WEBVTT 00:00:00.629 --> 00:00:03.990 season with this Sunday as we celebrate it in 00:00:03.990 --> 00:00:08.449 our church. And since we have five Sundays during 00:00:08.449 --> 00:00:11.150 this season of the year, we're going to be following 00:00:11.150 --> 00:00:15.189 a particular theme that will take us five weeks. 00:00:16.629 --> 00:00:20.329 It will be the study of Christmas in the Pentateuch, 00:00:20.329 --> 00:00:23.750 looking at each of the five books of Moses and 00:00:23.750 --> 00:00:27.989 finding there Something to deal with the Christmas 00:00:27.989 --> 00:00:31.269 theme. Today we do so in the book of Genesis. 00:00:32.450 --> 00:00:35.009 For after all, the first promise of Christmas 00:00:35.009 --> 00:00:39.850 was not when the angel announced his birth to 00:00:39.850 --> 00:00:45.270 the shepherds, nor when Gabriel foretold to Mary 00:00:45.270 --> 00:00:48.429 that she was chosen by God to bear the Savior. 00:00:49.009 --> 00:00:51.969 The first promise of Christmas was neither when 00:00:51.969 --> 00:01:08.799 Micah, the prophet of old, To find the first 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:11.379 promise of Christmas, we need to go back to the 00:01:11.379 --> 00:01:15.439 book of beginnings, the book of Genesis. And 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.640 I invite you to do that with me as we turn to 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:22.439 Genesis chapter 3. Here in these chapters of 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:26.939 Genesis is recorded, a world untainted by sin, 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:33.519 man and woman created in the image of God, innocent 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:39.500 and in fellowship with their Creator. Here we 00:01:39.500 --> 00:01:45.219 find a world in which all was perfect, where 00:01:45.219 --> 00:01:50.400 man ruled by God's appointment, and where everything 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:57.269 was provided. and only one thing was forbidden. 00:01:59.230 --> 00:02:03.230 Here we find recorded the coming of the tempter, 00:02:03.329 --> 00:02:09.409 the temptation to disbelieve and to disobey the 00:02:09.409 --> 00:02:14.789 Creator. Here we find the choice made to eat 00:02:14.789 --> 00:02:20.569 the forbidden fruit. Here we find the fall from 00:02:20.569 --> 00:02:25.219 the glory of innocence, to the shame of guilt, 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:30.800 the loss of fellowship with the Creator, and 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:35.039 the entrance of death as the penalty of sin. 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:40.240 Beginning in the third chapter of Genesis and 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:44.240 the eighth verse, we have an account of the confrontation 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:50.400 of the fallen creatures by the Holy Creator in 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:56.030 the garden called Eden. The language does suggest, 00:02:56.090 --> 00:03:00.689 at least, that God appeared in human form to 00:03:00.689 --> 00:03:05.969 His creatures, that this was a theophany, and 00:03:05.969 --> 00:03:10.490 that it was not unusual, for it was God's custom, 00:03:10.569 --> 00:03:13.550 apparently, to come in the cool of the day and 00:03:13.550 --> 00:03:19.530 to meet with them. The three participants in 00:03:19.530 --> 00:03:25.750 the fall are here in the garden. God begins by 00:03:25.750 --> 00:03:28.430 asking questions. Indeed, that's all that God 00:03:28.430 --> 00:03:33.710 does at first, one question after another. We 00:03:33.710 --> 00:03:35.569 need to understand that the questions were not 00:03:35.569 --> 00:03:39.530 occasioned by God's ignorance, as though God 00:03:39.530 --> 00:03:43.550 didn't already know the answers to the questions 00:03:43.550 --> 00:03:47.569 He posed. But the questions were intended to 00:03:47.569 --> 00:03:51.030 bring an acknowledgment from these creatures. 00:03:52.169 --> 00:03:57.090 regarding their disobedience. The text that is 00:03:57.090 --> 00:04:00.550 before us in this chapter indicates a perpetual 00:04:00.550 --> 00:04:04.710 struggle that would take place from that point 00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:10.310 on between the offspring of the snake, or Satan, 00:04:10.509 --> 00:04:15.969 and the offspring of Eve. A struggle that would 00:04:15.969 --> 00:04:20.930 conclude only in the far distant by an act of 00:04:20.930 --> 00:04:25.870 suffering. That brings us to the 15th verse of 00:04:25.870 --> 00:04:28.610 this chapter, where we find what is called the 00:04:28.610 --> 00:04:32.329 Prot Evangelium, which means the first promise 00:04:32.329 --> 00:04:36.769 of the good news about a Redeemer. God, in verse 00:04:36.769 --> 00:04:40.189 15, is speaking to the snake. You will notice 00:04:40.189 --> 00:04:44.050 He addresses the snake, or Satan. Then He addresses 00:04:44.050 --> 00:04:48.569 the woman, in verse 16. And in verse 17, He addresses 00:04:48.569 --> 00:04:52.829 Adam. In speaking to the snake, he says, And 00:04:52.829 --> 00:04:55.829 I will put enmity between you and the woman, 00:04:55.970 --> 00:05:01.230 and between your seed and her seed. He shall 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:04.930 bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise 00:05:04.930 --> 00:05:10.670 him on the heel. And so we find the first promise 00:05:10.670 --> 00:05:16.509 of the Redeemer. Perhaps you have been to plays. 00:05:17.959 --> 00:05:20.899 and waited with anticipation and excitement for 00:05:20.899 --> 00:05:24.839 the curtain to be raised. As you sat there, there 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:27.000 was some kind of prelude perhaps, where the minutes 00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:29.259 ticked away until the hour when it was to begin. 00:05:30.379 --> 00:05:32.500 And the first thing that happened was that the 00:05:32.500 --> 00:05:36.680 curtain was lifted. And then the drama began 00:05:36.680 --> 00:05:40.000 to unfold. What we have in Genesis 3 .15 is the 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:46.000 beginning of the lifting of the curtain. The 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:51.680 drama of the ages begins at this point to unfold, 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:54.899 and it unfolds throughout the entire Word of 00:05:54.899 --> 00:05:59.660 God. But here the curtain on the drama of redemption 00:05:59.660 --> 00:06:02.980 begins to raise so that we can get a glimpse, 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:08.360 however brief, of what is going to take place 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:14.600 in the drama to come. From here... and other 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:16.839 places in the Scriptures, we understand this 00:06:16.839 --> 00:06:21.740 truth, that God promised salvation to the race 00:06:21.740 --> 00:06:24.959 of Adam. You say, well, that's a very ordinary 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:28.459 statement. Not at all. In fact, it is a very 00:06:28.459 --> 00:06:32.360 provocative statement. It is even a radical statement. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:37.660 God promised salvation to the race of Adam. Think 00:06:37.660 --> 00:06:40.800 about it with me. The statement begins with the 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:44.129 word God. Nothing is more out of place or radical 00:06:44.129 --> 00:06:46.910 in our world today than those three letters put 00:06:46.910 --> 00:06:53.750 in that order. God, the infinite, personal, supreme 00:06:53.750 --> 00:06:59.290 being, the creator of all. It is a radical statement 00:06:59.290 --> 00:07:02.310 to begin any statement with the word God in our 00:07:02.310 --> 00:07:09.029 world. God promised. Here we're saying that God 00:07:09.029 --> 00:07:16.740 took an action. That God spoke. That God did 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:21.279 something. God is not simply a force. He is not 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:24.040 simply a being who began it all and then went 00:07:24.040 --> 00:07:26.399 off somewhere else to look after other things. 00:07:27.379 --> 00:07:31.079 But God is a God who is involved with the human 00:07:31.079 --> 00:07:37.579 race and this world in which we live. God promised 00:07:37.579 --> 00:07:42.509 salvation. Now there is an irritating word to 00:07:42.509 --> 00:07:46.649 the world. For the word salvation implies that 00:07:46.649 --> 00:07:50.509 man needs something. That man is incomplete. 00:07:51.790 --> 00:07:55.569 Indeed, that man is helpless and cannot do something 00:07:55.569 --> 00:08:01.930 for himself. The Bible says God promised salvation. 00:08:02.029 --> 00:08:06.790 God promised a rescue. God promised to do something 00:08:06.790 --> 00:08:10.810 that man could not do for himself. God promised 00:08:10.810 --> 00:08:17.449 salvation to the race of Adam. That phrase indicates 00:08:17.449 --> 00:08:23.769 the common ancestry of all of us, that we are 00:08:23.769 --> 00:08:28.970 all the descendants of one couple whose sinful 00:08:28.970 --> 00:08:34.029 nature and condemnation we have also inherited. 00:08:35.230 --> 00:08:41.620 The race of Adam. Adam who is a fantasy and a 00:08:41.620 --> 00:08:45.759 legend to the world, a figment of imagination 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:51.940 of religious people, an idea to the world, but 00:08:51.940 --> 00:08:54.340 an Adam whom the Bible declares to have been 00:08:54.340 --> 00:09:00.019 a real, literal, historical person. God promised 00:09:00.019 --> 00:09:07.200 salvation to the race of Adam. And we see that 00:09:07.200 --> 00:09:10.460 salvation beginning to unfold as early as Genesis 00:09:10.460 --> 00:09:15.539 3, verse 15. There are a couple of facts about 00:09:15.539 --> 00:09:17.720 this salvation that we want to notice this morning. 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:22.120 First of all, the salvation that God promised 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:27.639 would come through the seed. You will notice 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:30.539 that there are two seeds that are spoken of in 00:09:30.539 --> 00:09:33.759 this verse. There is your seed, God speaking 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:38.730 to the serpent. and her seed. Well, there's only 00:09:38.730 --> 00:09:44.490 one her there. That was Eve. There are two seeds 00:09:44.490 --> 00:09:48.529 that are spoken of here, the serpent's seed and 00:09:48.529 --> 00:09:54.590 the woman's seed. God says, I will put enmity 00:09:54.590 --> 00:10:00.190 between you. The word enmity is related to our 00:10:00.190 --> 00:10:03.690 word enemy. God says there's going to be an enemy 00:10:03.690 --> 00:10:07.220 relationship. There is going to be hostility 00:10:07.220 --> 00:10:11.299 between the seeds of the snake, the seed of the 00:10:11.299 --> 00:10:16.840 woman. Now that means much more than the fact 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:20.860 that most of us hate snakes. There are a few 00:10:20.860 --> 00:10:25.320 people who love reptiles. They are beyond my 00:10:25.320 --> 00:10:29.720 understanding. I do not understand them. I don't 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:32.820 know what makes them tick. There is only one 00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:38.570 good snake and you know what kind that is. But 00:10:38.570 --> 00:10:41.029 this verse means far more than the fact that 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:44.289 human beings and snakes are not going to very 00:10:44.289 --> 00:10:47.269 often live on the same turf in friendly terms. 00:10:48.190 --> 00:10:52.730 There is a spiritual meaning behind this. The 00:10:52.730 --> 00:10:57.690 seed of the serpent who is indwelt here by Satan 00:10:57.690 --> 00:11:04.610 refers to the family of the devil. That is fallen 00:11:04.610 --> 00:11:10.350 humanity. You see, when Adam fell, the allegiance, 00:11:10.470 --> 00:11:18.330 the identity of mankind was transferred by this 00:11:18.330 --> 00:11:23.169 disobedience from him as the head of the human 00:11:23.169 --> 00:11:28.870 race to Satan, who is now the spiritual head 00:11:28.870 --> 00:11:35.259 of fallen humanity. When God speaks here about 00:11:35.259 --> 00:11:38.139 the seed of the serpent, it's more than baby 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:43.899 snakes. He is talking about fallen humanity that 00:11:43.899 --> 00:11:47.080 would come from this generation on and be spiritually 00:11:47.080 --> 00:11:51.840 now, spiritually related to the serpent, the 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:58.139 deceiver, to Satan. The woman seed is not identified 00:11:58.139 --> 00:12:05.559 here clearly. But obviously it refers to a family, 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:13.679 and it refers to a person. God identifies the 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:20.519 person as He. He shall bruise. You shall bruise 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:27.799 Him on the heel. We're going to talk about who 00:12:27.799 --> 00:12:33.519 this seed is. as we progress. Let me say a word 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:36.379 about this hostility between the two families. 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.039 The Bible indicates that this hostility, this 00:12:42.039 --> 00:12:47.000 sense of warfare and enemy relationship is going 00:12:47.000 --> 00:12:52.879 to intensify as the age comes to its close. I 00:12:52.879 --> 00:12:55.179 believe that is indicated to us in Revelation 00:12:55.179 --> 00:12:57.919 chapter 12 in a text we don't have time to look 00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:00.779 at this morning. but I invite you to examine 00:13:00.779 --> 00:13:04.360 it on your own. And you will find there that 00:13:04.360 --> 00:13:07.120 in the last days there will be an intense hatred 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:11.019 between the two families that are suggested here 00:13:11.019 --> 00:13:18.139 in Genesis 3 .15. Now, who is this seed of the 00:13:18.139 --> 00:13:23.840 woman? Well, I said it refers to a family, and 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:26.080 I believe it does. It is the family of the righteous. 00:13:27.070 --> 00:13:33.330 Those who become rightly related to God. But 00:13:33.330 --> 00:13:37.370 it focuses even more on one particular person. 00:13:38.529 --> 00:13:41.330 I believe we have a clue to the answer to that 00:13:41.330 --> 00:13:44.110 in Galatians, the New Testament, chapter 4 and 00:13:44.110 --> 00:13:47.830 verse 4. We're speaking from God's perspective. 00:13:47.870 --> 00:13:51.490 It says, when the fullness of time was come, 00:13:51.710 --> 00:13:55.990 God sent forth His Son. What are the next words? 00:13:58.289 --> 00:14:05.110 Born of a what? Born of a woman. Now who is that? 00:14:05.789 --> 00:14:12.129 Well, it is the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with 00:14:12.129 --> 00:14:15.490 me to the Gospel of Luke and look in chapter 00:14:15.490 --> 00:14:21.830 1 of this Gospel. We have the identity of the 00:14:21.830 --> 00:14:27.419 seed of the woman, the one born of a woman. As 00:14:27.419 --> 00:14:31.399 Galatians 4 .4 says it, the identity is revealed 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:36.159 here in Luke chapter 1, beginning in verse 30, 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:39.360 where the angel Gabriel speaks to Mary and says, 00:14:39.419 --> 00:14:42.860 Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor 00:14:42.860 --> 00:14:47.139 with God, and behold, you will conceive in your 00:14:47.139 --> 00:14:53.720 womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 00:14:55.559 --> 00:15:00.179 The name Jesus in the Greek or Joshua or Jehoshua 00:15:00.179 --> 00:15:07.679 in the Hebrew means Jehovah saves. You will name 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:12.779 him the Lord saves, this one who is about to 00:15:12.779 --> 00:15:16.720 be conceived in your womb and who is to be born 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:20.980 of you. You say, well, how do you really know 00:15:20.980 --> 00:15:24.080 that this is the fulfillment? of what was said 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:28.700 in Genesis 3 .15. Well, I want you to turn over 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:32.559 a page or two to Luke chapter 3 and notice the 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:35.519 ancestral line of Jesus Christ that is given 00:15:35.519 --> 00:15:41.200 to us in this chapter. It begins in verse 23 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:50.240 of Luke chapter 3, and it says, Jesus himself 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:54.419 was about 30 years of age, being supposedly the 00:15:54.419 --> 00:15:57.340 son of Joseph. Now, we understand why Luke phrases 00:15:57.340 --> 00:16:00.740 it that way. He says, the son of Eli, the son 00:16:00.740 --> 00:16:03.860 of Mahat, and he goes on through a whole lineage. 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:06.759 And notice the very last verse in the chapter, 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:10.259 the son of Enoch, the son of Seth, the son of 00:16:10.259 --> 00:16:16.940 Adam, the son of God. And so we find here the 00:16:16.940 --> 00:16:21.080 lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ traced all of 00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:26.120 the way back to Adam and to Eve. Now what is 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:29.899 the significance of that? It is just this, that 00:16:29.899 --> 00:16:35.559 he thus is proven by lineage, by genealogy, to 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:39.120 be the fulfillment of the promise to Adam and 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:44.389 Eve. that there would come from the seed of the 00:16:44.389 --> 00:16:50.429 woman one who would redeem them. The Lord Jesus 00:16:50.429 --> 00:16:56.529 Christ is that seed of the woman. Now did Satan 00:16:56.529 --> 00:16:59.350 understand what God was saying to him in the 00:16:59.350 --> 00:17:03.750 garden that day? Indeed, he did. He understood 00:17:03.750 --> 00:17:06.230 what God was saying, and it was his attempt. 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:10.259 from that point on, over and over again, to cut 00:17:10.259 --> 00:17:13.119 off the possibility of this seed being born. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:17.759 I believe that we see it in what happened in 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:19.980 those days before the flood, when the sons of 00:17:19.980 --> 00:17:24.339 God and the daughters of men intermarried. I've 00:17:24.339 --> 00:17:26.519 shared with you before my understanding of what 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:36.019 that text is saying, that there was the interjection, 00:17:38.009 --> 00:17:44.190 of demonic seed into the human family by the 00:17:44.190 --> 00:17:49.829 intermarriage of fallen angels with women. You 00:17:49.829 --> 00:17:51.589 say, well, how can that be? What does that mean? 00:17:51.670 --> 00:17:54.210 Well, it raises a lot of questions we don't have 00:17:54.210 --> 00:17:57.150 time to deal with this morning. We've talked 00:17:57.150 --> 00:18:00.630 about it before. But I believe that the result 00:18:00.630 --> 00:18:05.410 of that intermarriage of fallen angels and women 00:18:06.890 --> 00:18:11.549 was producing a pollution of the human race which 00:18:11.549 --> 00:18:17.009 Satan intended to be a block to the possibility 00:18:17.009 --> 00:18:20.549 of the seed of the woman being born as the Redeemer. 00:18:22.089 --> 00:18:28.069 And that is why God, among other reasons, felt 00:18:28.069 --> 00:18:30.670 it was absolutely necessary to destroy all of 00:18:30.670 --> 00:18:34.130 the human race, save Noah and his family at that 00:18:34.130 --> 00:18:37.730 occasion. There needed to be a new beginning, 00:18:37.829 --> 00:18:40.930 a new beginning of the human race, and that's 00:18:40.930 --> 00:18:47.910 what happened with Noah and his family. We see 00:18:47.910 --> 00:18:50.369 Satan attempting to cut off the possibility of 00:18:50.369 --> 00:18:54.289 the seed being born when the sons of Israel were 00:18:54.289 --> 00:18:58.470 nearly destroyed in the land of Egypt. When Pharaoh 00:18:58.470 --> 00:19:03.450 attempted to destroy the nation, we see it again 00:19:03.450 --> 00:19:06.640 when Haman, was attempting to destroy all the 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:10.680 Jews in Persia. We see it in the New Testament 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:14.019 record when Herod tried to kill all the baby 00:19:14.019 --> 00:19:17.420 boys in Bethlehem. Satan, you see, was behind 00:19:17.420 --> 00:19:20.240 the scenes there attempting to cut off the seed 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:24.599 of the woman. But he was born. His life was preserved 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:27.480 in that occasion, as you know the story. And 00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:29.700 I think we see Satan's attempt yet once again 00:19:29.700 --> 00:19:32.160 in the premature murder of Christ by the people 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:35.519 of Nazareth. when they were going to push him 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.160 over the hill for what they thought was blasphemy 00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:39.920 in his reading of the Scriptures in the synagogue. 00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:44.099 And we see it yet again, and not once but twice, 00:19:44.119 --> 00:19:46.200 there was a storm on the Sea of Galilee that 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:49.180 was of supernatural origin that threatened to 00:19:49.180 --> 00:19:53.440 sink the boat with Jesus and the disciples. Again 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:56.460 and again, Satan sought to cut off the birth 00:19:56.460 --> 00:20:00.240 of this seed of the woman. And when he couldn't 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:02.500 prevent it, he sought to kill the seed of the 00:20:02.500 --> 00:20:06.930 woman. prematurely, so that this promise could 00:20:06.930 --> 00:20:11.190 not be fulfilled. But he failed. And salvation 00:20:11.190 --> 00:20:15.769 was provided. It could only be provided through 00:20:15.769 --> 00:20:20.710 the seed of the woman. And it seems clear from 00:20:20.710 --> 00:20:24.009 the Scriptures that Adam and Eve both believed 00:20:24.009 --> 00:20:28.950 what God said to them at this point. They understood 00:20:28.950 --> 00:20:31.789 enough of God's promise here that they believed 00:20:31.789 --> 00:20:37.369 God. and were saved. They were forgiven of their 00:20:37.369 --> 00:20:43.029 disobedience and transgression. And as a result 00:20:43.029 --> 00:20:48.210 of that, God slew an animal, as you know, and 00:20:48.210 --> 00:20:50.990 used the skin of that animal to give them clothing, 00:20:51.109 --> 00:20:54.609 not merely to cover their physical nakedness, 00:20:54.690 --> 00:20:58.410 but symbolically to give them covering in His 00:20:58.410 --> 00:21:07.170 sight. Adam and Eve can be met in heaven, I believe. 00:21:08.250 --> 00:21:11.730 Our great, great, great, great times, who knows 00:21:11.730 --> 00:21:16.809 how many grandparents believed God's promise 00:21:16.809 --> 00:21:20.869 regarding the seed of the woman and are today 00:21:20.869 --> 00:21:26.190 in heaven. The salvation that God promised for 00:21:26.190 --> 00:21:29.730 the race of Adam had to come through the seed 00:21:29.730 --> 00:21:33.759 of the woman. Thus it was necessary for Jesus 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:36.640 to be born. You say, well, couldn't God have 00:21:36.640 --> 00:21:39.680 created a body for Jesus and He'd simply come 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:42.799 and indwelt that body without going through all 00:21:42.799 --> 00:21:46.680 of this Bethlehem thing? Well, God could have 00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:49.180 done it that way. Jesus could have come that 00:21:49.180 --> 00:21:56.180 way, but He could not have been our Savior. He 00:21:56.180 --> 00:21:58.599 certainly could have come into the world through 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:01.400 that means, God creating a special body for Him 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:04.279 But he could not be qualified to fulfill the 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:11.019 promise of Genesis 3 .15. He had to be born the 00:22:11.019 --> 00:22:16.980 seed of the woman. And he was born of the Virgin 00:22:16.980 --> 00:22:23.079 Mary and fulfilled that qualification. A true 00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:28.440 physical descendant of Adam and Eve. And the 00:22:28.440 --> 00:22:32.019 genealogy traces him all the way back. to Adam, 00:22:32.140 --> 00:22:38.380 the fulfillment of God's promise. So salvation 00:22:38.380 --> 00:22:40.420 would come through the seed, but we learn something 00:22:40.420 --> 00:22:43.500 else in Genesis chapter 3, to go back there now, 00:22:43.660 --> 00:22:46.519 and that is that salvation would come through 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:50.720 suffering. Salvation would come through suffering. 00:22:52.660 --> 00:23:00.740 Suffering is the result of sin. question the 00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:03.299 existence of God because there is suffering in 00:23:03.299 --> 00:23:08.259 the world. They especially question the suffering 00:23:08.259 --> 00:23:15.599 of what we call innocent people. And it is difficult 00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:19.700 for us to see the suffering of children. They're 00:23:19.700 --> 00:23:23.200 starving to death. Or the suffering of innocent 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:27.819 civilians caught in a cruel war. That is not 00:23:27.819 --> 00:23:32.900 easy to understand. But we can understand this, 00:23:33.059 --> 00:23:37.160 that every incident of suffering in the history 00:23:37.160 --> 00:23:40.900 of the world has been occasioned because of the 00:23:40.900 --> 00:23:47.000 disobedience of Grandfather Adam. Suffering, 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:50.680 you see, is the result of sin. It is a prelude 00:23:50.680 --> 00:23:59.160 to sin's ultimate penalty, which is death. Suffering 00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:04.980 exists. In the animal kingdom, suffering exists 00:24:04.980 --> 00:24:11.339 in the human kingdom because of sin. God said 00:24:11.339 --> 00:24:15.160 that childbirth would be accompanied by travail, 00:24:15.460 --> 00:24:22.140 by pain, and that is true. And there's also the 00:24:22.140 --> 00:24:24.240 pain of the husband who has to stand there and 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.509 watch and do the counting and the coaching. I 00:24:27.509 --> 00:24:29.509 always told my wife her suffering was nothing 00:24:29.509 --> 00:24:32.970 like what I endured. No, I didn't tell her quite 00:24:32.970 --> 00:24:36.250 that way. In fact, I didn't even tell her that. 00:24:38.609 --> 00:24:45.109 There is suffering in the birth of a child. There 00:24:45.109 --> 00:24:47.609 is suffering in the toil of work. God said to 00:24:47.609 --> 00:24:50.269 Adam, from now on you are going to toil at the 00:24:50.269 --> 00:24:54.390 ground. Thorns and thistles are going to come 00:24:54.390 --> 00:24:57.140 up along with the seed you're going to sow. It's 00:24:57.140 --> 00:24:59.299 with the sweat of your brow that you're going 00:24:59.299 --> 00:25:01.480 to have food from now. There is suffering coming, 00:25:01.640 --> 00:25:10.579 Adam, because of your disobedience. Have you 00:25:10.579 --> 00:25:13.299 ever considered the fact that God drove Adam 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:18.619 and Eve out of the garden, out of his own mercy? 00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:23.619 You know, shortly after this, God drove them 00:25:23.619 --> 00:25:27.319 out of the garden. and put a prevention there, 00:25:27.460 --> 00:25:30.759 an angel with a sword, to prevent them coming 00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:35.420 back into the Garden of Eden. Some people interpret 00:25:35.420 --> 00:25:38.259 that as a rather cruel thing for God to do. No, 00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:40.460 no, it was an act of mercy, and I'll tell you 00:25:40.460 --> 00:25:44.119 why. Because suffering has now entered the human 00:25:44.119 --> 00:25:48.160 race, and God doesn't want man to eat of the 00:25:48.160 --> 00:25:53.819 tree of life and live forever now. You see, as 00:25:53.819 --> 00:25:59.920 much as death is the penalty of sin, you can 00:25:59.920 --> 00:26:04.359 also understand it to be an act of mercy in ceasing 00:26:04.359 --> 00:26:08.519 physical suffering in the world. God did not 00:26:08.519 --> 00:26:10.720 want man to be in the garden where he had access 00:26:10.720 --> 00:26:13.299 to that tree and would live in his physical body 00:26:13.299 --> 00:26:15.819 forever because it was a body that was now going 00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:18.940 to degenerate and be affected by sin and by suffering. 00:26:22.089 --> 00:26:24.670 In a very literal sense, death was an act of 00:26:24.670 --> 00:26:28.970 mercy. Physical death was an act of mercy on 00:26:28.970 --> 00:26:31.750 the part of God toward his fallen, suffering 00:26:31.750 --> 00:26:41.609 creature. Sin brings suffering. Sin brings death 00:26:41.609 --> 00:26:46.210 as a penalty. And because of that, sin could 00:26:46.210 --> 00:26:52.160 only be broken and conquered and forgiven. Salvation 00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:56.200 could only come through suffering and death. 00:26:57.700 --> 00:27:00.099 Regarding the seed, you will notice that God 00:27:00.099 --> 00:27:04.019 says, He shall bruise you on the head, you shall 00:27:04.019 --> 00:27:08.299 bruise him on the heel. Let's take the last statement 00:27:08.299 --> 00:27:12.039 first. You, Satan, the serpent, you shall bruise 00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:15.700 him on the heel. Speaking of the suffering of 00:27:15.700 --> 00:27:20.079 the seed of the woman at the hands of the serpent. 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:23.400 He is talking here about the suffering of the 00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:28.299 cross, the suffering that the seed of the woman 00:27:28.299 --> 00:27:36.839 would endure because of sin. But he says, he 00:27:36.839 --> 00:27:40.640 shall bruise you on the head. There's a whole 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:44.359 lot of difference between those two wounds. The 00:27:44.359 --> 00:27:49.960 one is painful. The other is fatal. And God says 00:27:49.960 --> 00:27:54.539 to the serpent, He, the seed of the woman, this 00:27:54.539 --> 00:27:57.619 race of people that you have now conquered and 00:27:57.619 --> 00:28:00.740 who must give allegiance to you, Satan, nonetheless 00:28:00.740 --> 00:28:04.299 there will come a seed of the woman who will 00:28:04.299 --> 00:28:12.759 crush your head, who will destroy you. Again, 00:28:12.900 --> 00:28:16.480 speaking of the suffering and death of Jesus 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:21.069 Christ, through which... Satan would be disarmed 00:28:21.069 --> 00:28:24.289 and the works of the devil would be destroyed. 00:28:26.049 --> 00:28:27.990 You say, what has this got to do with Christmas? 00:28:28.230 --> 00:28:32.289 Well, it's got a lot to do with Christmas. It's 00:28:32.289 --> 00:28:36.470 the reason for it in the first place. The seed 00:28:36.470 --> 00:28:41.289 had to come in this miraculous way in order for 00:28:41.289 --> 00:28:45.009 the seed to suffer, to be bruised on the heel, 00:28:45.190 --> 00:28:50.609 so that in turn he might Crush the head of the 00:28:50.609 --> 00:28:53.750 serpent. And it's interesting, we see suffering 00:28:53.750 --> 00:28:56.009 suggested even in the events around the birth 00:28:56.009 --> 00:28:59.569 of Christ. You remember when the wise men came 00:28:59.569 --> 00:29:02.490 from the east, they brought three gifts, and 00:29:02.490 --> 00:29:06.250 one of those gifts was the gift of myrrh. An 00:29:06.250 --> 00:29:10.130 odd gift, a very expensive gift, a valuable gift, 00:29:10.309 --> 00:29:14.289 but an odd gift to give a baby because it was 00:29:14.289 --> 00:29:20.059 used in that day in embalming. And so even in 00:29:20.059 --> 00:29:23.799 the gift that was given to Jesus celebrating 00:29:23.799 --> 00:29:27.680 his birth, there was the suggestion of death 00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:33.779 that was coming. We see it too when Mary and 00:29:33.779 --> 00:29:36.619 Joseph brought the baby into the temple to be 00:29:36.619 --> 00:29:41.299 dedicated. And Simeon, this old man who has waited 00:29:41.299 --> 00:29:44.440 for the salvation of God and who has been promised 00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:47.440 by God that he would not die until his eyes had 00:29:47.440 --> 00:29:52.099 seen. The salvation that God had promised. And 00:29:52.099 --> 00:29:55.660 he meets them there. And instantly he recognizes 00:29:55.660 --> 00:30:00.240 the uniqueness of this baby. And he takes the 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:04.700 baby in his arms and begins to sing to God and 00:30:04.700 --> 00:30:08.400 to praise God. He says, now I'm ready to die. 00:30:11.539 --> 00:30:18.279 But he also said to Mary, as he began to depart 00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:23.559 from them, and a sword shall pierce your soul 00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:31.779 too. It says that Mary stored these things up 00:30:31.779 --> 00:30:35.599 in her heart. Later she told them to Luke, and 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:38.079 he recorded them for us by the inspiration of 00:30:38.079 --> 00:30:42.420 God's Spirit. Undoubtedly, Mary was wondering, 00:30:42.500 --> 00:30:45.519 what does that mean, a sword will pierce my soul? 00:30:48.039 --> 00:30:50.900 Of course, we understand that as she stood there 00:30:50.900 --> 00:30:57.660 at the cross, beheld her son crucified, that 00:30:57.660 --> 00:31:00.559 a sword of indescribable suffering pierced her 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:05.819 soul. By the cruel suffering and sacrificial 00:31:05.819 --> 00:31:10.420 death of the seed of the woman, he provided salvation 00:31:10.420 --> 00:31:16.960 and deliverance for Adam's lost race. And just 00:31:16.960 --> 00:31:21.420 as that animal's skin, an animal who had to suffer 00:31:21.420 --> 00:31:27.440 and die, whose blood had to be shed as an atonement 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:29.740 for Adam and Eve, and whose skin was then taken 00:31:29.740 --> 00:31:33.960 as a covering for their shame, just as that skin 00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:38.359 covered their shame, so our shame of our sin 00:31:38.359 --> 00:31:42.140 is removed by the sacrifice of the seed and the 00:31:42.140 --> 00:31:45.549 covering we receive of His righteousness. so 00:31:45.549 --> 00:31:50.430 that we can be in fellowship with God. The first 00:31:50.430 --> 00:31:54.829 promise of Christmas is found hidden in this 00:31:54.829 --> 00:32:00.410 verse, where we have the very heart of the Christmas 00:32:00.410 --> 00:32:04.170 story. The drama will unfold. There are many 00:32:04.170 --> 00:32:08.329 events and people who must yet take their part 00:32:08.329 --> 00:32:11.970 on the stage of history after this. But here 00:32:11.970 --> 00:32:17.630 in Genesis 3 verse 15 is the first promise of 00:32:17.630 --> 00:32:21.950 the Redeemer, the coming of the Savior to save 00:32:21.950 --> 00:32:26.630 humanity. Here begins a scarlet thread that runs 00:32:26.630 --> 00:32:30.009 throughout the Scriptures leading to the cross 00:32:30.009 --> 00:32:33.970 of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it's a wonderful 00:32:33.970 --> 00:32:38.920 story. It's the story of His love. And it's a 00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:42.579 story that you are a part of because he came 00:32:42.579 --> 00:32:47.220 for your sake. As the angel said, for unto you 00:32:47.220 --> 00:32:51.660 is born this day in the city of David a Savior 00:32:51.660 --> 00:32:57.359 who is Christ the Lord. Have you understood that? 00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:02.079 Have you believed that? That unto you a Savior 00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:06.460 is born? You say, oh, I'm a religious person. 00:33:07.119 --> 00:33:09.839 I have belonged to church ever since I was born. 00:33:09.980 --> 00:33:13.339 I was sprinkled in church. I was confirmed. I 00:33:13.339 --> 00:33:14.960 went through all of the things we're supposed 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:20.920 to do as babies. You know what? That doesn't 00:33:20.920 --> 00:33:24.420 save us. That doesn't make us right with God. 00:33:27.059 --> 00:33:29.599 It's not necessarily wrong to do those things. 00:33:29.660 --> 00:33:32.099 I'm not knocking them, but we mustn't understand 00:33:32.099 --> 00:33:35.519 that those things somehow convey salvation to 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:41.859 us. Salvation comes when we receive and believe 00:33:41.859 --> 00:33:46.079 the promise of God regarding His Son, Jesus Christ. 00:33:48.539 --> 00:33:52.839 I read a story that tickled me just a few days 00:33:52.839 --> 00:33:56.019 ago. It was about a Baptist evangelist down in 00:33:56.019 --> 00:33:58.759 the South who was preaching away, and he got 00:33:58.759 --> 00:34:02.839 his message mixed up. He was exhorting the crowd 00:34:02.839 --> 00:34:06.710 to become Baptists. And there was one dear lady 00:34:06.710 --> 00:34:09.929 who was there who was a Methodist. And she let 00:34:09.929 --> 00:34:13.389 him know that she was a Methodist. And he said, 00:34:13.429 --> 00:34:17.150 Lady, how come you're a Methodist? And she said, 00:34:17.190 --> 00:34:19.170 Well, I suppose it was because my grandfather 00:34:19.170 --> 00:34:22.070 was a Methodist and my father was a Methodist. 00:34:23.530 --> 00:34:26.050 And that irritated this Baptist evangelist. So 00:34:26.050 --> 00:34:28.510 he said, Well, Lady, what would you be if I told 00:34:28.510 --> 00:34:31.329 you that your grandfather was a fool and your 00:34:31.329 --> 00:34:34.489 father was a fool? She said, then I suppose I'd 00:34:34.489 --> 00:34:41.170 be a Baptist. But listen, the point isn't whether 00:34:41.170 --> 00:34:44.150 we're Baptists or we're Methodists or whatever 00:34:44.150 --> 00:34:47.590 we wear as our title. The important thing is 00:34:47.590 --> 00:34:50.269 that we understand that God has given His Son, 00:34:50.449 --> 00:35:00.840 the seed of the woman, to be our Redeemer. With 00:35:00.840 --> 00:35:03.219 our heads bowed and our eyes closed, I wonder 00:35:03.219 --> 00:35:06.980 if there's someone here who would today receive 00:35:06.980 --> 00:35:12.780 God's wonderful Christmas gift, the Lord Jesus 00:35:12.780 --> 00:35:17.079 Christ, a gift that brings with him forgiveness 00:35:17.079 --> 00:35:21.900 of sins and eternal life. As many as received 00:35:21.900 --> 00:35:24.820 him, to them he gave the right to become the 00:35:24.820 --> 00:35:31.900 children of God. You see, dear friend, you are 00:35:31.900 --> 00:35:39.260 in one family or the other. One family or the 00:35:39.260 --> 00:35:42.880 other, either in Satan's family or God's family. 00:35:46.860 --> 00:35:50.119 Today you can be born into God's family by trusting 00:35:50.119 --> 00:35:57.300 his promise regarding Jesus as your sin sacrifice. 00:35:59.019 --> 00:36:00.760 Right where you're seated, will you do that? 00:36:01.719 --> 00:36:04.519 Acknowledge to God your sin and receive him. 00:36:07.880 --> 00:36:12.420 Placing your faith alone in Christ. It's not 00:36:12.420 --> 00:36:14.780 the words that you say in your hearts. It's the 00:36:14.780 --> 00:36:19.559 attitude of faith. It's the open door. It's the 00:36:19.559 --> 00:36:21.760 repentance, the turning away from what you've 00:36:21.760 --> 00:36:29.489 trusted in the past to trust in him alone. If 00:36:29.489 --> 00:36:31.650 that's your heart decision today, would you indicate 00:36:31.650 --> 00:36:36.110 so by lifting your hand and saying, Pastor, today 00:36:36.110 --> 00:36:41.730 I understand God's promise given back there in 00:36:41.730 --> 00:36:44.289 the Garden of Eden and fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 00:36:45.590 --> 00:36:50.570 Today I am trusting him alone as my Savior. Would 00:36:50.570 --> 00:36:52.510 you lift your hand indicating that to be your 00:36:52.510 --> 00:36:57.230 decision, your faith and your trust today? The 00:36:57.230 --> 00:37:06.119 prayer of your heart. Is there someone? Let's 00:37:06.119 --> 00:37:12.360 stand together, please. With our heads bowed, 00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:15.340 let's sing that chorus that we sang just before 00:37:15.340 --> 00:37:20.380 the message, For God so loved the world. For 00:37:20.380 --> 00:37:28.380 God so loved the world, He gave His only Son. 00:37:29.929 --> 00:37:38.869 To die on Calvary's tree. From sin to set me 00:37:38.869 --> 00:37:49.670 free. Someday he's coming back. What glory that 00:37:49.670 --> 00:38:04.309 will be. Wonderful his love to me. Father, how 00:38:04.309 --> 00:38:08.769 glad we are that the son that you sent was also 00:38:08.769 --> 00:38:14.110 the seed of the woman who was promised as our 00:38:14.110 --> 00:38:17.929 Redeemer. And we thank you for giving your son 00:38:17.929 --> 00:38:21.789 on the cross of Calvary. We thank you that he 00:38:21.789 --> 00:38:25.630 accepted the bruise on the heel, as it were, 00:38:25.789 --> 00:38:29.570 the suffering, the cruel suffering of the cross. 00:38:31.050 --> 00:38:35.449 so that he might crush the head of Satan and 00:38:35.449 --> 00:38:41.250 be the Savior for the lost race of Adam. Thank 00:38:41.250 --> 00:38:45.210 you for the promise of the Redeemer. Lord, this 00:38:45.210 --> 00:38:49.010 Christmas season, may our hearts be filled with 00:38:49.010 --> 00:38:53.909 the joy of what the season is really, truly, 00:38:54.230 --> 00:39:00.750 actually all about. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 00:39:01.550 --> 00:39:02.429 God bless you.