God Shared His Christmas Plan to Adam and Eve in the Garden

Christmas treats/Photo: Colleen McMahon

The Christmas idea emerged long before jolly elves, candy canes, mistletoe and gift-wrapped packages became standard fixtures during the holiday. Christmas actually is an Everlasting Christmas Promise, and this Promise emerged from the heart of God.

In the Garden of Eden,  Adam and Eve lived gloriously with their Maker, the Creator of the universe. But sin spoiled the relationship. Things weren't the same. God longed to overcome the breach caused by sin and restore His relationship with human beings.

Unlike our perceptions of Christmas, God wasn’t stressed by  shopping days or sales for Apple iPhones and big-screen TVs. He wasn’t consumed by scheduling snowy getaways to Aspen or elaborate holiday parties. He wasn't worried about whether Mom or Uncle Kevin brought the mac and cheese and sweet potato pies. God's focus was simple: Human sin separated mankind from His holy presence, and He wanted to connect with them again.

God suggested a “seed” plan, one that contained the Christmas Story in its purest form.  Like the heirloom seeds popular in organic gardening, God needed a pure, non-hybrid seed to resolve the problem of sin and restore His relationship with human beings. So God chose His own Seedling.

Circa 1917-1919/Photo: U.S. National Archives

In Genesis3, God promised Adam and Eve that the seed of a woman would defeat the seed of the serpent. God said He would “put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, New King James Version).

Generations looked forward to the arrival of God’s Seed. Throughout history, God shared with His people Israel the attributes of this soon-coming Seed. From the patriarch Abraham to the prophets, God provided clues to look for and cling to as they waited on God's promise. 

Those of us today  know that in the fullness of time, God fulfilled His promise to Adam and Eve in the tiniest detail.  Jesus, God’s Seed, came to earth and fulfilled His destiny as the One who would die to restore God’s relationship with men and women forever. 

We also know that Jesus’ destiny was known from the foundation of the world. First Peter 1:20 says that an omniscient God foresaw the human sin problem and decided on a way to satisfy the staggering costs of sin:  “God chose him [Jesus] as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days (New Translation Bible).”

If we want to fully celebrate Christmas, we have to fully celebrate Jesus, the Cherished Seed of God the Father. 

Next: God’s promise that Jesus would be born through the line of Abraham