
Header image based on "Promises" by Ditaputratama, CC by-SA 2.0