--OBJECT LESSONS FOUND IN THE BIBLE~~~--The Object of the Lesson~-Who had the most profoundly positive impact on your life? Maybe a parent or grandparent? A beloved teacher or neighbor?
--Whatever your answer, I'll bet there is a common thread--what you learned was either modeled before your eyes or put into a tangible context to help you understand. In other words, it took the form of an object lesson.
Clearly God wired us to gain wisdom in this way. And the Master of object lessons was the Son of God Himself! Little wonder the rest of God's Word abounds in object lessons as well! We will find many of these lessons as we study these stories from the Bible.
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--THE LESSON OF THE SERPENT~~
--Genesis 3:1-15"Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.'"
--(Genesis 3:14) -----
-Snakes frequently get the award for creepiest animal. But actually they are often docile creatures. Before the curse they were considered truly beautiful.
God's curse on the serpent seems random until you see it for what it is: a
'permanent' object lesson. God had just dealt with man's fall from innocence. God knew that because of Adam's sin, a great cost would be paid to restore mankind and rescue His people from the punishment of death.
The cursed serpent is a reminder that temptation can come even from beautiful things. But in verse 15 we already--in the very beginning of the Bible!--are given hope. God makes His first promise to send a Savior to buy back anyone who fell for the serpent's lies:
"He [Jesus] will crush your [Satan's] head and you [Satan] will strike his [Jesus'] heel." This mysterious pronouncement means that although Satan would someday play a role in the death of Christ, the final outcome would be Jesus' resurrection, the destruction of Satan, and the redemption of all who believe in Jesus.~~
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-Next time you see a snake slithering along, think of it as God's sign that He has defeated Satan and provided new life for you. When we come to Christ we are given a 'new life', new creation, in Him.~~
--Anchor Devotions
