From the beginning God made man to be like him, perfect and good. But Adam and Eve disobeyed God and evil entered the world. People were no longer holy and just and loving like God. And yet God promised that one day he would destroy evil and bring about a perfect world again. And he did so through Jesus, the Snake Crusher. When Jesus came to earth, he announced that the perfect kingdom of God had come near (Mark 1:14–15). And then Jesus showed us what that perfect kingdom looks like. The Snake Crusher lived as the prophets asked God’s people to live. He always obeyed God. He was kind and loving. He was just and fair. He lifted up the poor. He was humble.

Jesus was so humble that he sacrificed his body on the cross so people like us—who aren’t loving, just, and humble—might be part of God’s perfect kingdom. Right now, the earth is full of injustice. Sin. Death. But one day, when Jesus returns to earth, he will make everything new and perfect. Then there will be more than a river of righteousness. The whole “earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14). Come, Lord Jesus, come! We want to live in that perfect kingdom.