Seed

 Right from the beginning, in Genesis chapter 3, we see that Jesus is foretold and anticipated.  The first time he is referred to is as ' the seed of woman'  

(Genesis 3:15) ( speaking to the serpent ) 

“And I will put enmity (open hostility)
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed (offspring) and her Seed;
He shall [fatally] bruise your head,
And you shall [only] bruise His heel.” ( Amplified)

The mission of Jesus is plain right from the start - the defeat of the evil and deception which Satan brought into the world and to which Adam submitted.  But He is to do this not as the Son of God - that is not the first title the Bible gives Him.  He will accomplish the end of the rule of darkness as a man.  So within the first three chapters of the Bible we see the creation of everything and of mankind, the entrance of temptation and the fall, and God's plan to rescue us from our ' lostness'.   And the plan is to use a man - the second Adam - to redeem the mess the first Adam made.

1 Peter 1:20

For He was foreordained (foreknown) before the foundation of the world, but has appeared [publicly] in these last times for your sake

So the first name of Jesus we can celebrate this advent is SEED.   

Its an interesting word.  It evokes thoughts of planting and growing - of a tiny grain being dropped into the ground to produce much more fruit.   It also brings to mind the notion of sperm .  Bear with me here..... a story to tell.    Decades ago when I was a student I was walking home to my flat on a very dark and rainy night.   I noticed the puddles on the road and the reflections of the streetlights in them.   As I looked I saw that each time a raindrop hit the light filled puddle it sent out a little ripple of light - which to my mind looked exactly like the pictures of sperm you see on medical documentaries - all frantically swimming to try to be the first to penetrate an egg.    As I smiled to myself at this rather odd thought I heard God speak to me really clearly ( not an audible voice but definitely Him )  He said '  Caz I want you to pray for every single baby that is going to be conceived on the planet today.'    Which was a bit of a mind blowing thought.!    So I did.   And as I did, I realised that I was not the first or only person praying that particular prayer.   If God said that to me, why would He not be saying it to someone somewhere in the world every single day?  Why would God not want the conception of each and every child in the world covered by His grace and love and purposes?  
  On the night you were conceived I believe someone somewhere was praying for you.  


So perhaps you can now understand that when I her the phrase ' The Word of God'   I see sperm 😁.  Sperm which always hits its target to reproduce itself.   In me it produces grace and peace and patience and righteousness.   In Mary it produced Jesus.   Mindbending no?

The other thing the word SEED brings to mind is the whole thing of ancestry and inheritance and bloodlines.   The first Biblical prophecy about Jesus is about Him being a direct descendent of Adam.  Bloodlines and inheritance are super important to God and I dont claim to understand why really.  But I love the fact that we can trace Jesus's family tree right the way back to God on both sides 😀



Today, on this second day of Advent we start to prepare ourselves to celebrate the birth of the baby.  The result of the sperm Word of God coming to a teenage girl in the middle east two thousand years ago.  The fulfilment of the Genesis prophecy that the sin and disobedience and catastrophic fall of Adam will be reversed.  Evil will be fatally crushed. Lies, darkness, deception and death will be stomped on.  The subtle whisper of the enemy of our souls will be silenced.   Hallelujah!   God has had it all in hand from before the foundation of the world.  So relax.  Breathe.  Believe.   Nothing is impossible.

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