Grace to You :: esp Unleashing God's Truth, One Verse at a Time

MacArthur Daily Bible

Reading for Today:

-Genesis 3:1–4:26
-Psalm 2:1-6
-Proverbs 1:8-9
-Matthew 2:1-23

Notes:

Genesis 3:15 bruise your head…bruise His heel. This is the first messianic prophecy, foretelling the
coming of Jesus Christ. Ever since the Fall, Satan’s “seed” (Satan and unbelievers, who are called
the devil’s children in John 8:44) has struggled against the woman’s seed (Christ, a descendant of
Eve, and His children). In the midst of this curse passage, God gives a message of hope—”He” is
Christ, who will one day defeat Satan completely. Satan could only “bruise” Christ’s heel (cause Him
to suffer), while Christ will bruise Satan’s head (destroy him with a fatal blow).

Genesis 4:4,5 Abel’s offering was acceptable (see Heb. 11:4), because it was in every way
obediently given according to what God must have revealed, though the revelation is not recorded in
Genesis. Abel’s offering was an animal, it was the very best of what he had, and it was the
culmination of a zealous heart for God. Cain, however, disdained the divine instruction and just
brought what he wanted to bring: some of his crop.

Matthew 2:1 in the days of Herod the king. Herod the Great was the first in a dynasty of rulers and is
thought to be a descendant of Esau. A ruthless and cunning ruler, he saw the beginning of the
rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple under his reign. wise men from the East. The number of men is
not given, though the 3 gifts can be seen to represent one man each. These men were
Magi—magicians and astrologers—not kings.

DAY 2: What do Christians mean when they talk about the Fall?

The Fall refers to that moment in time when human beings first disobeyed God. Genesis 3 tells the
painful episode. What Eve set in motion, Adam confirmed and completed by joining her. They sinned
together. The willful decision of Adam and Eve created a state of rebellion between the creation and
her Creator.

The expression “the Fall” comes from the Bible itself. The apostle Paul uses the word in summarizing
the human condition in Romans 3:23,“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It
carries with it the sense of defeat and destruction. Great cities fell. So did people. But another fall
preceded all these—the fall of the angel Lucifer, who became known as Satan (Is. 14:12–15). In the
Fall, our first ancestors declared us on Satan’s side.
The Bible makes it clear that the Fall brought sin into every subsequent person’s life: “Therefore, just
as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men,
because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Our capacity for sin is inborn. We are sinners before we have the
opportunity to sin. Not only are we sinners because we sin; we first sin because we are sinners.
Why? Because we have all inherited the effects of Adam’s fall.

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