Welcome to A Scarlet Cord of Hope, the 2021 advent series of University Fellowship Church Women written and read by Jaime Sherman, who penned our Christmastime narratives from biblical, Jewish, and historical sources to tell how God wove hope from creation to the creche and who continues to point us to the final fulfillment of hope in the one-day-soon second coming of Jesus Christ. Scripture is taken from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.
today’s suggested reading
Genesis 1 & 2
Today’s Audio
Our month-long journey to the manger begins in the first chapters of God’s written Word as He speaks this spinning sphere into a perfect and peaceful existence. We are pulled into a story of light banishing darkness.
Of deep waters dividing land and sea.
Of vegetation covering land.
Of heavenly lights governing hours and seasons.
And of living creatures filling land, sea, and sky.
Then, at the pinnacle of creation, we inhale with the Creator’s first image bearers that soul-giving life reserved for humanity and settle into the flourishing Garden of Eden, where God’s masterpieces move about with purpose and delight as caretakers of a beautiful world. Here they live unashamed, confidently clothed in nothing but the righteousness and radiance of God’s glory.
Chapter 2 of Genesis ends with the words: And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed (vs. 25). We pause, longing to stay here a little longer, for we know a crafty serpent will slither into the next chapter to threaten the peace and perfection of this beautiful world. We know the innocent man and woman of chapter 2 will soon become the shame-filled man and woman of chapter 3, banished from this place of peace. We know all too well the longing pulling us through this advent story, a longing to return to this garden.
So, we sit a few minutes longer and praise God for His original plan for humankind and celebrate that He is Creator, Sustainer, and Author of the story we will recount in the coming days. We celebrate that He is our Hope, the One Who has woven a scarlet cord of redemption through history to give all who trust in Him a way back to the garden.
Take a few minutes to read or listen and then pray through Genesis 1 and 2.
today’s Song
- This is My Father’s World Keith and Kristy Getty
- Click here for the season’s full playlist and other song recommendations.
Jaime Sherman is a writer and editor for ufcwomen.blog but most importantly a child of the King of kings, the wife of one amazing man for nearly 20 years, and mama of five girls and one boy. Learn more about her adventure in writing and enjoy some free resources on our main page for this series.