1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:15,860 Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest 2 00:00:15,860 --> 00:00:21,080 questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search 3 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:27,800 and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor 4 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:32,960 of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the life 5 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:42,400 we're searching for. I am so glad that you are here today. If you're glad to be here today, say 6 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:47,200 amen. Yeah, a lot of you are, some of you aren't. I'm not really sure. If you have your Bibles this 7 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:52,280 morning, please take them and turn to Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three, verse 15, 8 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:58,960 as we dive into a new message series called Expectant that will be leading us up to Christmas. 9 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:05,080 We're going to have a great time in that. Today's title is called The Curse and the Cure and the 10 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:11,120 Conquest. We're going to be looking at the very first biblical prophecy about Christ coming. 11 00:01:11,120 --> 00:01:17,360 Surprisingly, this prophecy comes from God himself in the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter three, 12 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:24,400 verse 15. As we begin to get into this series, let me just say a few things about the graphic 13 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:29,720 that you will have on the screen in front of you. This graphic was put together after we spent some 14 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:35,400 time in the text that we'll be reading and studying through the course of December. The 15 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:40,240 Expectant theme is a big theme that overrides everything, but I want you to know what's behind 16 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:45,560 the pictures on the graphic because our graphic artists did a phenomenal job. In fact, one of our 17 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:50,080 teachers said, you know, this will preach. The graphic itself will preach, but I want you to see 18 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:56,320 the images and what they mean. On the bottom line, you see the images of the fall. You see in the 19 00:01:56,320 --> 00:02:01,600 middle of the tree, the knowledge of good and evil that God forbade Adam and Eve from eating from, 20 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:07,400 and they in fact did eat from that, which brought about the curse, the curse of sin. You'll also see 21 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:12,640 two images on the bottom, one of fire, one of stones, which denote the sacrifice, the blood 22 00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:18,720 sacrifice that was initiated there in the garden when God clothed Adam and Eve with garments of 23 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:26,280 skin. If you go to the top, you'll look also at the prophetic statement of the Christ that would 24 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:31,640 come and what he did. On the left is the cradle, on the right is the cross, and you'll see in the 25 00:02:31,640 --> 00:02:37,880 middle, the future of Christ, and that is as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You'll see a sword, 26 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:45,000 you'll see the scepter, and all this points to an expectant heart for what God has given us as an 27 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:50,200 answer to the curse of sin. I love this graphic, and you'll see it over and over without the 28 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:55,360 descriptions around it, so you'll kind of know exactly what that means. I'll bring that up later 29 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:00,360 in the message as well. This is chapter three, verse 15. Let's stand together as we read one 30 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:08,240 verse, one verse and one prophecy that God gave from the very beginning in the Garden of Eden. 31 00:03:08,240 --> 00:03:13,520 Now, if I could set the scene just a little bit, the Garden of Eden at this point, of the giving of 32 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:19,040 this prophecy is not a wonderful place. It's a wonderful place in the sense that God has created 33 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:25,560 that, but it's already dark because of sin. The serpent has come in, tempted Eve, you know the 34 00:03:25,560 --> 00:03:31,160 story. She gives in to the son. She and Adam eat of the fruit of the tree that God has forbidden 35 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:37,240 them to eat from, and all of a sudden, separation takes place. Sin separates them, and they are 36 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:43,920 hiding from God. So everything at the moment of the speaking of this prophecy is dark, it's negative. 37 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:49,160 Ultimately, they're banished from the Garden of Eden, and they need some answers. Now, the timing 38 00:03:49,160 --> 00:03:53,480 of this prophecy is very, very important, and I'll share more about that in just a moment, but 39 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:59,920 here's what God said as he curses the serpent. He first curses the serpent in verse 14, where he 40 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:04,800 says, you're going to go on your belly, thus you will eat all the days of your life, and then in 41 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:12,320 verse 15, the prophecy. Here's what it says, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and 42 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:21,520 between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the 43 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:26,040 heel. I want to say it again, read it one more time. And I will put enmity between you and this 44 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:32,880 woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him 45 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:41,280 on the heel. Vow together with me. Father, in Jesus' name, I come and I ask you that you would 46 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:47,760 give us direction, Holy Spirit, to illuminate this text for us as we look ahead to all that you're 47 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:53,400 going to fulfill in the person of Jesus Christ. And Father, today as we look at this prophecy, 48 00:04:53,400 --> 00:05:00,120 I ask that you not only help us see what it means literally, but also to help us know what it means 49 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:07,120 personally. Father, become personal to us in a very real way through your Messiah and the sacrifice 50 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:12,520 he made. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all God's people said amen. Please be seated if you would. 51 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:21,400 Well, I'm going to give you some bad news today. You know, the bad news I'm going to give you is 52 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:27,200 necessary for you to understand the good news that God's given you. This is the very first 53 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:33,920 proclamation of good news in the Bible, but it's also the first proclamation of just how bad the 54 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:39,320 bad news is. And as we walk through this prophecy, we're going to see both of those things. Now, 55 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:45,160 I've got to have kind of a mental image in my mind when I try to create the details of a certain 56 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:51,000 context. And I'm going to try to create the context of this particular verse in prophecy with a war 57 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:59,480 image, a battle image. How many of you watch war movies or have watched war movies in your lifetime? 58 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:06,360 A lot of hands go up. My dad was a Navy officer, and by the time that I was born, he was out of the 59 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:12,160 Navy, but he loved the Navy. And we would watch at night black and white movies that depicted 60 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:17,720 warships and aircraft carriers and planes landing there and great battles, the Battle of the Midway, 61 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:22,840 all those different kinds of battles, classic movies, classic war movies. And so I grew up 62 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:29,800 seeing those regularly. When Saving Private Ryan came out, the war movie a few years ago, 63 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:35,360 that came out that dealt with the storming of the beaches of Normandy, it caught my attention. And 64 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:41,080 then as that movie played, as you watch that movie, it was incredibly accurate to the details, 65 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:45,320 according to veterans that were actually on the beaches of Normandy. It was the most accurate 66 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:50,800 depiction of war that they could remember ever seen. And of course, the whole story of the Battle 67 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:57,240 of Normandy and the storming of the beaches of Omaha and Utah and so forth was because the Allied 68 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:03,760 forces wanted to liberate Europe from the clutches of Nazi Germany. So the Nazi war machine was 69 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:10,000 running over Europe, about to destroy France. And that's when the Allied troops stormed the 70 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:14,880 Battle of Normandy and the beaches of Normandy. And I want you to get that battle scene in your 71 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:21,040 mind for just a moment. If you saw the movie, you know there's a 24 minute clip of that battle on 72 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:28,760 the beach. And at the end of that battle, the beaches are littered with blood and bodies and 73 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:36,400 guns and broken machines and ships that have have sunk just off the shallows there. All kinds of 74 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:43,200 smoke and haze and anguish and crying and all kinds of weary survivors very barely pulling 75 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:48,000 through. And that's the scenario that I want to have in my mind when I think about the darkness 76 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:53,000 of the curse of sin. It doesn't make for a real popular message, but it makes for a real accurate 77 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:59,720 portrayal of how badly we needed a savior and how badly we need a rescuer from the ravages of sin 78 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:04,800 in our lives. So as you look at this prophecy, I want you to look at it with the perspective of 79 00:08:04,800 --> 00:08:12,560 the war zone that we created when we sinned. The prophecy breaks down into three different 80 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:20,360 principles, one by one. First of all, the curse brings conflict. So God is speaking to the serpent 81 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:25,000 in Genesis 3. He tells the serpent, I'm going to curse you. You're going to be on your belly all 82 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:30,280 the days of your life. You'll always be in enmity. But he didn't say this in verse 15, and I will put 83 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:39,200 enmity between you and the woman. Now God is giving us a reason for the pronouncement of the 84 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:43,920 curse and all that's about to occur. As a matter of fact, when you read verse 15, you can read the 85 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:49,200 whole history of the world. I really believe that. Just the three lines of verse 15 will tell you 86 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:54,640 everything about the history of the world that you absolutely need to know. And right at the 87 00:08:54,640 --> 00:09:02,920 beginning, we see that the curse and sin bring about conflict in life. Recently, I was having a 88 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:08,760 conversation with a young man that visited with us over Thanksgiving, and he was a relative of one 89 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:13,600 of our friends. And so he had come into our house and we had conversations with him for the first 90 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:19,360 time. He knew I was a pastor, a preacher, and he asked me, what do you do when you stand up every 91 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:23,680 week? Do you give TED Talks or do you come up with this information on your own? And I said, well, 92 00:09:23,680 --> 00:09:28,080 I have a book that I preach out of. He goes, what's that called? And I said, it was called the 93 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:32,480 Bible. He said, well, what's the Bible about? I said, well, it's actually 66 books. And he goes, 94 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:37,880 oh, wait, whoa, 66 books. Where are the 66 books? I had to help him, held up a Bible. That's how 95 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:44,120 little he knew about the Bible. It was an incredibly interesting conversation as I helped him 96 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:50,120 understand why we have hope and who Christ is and what the Bible message is. But in that conversation, 97 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:56,720 he says, so tell me, how do you stand in front of a congregation and explain that you believe in a 98 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:04,040 good God who allowed all the atrocities and all the heartbreak and all the wickedness on the planet? 99 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:10,120 How do you answer that? I looked at him in the eyes and I said, I answer it this way. It's all 100 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:17,480 about the free will of man. You demand a choice. You wanted a choice. You got a choice. And your 101 00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:24,600 choice brought the curse and the consequences of sin. And that's why we have conflict. And that's 102 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,120 why we have difficulty. And that's why we're separated from each other and from God, 103 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:34,120 because of sin and because of sin, conflict entered into the world. And as the prophecy 104 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:42,040 opens up here in Genesis chapter three, verse 15, this word enmity is there. The enmity only 105 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:47,800 means hostility and it means war. Read Genesis chapter three and you'll see that God gives us 106 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:52,520 the reason for all this enmity and the reason for all this heartbreak and pain. And it's still true 107 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:59,960 today, just as it was then. He said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you. He 108 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:05,240 said to the man, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and done this disobedient act. 109 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:12,600 That's what brought the curse on you. Because of our sin, conflict entered into the world. And 110 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:17,960 everything you see today in the way of conflict and bad news and darkness and difficulty and 111 00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:23,000 hardship and anger and hatred and wickedness and racism and everything else that you see today, 112 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:30,280 it's because of our choice of sin. Alexander McLaren, the commentator of the Bible said this, 113 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:37,160 posing the question, is this what God meant man to be? Of course, it's a rhetorical question. God 114 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:43,400 never created us to be in wickedness and sin and separation. He created us to have fellowship, 115 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:49,560 to have harmony, to be aligned with God, but we make our own choices. And here, the prophecy that 116 00:11:49,560 --> 00:11:56,680 God gives us from the beginning starts right there. I'll put enmity between you and the woman. 117 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:04,040 Now scripture defines why we have problems. And it says the location of those problems of the heart. 118 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:12,600 Jeremiah 17, nine says it like this, the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately 119 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:20,360 wicked. Who can understand it? Sometimes I have to remind myself when I see news headlines, 120 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:27,240 that's why those things are happening. I don't blame God. I don't blame organizations. I don't 121 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:33,000 blame culture. I blame the individual, the wicked heart of every individual. And most of us realize 122 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:39,000 this world is in cosmic conflict with God and cosmic conflict with each other. We cannot get 123 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:45,800 along. We cannot do things well. It's a dark, dark picture. And we see so much of it today in so many 124 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:52,680 different ways in real time. The heart is desperately sick. The world is desperately sick 125 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:58,360 and conflict happens because of sin. You know, it's because of sin that we have conflict over God, 126 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:06,040 where the creator is denied and creation is giving us the advice. Or conflict over truth, 127 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:11,640 where we're encouraged to have our own truth and disregard of what God's truth really is. 128 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,640 We have conflict over sin, where people do what's right in their own eyes instead of doing what's 129 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:22,520 best for everyone or what's best according to God. And then there's that internal conflict where our 130 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:28,200 feelings and our perceptions are waging war with reality. And sometimes it's so dark and we're so 131 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:34,040 confused, we don't know the right way about anything. But let's place our blame where it belongs, 132 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:40,040 on us. It's on mankind. And one of the most liberating things we can do is to own up to that 133 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:46,600 and say, I need a cure. I need forgiveness because my sin has created this catastrophe. 134 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:55,000 One of the most basic principles of counseling is that when people come in for counseling or 135 00:13:55,000 --> 00:14:01,960 an individual comes in for counseling, is to help them own their responsibility. Helping them come 136 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:09,240 to the place of saying, I did this. This is where the prophecy of Christ really begins 137 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:15,720 by pointing to the responsibility of sin and creating the conflict, the curse-bring conflict. 138 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:22,120 Secondly, this prophecy reminds us that the cure is Christ. Notice verse 15, second line. 139 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:31,160 It says, and between your seed and her seed, in the Old Testament, the word seed always 140 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:35,960 refers to genealogy. It always refers to the line that will come out of the individuals 141 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:40,840 that are being addressed. And it actually answers the question, who's going to come? 142 00:14:41,800 --> 00:14:47,960 Who's going to come and rescue us is the question. And with that statement of ongoing enmity 143 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:54,520 and war, the conflict and curse of sin, where the statement of who's going to rescue us comes to 144 00:14:54,520 --> 00:15:01,400 the surface, this is where the answer is going to be found. Between your seed and her seed. But the 145 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:07,000 prophecy states this, that the descendants or the offspring of the serpent will always wage war 146 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:13,880 against the descendants of Eve. You can with that create those two lines of individuals, two lines 147 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:20,040 of people, two lines of thought all the way through human history. Two streams, if you will. During 148 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:25,560 the work of Satan, who is the serpent of old or during the work of the seed of the woman. 149 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:30,680 So let's just examine that a little deeper. The seed of the serpent, first of all, can only be 150 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:37,800 the evil angels, the demonic world, and wicked men who would follow those ideas, later called 151 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:43,880 serpents by Jesus. In other words, everyone who tried to undermine God, everyone who tried to 152 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:50,360 undermine Christ. Early on in the ministry of Jesus, he called them out, some of those evil, 153 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:55,160 wicked people that are of the seed of Satan. Remember Jesus' baptism, Matthew chapter three, 154 00:15:55,160 --> 00:16:01,560 verse seven or so, Jesus was about to be baptized by John the Baptist, just to be fulfilling all 155 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:07,240 righteousness. If you remember that great, great scene. At that same time, there were those that 156 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:13,560 were false religious leaders who were there also in line to be baptized. Their idea was to 157 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:20,520 usurp the ministry of John the Baptist, somehow interrupt Jesus in doing so. So Jesus addresses 158 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:27,240 them by name. And here's what he says to them. You brood of vipers who warned you to flee from 159 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:34,040 the wrath that come, the seed of Satan. Later on, Jesus in John chapter eight is dealing with 160 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:39,080 those that are questioning his authority. And he says this to them, you are of your father, 161 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:43,720 the devil. You want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and 162 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:48,360 does not stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks 163 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:55,000 from his own nature for he's a liar and the father of lies. And all these verses help us to find the 164 00:16:55,000 --> 00:17:00,760 seed of Satan. That is that enmity with the seed of the woman. And you can say it's not just 165 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:05,880 demonic, but evil people who make this up, who make this group up, motivated by war, destruction, 166 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:12,680 temptation, deception, lying. Everything they do is an attempt to get you away from the God who 167 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:18,440 loves you. So the seed of Satan. Then the seed of the woman is the second part of this line. 168 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:24,360 That would be those that have followed God from each day of Israel and then from Israel's day to 169 00:17:24,360 --> 00:17:30,760 the church. And more specifically, most specifically it refers to the person of Jesus Christ. 170 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:37,720 Because later on in this same verse it says, he shall bruise you on the head. So this is the first 171 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:42,200 of many prophecies that we find in the Bible, but the first one that God gave us that answers the 172 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:51,880 question, who is our deliverer? Now I love about prophecies this. Prophecies always offer hope 173 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:58,680 in darkness. Hope in darkness. Anybody need hope in darkness? When I'm in darkness, I want hope. 174 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:05,240 I want light. I need hope. I need light. When you sing the Christmas songs and carols, 175 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:11,800 you notice none of them are real dampers. They're all encouraging. Joy to the world. The Lord has 176 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:19,160 come. Oh come, oh come, Emmanuel. We can go on and on and talk about the lyrics and the melodies of 177 00:18:19,160 --> 00:18:24,760 Christmas carols and Christmas music. And it's all uplifting. It's all encouraging because they're 178 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:31,640 pointing to hope, the fact that we have a cure for the curse of sin. There's light for the darkness. 179 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:38,120 It's all around our lives and scripture points to who that is. One of my favorite prophecies of 180 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:43,560 scripture about the Messiah is Isaiah chapter nine verse six. Most of you know this verse, 181 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:51,720 but most of you may not know that the first five verses of Isaiah chapter nine are dark verses 182 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:58,280 having to do with war and neglected responsibilities and bloody boots in the battlefield and so forth. 183 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:05,640 And then in great contrast to all this darkness is Isaiah chapter nine verse six. I want us to read 184 00:19:05,640 --> 00:19:10,360 it together. Not loud. I'm going to put it on the screen right here. Are you ready? Say it with me. 185 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:17,160 For a child will be born to us. A son will be given to us and the government will rest on his 186 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:25,640 shoulders. At his name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, eternal father, prince of 187 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:32,680 peace. Those are incredibly powerful words. Even more powerful if you're in darkness and you need 188 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:39,480 light. If you're in bondage and you need rescue. These words to Israel were so powerful to them 189 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:45,000 because they knew that there was only one answer to the dilemma of sin and conflict that they were 190 00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:51,640 in and that would be God's Messiah. New Testament passages that show the fulfillment of these 191 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:56,840 Old Testament prophecies point to the fact that this Messiah was the seed of the woman. 192 00:19:57,320 --> 00:20:02,680 Look at what it says in Galatians chapter four. For whom when the fullness of time came, God sent 193 00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:10,760 his son born of a woman, born under the law so that he might redeem those who were under the law 194 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:17,240 so that we might receive adoption as sons. It all points to Christ. It all points to expecting a 195 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:24,040 Messiah to come and here in Genesis three verse 15, God announced the cure who would come 196 00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:29,080 thousands of years after this announcement. You know what I love about this prophecy? 197 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:36,200 Besides the fact that God is the one that gave us this prophecy, it's when it was given. Go back 198 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:42,040 to the battle scene. Go back to the Garden of Eden. The fact that Adam and Eve are being banished 199 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:47,320 from the Garden, they're separated from God. Their futile attempt to cover their sin has not been 200 00:20:47,320 --> 00:20:53,160 accepted by God. So he gives them the garments of skin. Think about all of that darkness. At that 201 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:58,760 moment with just Adam and with just Eve, God said, even though you've said, even though you've 202 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:04,520 separated yourself from me, even though you've walked into darkness, I have a solution for you 203 00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:10,600 and consequently for all of the world and the Messiah that's to come. I love the fact that God 204 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:16,440 did not abandon Adam and Eve in the Garden. I love the fact that he did not destroy them immediately. 205 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:22,120 I love the fact that he does not abandon us in our sin, that he does not destroy us immediately. I 206 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:28,680 love the fact that that Messiah that is prophesied is for all of us as a whole and all of us as 207 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:35,720 individuals. It's huge. It's huge. So from the very beginning, God's prophecy was, I'm going to 208 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:42,040 fix this. I'm going to fix your problem and the problem of sin. I'm going to send a Messiah. 209 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:48,280 And that's why we have hope. That's why we are expectant because God has promised that he would 210 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:54,120 solve this. The struggle of sin and conflict has always been accompanied by the hope and expectation 211 00:21:54,120 --> 00:22:01,160 that God will one day bring us victory through the coming Messiah. So hundreds and thousands of years 212 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:08,520 of the history of Israel, they all look to that hope. And then when Christ came and fulfilled that 213 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:15,080 hope, then it was for us to be able to see the Messiah has come. Now we look back at that Messiah 214 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:20,680 and see that God truly fulfilled his word. But the third part of that prophecy is probably the most 215 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:26,600 encouraging. Now that we've identified the Messiah, it is that the conquest is certain. 216 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:33,800 I want you to notice that third line. He shall bruise you on the head and you will bruise him 217 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:39,240 on the heel. The word he is important there because it says the seed of the woman would be 218 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:46,920 a he, the Messiah would come and he would be a he who fulfills this prophecy. And that a battle 219 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:52,040 would be consummated and that the seed of the serpent will bruise him in the heel in the battle 220 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:58,680 and that ultimately the Messiah will bruise the serpent on the head. Now you say this is a little 221 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:03,480 bit obscure, it's a little bit general, but the reality is one is a mortal wound, one is not. 222 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:11,400 In other words, the Messiah would not be finally put to death in any way, shape or form, but that 223 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:18,200 Satan would be. Now this is all about battle, it's all about a war and part of the prophecy is who 224 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:25,640 will win the war. Satan will bruise Christ on the heel, but Christ will bruise him in the head. 225 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:32,360 Now I want you to go to the cross for just a few moments. At the cross it seemed like all the bowels 226 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:38,360 of hell were unleashed in that few moments, those few hours where Christ in the garden of Gethsemane 227 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:43,480 made the decision to go on to the cross. What an incredible scene where he said, Father not my will, 228 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:50,040 but your will be done. Then the betrayal, then the army soldiers came and then Jesus was scourged, 229 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:58,680 he was falsely accused, three trials that were illegal, literally illegal, and yet later on 230 00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:05,000 he was nailed to the cross. And I want you to realize this, that the seed of the serpent was 231 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:12,680 hard at work during those days. Evil men, demonic forces, lies, scheming, corrupt government officials, 232 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:19,320 wicked religious leaders all worked together in order to condemn Christ to be crucified and put 233 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:26,040 to death. But you need to remember that they were also scheming to keep you from God, because to 234 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:32,840 keep Christ from the cross is to keep you without salvation, keep me without hope. And so all the 235 00:24:32,840 --> 00:24:37,880 seed of Satan was at work in that moment on the cross, because Satan wanted us condemned, he wanted 236 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:43,000 us to be imprisoned in our sin and our curse, he wanted us to be in bondage, and that's why they 237 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:49,720 attacked Jesus so viciously, they bruised him on the heel. But this wound would not be a final wound 238 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:56,040 with him, because we know the story of the cross. Jesus Christ died physically on the cross, was 239 00:24:56,040 --> 00:25:03,080 buried, but he rose again from the dead on the third day, satisfying the price of redeeming mankind. 240 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:09,560 In other words, he overcame death, and he overcame sin, but more specifically, he overcame your death, 241 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:15,560 and he overcame your sin, and he overcame your separation. In other words, God's original 242 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:23,320 prophecy was coming to pass to take care of you. I love this picture, I love the expectancy that I 243 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:28,840 have in my heart, because I know God has taken care of all this through Jesus Christ, who crushes the 244 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:36,840 head of the serpent. A few weeks ago, I was reading in Hebrews chapter two about what Christ did for 245 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:43,400 us. The book of Hebrews is a great book about the high priest, Jesus Christ himself, and his work as 246 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:49,800 a high priest, as one who atones for us, who goes in between ourselves and God. And in Hebrews 2, 247 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:56,280 14 and 15, we read some incredible lines that have so much to do with this. Therefore, since the 248 00:25:56,280 --> 00:26:03,160 children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the saying that through 249 00:26:03,160 --> 00:26:09,880 death, he might render powerless, render powerless, him who had the power of death, that would be the 250 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:15,720 seed of Satan, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to 251 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:23,000 slavery all their lives. What an incredible promise. Christ on the cross would completely 252 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:28,520 undo what Satan did in the garden, and what man fell into in the garden, to completely 253 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:34,840 undo that through the person of Jesus Christ on the cross. God himself gave the very first gospel 254 00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:40,840 message in Genesis chapter three, verse 15. The very first prophecy of a messiah is right there, 255 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:47,160 and he created an expectancy that this messiah alone would fulfill it. I want to go back to 256 00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:51,720 the chart for just a moment. As you go back to that chart, go to that upper part right there. 257 00:26:52,840 --> 00:27:00,360 Born of a virgin, laid in a cradle, and then one day crucified on the cross, 258 00:27:01,640 --> 00:27:08,120 and in the coming days returning in his second coming as the king of kings and lord of lords, 259 00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:14,280 with a crown, with a sword, and the scepter to rule over all. I mean, we're talking about one 260 00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:20,840 verse of a prophecy fulfilling all of the history of mankind and our expectancy for all of that to 261 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:26,200 take place. Now, if you take a jet flight over the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, you're going to 262 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:31,640 find all the things we've talked about in Genesis chapter one, two, and three, you're going to see 263 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:37,320 the curse of sin all through the Old Testament, where people are saying, how long, oh Lord, when 264 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:42,600 will you send our rescuer? When will you send the messiah? And then of course, the gospel, the good 265 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:49,800 news is Jesus has come, therefore the manger and then the cross. But if you go all the way to the 266 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:55,960 end of the Bible, the book of Revelation, you get into a real book of war. I mean, you talk about 267 00:27:55,960 --> 00:28:03,960 war, the book of Revelation is a book about war, and it also is a book about victory. I want to 268 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:08,440 read just one verse, and all the symbolism of the book of Revelation and all of the incredible, 269 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:13,720 amazing truths there. There is one that is crystal clear that no one could misunderstand. 270 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:21,720 Revelation chapter 17, verse 14 speaks of a final victory, it speaks of a final act. It says this, 271 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:29,080 these will wage war against the lamb, and the lamb will overcome them because, why? He is Lord of 272 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:36,040 lords and King of kings, and those who are with him are the called and the chosen and the faithful. 273 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:41,800 Man, I love that passage right there. I have this feeling, this belief, I believe that 274 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:46,920 the last days are going to be a great fourth quarter to a football game in life in general. 275 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:51,800 You know, the whole idea of who's going to win and how's the victory going to come about. Now, 276 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:56,600 we already know how it's going to win because we read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. We know 277 00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:02,120 who wins, we know who's the victor, we know it's the Lord Jesus Christ. But this world we'll be 278 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:08,040 looking on as all this unfolds in these final days, and you and I need to be able to have the 279 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:15,480 expectancy and the confidence that Jesus Christ will win the day. I so wish sometimes we could 280 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:22,600 just take a reality pill and expose the forces of light and darkness and good and evil. If we could 281 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:28,360 take a reality pill and really see what's going on, you would see incredible opposition to the 282 00:29:28,360 --> 00:29:34,680 good news of the gospel, to the work of Christ himself, incredible attempts to keep our people 283 00:29:35,320 --> 00:29:41,560 and populations around the world away from God, away from truth. People pinned down like in a war 284 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:48,200 zone, unable to move, pulverized by fear and by separation and by deception, everything else. 285 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:53,880 I so wish you could see that because to see that is to see the brilliance of the light of a Messiah 286 00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:59,880 that will sweep all that away by his second coming. And I'm looking forward to that day and I hope 287 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:09,880 that you are too. In Saving Private Ryan, the great thing about the movie for me was that the whole 288 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:17,240 movie was built around the idea that five army rangers were going to go looking for one man 289 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:23,640 Private Ryan so that he could be brought back safely to his family. And the whole story unfolds 290 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:30,120 with that in mind. Private Ryan had no idea they were searching for him. Had no idea what had 291 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:35,160 happened back home. Had no idea that he was going to be rescued. He was just in the battle, just in 292 00:30:35,160 --> 00:30:41,480 the war, just in the darkness, death all around him. Had no idea. The strength of the movie for me 293 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:49,000 was that it was not just about the many he would be liberated, but the one. And the strength for me 294 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:55,400 of the prophecy is not just that all the population of the world would be liberated if they would put 295 00:30:55,400 --> 00:31:01,960 their faith in Christ. It was about the one, the Adam and the Eve. And in a very real way, 296 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:11,160 in a very real way, all the Messiah is going to do and has done is about the one that is you. 297 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:16,440 It's incredibly important for you to take biblical prophecy about a Messiah that came 298 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:22,840 personally. Because Jesus Christ, though he came because God so loved the world, 299 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:30,600 he came because God so loved you. It's important not to take Jesus and just put him on a Christmas 300 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:37,640 card. Just put him on a carol. It's important that you put him on the throne room of your life 301 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:43,000 because he's the King of Kings, the Lord of Lord, who's come for you from the beginning. That was 302 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:55,160 his plan. And today I wonder if you see him that way. And today I ask you, can you, would you, 303 00:31:55,160 --> 00:32:03,720 will you see him that way as your Messiah, as your conqueror, as your rescuer has come from you. 304 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:07,640 Through all the war zones, through all the darkness, he's come for you. 305 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:13,800 It's just a moment. We're closing prayers. We always do. I want to give three invitations to 306 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:20,120 you today, first of all. It's a great time to make a decision to put your faith in Jesus Christ. 307 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:25,240 We talk about Jesus. We preach about Jesus. We're passionate about Jesus Christ. But you know, 308 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:33,160 Jesus Christ wants to be in your heart, not just in your head. He wants to be in your life. And the 309 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:38,280 only way he'll do that is if you invite him by faith to be your Lord, to be your Savior, to forgive 310 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:44,440 you of your sin, to take care of the curse of sin for you. And every time a person does that, 311 00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:48,440 they receive eternal life. Once and for all, it's theirs from that moment on. 312 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:53,560 Jesus said, truly, truly, he who believes in me has eternal life. That's actually a past tense 313 00:32:53,560 --> 00:33:00,600 statement. Believe in Christ, it's yours. It's yours forever. But you must personally respond 314 00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:07,080 to a God who personally responds to you. So that's the first invitation. Come to the decision 315 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:12,840 station. Talk to somebody there at one of these tables at the back that we've lit up. Secondly, 316 00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:17,000 I invite you to come to guest reception room where I can meet you and welcome you. I'm going to 317 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:20,440 invite you to come to guest reception room where I can meet you and welcome you if you're a guest. 318 00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:24,600 Just give me a couple of minutes to talk about why we think God is doing something special here 319 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:29,960 and how we'd love to have you be involved with that. Thirdly, I invite you to invite others with you. 320 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,600 This week as you leave, you'll be able to see something that you can pick up that's an invite 321 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:39,960 to others around you. My encouragement is grab one of those, reach somebody out, reach out to 322 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:47,400 somebody that you know you know you know you know you know. We're going to invite you to come to 323 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:52,120 the meeting next week. Bring them with you next week. Would you stand with me as we have a word 324 00:33:52,120 --> 00:34:00,600 of prayer? Father, I'm so extremely grateful for a prophecy made at that moment in the garden 325 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:09,080 that extends through the entire history of our world. I thank you Lord Jesus that you are the 326 00:34:09,080 --> 00:34:15,160 one who will come again one day. Jesus will be riding a white horse. Lord, he will be coming in 327 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:21,560 victory. Father, I thank you so much that we will be with him. Lord, I pray for every person in this 328 00:34:21,560 --> 00:34:27,240 room today to consider the invitation to allow Jesus Christ to be the Lord and Savior of their 329 00:34:27,240 --> 00:34:32,680 lives. There's no more important decision that can ever possibly make them this one. Today we 330 00:34:32,680 --> 00:34:38,520 give this day to you. Thank you for being our Savior. Give us an expectancy of knowing you and 331 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:49,400 walking with you in Jesus name. Amen.