Pastor's corner-This Means War

It may be surprising to some that the very first prophecy of the coming of Christ came during a declaration of war! On the occasion of man’s fall into sin through the lying serpent, God’s judgment of the serpent was final, and carried a sentence that bore both physical and spiritual implications. The latter would be the first prophecy of the coming of Christ, His finished work on the cross and His final defeat of Satan in the Lake of Fire. Indeed the first Gospel ever preached was preached by God Himself in the Garden of Eden!

In the initial part of the serpent’s “sentence”, God first addressed the physical serpent.

In Genesis 3:14 we read, “So the Lord God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.’” Here God pronounces that, though all of creation would be cursed because of man’s sin (see Gen.

3:17b-18; Rom.

8:20-22), the curse on the serpent is greater! For even during the millennial reign of Christ and the eternal state where there will be a new heaven and a new earth, “dust” will continue to be “the serpent’s food” (see Isa.

65:25).

Apparently the serpent will serve as a continual (eternal) reminder of our fall into sin and the horrible price that was paid by Christ for our redemption.

God then addressed the spiritual serpent.

In Genesis 3:15 we read, “And 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 heal.” Notice that God said He will put “enmity” between him and the woman.

“Enmity” comes from the Hebrew word, “eybah”, which means “hatred” or “hostility”.

In a word…WAR. And it is a war that is unending.

“You” here refers to Satan himself, who – along with a third of the angels of heaven – had been thrown out of heaven for their rebellion (see Isa.

14:12-15; Rev. 12:7-9).

Jesus alluded to this event in Luke 10:18 when He said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” How, you say, did Jesus see that event? Because He – God the Son – was there! “For by [Christ] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.

All things were created through Him and for Him.

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col.

1:16-17).

“The woman” here obviously refers to Eve.

And in this immediate context of Genesis 3 we see Eve move from being very friendly and cordial with the serpent (3:1-6)… to being very hostile toward him (3:13).

Indeed it is an enmity that is unending! What/who is “your seed” (the seed of the serpent) here? It is none other than demons/fallen angels who rebelled with Satan (spoken of earlier) and unbelievers.

That is, anyone who has rejected Jesus Christ as God’s one and only way of salvation and provision for sin and forgiveness.

In John 8:44 Jesus said to fallen man, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father…”.

What/who is “her Seed” (the Seed of the woman)? This refers to Christ and believers in Him.

In Micah 5:2, one of the many Old Testament prophecies of the coming of Christ, we read, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.” Yes, the One who is “from everlasting” – the one true God, God the Son, would indeed “become flesh” and “dwell among us” (John 1:1, 14).

He would come and “save His people from their sins” (Matt.

1:21).

The other part of “her seed” are believers in Christ…believers from every dispensation (era) of time.

Those that lived before Christ came to earth simply looked forward to Christ and His sacrifice.

Those of us that live after Christ look back to Christ and His sacrifice.

But all are stuck in that cosmic spiritual battle.

Paul wrote, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph.

6:12).

It is indeed a WAR!

“He shall bruise your head” is the next promise of God to the serpent. It’s interesting to note that the poison of a snake is in its head. One blow to the head of a snake is fatal. Jesus Christ will deliver a fatal blow to Satan and his seed! The apostle Paul wrote, “And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly…” (Rom. 16:20). Satan knows his end – hell, the Lake of Fire – is what awaits him (see Rev. 20:10). But until that time, he’ll deceive and congregate as many on his side as possible, whose end will be the same.

“And you shall bruise His heel” is the final promise of God to the serpent.

The enemy certainly did “bruise His [Christ’s] heel” on the cross, didn’t he! But it was a “temporary” blow, as compared to the “fatal” (eternal) “bruise” inflicted to the head that Satan will deal with…forever! Once Christ was on the cross, Satan thought he had won! But, ironically, the cross is precisely where Satan’s defeat was commenced! See Col.

2:13-15.

In fact, I Peter 3:19 teaches that between Christ’s death and resurrection, His living spirit went to the demon spirits in Hades and proclaimed that, in spite of His death, He had triumphed over them! And I believe Satan was there giving audience as well.

All of it was secured, of course, on Sunday morning when Christ was raised bodily from the dead!

This Christmas, I have but one question for you: do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Are you a child of God through faith in Christ, or are you still, as Jesus said, “of your father the devil”? Religion (or religious activity can’t save you. You know Him by simply acknowledging your sin before God, turning from them in His power and receiving Christ as Savior and Lord! If you do, His promise is, “He who believes in me has eternal life” (John 6:47).

Dean Ellis

Pastor of Evangelism

Colfax First Baptist Church