Introduction:
There is a God! He is awesome in power and glory. And He loves you… The Bible says: “…God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) “…God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) He has great plans for you, and He is concerned about what happens to you… “…I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
He knows everything, He can do anything, and He is present everywhere. He built the universe and set it in motion, established the laws of physics and the known world, and set the earth on its foundations. He is a big, awesome God – capable of doing anything, and cannot be contained. Yet He cares about your innermost thoughts and what you are going through right now.
Today and next Sunday, I want to take us on an in-depth look at the fullness of God’s amazing love for us. What is the real height, the width, the depth, how far He as really gone, and will go… that shows His great love for us.
And that brings us to the book of Genesis…
Body:
I. (God created us to have relationship with Him…)
A. In Genesis one and two, it is recorded that God created the heavens and the earth – and made the first two people ever, the pinnacle of His creation: Adam and Eve.
1. Created with a spiritual dimension.
a. In the image of God.
b. They were without sin and had unhindered free flowing unobstructed relationship with Him – that the way it’s supposed to be.
2. (They were tempted by the devil and sinned.)
a. Just like us, they were given freewill.
b. They were given permission to eat of any tree in the Garden of Eden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
c. And then something happened that changed the course of human history – for all of us.
(1) People were pursued by the devil and coaxed into rebelling against God.
(2) They ate the fruit of the forbidden tree.
(i) And that amounted to sin.
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…” (Romans 5:12)
(ii) And this damaged our relationship with God.
B. Immediately following Adam and Eve sinning for the first time, a tense situation was brewing in the Garden of Eden.
1. And there are five major players in what happens next:
a. God, who is going to issue judgement for what happened.
b. The serpent – the vehicle through which satan sent the temptation that caused people to sin against God.
c. Satan – the originator and sender of the temptation.
d. Adam – the man.
e. Eve – the woman.
2. God moves first to issue judgment to the serpent for his part in what has taken place, then to satan, then to the woman and the man…
a. And chapter three ends with Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden and barred from access to the tree of life.
b. But, in the heat of this sentencing and judgement, God’s love for us comes through as He reveals a hope for a fallen people – showing His love for us…
C. And that brings us to the passage that I want to focus on today: Genesis 3:15…
1. Please turn there in your Bibles and read with me.
2. Moving to address satan, God says this…
“…I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”” (Genesis 3:15)
Let’s take a close look at the first part of this passage today, and next week we will look at the second part…
II. (The devil is our enemy) 3:15a. “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed;”
A. The first part of this passage tells us something very important.
1. The devil is our enemy.
2. And we are enemies in two ways:
a. First, as people in general – all people.
b. And second as the people of God.
B. (As people in general we are enemies with the devil.)
1. To understand why all people are enemies with the devil, we need to ask ourselves a question:
a. Why did the devil do what he did?
b. Why did he set out to tempt people into sin?
c. Did he feel that it was in our best interest to come to the knowledge of good and evil? No.
2. There is an old saying: misery loves company.
a. He is a liar and the father of lies.
b. The Bible say: “…He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
3. People chose to use freewill to rebel against God.
a. And we were hopelessly lost in our bondage to sin, death, and separation from God – case closed.
b. It was our doing, but the devil brought us there – because he is our enemy!
We need to ask another question here…
4. Are even people who don’t believe in God really enemies of the devil?
a. The answer is yes.
b. They just don’t know it.
c. It has not yet been revealed to them.
d. The Bible says: “…the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving…” (2nd Corinthians 4:4)
e. And for many people, they will not come to that realization until it is too late.
And carrying this a step further, as people of God, we are enemies of the devil in two additional ways. First…
C. For all of God’s people throughout history, there is a continual conflict between good and evil inside of us.
1. Maybe it’s going over the speed limit by just a couple miles and hour, not enough to actually get a ticket – you know you shouldn’t, but you do it anyway.
2. Or maybe someone has said something about you at work, something that isn’t true. Instead of approaching that person and trying to create understanding and work through the issue, like you know you should, you react with harsh language and put that person down – it could be a friend, a colleague, or an acquaintance.
3. We all face an internal struggle between good and evil.
4. Between doing what is right and doing what is wrong.
5. The Apostle Paul talks about this conflict in Romans 7:19-25:
“19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.” “21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”
6. Yes, it’s us doing it… But the devil brought us there. And he does it over and over again.
The people of God are also enemies of the devil externally…
D. On the outside, there is an ongoing struggle between satan and the people of God in the external world we live in.
1. This was seen first in Genesis 4:8 as Cain rose against his brother Abel and killed him.
a. The Bible says that Cain “…was of the evil one...” (1 John 3:12)
b. And we have all heard the real-life accounts of God’s people being persecuted throughout human history.
(1) Like Christians being lit on fire and used for lamp posts to light the evening sky under the rule of Nero the emperor Rome in the first century A.D.
(2) Missionaries being killed in foreign countries.
(3) The Apostles being martyred.
(4) Even to the false accusations against and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
(5) When I was in seminary, there was a guy who was finishing his studies and preparing to head back to his home country, where his life and the lives of his family members were already in danger because of his faith.
(6) The fact is, in the United States, we are for the most part shielded from this type of persecution – I pray that it stays that way.
And here’s one that hits home…
We have a Biblical worldview. But…
2. There are a growing number of people in America and in the world today who want to bring a non-Biblical worldview view to the mainstream…
a. This line of thinking is against God.
b. And it demonstrates that there is a continual struggle between the forces of good and the forces of evil in the world we live in.
3. The reality is the devil is our enemy.
a. And there is a continual struggle in this life between good and evil.
b. But here’s the confidence that we have…
And we will be exploring this more next week…
God, in His grace, mercy, compassion, and love for people has made sure that the devil is a defeated enemy. God has given us the power and the opportunity to rise above our sin and separation from Him, to live the kind of life that He has planned for us, and to ultimately spend eternity with Him in heaven.
Conclusion:
God loves you with the kind of love that reaches through time and space. He will move heaven and earth. When troubles come, you can have faith, hope, and confidence that God will walk you through it. He will always be there for you. His love is strong. His love is real. His love will never run out. And He stands ready to give us abundant blessings as His people…
I think of the words in 1st John chapter three verse one…
“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are…” (1st John 3:1)
Invitation for believers…
Your life will never be perfect this side of eternity.
But, your life will never be better than when you are seeking deeper, growing, closer relationship with God.
If you have taken the steps to know God and be in relationship with Him – by turning to Him and putting your faith in His Son Jesus Christ – then I want to encourage you to: make it a priority in your life to make relationship with God a priority.
And, some of the best ways to do this are to:
• Pray and read the Bible every day.
• Go to church and participate there when you can.
• Seek out relationship and conversation with other believers for encouragement and being part of the family of God.
• Witness and share your faith with others.
This will lead you to the kind of peace that only He can give you.
Invitation…
If you have never made that decision to turn to God and believe in His Son Jesus Christ, then I want to give you that opportunity right now…
• There is one true God, He loves you, and He has a plan for your life.
• The problem is, like we have seen, people naturally sin, and are separated from God.
• God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to take care of the problem. His death, burial, and resurrection has paid the price for our sins.
• To have your sins forgiven, to be saved, and get right with God, to start living the kind of life that God intended for you to live, you need to turn to Him and believe in His Son Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Please bow your heads and close your eyes for a moment. If you want to make this decision right now, then in the quietness of your heart, turn your thoughts to God…
And pray with me…
“Dear God, I confess that I am a sinner, I turn from doing things only my own way, and I turn to You. I believe that You sent Your Son, Jesus Christ, that He went to the cross and died for my sins, and that You raised Him to life. I put my faith in Him today for the forgiveness of my sins and for my salvation, and I want to follow Him as the Lord of my life. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.”
