Greg Laurie Harvest Daily Devotional

Act now to share the love of Christ in the Middle East
<< Greg Laurie Daily Devotions

It Began with a Tree - Greg Laurie Daily Devotion - December 5, 2016

It Began with a Tree

“And out of the ground the lordGod made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”—Genesis 2:9

The Christmas story begins with a tree, but not the kind of Christmas tree with brightly colored lights or ornaments. The Christmas story begins with a tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in the Garden of Eden.

God had given Adam and Eve only one restriction in that literal paradise: stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But before long, that’s just where we find them. Of course, we know the rest of the story. They listened to the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit. And once that happened, they lost their sweet fellowship with God.

A few verses later, we come to the first Christmas verse in the Bible, where God said to the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

Here the battle lines were drawn. The devil knew this Messiah would come—and that He would come from the Jewish people. So he tried to stop that from taking place.

Really, as we look at the Christmas story, we realize that it doesn’t begin in Matthew or Luke. It begins in the Old Testament. Before there was a world, before there were planets, before there was light and darkness, before there was matter, before there was anything but the Godhead, there was Jesus—coequal, coeternal, and coexistent with the Father and Holy Spirit. He was with God. He was God.

Jesus Christ became human without ceasing to be God. He did not become identical to us, but He became identified with us. The real message of Christmas is that God came to this earth. The real message of Christmas is Immanuel, God is with us.

Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
and
Listen to Greg Laurie's daily broadcast on OnePlace.com.

Watch Greg Laurie's weekly television broadcast on LightSource.com.

SPECIAL OFFER

The Greatest Stories Ever Told

The perfect gift for the upcoming Christmas season, The Greatest Stories Ever Told is Pastor Greg’s newest book, focusing on the Gospel accounts of Christ. Experience the life of Jesus from the cradle to the cross to the ascension in this beautiful hardbound volume.

This book will be sent to you in appreciation for your donation to the ministry of Harvest.

 



More Greg Laurie Daily Devotions Articles