200353.ser
Preparations for Christmas
“Jesus, The One Who Will Win The Victory”
CLBC November 9, 2003 a.m.
Subject: The Conflict Between Satan and Christ.
Theme: The Promise of Victory
Passage: Genesis 3:15
It is unbelievable that in just a few weeks, we shall be singing Christmas Carols; we shall
have a Christmas Program entitle “The Not-So-Silent Night”; we shall be sharing in a Christmas
Eve service, and we shall celebrate the birth of Jesus. For many it will be a happy, and blessed
time.
But there is another side to Christmas. For many, it will be a time of discouragement, of
loneliness, of depression. More drinking than usual will take place. More drunk drivers will be
locked up. People will overspend, overeat, over indulge and pay a heavy cost in emotional
reaction, in marriage wrangles, in anger, resentment, bitterness, hatred and guilt which a few
presents under a tree will not remove.
More than that, no matter how many Christmas pageants are presented, no matter how
often the Christmas story is told, a majority of people will still have no real understanding of why
we celebrate Christmas. They have never understood who Jesus is, nor why he was born in
Bethlehem, nor why his birth was necessary. They may decry the moral mess the world is in, they
may have strong feeling about murder and rape and child abuse, and war, and suffering. but they
really do not know why there is evil in the world, nor why pain and suffering are part of life.
On the other hand, we who are Christians may feel that we know the answer to all these
questions, but we too need a refresher course from time to time, and so as we draw closer to
Christmas I want to go back and replay the story - the old, old story of why it was necessary for
God to send His Son from heaven to win an eternal victory over sin and Satan, and death and hell.
The story begins in a garden, a perfect paradise. in which God has created our first
parents. Now, right there of course we are in trouble, so far as educated people are concerned.
They may or may not believe in evolution but they certainly doubt the reality of the creation of the
universe by God, and the idea of a first man and first woman being formed by God and brought
into a holy, marriage relationship from which all of the population of the world will be brought
forth.
And of course, the story of the temptation of our first parents by a spirit being called
Satan, who spoke to the woman from the body of a serpent - now of course that isn’t true. Why
they have even seen professors of religion from well known universities interviewed on television
who have laughed at the myth of creation and the temptation story. So of course it’d not true.
But the Bible says it is true!
Genesis chapter 3 says that there is a very real spirit being called Satan, who is also
referred to throughout scripture as that old serpent, the devil. The Bible says that God created a
vast host of spirit beings to love Him and serve Him and worship Him. The Bible says that one of
those leading angels was swelled up with pride and desired to be like God, even to lead a rebellion
of the angels against God, and that as a result he and his rebellious followers were cast out of
God’s presence.
The next stage in the story occurred here on earth, in this physical sphere, miraculously
hung in space, in perfect relation to the solar system to receive light and heat, and all the
conditions necessary for physical life. The Bible says that God made everything that was made
and then made a man and a woman, the first human beings to rule over that world. God loved
them and communed with them.
The Bible tells us that Satan had access to this earth and to our first parents, and that he
came to them, studied them and then prepared his attack to lead them to rebel against God also.
Oh, his attack was subtle. He came as a creature of beauty, and spoke to the woman.
He first suggested God might not be good, then denied that God’s word was true, and
then accused God of being unjust in withholding something from our first parents. And he
succeeded.
Eve came to doubt God’s goodness, then to distrust God’s word, and then to disobey
God’s command. In it she set the pattern which has caused such grief to mankind ever since. And
with his eyes wide open, Adam joined his wife in her sin and sold the human race down the river
into slavery.
Immediately there followed a consequence of this disobedience.
1. Knowledge v. 7 "Then the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were
naked."
The word naked implies both nudity and exposure, and so here it indicates not only their
sudden sex consciousness, but also an awareness of the exposure of their guilt before God. It was
truly knowledge of both good and evil.
2. Shame v. 7 There was nothing sinful about their nakedness prior to their disobedience, for their
very nakedness was part of their total innocence, but suddenly shame entered their hearts. They
"felt" their nakedness, and had a desire to cover up - Eve became the first seamstress.
But fig leaves are a poor covering, because shame is not in the body but in the heart. One
also senses that this is where they became separated from each other. This is where they began
covering up not only their bodies but their thoughts and feelings. From that day to this, one of the
difficulties of life, even of married life has been a lack of communication.
3. Fear v. 8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day,
and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the
garden. They were afraid of God with whom they had known nothing but joyous fellowship.
There followed a confrontation with God. God comes to find them.
A. GOD’S QUESTIONS: v. 7 - 13
When we ask questions it is usually because of our need for answers. But God’s questions
were not based on ignorance but on perfect knowledge. His questions are never for His
information, for He knows all things but are designed to bring us to an awareness of our situation
and to acceptance of our need for Him.
Do you notice God’s questions: "where are you?" "Who told you you were naked? Have
you eaten of the tree? What have you done? G. Campbell Morgan rightly says, "This was not the
call of a policeman arresting a criminal. It was the wail of a father, who had lost a child. " (Great
Chapters of the Bible, Morgan, p. 23)
4. And that led to one more consequence: self-justification and blame shifting. Adam blamed
the woman and the woman blamed the serpent, and indirectly both blamed their sin back on God.
"The woman that YOU gave me, to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate."
Oh how familiar the story is!
How up to date!
Now of course, in the eyes of so many people living in this very area, this is all foolishness,
and unbelievable. But if it is all untrue, then where did UNBELIEF, DISOBEDIENCE,
REBELLION, A SELF-CENTRED, SELFISH, ME-FIRST ATTITUDE; THE KNOWLEDGE
OF GOOD AND EVIL; SHAME; FEAR; AND SELF-JUSTIFICATION COME FROM?
Dear ones, the reason we in the 21st century recognize all of these characteristics as being
part of our own lives is quite simple: Every moral problem that we face in the world finds its
source right here. Is there hatred in the world? Is there murder? Is there war? Is there rape? Is
there sexual abuse of children? Is there pornography? Is there lying? Is there stealing? Is there
marriage breakup? Is there loneliness? Are there children growing up in broken homes? Is there
homosexuality? Is there defense of homosexuality as being normal? Could this list be extended?
Do these same problems affect us?
Why? Where does this come from? Let modern man deny that there is a God. Let modern
man deny that there is a devil. Let modern man deny that there is an explanation for evil in the
world. Let modern man deny that the Bible is true. But if the Bible is not true, then give me a
better explanation for the presence of evil in this world.
I say to you that the Bible is the only book in the world that gives the truth about our
condition. The Bible is the only book that not only gives us the true record of how we got into
this mess, but also gives us God’s solution.
For right here in Genesis Chapter 3 we find a promise. Look at verse 15
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall
bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel”
In this verse Satan is given a look into the future. Has he succeeded in destroying the
relationship between God and man?
No, he has damaged that relationship. It is true that he has introduced sin into the world
and brought enmity between man and God. But God will provide a solution that will ultimately
and utterly defeat Satan and overcome every form of evil that now affects society.
For not all of mankind will follow the ways of Satan. God has already prepared the Seed
of the Woman who will defeat Satan utterly.
This one special offspring of the woman will be born and will enter into mortal combat
with Satan. God is here foretelling the coming of His own Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born
of a woman, but born without a human father. This One will be placed upon a cross, and it will
appear to all that Satan has won a great victory. He has at last defeated God.
But Jesus Christ did not stay dead. He rose again from the dead, demonstrating once and
for all that He had provided a perfect sacrifice for man. He gave His life in our place so that we
could believe in God and trust His Son.
Yes, Satan bruised his heel through death, but by resurrection, Christ won a great victory
over Satan, a victory which at last will result in Satan’s complete destruction in hell.
Dear ones, this is the background to the Christmas story. This is the background of the
birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. This is the background of the faith of those who believe in
Jesus and who know that their sins are forgiven This is the background for the assurance of
believers that this life is not all there is, but that this life is just the preparing ground for an eternity
with Jesus Christ, the One who not only will win the victory, but who has won the victory
forever?
Does it make sense? Even if it does not make sense to someone, I invite you to seriously
ponder the Word of God and the coming of Jesus.
Amen
