The Mother of Life

(This is the second of what I hope to be many devotions based on the people of the Bible. Since we are children of God by faith in Jesus, all the believers in the Bible are our brothers and sisters. The more we learn about our family in the Bible, the more we learn about Jesus’ love and salvation for us. The devotions will be written with children and families in mind, but I hope that they are beneficial for Christians of all ages.)

People talk about saving the best for last. Have you heard that? Well, do you know what God saved for last when he created the world? Women! God saved the first woman for last. Creation wasn’t complete without her. Women are so special to God! 

Have you heard what God used to created that first woman? Adam’s rib (Genesis 2:21). God wanted Adam to know that this woman was part of him. We’re made of the same stuff!

But this first woman did something bad: She ate a piece of fruit (Genesis 3:6). Wait a minute… That doesn’t sound bad, does it? It was bad, because God had commanded her not to (Genesis 3:3). To disobey God is sinful, even when it only involves a piece of fruit.

Why did she do it? The woman believed the devil instead of believing God. Do you know who the devil is? He’s our worst enemy! The devil wants to keep us from believing God’s Word. He makes sin look good. That first woman gave in. She believed the devil’s lies.

Do you? Sadly, I often do. I don’t follow God’s Word. I don’t always believe God is good. I disobey God’s commands. What’s that called? Sin.

That sin messed everything up. The world was perfect, and then it wasn’t. What changed? The woman and her husband Adam felt ashamed (Genesis 3:7). They tried to hide their sin and hide from God (Genesis 3:8). They blamed each other for their sin (Genesis 3:12). 

Does this sound familiar? Isn’t this what our lives are like? When we sin, we try to hide it. Does that work? No. We feel ashamed, so we try to blame other people. Does that work? No. That first woman really got us all into a lot of trouble, didn’t she? Oh, wait. Now, we’re blaming her for our sins. Is that right? No! We need someone to take our sins away.

So on the day that this woman sinned, God made a promise to the devil: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). God told the devil that a descendent of the woman would one day crush the devil’s head! Someday, Someone would save us!

Adam understood. How can we tell? Because Adam gave his wife her name. Think of what Adam could have called his wife on that sad day. He could have called her “Sinful Lady.” Or, “Person Who Wrecked Everything.” Or, “It’s Her Fault!” But he didn’t. “Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living” (Genesis 3:20). 

What did Adam name his wife? Eve. Do you know what Eve means? “Life.” What a perfect name! Through Eve, God was going to bring life into the world. Still to this day, God uses women to bring life into the world by giving birth to children. What a blessing! Even more, Eve would bring eternal life to the world through the coming Savior. Who is that? Jesus!

When we sin, like Eve and Adam, we can hold on to God’s promise of life—eternal life—through Eve’s great-great-great-great…-grandson: Jesus!

Dear Father in heaven, thank you for creating women. They have given all of us life! Thank you most of all for sending Eve’s descendant Jesus to crush the devil’s head. Amen.

(To learn more about our sister Eve’s story, read Genesis 2:15-3:24.)