The Father’s Promise

Listen to today’s reading:

Genesis 3:14-15

So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 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.”

Psalm 68:21

Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.

Romans 16:20

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Today’s Reading:

Baseball is a sport full of superstition and even some supposed “curses.” The Curse of the Billy Goat is a funny story, at least for other-than-Cubs fans. An alleged “curse” was placed on the Cubs in 1945 by Billy Goat Tavern owner William Sianis. The story goes that Sianis approached Wrigley Field with Murphy his goat before game 4 of the 1945 World Series, and Murphy was denied entry because of his odor. Sianis wasn’t happy... He dispatched a telegram to team owner Philip K. Wrigley that read, “You are going to lose this World Series and you are never going to win another World Series again. You are never going to win a World Series again because you insulted my goat.” The Cubs lost to Detroit that year and didn’t win until 2016. This story and others like it give the game of baseball some sort of mysticism to many baseball fans – but in reality, these stories are very far from the seriousness of the curses that come from an Almighty God, especially after the sin of Adam and Eve. Adam, Eve, and the serpent all received different curses from God. The serpent (most attributed to the embodied Satan and the one who deceived man in Genesis 3), gets the curse that secures his demise – a crushing blow to the head in the future through the seed of the woman. This prophecy has begun to be fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, it has “begun” because Paul states in Romans 16:20 that, “the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” We have hope that Satan and his demons will be forever put away in the coming days. The tangible glimpse of the end of the curse on us and hope of redemption of all creation began at the birth of our one and only Savior named Jesus.

Today’s Prayer Guide:

Praise – Praise God for dealing with sin with justice but also with grace. Praise him for power over all evil - that Satan’s fate has been sealed through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.

Confession – Tell him you’re sorry for not believing at times and for losing hope.

Ask – Ask him for unwavering faith in his plan in destroying all evil forever.