December 8
Genesis 3: 9-15, 20
Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12
Luke 1: 26-38
Have you ever wondered why there is so much evil and suffering in the world? To find an answer, you need look no further than today’s reading from Genesis. God had prepared a very special garden for Adam and Eve to live in, and was teaching them everything they needed to know about life. However, at some point they decided, with a little encouragement from a serpent, to ignore God’s instructions. They sought to acquire knowledge of good and evil on their own. God’s response was to give them at least part of what they wanted. From that point on people would learn about the difference between good and evil the hard way - through their own experience. The rest is history.
Fortunately God has not completely abandoned us. He promised that an offspring of the woman would one day strike the head of the serpent and win a decisive victory for good over evil. That offspring was Jesus, and the woman whose conception without sin we celebrate today was Mary.
When Adam and Eve said “no” to God they did not realize how difficult it would be for anyone to ever perfectly say yes to God again. Everyone who has ever lived questions and doubts God because of the sin of our first parents. It was God Himself who acted to restore the relationship that we had so badly damaged by preserving Mary from sin. It was that special gift from God that enabled Mary to say yes to God for all of us, and allow Jesus to come into the world to teach us once again how much God loves us and wants to share His life with us.
