Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

Eve and Mary

Monday, December 9, 2002

Genesis 3:12, 20 & Luke 1:30-35
Genesis 3:12, 20
12) The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." ...
20) Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
Luke 1:30-35
30) Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31) And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32) He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33) And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."
34) Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"
35) And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.

Sometimes, I just don't know what to say. That must be how Adam felt when God confronted him in the Garden of Eden. Later he named Eve, not based on the events of the fall, but on her role in the creation of the future human race.

Nevertheless, the history of "man"kind reveals lots of fallout from Eve's sin, and a vindication of sorts occurs when the angel comes to Mary. "You" (the woman) are highly favored, the angel says. God will return to the earth through the woman. No man is necessary to provide seed; it will be provided by God.

Jesus will be a man; as the "second Adam" (1 Corinthians 15:45-49) he will redeem the fall of the first Adam. But he is born of a woman, born of the "second Eve," the "mother of all the living."

Waves of recognition must have shaken Mary to the core of her being. As she said "yes" to God she was reversing the "yes" of Eve to the Serpent. All of human history was focused on those moments of conception within her, and the childbirth soon to occur. Restoration of God's order had begun.

Mary accepted all this, singing a song of joy and wonder. Months later, after she gave birth to Jesus, she "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). Her heart was surely full.

Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
the world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills be joyful together before you, Lord,
for you make all things new. (from Psalm 98)

Devotions Archive

Eve and Mary

Monday, December 9, 2002