Hope Deferred

Well, would you please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to Genesis chapter 4.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

It's my privilege to preach this morning and continue our series in Genesis.

We've made our way to chapter 4, and I told you the first three chapters would be a slow walk through the garden.

Now we're outside of the garden, and we're going to pick up our pace just a little bit.

So we'll read all of chapter 4 this morning, and I plan to hit on chapter 5 as well.

But as we stand and read God's Word, I will read chapter 4, verses 1 through 26.

So when you've found it, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word.

Genesis 4, 1 through 26.

Now Adam knew his wife, Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying,

I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.

And again she bore his brother Abel.

Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.

In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,

and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.

And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.

So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.

The Lord said to Cain,

Cain, why are you angry?

Why has your face fallen?

If you do well, will you not be accepted?

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.

Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.

Cain spoke to Abel his brother,

and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain,

Where is Abel your brother?

He said,

I do not know.

Am I my brother's keeper?

And the Lord said,

What have you done?

The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.

And now you are cursed from the ground,

which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.

When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength.

You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.

Cain said to the Lord,

My punishment is greater than I can bear.

Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground,

and from your face I shall be hidden.

I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth,

and whoever finds me will kill me.

Then the Lord said to him,

Not so.

If anyone kills Cain,

vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.

And the Lord put a mark on Cain,

lest any who found him should attack him.

Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord

and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch.

When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.

To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mahuajel,

and Mahujael followed Methusel, excuse me,

and Methusel fathered Lamech, and Lamech took two wives.

The name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other, Zillah.

Ada bore Jabal.

He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.

His brother's name was Jubal.

He was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.

Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain.

He was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron.

The sister of Tubal-Cain was Nema.

Lamech said to his wives,

Ada and Zillah, hear my voice.

You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say.

I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech's is seventy-sevenfold.

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Seth.

For she said, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.

To Seth also was born a son, and he called his name Enosh.

At that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

Father, we praise you for your word.

We praise you for the promise of your word, of the gospel of Christ.

And we pray now as we sit to receive your word, would you speak to us today?

We pray in Christ's name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

One of my favorite verses comes from the book of Proverbs.

It's Proverbs 13, 12.

It says this,

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

Now, I first memorized this verse when I was in college,

and I thought about it often in the months that followed,

especially as Amanda and I got engaged, and we had a promise to be married.

We put our hope in that coming day, and there's this long waiting period where it felt like each and every day that passed,

that hope was deferred.

And we see the same thing with expectant parents, don't we?

Now, you're expecting a child, but there's this built-in waiting period of about nine months

where you're hoping and longing and waiting for that coming day,

but hope day after day after day, month after month is put off, it's deferred,

until the moment finally comes and the baby is born,

and you get to hold that newborn baby in your hands,

and nothing is like that experience of a longing finally fulfilled,

a desire fulfilled.

It's a tree of life, the Proverbs says.

Last week, we saw in the midst of the judgment of God for sin,

God made this big promise in Genesis 3.15.

You remember what he said, Genesis 3.15.

This verse is a key verse for the whole book of Genesis,

but not just the book of Genesis.

As we go through the Scriptures, what we see is that this promise is unfolded

throughout the rest of the Scriptures leading up to the birth of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Here's what he said.

God said to the serpent,

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

between your offspring and her offspring.

He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.

This promise in the midst of the judgment is hope,

and in the midst of this brokenness in the garden,

God will send someone born of the woman

who will come and crush the head of the serpent.

This promised offspring is going to come,

and he's going to make all things right.

He's going to come and fix what's been broken by sin.

And this promise is what gave Adam and Eve hope,

even outside of the garden in a sin-cursed world.

But here as we come to our passage this morning,

now in chapter 4,

tragically, this hope is deferred.

In fact, for a brief moment,

it looks like there's no hope at all.

The hope in a snake-crushing son of the woman

has been snuffed out with the first murder in human history.

And as we read this account,

as we read this chapter,

we're left wondering,

will God's promises come to pass?

Will God bring forth this promised offspring of the woman?

For a moment,

it looks like the offspring of the serpent is winning the battle.

Will God's promise prevail even in the midst of darkness?

Well, what we see,

the answer that we get here from Genesis chapter 4,

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

and as we zoom out throughout the rest of the scriptures,

is that God's promise always prevails.

So let's look at our text this morning.

And first, what we see here is hope provided.

Hope provided.

Look there with me to verse 1.

And again, remember where we are,

the context of this passage.

We are now outside of the garden.

Adam and Eve have sinned against the Lord.

They've been thrust out away from the presence of the Lord.

They're banished from the garden of Eden.

And yet, even there in a sin-cursed world,

we see that God provides hope for them.

In obedience to God's command,

to be fruitful and multiply,

they have children.

These children are offspring of the woman.

Eve conceived and bore Cain,

and again she bore another son,

his brother Abel.

So now,

now we have two image bearers born into the world.

And now in light of this promise that God has made,

we have two distinct possibilities.

The question is,

will either one of these children be the snake crusher?

Will either one of these be the one who will come and set right what's been destroyed by sin?

Now that God has made this promise,

every offspring of the woman comes with this weight of expectation and anticipation.

Could this be the one?

Some of y'all I know follow the royal family.

And I don't have anything to do with it.

I don't understand people that follow them as closely as they do,

but I know some people really, really do.

And you know that every time a child is born into the royal family,

there's all this attention and just focus given to this child.

Why?

Because of the possibility that one day this child who's just been born,

this baby may one day grow up to be the king.

They may grow up to be the queen.

This child may grow up to rule and to reign.

The same anticipation is given here.

There's a sense of anticipation.

Every time a son is born of the woman,

will this be the one who will come and reign and rule and defeat sin in the grave?

Will he be the one to crush the head of the serpent?

And hope is provided here with these two children.

What we see, though, is from the very beginning,

these two children take two very different paths, don't they?

And isn't it funny how two kids born of the same parents,

raised in the same environment,

can come out so different from one another,

with different personalities and different interests and different skill sets.

So we see that play out here with Cain and Abel, don't we?

Verse 2 tells us Abel is a keeper of the sheep.

He's a shepherd.

Cain is a worker of the ground.

He's a farmer.

And just notice already here with this new earth,

with these new people,

a very minimal population here in the world,

we're already beginning to see diversity

and gifting and skill set and variety on display, aren't we?

Verse 3 tells us these two brothers,

with their two different vocations,

bring to the Lord two different offerings,

and the Lord has two very different responses.

Now, here's the tension in the passage.

Look there with me.

Cain brings an offering of the fruit of the ground,

and Abel brings an offering of the firstborn of his flock with the fat portions.

And how does the Lord respond?

Look there.

The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,

but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard.

And we should ask, well, why not?

Why is the Lord accepting one offering and not accepting the other?

It makes complete sense to me, at least on the surface,

given their vocations.

Abel's a shepherd.

He brings some sheep.

Cain is a farmer.

He brings some fruit.

Why would the Lord regard one and not the other?

We're going to answer that.

But before we do,

I want you to notice here,

we should notice that it is the Lord,

it is the Lord who decides what offering is acceptable to him.

The Lord dictates what is and what is not right and good and acceptable worship.

We need to understand this,

especially in our man-centered society,

that worship ultimately is not catered to our preferences.

True and genuine worship is not about us and our wants.

It is about the Lord and his wants.

True worship isn't man-centered.

It is God-centered.

And the question of true worship is not ultimately what's pleasing to me.

It's what is pleasing to the Lord.

And here we see a basic fundamental distinction here

between true and false worship.

We read a passage earlier in Hebrews

that I think helps us understand the difference.

And I'm going to read it again here.

Hebrews 11 verse 4

Hebrews 11:4

says,

By faith,

Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain,

through which he was commended as righteous.

God commending him by accepting his gifts.

And through his faith,

though he died,

still he speaks.

By faith,

Abel offered to God

a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.

Two brothers,

two vocations,

two offerings,

one is accepted,

one is disregarded.

What's the difference?

Only one was offered up to the Lord by faith.

True and acceptable worship

in the sight of the Lord

must come from a heart of faith.

Without faith,

it is impossible to please him.

True and acceptable worship

must come from a heart of faith,

meaning a heart that trusts him,

latches onto him,

loves him,

honors him,

seeks him above all else

and disregards self.

That's what faith is.

These two offerings,

ultimately,

they reveal two completely different postures of the heart.

This is the difference between faith,

which is trusting God,

and self,

works,

trusting self.

It's the difference between a heart that seeks the Lord

and a heart that just comes and does whatever you think you have to do.

Go through the motions.

Do you realize that two people can sit in the same place

and sing the same songs

and hear the same scriptures

and receive the same sermon

and come to the same worship service

and one person's offering of worship

be accepted

and the others not?

You may say,

well,

I'm here,

I'm standing,

I'm singing,

I'm giving,

I'm doing all the things.

Why would God accept one and not the other?

The difference,

I'll say it again,

the only acceptable worship

in the sight of the Lord

is worship that comes from a heart of faith.

we need to ask ourselves,

as we come in,

as we gather for worship,

as we prepare ourselves for this holy moment

of receiving the word of the Lord,

of offering up praise to him,

are we offering up a sacrifice of praise

that comes from a heart of faith

or are we simply checking the box,

going through the motions?

We see here God has provided hope

with these two children

and already we see their paths begin to diverge

and what we see happens next

is that tragically this hope that was provided

for a moment is deferred.

So second,

second,

we see hope deferred.

Look there with me to verse five.

Verse five,

it says,

Cain,

in response to the Lord

disregarding his sacrifice,

how does he respond?

Cain is very angry,

it says,

and his face fell.

And the Lord said to Cain,

why are you angry?

Why has your face fallen?

If you do well,

will you not be accepted?

And if you do not do well,

here's the warning,

sin is crouching at the door.

It's desire is for you,

but you must rule over it.

Now your version might say something like,

it's desire is contrary to you.

It's the same idea,

isn't it?

We saw this language in chapter three.

You can flip back there

or look back there

to verse 16 of chapter three

and you remember from last week,

Eve,

it said,

Eve,

your desire will be for your husband,

but he will rule over you.

And so now,

just like with Eve's desire,

to rule over her husband,

now God warns Cain,

sin wants to rule over you.

Sin wants to overcome you.

It wants to overpower you.

It is coming to destroy you.

But he tells Cain,

you must rule over it.

This is a test here,

isn't it?

This is a moment of opportunity,

a moment of testing,

rule or be ruled.

Kill or be killed.

Hunt or be hunted.

John Owen,

he used to say,

be killing sin

or sin will be killing you.

This is what Cain is facing here.

All hope hangs in the balance.

Will Cain prove to be obedient to the Lord?

Will he trust and obey the word of the Lord?

Will he keep the possibility alive

that perhaps,

maybe,

just maybe,

he will be the one to triumph over sin?

Here we see verse 8.

All hope in Cain

is shattered.

He does not rule over sin.

Sin rules over Cain.

Cain spoke to Abel, his brother.

I don't know what he said.

I don't believe it was pleasant.

And when they were out in the field,

Cain rose up against his brother,

Abel,

and killed him.

This is the first murder

in human history.

Now we read something like this

and we're almost,

we're just so numb

and desensitized to violence.

We live in it every day.

We see it every day on the news.

We read about it.

We hear about it.

There's violence all around us.

We're just so numb

to the weight

and the heaviness,

the heaviness,

the severity of the sin.

This is the first murder

in the history of mankind.

And just look how far we've fallen

in just a short period of time.

Cain proves to be a sinner

and a murderer

and a rebel to the word of God

just like his parents before him.

But even more than that,

the deeper issue here

is that Cain proves himself

to be an offspring of the serpent.

And Cain and Abel may be physically

members of the same family.

They're brothers physically by blood.

But spiritually speaking,

they are from two entirely different families.

One is of faith

and the other is faithless.

This murder.

We have to understand this story

in chapter 4,

this murder of one brother

against another.

This is the first chapter

of the unfolding conflict

between the seed of the woman

and the seed of the serpent.

And for just a brief moment,

it looks like the offspring

of the serpent is winning.

It looks like hope is lost.

And for just a brief moment,

Adam and Eve are wondering

how in the world

will God's promises come to pass?

In one act of violence,

Cain has snuffed out hope

that either one of these children

might be the snake crusher

God has promised.

For a moment here,

hope is deferred.

Hope is crushed.

And we should notice

how familiar all of this story sounds.

This is a replay

of what Adam and Eve

just experienced in the garden,

isn't it?

Did you notice the similarities here

between these stories?

That we saw a replay of the sin.

Cain disregarded the word of the Lord

just like Adam and Eve did.

And we see a replay

of the Lord's pursuit of the sinner.

Verse 9,

The Lord said to Cain,

Where is Abel your brother?

Do you hear the echoes?

Where are you, Adam?

Who told you you were naked?

We see a replay of the sinner

hiding his sin.

I don't know.

Am I my brother's keeper?

This woman you gave me,

she gave me the fruit.

The man and the woman hid

and covered themselves.

You see the echoes here.

Cain hides his sin from the Lord,

but it goes a step further,

doesn't it?

He lies straight to the Lord's face.

We see a replay of the Lord's judgment

on the sinner.

The Lord said,

What have you done?

The voice of your brother's blood

is crying to me from the ground,

and now you are cursed from the ground,

which has opened its mouth

to receive your brother's blood

from your hand.

When you work the ground,

it shall no longer yield to you its strength.

You shall be a fugitive

and a wanderer on the earth.

All of this

is a sad reenactment

of the garden,

which shows us

that this problem of sin

is not just an isolated incident.

And it doesn't even reset

with each generation.

We don't come in on a blank slate.

This problem of sin

is a virus.

It's a sickness.

It's a power

that enslaves and corrupts.

It's passed down

from generation to generation,

and things are not getting better here.

They're getting worse.

You wonder,

why in the world

the world we live in

is so broken?

You watch the news

and you see the violence

that we see every single day,

and you wonder,

how could anybody

hate somebody so much?

The answer is,

we sin

because we are sinners,

both by nature

and by choice.

We have inherited

the same sin

that Cain has inherited

from his brother,

from his father, Adam.

And yet,

just as we saw

in the garden,

we see here,

despite it all,

replayed once again,

God is merciful

to sinners.

Verse 13,

Cain grieves

his judgment

and says to the Lord,

my punishment

is greater

than I can bear.

You've driven me today

away from the ground

and away from your face.

I shall be hidden.

I shall be a fugitive

and a wanderer

on the earth.

And he worries,

whoever will find me

will kill me.

But listen to this,

the Lord responds

with this provision

of mercy.

Not so.

If anyone kills Cain,

vengeance shall be taken

on him sevenfold.

The Lord mercifully

put a mark on Cain,

lest any who found him

should attack him.

And then Cain

went away

from the presence

of the Lord,

like Adam and Eve

before him,

and settled

in the land of Nod,

east of Eden.

Abel is gone.

Cain is banished.

Neither one of them

are the snake crusher

that God has promised.

And again,

the question comes

to the forefront.

Will God accomplish

what he's promised?

Will the promises

of God prevail

even in this bleak darkness?

forgiveness?

Third,

third,

we see hope

is restored.

Look there with me

to verse 17.

Hope is restored.

Here,

starting in verse 17

and through the rest

of the chapter

and then even on

to chapter 5.

Again,

the question is,

will the promised one

come through Cain?

We know that Cain's

a murderer.

We know that Cain

is wicked

and Cain belongs

to the offspring

of the evil one

but could it be

that the snake crusher

will come through

his line?

And what we see here

in the rest of chapter 4

is two distinct legacies.

Look there with me

at the legacy

of Cain's line.

Verse 17.

Cain knew his wife

and she conceived

and bore Enoch

and when he built a city

he called the name

of the city

after the name

of his son,

Enoch.

Enoch bore Irad

and Irad,

Mahujael

and Mahujael

and Methusael

and Methusael

Lamech.

Lamech took two wives.

One was Ada,

the other Zillah.

Ada bore Jabal

He was the father

of those who dwell

in tents

and have livestock

and his brother's name

was Jubal

and he was the father

of those who play

the lyre and the pipe.

Zillah also bore Tubal Cain

and he was the forger

of all instruments

of bronze and iron

and the sister

of Tubal Cain

was Nema.

Do you hear

what he's tracing here?

He's outlining

the legacy

of the line of Cain

and by all accounts

the contributions

of the family of Cain

are impressive,

aren't they?

These are city builders

and the first musicians

come from this line.

Forgers of instruments

and tools,

these guys are making

some monumental contributions

to the world.

We see development here

of culture and art.

They make incredible contributions

to this developing society,

don't they?

But despite these contributions,

what we see

is that ultimately

at the root,

the legacy of Cain's line

is wickedness.

Look there to verse 23.

Lamech said to his wives,

he's a polygamist.

Well, this is new.

This is a new development

of sin and wickedness.

Sin is progressing.

The virus is spreading.

He says to his wives,

Ada and Zillah,

hear my voice,

you wives of Lamech.

Listen to what I say.

I have killed a man

for wounding me.

He's not just a polygamist,

he's a murderer.

And the murders

don't stop with Cain.

He has a legacy of violence.

It runs in the family.

I've killed a young man

for striking me.

He's not just a murderer.

He's vengeful.

He's bloodthirsty.

This isn't equal justice.

It's not an eye for an eye

and a tooth for a tooth.

He kills a young man

for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

This is over and above the top.

You hurt me,

I kill you.

Again,

we see sin

and wickedness

is multiplying here

on the earth.

Things aren't getting better.

They're getting much,

much worse.

And he boasts in it,

doesn't he?

If Cain's revenge

is sevenfold,

then Lamech's revenge

is seventy-sevenfold.

He's arrogant.

Boastful.

It's a mixed bag here

with Cain's legacy,

isn't it?

Some very good,

some incredible,

wonderful,

good contributions

mixed up with great wickedness.

And we can look at our own culture

and see the same thing,

can't we?

Men and women of all stripes,

believer and non-believer alike,

are capable of making

incredible contributions

to society.

Even non-believers

are capable of making

incredible contributions

to art and culture

and science

and technology.

And as they do so,

what they're doing,

willingly or not,

whether they're aware

of it or not,

is they are imaging forth,

they're representing,

they're shining forth

the glory of God,

even non-believers.

When Stephen Hawking

explains astronomy

and physics,

now we may,

with our limited understanding,

disagree with some

of what he says,

but even in the exercise

of the brilliance

of his mind,

he's demonstrating

some of the glory of God.

John Lennon

and Paul McCartney,

an atheist

and an agnostic,

when they come together

and they write a song,

the whole world recognizes

that's beautiful.

It's wonderful.

It's art.

It's music.

And yet,

they reject him

and their use

of the gifts of God.

This is called

common grace.

But,

despite their incredible

contributions,

because at the root

of their offerings

is not faith,

before the Lord,

ultimately,

it is disregarded.

Ultimately,

here,

as we trace

the line of Cain,

what we see is

his legacy

is wickedness.

But here in verse 25,

look there with me.

once again,

hope is renewed.

It says,

Adam knew his wife again,

and she bore a son

and called his name Seth.

For she said,

God has appointed for me

another offspring

instead of April.

For Cain killed him.

another offspring.

Again,

hope is restored.

Hope is renewed

here through the line

of Seth.

And look at his legacy.

It's not ultimately

art or medicine

or music

or science

or any of this.

Verse 26,

what's his legacy?

To Seth also

was born a son,

and he called his name

Enosh,

and at that time,

people began

to call upon

the name

of the Lord.

This

is the first

formal,

gathered,

official

Yahweh worship

in the history

of the world.

The legacy

of Seth's line,

like Abel before him,

is one of faith

and genuine

worship

of the Lord.

See here

the distinction.

Do you see it?

See here

the difference

between these two lines?

I want you to

see here

the difference

between faith

and faithlessness.

Between wickedness

and righteousness.

between duty

and delight.

Between boasting

in self

and boasting

in the Lord.

Between external

impressiveness

and a singular

devotion to please

and worship

the Lord alone.

Do you see the difference?

The question

for us

this morning,

church,

is which

one

will we

be?

To which

family

do you

belong?

belong?

Every single

one of us

and every single

person in the world

belongs to

one of these

two distinct

families.

We are either

offspring of the

serpent

by nature

or we are

children of God

by grace.

And what's the

difference between

the two?

Faith

in the promise

of God.

We are

saved by grace

through faith.

You know,

that's the same

way any Old

Testament believer

was saved too,

by the way.

They are saved

by grace

through faith

in the promises

of God.

The only

difference is

they are

looking forward

to when

this promise

might one

day be

fulfilled

while we

get to

look backwards

to Christ

Jesus

in the gospel

and see how

every promise

of God

finds our

yes and

amen

in Him.

Here with

the birth

of Seth,

hope is

renewed,

but unfortunately

for Eve,

as we know

as we zoom

out from this

account,

it is a long

way to go

here before

that desire

is fulfilled.

The rest

of the Bible

will trace

these two

lines

and these

two conflicting

families.

The seed

of the woman

against the

seed of the

serpent

and the

seed of the

serpent

will continue

to try

and try

and try

and try

to snuff

out the

seed of the

woman.

But through

a long

and painful

and bleak

history of

sin and

apparent

hopelessness,

the good

news of

the gospel

is that

God's

promises

always

prevail.

I want

you to

just look

at chapter

five with

me and

take a look

at this

genealogy and

I realize

even as I

say that,

right,

some of you

are afraid.

I know

that this

is part

of what you

just skip

over this

in your

Bible reading

plan.

I get

that,

I know.

But what

I want you

to understand

is that this

list of names

here is not

just tracing

history.

These

genealogies

are tracing

promise.

Put your

finger there

in Genesis

five and

I want you

to turn

over to

Luke chapter

three.

And here

we find

another

genealogy.

And these

two long

lists of

names,

they trace

the very

same promise.

They tell

the same

exact story.

the only

difference is

that Genesis

five ends

with hope

deferred,

but Luke

chapter three

shows us

desire

fulfilled.

All of

chapter five

is summarized

there in Luke

chapter three.

We have to

read it

backwards,

the bottom

to top.

God

to Adam,

Adam

to Seth,

Seth

to Enos,

Enos

to Canaan,

Canaan

to Mahalel,

Mahalel to

Jared,

Jared to

Enoch,

Enoch to

Methuselah,

Methuselah to

Lamech,

Lamech to

Noah,

Noah to

Shem.

That's where

Genesis five

stops.

But here in

Luke three,

it keeps going.

And we trace

this promise

deferred,

this hope

deferred,

ultimately to

Noah,

eventually to

Abraham,

from Abraham

eventually to

David,

from David

eventually down

the line until

we get to

Joseph.

And from

Joseph and

Mary to

Jesus,

the Messiah,

Luke is

telling us,

finally,

at long

last,

in Jesus,

the promise

has been

fulfilled.

Our desire

has been

fulfilled

in Jesus.

Jesus

is the one

who will come,

now we know,

through the line

of Seth,

and crush the

head of the

serpent.

The question for

us this morning,

church,

is this,

will we

trust him

even if

for a

moment

hope is

deferred?

Will we

trust him

now by

faith even

when we

cannot yet

see him

by sight?

Will we

trust him

to return

and put an

end to

sin and

death and

darkness in

the devil even

while here and

now are so

often so

overwhelmed by

these things

here and

now?

Will you

trust him

by faith

that despite

the darkness

and despite

the opposition,

despite the

apparent hopelessness

of the moment,

despite the

delay,

that God's

promise will

prevail?

This conflict

between the

seed of the

woman and

the seed of

the serpent,

it hit its

climax at the

cross of

Christ.

And in a

moment of

darkness and

apparent

hopelessness,

for a moment

it looked as

if all hope

was lost.

The serpent

struck the

heel of the

son of the

woman and

all were left

wondering,

will God's

promises come

to pass?

At the

cross of

Christ it

looked like

the serpent

had won,

like the

battle had

been lost.

Will God's

promises prevail

even in the

midst of

darkness?

And the

answer that

we see is

yes!

God's

promises

prevail in

Christ.

Christ Jesus

rose from

the grave

and crushed

the serpent's

head so

that now by

faith,

sinners like

us can be

transferred,

delivered from

the domain of

darkness and

might become

sons and

daughters of

the living

God.

By faith in

the promised

seed of the

woman,

despite the

darkness and

apparent hopelessness

of the present,

we believe by

faith that

his promises

will prevail

one day soon

and very soon

church.

The Lord

will return.

Sin will be

no more.

Death will be

finished.

That cursed

serpent will be

done for good.

The sheep

will be

separated from

the goats.

These two

families,

these two

spiritual lines

will be

separated at

last and

the children

of God

will be

separated from

the children

of the

enemy.

The dead

will be

raised and

we who

know him

by faith

will live

with him

forever

in a new

and better

Eden,

a new

heavens

and the

new earth.

Is this

your hope

church?

Will you

trust his

promises

promises?

Even in

the midst

of darkness?

Father,

we praise

you that

all of the

promises of

God find

their yes

and amen

in Jesus

Christ.

We praise

you that

even now

as we live

in between

some promise

and fulfillment,

Lord, we pray

that we would

live by faith

and walk

by faith,

that we would

look back to

the cross

and the

resurrection

and be

reminded that

you have been

faithful to us

already and

surely you

will be

faithful again.

Lord, we pray

now, Lord, as we

stand to worship

you, would we

worship you by

faith?

We pray this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.