Get Your Pretense On!

Chapter 1: The Greatest Story in the Word • 27

This “seed of the woman” would overthrow the “seed of the serpent” (Satan), and ultimately defeat all the powers that harmed God’s good creation. This seed, this Deliverer, would crush the skull of the serpent who deceived the first human pair, and bring lasting eternal remedy to the chaos and curse plaguing the universe. The price of redemption, though, would be high: the One to come would also be bruised by the serpent, upon the warrior’s heel. Through his oversight and sovereign will, through his covenants and divine leading, God entered as an actor into human history. Rather than merely telling the Story, our God became its central Actor and main Hero: he himself determined by direct participation to make an end of sin, destroy the serpent, restore creation, and draw out of the earth a people for his own possession. And so, God made a covenant with Abraham, and ratcheted down the physical lineage of the Seed to come. He renewed the covenant with Abraham’s son, Isaac, and then established which tribe in the earth the Redeemer would be born into. He renewed the covenant with Jacob, Isaac’s son, and delivered the nation of Israel, Jacob’s heirs, from Egypt. Through mighty miracles and awesome signs, the Lord through Moses rescued his great nation from Pharaoh at the Exodus. Through Joshua he brought them into his Promised Land, and through the judges he delivered his people from their enemies. He elected Jesse’s son, the young David, to be champion over Goliath, and through him established the lineage of the King, the one destined to rule forever in God’s restored Kingdom. Despite all of God’s awesome miracles and mighty wonders, tragically, his people still rebelled foolishly against him. They oppressed their neighbors, disobeyed his covenants, and worshiped false gods. Despite numerous warnings given through