Good morning. How are you all doing today? Awesome. I want to welcome everybody that
is joining us here in our sanctuary for the first time or if you're watching
online for the first time, welcome. We're so glad you're here to worship with us
here at Hosanna. This morning we are going to be continuing our study of the
fall of mankind, looking at the curse and the judgment on the serpent. I was
trying to get through the serpent and the curse on the woman and I didn't make
it. So we're just gonna be doing the serpent this week and then we'll be
looking at the curse of the woman and possibly the man next week. But if you
guys have been with us for our study of Genesis, you'll remember in our previous
studies we saw how Satan tempted Eve in the garden through the use of the snake.
Some people think Satan possessed the snake or he appeared in the form of a
snake or whatever it is, but the Bible doesn't tell us. It just connects the
serpent to Satan and so we know that Satan spoke to Eve and subtly introduced
the idea that maybe God wasn't good. Maybe God was being stingy by saying they
couldn't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That maybe
God was actually withholding good from them and we read as Eve contemplated
that concept, contemplated that idea, she eventually got to the point where she
accepted Satan's suggestion. Satan's ideas took hold in her mind and then it
got to the point where Satan was no longer or moved past suggesting to
outright declaring that God is not good. That God is not having her best interest
in declaring that God was wrong, absolutely wrong. And so then we read how
Eve then deceived by Satan's words, took of the fruit of the tree and ate thinking
maybe she was doing a good thing. Maybe she was possibly helping God out or
helping her husband out. That's all speculative. We don't know, but she took
of the fruit and then it tells us that she gave to her husband who ate with
full understanding that what he was doing was wrong. Speculatively we think
they'd possibly rationalized to himself after watching his wife eat and she
didn't die immediately that maybe he would get away with eating of the fruit
true or fruit as well. And so he then took and ate and it was that moment, it
was that moment that their formerly innocent perfect nature was poisoned by
sin. Where their entire nature was changed, corrupted because sin had entered
in to their lives and with sin death entered into existence. Physical death
would come in time but in that very moment their spiritual death was
immediate as their spirit died and they were separated from that fellowship with
God, their creator. And in that picture you might remember that we saw how the
creation order was completely flipped upside down, it was upset.
Whereas we had God the creator who created man first and then out of man he
created woman and so the creation order there that it was God who gave
authority to the man who then led his wife who then both ruled over creation
together. But in the fall there we saw that the creature, the serpent used by
Satan led the woman who then led the man and they were all disobeying God and sin
entered the world. But the beautiful part of this story is that God in his
infinite graciousness gave man and woman the opportunity to come clean in honest
confession as he engaged in dialogue with them and said where are you? What
happened? But unfortunately instead of confessing their sin and confessing the
responsibility for what they have done, excuses were given. We see how God
addressed them in the order of their responsibility as he addressed the man
first because the man is responsible for his family and so then God addressed the
woman after that. Now those excuses that were given were just the picture of
neither one confessing their sin but instead they blamed others for their own
actions that they chose to do. Man blamed the woman, this is the woman you gave me
God. And in that process more horrifically blamed God, tried to pin
the blame for his sinful decision on his creator and then we saw how the woman
blamed the serpent. And so now we come to the curse and the judgment that God
lays down on all three of them. The results of this curse that we still feel
today, we still see active in our world today but even so even in the curse we
see God's holiness, we see God's justice, and most of all we see God's grace. God's
grace is even apparent and available and just there in the midst of even his
judgments. And so that's what we're going to be looking at today starting with the
serpent but first we're going to worship God. We're so excited to be worshipping
God. The Lord is at work. I don't know how many of you were at Harvest Crusade
last night but that entire stadium was completely packed out. 60,000 people
showed up to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And even more impressive than
that when they gave the altar call, the back field behind the stage was so full
of people coming forward to repent of their sins and receive Jesus Christ that
they actually had to turn people away. The first time ever they've had to say
hey we're sorry there's literally no more room on the field and they
made means to be able to get with those people and get them a Bible and to have
follow-up counselors meet with them but the harvest was just huge. And we're so
excited with what God's been doing this whole month as his spirit is moving here
in Southern California and I'm so excited that our church is a part of it.
And so we're going to be just celebrating God and worship and praise
first and then we're going to get into his word and continue to learn from him
what he wants us to know about him so that we can then be the people who not
only know him as our Savior but to live in this world in the grace that God has
for us. Amen. Let's pray. Father we love you so much. God we just consistently see
Lord how graceful you are. Lord how you extend your hand of grace to all Lord
and those who call out to you and confess their sin Lord you extend the
greatest grace where you give us salvation. And Lord we know that
salvation is offered to everybody Lord. And God way back in the beginning of
course Lord humanity had this perfect relationship with you Lord but but we
sinned. We disobeyed you God and and the results of that have been felt from then
until now. And yet Lord in the very beginning as we're gonna see today Lord
you told mankind what your plan was to save us. You told mankind what your what
your plan was to to bring us salvation from the sin that we entered into God.
And we're so thankful. And those of us that know you today God we have been set
free from the power of sin and death and we're so grateful for that Lord and we
can't help but to just praise your holy name. And that's what we want to do to
start our service today God. We love you so much. We thank you for every blessing
you bring upon us Lord and and any who are here here in this building this
morning in our sanctuary or watching online that do not yet know you as our
personal Lord and Savior. We pray for them right now God that your spirit
would even begin drawing them this moment to yourself. That you would open
their eyes to the reality of their sin and the coming judgment and that today
Lord they would give their life to you. They would submit to you to be saved
eternally. God we love you and we thank you. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
All right we are going to be in Genesis chapter 3 and we're gonna be covering
two whole verses today. But you know I don't think it's unusual for us to
understand that we see very clearly very clearly and evidently today that humankind
has a tendency to think nothing I do is my fault. Right? That is a plague upon
mankind. It's not new but we see it happening in unique ways in our culture
and you know people have all kinds of reasons for that. It's how I was
raised. That's how they say it's not my fault or it's my spouse and that's how
they say it's not my fault or you know it's my parents fault. It's the
government's fault. Right? We're really good at blame-shifting and our society
really is in love with the culture of victimhood. Right? Everybody wants to be
a victim and not take responsibility for their own choices and their own
behavior and really our culture is just a fantasy land of those who who imagine
that they could blame someone or something else for their own personal
decisions. It's a huge huge issue and and they think that that the blame could be
placed on some other group or some other thing or some other person or whatever
it may be and really that goes all the way back to this fall in the garden. You
know the moment Adam sinned was the moment death was introduced into the
world. Now we commonly think of death as oh you you cease to be alive right? But
biblically death is so much more than that. It was the death of the Spirit. It
was the death of the connection man had with their Creator. That deep intimate
fellowship that that Adam and Eve had in the garden with God. That spirit that
that is dead in us now that is made alive when we believe in Jesus Christ.
That was the death. Now yes there's physical death that happens but the
Bible talks about an eternal death that is gonna come on those who die without
salvation and it's not just you cease to exist as some of the cults try to teach.
It's actually an eternity in hell. It is a forever suffering consciously paying
the price for your sins because you chose to reject the price that God paid
for you and that's what entered in when Adam sinned and that was the moment that
humanity through Adam and Eve were completely infused with the poisonous
stain of sin. Now the moment they made that choice the moment they chose to
disobey God was also followed by the immediate moment of feeling guilty. We
read about that. Victimhood and blame shifting and it's been the same ever
since. One of the very first things most people do when they're caught is
immediately try and think of a way to deflect it. Well it's not my fault it was
because of this it was because of that. It's been a plague on mankind ever since
and so this idea has permeated every culture. Nothing I do is my fault
therefore since it's not my fault there's no consequence that is gonna
fall upon me or there's no consequence I should expect to fall upon me because
again it wasn't my fault. But this is a lie from the pit of hell. This was a lie
that started in the very beginning because before God Almighty and before
his righteousness and his perfection we aren't victims. We are guilty criminals
facing a great consequence. The penalty for sin is death and try as we might
there was nothing and there is nothing we could ever do to purge
ourselves of the poison of sin. From Adam forward it has been a thing that
is built into our very nature. We are born sinners right and we've mentioned
these things before but nobody ever has to teach a kid to lie about taking a
cookie out of the cookie jar. You know my grandson just recently has learned the
word mine. That's fun right? Those of you that have dealt with that he picks up
his soccer ball and he runs around the house going my ball my ball and then he
wants you to play with him but then he goes my ball right and who taught you
that bro? It's just a part of our nature to be selfish to be to be blame-shifting
to you know it's just it's crazy I got so many stories but I'm not gonna you
know take up all the time talking about my grandson. So what the idea is this is
that nothing could purge us of the sin. Nothing could purge us of the venom the
poison as it was coursing through our veins. Nothing could purge us of the
nature until Jesus died on the cross. That was when we were cured when Jesus
God the Son willingly accepted the penalty for what we have done. When he
willingly he became the victim of sin. He became the victim of our sin having
never done anything wrong himself. He was without guilt without sin in every
possible conceivable way but he's the one that became the victim for us. He
suffered the full wrath of God in our place. Now this redemption this gospel of
God coming to this earth and living a perfect life in the flesh and then dying
on the cross for your sin and my sin raising from the dead on the third day
then through faith in him granting us redemption all of this was promised in
the very same breath in the curse that God pronounced on the serpent and Satan
in the garden and that's what we're going to be looking at today. Now the
first thing you'll notice as you read through Genesis chapter 3 here and you
look at these curses is that we see God dialogue with Adam you know where are
you? We see him dialogue with with Eve what have you done? But there's no
dialogue with the serpent. There is no conversation with the serpent or with
Satan working through it. There's no there's no what did you do? There's no
opportunity for any type of confession or repentance but God just goes straight
to cursing the serpent and through the serpent cursing Satan and really that
that teaches us something very important that there will be no hope for Satan.
Satan is irredeemable. There's no opportunity for confession or repentance
because he never will. When I was a young Christian I used to think as I was
comprehending the grace of God and comprehending like how much God forgave
me for I was like well can't Satan repent? Right? I used to have this
question would God forgive Satan if Satan showed up and said God please
forgive me I've sinned and depending on where you stand on the theological
spectrum my thing is if Satan ever did that God would but Satan will never do
that because it is his nature to be wicked and evil through and through and
so we see this picture here in the very beginning but in the curse that he
pronounces on Satan and the serpent there is embedded the hope of grace and
redemption for all humanity so read with me in Genesis chapter 3 verse 14 this is
so the Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this you are
cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal you will move on
your belly and eat dust all the days of your life and so what we see here is two
objects of the curse in the verses 14 and 15 here we see primarily in verse 14
that the actual serpent the reptile the creature is cursed but then through that
in into verse 15 we're gonna see that he kind of switches in in the same breath
to cursing Satan individually who is the one who controlled or spoke through or
appeared as the serpent to deceive Eve now this word curse here it's very
typical of prophetic language that you'll see in the Bible prophetic
language that addresses an object or a person first and then moves to the source
of the wickedness in the person this is something we see in a lot of prophecy
throughout scripture and so this curse goes from the serpent the object to
Satan the source who used the serpent and so verse 14 then for its in in its
broad look and its specific look is a literal curse on the literal serpent now
there is a prophetical and a symbolic curse on Satan through that who then is
called the ancient serpent in Revelation right he is tied back to this but verse
14 is really really looking at the serpent itself and we see that in a
couple of the descriptions here but if you go through scripture you'll notice
that anytime an animal a creature a part of the creation that was intended to be
ruled over by man anytime an animal causes injury or harm to humans they were
dealt with very harshly in scripture one of the examples is in Exodus chapter 12
verse 28 which said when an ox gores a man or woman to death you kill the ox
very plain and simple there was also places in scripture that because this
stuff was happening where it says if a if a man or a woman used an animal
immorally both the man and the woman were killed they were they were put to
death because even though someone I'd say well the animal was was used why is the
animal killed too because the creature was used in a in a shameful way against
that which is the image of God man and woman and so anytime animals were
involved there was a harsh judgment and and really the picture is that any abuse
or any perversion on this order of man ruled over woman who ruled over together
creation the perversion of that order God dealt with very very harshly and so
it tells us here that he said to the serpent you are cursed this word cursed
means to cover with misfortune that's what it means it's the direct opposite
of the Hebrew word for blessed right when you hear the word blessing what
that typically means is is you are given or it is put upon you success or you're
favored with fortune that's what the idea of blessing is when God puts his
favor upon you the idea is that fortune is gonna come into your life because
blessing is upon you well curse then is the opposite of that it means to be
unsuccessful or disfavored with misfortune and so the curse the the
misfortune that is placed on the serpent here is expressed in physical terms
right he says that you're gonna move around on your belly and you're gonna
eat dust all the days of your life now there are some theologians and scholars
that that look at this and and I kind of lean this way as well as they say well
if the curse was to move on your belly then prior to this the snake the serpent
must have had some type of different form maybe it was upright right lizard
people maybe it had legs but there was some different form than what we see in
snakes today which is just this long slithering thing that gives people the
heebie-jeebies now but the the reason that I point out that this is actually
on the snake is because he says you are cursed more than any livestock and more
than any wild animal all right that's directly the serpent itself the snake
the creature right Satan wasn't part of the livestock that God created Satan was
not a part of the wild animals we read about that back in Genesis chapter 1 so
there is this literal creature again that either Satan used or possessed or
spoke through but it is cursed because it was used in a way to harm mankind
and so when he says more than any livestock or more than any wild animal
that's actually the snake you know Satan was not part of those things now
scripturally though we see that there's a kind of a dual application here
because when he says you're gonna eat dust there is the idea that you know we
we were all familiar with snakes they crawl around on the ground they crawl
around on their belly and so the idea is that they're just inhaling dust all the
time that we know snakes diet isn't dirt but but being so low to the ground the
idea is that they'll just be inhaling dust all the time but there's also a
symbolic meaning to eating dust and in the Bible it's symbolic of total
humiliation or total defeat in Psalms chapter 72 verse 9 which is a prayer of
blessing on Israel's King it says this may desert tribes kneel before him and
his enemies lick the dust so there's a symbolic idea that that the king of
Israel would would rule that the enemies of the king would be humiliated would be
defeated and then in Micah chapter 7 verse 17 it says they will lick the dust
like a snake they will come trembling out of their hiding places like reptiles
slithering on the ground and so the idea here is that this creature the serpent
was was exalted above man who is actually its ruler right it exalted itself above
man and therefore it was then cursed to remain low in humiliation to remain low
in this idea of being defeated and put down and so the the symbolism there goes
along with the actual physical reality right and so from then on the snake
would forever be a creature that was repulsive and abhorred and and isolated
and just covered with misfortune through and through right for most of time snakes
and serpents have been viewed by most people as creepy and evil you know
there's not a lot of people that see snakes and go oh how cute and cuddly now
some of us do right when I was a teenager I thought snakes were cool and
to my mom's horror because I had you know different types of snakes and one
of them was a Burmese python and I used to get waking up woken up in the middle
of the night and my mom would be like Nathan your snakes out of the cage get
it so I'm wandering around the house and I would pick up the furniture and it would
be coiled up hissing at me and my mom's like why do you have those things you
know I think they're cool so anyways but but historically they've been seen as
kind of like an evil thing interestingly enough snakes are one of the most
isolated creatures that exist in all of the animal kingdom right they come
together to mate but in the most cases they have no community they they don't
travel in herds or packs in that idea and so this whole idea of just being
isolated and I'm horrid and looked at wrong it's indeed fallen upon snakes and
so but symbolically how does this apply to Satan well every time we see a snake
slithering on the ground from then until now we see it on the ground limbless we
see it on the ground limited laid laid low it's supposed to be a reminder to
mankind of the fall and it's supposed to be a reminder of mankind mankind of the
effects of sin you see in Psalm chapter 119 21 it says you rebuke the arrogant
the ones under a curse who wander from your commands now that's speaking to us
and people as obviously but but if you read that verse almost backwards what it
says is those who wander from your commands or deviate from God's Word they
are arrogant people who are under a curse right and we understand that curse is to
be covered with misfortune that word arrogant there in the Hebrew actually
means believing you know better than God so those who deviate from God's Word are
people who think they know better than God but they're under a curse because of
that they're they're covered with misfortune well we go back to the garden
and we say what was suggested by Satan through the serpent to Eve you guys
remember right did God really say that like this is what God said but but really
maybe maybe we should deviate maybe we should do something different Satan
eventually said God is flat-out wrong you won't die he deviated from God's Word
he tempted Eve to deviate from God's Word to to to wander away from it and
then so when Adam and Eve ate they themselves came into a sinful cursed
state because they themselves had also wandered from God's Word they wandered
from obedience and that was a result of this arrogant idea that maybe God was
wrong maybe we knew better than God or at least maybe he was not not
unarguably right and so we see this idea that that Satan's Satan himself from
then on and even probably before in the rebellion in heaven has been cursed has
had a state of lowliness as we read he was cast down to the earth and he will
be cast down permanently in Revelation that Satan is cursed with the state of
humiliation that he was once the the greatest archangel the worship leader in
heaven beautiful in all ways and now he's this grotesque twisted creature and
it just shows us this whole picture that Satan will ultimately be defeated and so
every time we see a slithering snake we're to be reminded of all of that to
be reminded of the fall the effects of sin and the fate of our enemy so then we
come to verse 15 he says I will put hostility between you and the woman and
between your offspring and her offspring he will strike your head and you will
strike his heel so this is where the curse kind of is moving from from
directly pointed at the the snake and and then symbolically on Satan and it's
kind of shifting over to where it's gonna talk to Satan directly in the
curse that God lays upon him but we still see here that the serpent itself
the the object is also a part of the curse as Satan himself and so it says I
will put hostility between you and the woman that word hostility means to
become enemies it's talking about animosity or or enmity right the idea
is active hatred and active opposition now there are some theologians that that
read this and they only read it literally they say what this is only
talking about is that women and snakes will not like each other for all time
that's the curse now what I found very interesting in looking up this looking
and researching this a bit is that there was a huge study done at a Carnegie
Mellon University and they found in this study it was a lengthy study but they
found that women are four times more likely to have a phobia of snakes than
men are and I was like well that's interesting considering well there you
go that's the curse women you're not gonna like snakes no it can't be only
and just to the hats but if we look at this from a literal standpoint that that
this is applying to the creature the actual serpent that spoke to Eve then
then this is how it could be interpreted interpreted or how people interpret it
and it holds some some validity that the idea is that seemingly before this this
fall before this moment in the garden where the serpent spoke to Eve before
that the woman and the serpent got along fine in some way right the Adam and Eve
were ruling over all the creatures and they had some type of relationship with
all the creatures and so there was no reason to distrust the serpent there was
no ooh snakes you know there wasn't you know Eve was four times more likely to
have a phobia than Adam right it was just that the creation the creation
existed under the rule of Adam and Eve and it was perfect harmony right it
could explain why and this is a question people have is why wasn't Eve weirded
out when the serpent spoke to her right we talked about that in a previous
study and you know it doesn't tell us in Scripture why but speculatively people
go maybe animals spoke or some animals spoke back in the garden you know God
used Balaam's donkey to speak so you know it's possible in that sense but the
idea was that there was nothing weird there was no weirdness between Eve and
the serpent and so when the serpent starts speaking to her she's just like
hey what's up you know now but she listened she disobeyed and after the
disobedience what it tells us here is that God put hostility between the
serpent and the woman that word put means put right God placed it there God
introduced it to this relationship and so you could look at it this way that
that you know again dual application that the hostility between Eve literally
Eve and the serpent in the garden was that this hostility would keep the woman
from trusting the serpent again right if the serpent if Satan ever tried to use
the snake again to talk to her she hates it now she has this animosity towards it
so she won't listen to it it would protect her from the temptations that
that Satan might try to introduce through the serpent again and it would
prevent her and the serpent from agreeing together on anything in the
future remember the serpent has said you know is God really saying that like God
didn't say you will die and then she started going oh yeah right so he's
putting this hostility where she's like I don't like you I don't talk to you I
don't want to have anything to do with you as a serpent so there's that
applicational idea of it it's it's a little subjective and speculative but
but there's a possibility of that there but there's a far more reaching or far
more far-reaching effect that the hostility has here because he says I'll
put hostility between you and the woman and then he goes and between your
offspring and her offspring the Hebrew word for offspring there is an
interesting word because it can refer to a singular person but the same exact
word can also refer to a group as a singular term like the idea is kind of
like that word Elohim we talked about it's a singular word that refers to a
plural the Father Son and the Spirit in the Trinity well this word offspring is
kind of like the word team right one team but there's many many members in
that group so this it could go either way and so this word offspring could
also mean being of or from something else like seeds in a plant and we
actually see that in some other translations older translations it
doesn't say offspring it says seed there will be there will be hostility between
her seed and your seed but I believe it's translated offspring in modern
translations because it's clear that we're not talking about plants we're
talking about living creatures and offspring so but when you look at hot
offspring and you're like well is it singular is it plural if you lean
towards the plural side it's easy to say well her offspring being referred to
here is all of humanity right in verse 20 and we'll get to that later Adam
actually renames the woman or names the woman Eve and it says because she's the
mother of all living right regardless of water what modern society is trying to
tell us only women could have babies all right every single one of you in this
room and watching we're born of a woman now of course there was the biological
contribution of of the father but we were all born of a woman right that was
part of the gifting that God gave to woman and then it's gonna be a part of
the curse that that falls upon her and how all that takes place but some people
go her offspring is is all of humanity right and then if you interpret it that
way then you have to go well when he says your offspring he's either talking
to the serpent and or Satan is he then saying all snakes for all time like all
of humanity and all of the snake population until the end of times that
God is saying there's gonna be a great eternal war between humans and snakes
forever I don't really see that right it sounds a little silly but the last part
of the verse is really what points us to how to interpret this and who he's
talking about here and really gives me the the picture that it's a multi
applicable interpretation it points us to the idea that offspring is being both
used as a singular and a plural word look at the last part of the verse says
he will strike your head and you will strike his heel so he goes from your
offspring and her offspring which could be singular or plural but then right
after that he says he will strike your head and you will strike his heel he
your you his they're all pronouns that are singular pronouns right it's not a
they them it's not a zizzer her it's he singular male your singular individual
and so it's referring to a single person or a single entity in the end of this
verse that he his is interpreted as Jesus the ultimate offspring of woman
and then the you and your is referring to Satan this is where it kind of
switches over because the serpent it's an animal it's an it right yeah there's
genders within that but the but the you're here it's referring to an actual
individual and we know that it was Satan working through the serpent now this is
why many people see what we see here and I agree with this that this is called
the proto evangelium this is the first gospel this is the first time in
scripture that we see the gospel we see God's plan we see God's promise to deal
with the poison of sin that is in mankind now again people look at this
different ways and so if you go back and look at offspring as purely plural
meaning the offspring of woman is humanity and the offspring of Satan is
who some people look at this and they go well the offspring of Satan is is all of
humanity that follows after him right because Satan doesn't have babies and
then they go the offspring of woman is all humanity that follows after God ways
and God's ways and so the idea is here is there is going to be hostility between
Satan and all those who follow him and humanity and all those that follow God
and there's gonna be hostility to the end of times now that does hold true
throughout scripture but again we know that Satan and demons that are not born
of Satan or created by Satan but they are of Satan they are in line with who
he is and what he's all about and that is one of the the ideas of the hostility
here that there will be this forever war between humans this forever war
between the demons humans were created in the image of God right the creature
was used against that that's why the creature was cursed and all this kind of
stuff right but why is there hostility between Satan in mankind well it's very
clear that Satan hates us the Bible tells us that he hates us he hates us
because God loves us the Bible tells us that Satan comes and came to steal kill
and destroy that Satan is like a roaring lion prowing around seeking whom he may
devour he wants to keep us poisoned he wants to keep us corrupted by sin he
wants to keep us separated from God dead in our spirit he wants to make sure that
that we stay that way all the way until we die in the flesh because once we die
in the flesh that's it you're gonna stand before God either saved or unsaved
and and that is the the devil's goal that we would die without salvation but
in this curse that can be looked at as a plural that it's offspring of humanity
and all that we also see that is offspring singular right in that sense
that the woman's offspring is a singular individual that although humanity came
from woman that eventually there was the ultimate offspring of woman and we know
that to be Jesus Christ this is where we see in the curse on Satan that there's
this prophetic hope of a Savior who is her offspring singular that God would
one day through man through the the the genetics of man would bring forth the
one he who would strike Satan's head that word strike there means to crush
to destroy utterly finally finally fully just just destroy him which we know is
gonna happen prophetically but in the process he would be struck by Satan now
the word struck there is a different word in the Hebrew it means to be bruised
it means you got wounded you got hurt but it's different than being fully
finally defeated and that's referring to the terrible suffering on the cross
right we know that Jesus was wounded grievously for our sins and it looked
like he was killed and defeated but we know he rose on the third day right he
defeated death so what looked like a fully final defeat of Jesus was just
simply a temporary wound now there are wounds that he's gonna carry with him in
his resurrected body that we're gonna see I believe in heaven but the point
is here is that this is a prophetic multi-applicational thing there is direct
application to Eve and the serpent and the creature there is application to the
offspring of Eve being humanity and those who are gonna follow after the
devil and then there is singular prophetic application to her ultimate
offspring and Satan himself now where the first Adam failed in obedience to
God in his word the second Adam Jesus would not fail he would live a perfect
life without sin but then he would pay the penalty for our sin our failure to
do so and when he paid that penalty on the cross it would allow us to have the
possibility or the opportunity to be purged of the sin to be purged of the
poison of sin and be reconciled to God through faith to have that sin nature
completely permanently dealt with as we are given a new nature a new heart the
Bible tells us one that wants to obey God and then ultimately restoring the
perfect fellowship that we had in the garden originally guaranteed to happen
one day when we're having the perfect reunion with God in heaven and so this
whole idea is in this proto evangelism here now this interpretation of this
verse that he is Jesus and you is Satan is supported by what Paul the Apostle
said in Galatians 3 16 he was talking about God's promise to Abraham but this
is what he says well first I'm gonna look at Genesis 12 7 so put that one up
there for me in Genesis 12 7 this is the promise that he gives Abraham the Lord
appeared to Abraham and said to your offspring I will give this land so he
built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him and you go okay that's
that's Israel right but then in Galatians 3 16 this is what Paul says now
the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed which is that word
offspring he does not say and two seeds as though referring to many but referring
to one and to your seed who is Christ so that word offspring that is that is
rendered seed here in the Greek it's the word offspring in the Hebrew it's the
same word that we see here in Genesis 3 15 it's a word that can be both plural
and singular but Paul is making a point here that he says look this last part of
this proto evangelium that was a part of the promises given to Abraham it's the
ultimate offspring of woman that he's talking about there the ultimate
offspring of Eve who is the mother of all life and that ultimate offspring
will crush the head of that great and ancient serpent it is he the one the
Messiah the Savior God in the flesh Jesus Christ now I do believe when Jesus
was here on earth he understood this first gospel as we call it that we see
here in Genesis I believe he understood his mission that he was the antidote to
the serpents venom of sin running through all of humanity you see in John
3 16 he says this for God loved the world in this way he gave his one and
only son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal
life we all know that verse right it's a very famous verse but if you look at
verses 14 and 15 the verse is right before that this is what Jesus said just
as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness so the son of man must be
lifted up so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life then he
says for God so loved the world in this way that he gave his only one and only
son his begotten son now what is Jesus referring to here this is a story we
find back in numbers chapter 21 we're not gonna turn there read it I'm gonna
summarize it for you but in numbers 21 Israel was wandering in the wilderness
and they had sinned they had started grumbling against God's provision they
had started possibly introducing the idea maybe God isn't good maybe God
brought us out here in the wilderness to just die and then he gave us this
person Moses why did you lead us out here Moses and God had been providing
manna and God had providing water God provided everything they needed just
like he did in the garden and yet the thought was being introduced oh maybe
God's just not really as good as he says he is and they thought that maybe God
was withholding something from them by letting Moses lead them out into the
wilderness the same suggestion that the serpent gave to Eve well then the story
tells us in numbers 21 that God sent venomous snakes into their camp as
judgment he's like you want to believe the lies of the snake you want to
entertain fellowship with the snake and disobedient well then here you go here's
snakes dance with the snakes have fun with the snakes and what happened is
that the snakes would bite people these were actual physical snakes they bit
many of the people in Israel and many of the people actually died from the venom
that was put into them now the imagery of this story is is amazing right the
snakes were were a result of sin right they sinned against God the serpent was
introduced and and they were bit by the serpents that the effect of sin was the
burning poison coursing through their system the effect of the disobedience
was death and that serpent was a perfect expression of sin why because Israel
knew that in the garden it was a serpent who tempted Eve spewing venomous words
suggesting then that God wasn't good or was withholding good and and that
resulted in disobedience on Adam and Eve's part and that disobedience
resulted in sin the sting of death the venom of poison entering into all of
mankind resulting in the very nature of all of mankind being polluted by this
venom and then in Numbers chapter 21 verse 7 it says this the people then
came to Moses and said we have sinned by speaking against the Lord and against
you intercede with the Lord so that he would take away the snakes from us and
Moses interceded for the people just like Jesus interceded for all of
mankind so in Numbers Moses then prays in the middle of all this death and
dying and verses 8 9 it says then the Lord said to Moses make a snake image
and mounted on a pole when anyone who is bitten looks at the pole the snake on
the pole he will recover so Moses made a bronze snake mounted on a pole and
whenever someone was bitten and they looked at the bronze snake they recovered
so we see this picture in Numbers that that all the people had to do to be
healed of the venom that was gonna kill them the result of their sin and their
disobedience to God that was that was just wiping them out all they had to do
was to look at the serpent on the pole the very likeness of sin on that pole
the very image all they had to do was look now this was a foreshadowing of
Christ on the cross how so well you notice there it said Moses used a snake
image wasn't an actual snake it was an image it was a likeness mounted on the
pole well this is what Paul tells us in Romans chapter 8 verse 3 he speaking of
God condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own son in the likeness of
sinful flesh as a sin offering when Jesus hung on the cross he was the
likeness of sin up on the pole he was without sin but being in the flesh of
mankind he was the likeness of sin and then 2nd Corinthians 521 it says he made
the one who did not know sin to be sin for us and then Galatians 3 13 it says
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us because
it is written cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree you guys see the
connection you go back to numbers and you think with with with all of the
animal kingdom that God had created every animal every creature that God
could have possibly picked from he chose the perfect representation of sin the
serpent and then Moses held up a likeness of the serpent that was biting
the people that was causing them pain that was ultimately gonna kill them and
if they looked up to that likeness that was up on that pole God said they would
be saved and we just read that the Bible tells us Jesus God the Son came as a
human in the likeness of sinful flesh but himself without sin that we were all
born with but what did we just read he became sin he became sin for us he
became the curse in our place when Adam and Eve took what the serpent was
offering when they were bitten and poisoned by the venomous lies of Satan
in the serpent that sin that poison that sin of exalting self over God that sin
of the idea of we don't need God we're God ourselves maybe we don't have to
listen to him we could disobey that all came into their life and they were
cursed along with the serpent death physically and spiritually entered in
but as Jesus is nailed to the cross when God poured out all his wrath on sin not
his but ours when God judged it there on the cross we have to understand it
should have been us nailed to that cross I should have been nailed to that cross
because I'm the one who has sinned not Jesus we should have died in our sin we
should have been writhing on the ground with the with the venom of sin coursing
through us and ultimately dying because we're the ones who chose to disobey God
but God said no no no I'll raise up a likeness of that sin and I'm gonna judge
that and if you look at it if you put faith in that the poison will be gone
now you might say well I still sin here and now yeah the Bible talks about that
too that we have this dual nature that we live with until we go to be with go
to be in heaven but the point is is when that venom is dealt with your spirit is
made alive that's what the Bible says being born again is your spirit is
reborn reconnected to God your creator and from that point forward you are
forgiven because you looked to the cross and you have the hope of heaven that
when you physically died leave this world you will not physically die but
instead you will be in paradise forever with eternal life with your creator
Jesus became the curse for us he became sin for us he took all the judgment for
us on the cross and he died the death we should be dying not just physically but
eternally but if we look to the cross and believe and trust that our sin was
dealt with there the promises will be saved numbers 21 9 said whenever someone
was bitten and they looked to the bronze snake they recovered you know what that
says that says no matter how horribly they were bitten no matter how many
times they were bitten no matter how bad their particular venom was no matter
how many times this person was bit over this person no matter about any of that
no matter how sick any of them were from the venom coursing through their veins
the opportunity of salvation was there for all of them all they had to do is
put their faith in what was on the pole put their faith in God's provision even
the worst most foul debased debauched sinner who looks to Christ alone in
repentance and faith will be saved that is the beautiful gospel that is the
promise that is prophetically given to us in the very beginning here right after
they sinned when God judged the one who tempted the one who introduced the
poison we see the hope of salvation for all of mankind this is the amazing grace
that had its beginning right there in the garden yes there were consequences
of sin that Adam and Eve would have to deal with and then ultimately 900 years
later so there would be physical death prior they were going to be immortal so
there were consequences but even in the face of those consequences there was
hope there was hope right there in paradise lost that paradise would be
regained it is the hope we have today you see what this tells us in Genesis
chapter 3 is that God always had the plan of salvation in mind from the
beginning of time before anything God knew what was gonna happen and he
already came up with a plan to save you and me he had already come up with the
solution to the poison of sin and it wasn't us trying to get the sin out of
our own system because we can't but he could and he told us about it as soon as
sin entered the world Jesus has already died in your place he was lifted up high
where you should have been where I should have been he was lifted up into
the place of a criminal who had broken God's law having never broken God's law
himself and he did so that we would understand the effect of our sin that's
part of the process and when we look to the cross we say that was for me I
deserve that I'm the liar I'm the thief I'm the adulterer I'm the one who takes
God's name in vain I'm the one who profanes God I'm the one who covets but
then we see him brutalized beaten dying for us and if you would just look to
that cross if you would just gaze upon the cross see Jesus hanging there in
your place you have faith and you have faith in what he says to you that just
as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness so the Son of Man must also
be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life
for God loved the world in this way he loved you in this way that he gave his
one and only son though that everyone who believes in him would not perish but
have eternal life but even more gloriously in first Corinthians 1521
since death came through a man the resurrection of the dead also comes
through a man for just as an Adam all die so also in Christ all will be made
alive let's pray father we're so grateful that you sent your son Jesus
we're so grateful you came clothed yourself in frail humanity lived the
life that we live tempted in every way we are tempted and yet without sin Lord
that you would then be able to be held up on that cross in our place in the in
the likeness of who we are as fallen sinners corrupted through and through
poisoned with sin and yet God you hung there that God would judge sin there
that through the gaze of faith Lord we would be able to look to you and in
faith and in trust receive salvation from our sin the effects of our sin the
penalty of our sin but not just to be forgiven of the sin but then to be
given the hope of paradise regained Lord we are so unworthy of your salvation
but God you didn't give it to us because we're worthy you gave it to us because
you love us and we are eternally thankful God there is nothing we could
ever do to earn it and Lord you don't ask us to you just simply say to live a
life in gratitude God we're so thankful for the salvation we have Lord and we
know that there are still people in our lives that don't yet know you Lord there
may be people here in the sanctuary this morning or watching online that don't
yet know you and maybe they've been curious maybe they're watching because
they have some questions God but I believe your Holy Spirit has convicted
them has spoken to their heart has revealed to them that they have sinned
against you God and that as that sin courses through their veins Lord without
forgiveness without salvation they will die in their sin and it will be
agonizing but Lord you have spoken to them your message that you have crushed
the head of Satan that when you apparently died but not really because
you rose from the dead you defeated Satan's power of death you defeated
Satan's ability to hold us captive in sin and Lord you grant that freedom to
all who would call upon the name of Jesus Christ and if you're in this room
this morning or you're watching online and God is speaking to your heart about
your need to be saved I just want you to pray with me right now there's no magic
in these words per se the idea is this if you mean what you were saying from
your heart the Bible says you will be saved and so it starts by saying Jesus I
know I have sinned against you I know I've broken your law I've hurt people
I've hurt myself the poison of sin it's agonizing Lord and I can't do anything
about it on my own I've tried so God I look to you on the cross I look to you
bleeding and dying because I messed up and I put faith that your death on the
cross is paying the price for my sin forgive me God wash me clean of the
stain of sin purge me of the poison of sin God save my soul come into my life
Lord be my Savior be my master teach me how to live be my friend fill me with
your Holy Spirit that I may live for you all the days of my life here on earth
and have the hope of paradise with you forever when I die in this life I love
you so much Lord thank you in Jesus name I pray amen you know if you prayed that
prayer this morning you've started a relationship with God your Creator you
have been restored you have been set free from the power of sin you are gonna
have an ability you have never had before that when the temptation of sin
comes into your life you're gonna have the ability to go I don't want to do
that that's not who I am anymore you don't have that ability without Christ
you do now but this relationship that you've started with your God it's just
like any relationship you got to build it God is with you now and forever you
have the hope of heaven but until from now until then God wants you to live to
glorify his name and he wants to help you do it and so if you gave your life
to the Lord today we have what's called a new believers packet up here on the
front or out in the foyer as you leave and please make sure you get one of
those it's just a bunch of resources and things to help you live this life and be
in this relationship with God if you're watching online you gave your life to
the Lord today just let us know in chat one of our moderators will connect with
you we'll privately get your address and we'll mail you all this information as
well God is doing a work not just in Southern California but God is doing a
work worldwide people are getting saved people are hungry because people look
around and things are hopeless we have the message of hope share it with people
talk to people tell them about the God you know who saved your soul tell them
that he loves them too and wants to save their soul God is gonna work through his
church I am so excited for what God is gonna do I'm excited to hear what
happens when our Paris team gets back and how many opportunities they had to
to share the gospel and even to come back with how many people they had the
opportunity to lead to Christ right there in the moment I'm excited for our
outreach coming up this week to the Halloween convention right how unusual
that God would open up a door into a place literally called the Hall of
Shadows for us to go in and shine the light of the gospel praise God Lord
wants to use you church just open yourself up to him say God send me I am
here and God will do mighty things in your life amen let's worship church God
bless you