The First Gospel and the Final Victory | Mark Estes

Good morning again,

North Palm.

Wow.

I want to uh I want to begin with the

first time the gospel was proclaimed

this morning. We're getting ready to

celebrate Christmas and uh we're going

to look at this week, next week, and

actually the 21st uh at I believe three

really important areas. This week I want

to talk about the first gospel and the

final triumph

because they actually happened at the

same time. The first time the gospel was

proclaimed, the enemy was defeated.

So take a moment, lift your hands with

me. Come on, everybody. Are you ready?

>> All right, pray this prayer with me.

Holy Spirit,

>> open my ears

>> that I can hear

>> what you have to say. Open my heart.

Make it receptive. I give you permission

to move deep in my life, to form my

heart, to form my character. Jesus, have

your way in me today.

>> Amen.

>> Praise the Lord. Come on, give the Lord

a hand clap of praise.

All right. If you would like the notes,

I would encourage you text the word

notes to 843-75-56209

and you can receive a copy of them or

not us

in Spanish. You can receive them in

Spanish. And then at the end of the

notes, there is a 7-day prayer plan that

I would highly encourage you to get this

week and to use in your devotions. In

Genesis chapter number three, verse 15.

Genesis 3:15. Turn with me in your Bible

Genesis 3:15

or open your tablet or your phone.

Genesis 3:15.

Genesis 3:15

And I will put enmity, notice that word,

enmity. I will put enmity between you

and the woman, and between your seed and

her seed. Notice that

enmity between your seed, the serpent's

seed, and enmity between the seed of the

woman.

Interesting.

He shall bruise your head

and you shall bruise his heel.

Amen. Now, this is the very first place

in scripture where where light breaks

through the darkness of the fall of

Adam. the first place before God

pronounces judgment on Adam and Eve, he

pronounces judgment on the serpent.

And when he pronounces judgment on the

serpent, he at the same time announces

his plan of redemption.

Theologians have called this the proto

evangelum

or the first gospel.

And so this one verse, Genesis 3:15,

Genesis 3:15

contains the entire redemption story,

but it's in seed form. It declares that

there is a messiah that is going to come

to come and it announces a war that is

taking place, but it also promises the

victory. So let's look at this. The

first thing I want you to notice is that

this conflict is initiated by God. God

initiates the conflict. He said, "I will

put enmity."

And so the conflict doesn't originate

with man. The conflict doesn't originate

with the devil, with Satan. No, it

originates with God himself. God is not

reacting to sin.

He is sovereignly stepping in when man

sins.

He's stepping in. He's intervening. And

so that word enmity, that's one that you

need to really get into your spirit. It

it means in Hebrew hostility, deep

hatred. It means a continual conflict.

But really to to understand it, it's

like um you despise the essence

of the other person. I will put enmity.

There will be such a deeprooted hatred,

such a deeprooted

uh despising in you that the seed of the

woman is going to have enmity against

the serpent and the serpent is going to

have enmity. Despise the essence of the

seed of the woman.

enmity

really a difficult word. So, so God

draws the battle lines in the garden and

actually what God is doing he is saying

Satan you will not rule humanity I am

intervening and I will redeem.

I will redeem. So you understand that

the battle is not spiritual or physical.

The battle is spiritual. Ephesians 6

verse number 12 where Paul said, "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

host of wickedness in the heavenly

places." So you understand that the

adversary, your adversary, the devil is

seeking to destroy. He is out for total

destruction. So Peter said in 1 Peter

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 verse number 8, be sober, be

vigilant because your adversary the

devil. Now you need to understand that

the devil is not is your adversary. He

is not your entertainer.

The there is pleasure in sin but it is

for a season and in the end that

pleasure turns to sorrow because the

wages of sin is death.

So your adversary, the devil, walks

about like a roaring lion, seeking whom

he may devour.

Seeking whom he may devour. Now this is

a word

that is not just talking about harm.

That word devour, that word means to

consume completely.

It's like the prey is swallowed whole.

And Peter uses this terminology

intentionally to warn us as believers

that the enemy is not simply trying to

injure us. He's not simply trying to

distract us. He's not trying to irritate

us. He is seeking to consume us. He

wants to consume our faith. He wants to

consume our testimony. He wants to

consume our joy. He wants to consume our

holiness. He wants to consume our

spiritual strength. He wants to consume

our identity. He wants to consume us

entirely.

So let's go a little deeper. To say that

the enemy seeks to devour means that he

aims for total spiritual and physical

and emotional and mental destruction.

not just discomfort

that he that and you need to understand

that that as you as you go into this

that compromise is what feeds him.

It's those little small openings that

create swallowing points where he will

devour you. And so this warning is

active. This warning is urgent. This is

not just casual advice. Your protection

is found in your vigilance. Your

protection is found in living a sober

lifestyle. Your protection is found in

keeping your faith steadfast, secure,

and rooted on the rock, Jesus Christ.

>> That is your protection. And you need to

understand that Satan wages all out war.

All out war. He throws all the stops

aside. Revelation 12 beginning with

verse number 7. A war broke out in

heaven. Michael and his angels fought

with the dragon and the dragon and his

angels fought but they did not prevail

nor was a place found for them in heaven

any longer. So the great dragon was cast

out. Somebody say, "Praise the Lord."

>> The great dragon was cast out. that

serpent of old called the devil and

Satan who deceives the whole world and

he was cast to the earth and his angels

were cast out with him. Don't you know

that made him angry?

The moment that Adam fell

was not the moment that God lost.

>> No, it was the moment that God

intervened.

God intervened in the downfall OF MAN.

GOD INTERVENEED in the iniquity of man.

GOD INTERVENED IN the destruction of

man. You know during World War II,

Winston Churchill, I admire Winston

Churchill. So he was such an incredible

leader. He once said regarding the Nazis

and their threat, he said, "We are

resolved to wage war by sea, land, and

air with all of our might." He was

saying, "We're not holding anything

back. We're going to fight every

possible way that there is to fight."

You see, it was not Germany that

declared war on the Allies. It was the

allies who refused to surrender. That

declaration changed history. Some of you

have got to stop surrendering to the

devil. You've got to stop giving up when

the temptation comes. You've got to stop

throwing in the towel when the heat

turns up. You've got to remember that if

you endure to the end, you're going to

be saved. It may look not look like

victory. It may not feel like victory

all the time, but the victory has

already been assured. You are more than

a conqueror through him who loved you

and gave himself for you. You are an

overcomer through Christ Jesus.

>> So in Genesis, God is the one who

declares war on Satan.

And so what does this really mean to you

and I? Here's what it means. God never

abandons his children to darkness.

>> Never. Every conflict in your life has

already been intercepted by God.

>> It means that the enemy does not have

the final say. God has the final say.

>> And when the enemy attacks, he is

trespassing on God's territory because

you are a child of God. You were made in

the image of God and you are SPECIAL TO

your father.

>> The second thing I want you to see is

that God promises a redeemer through the

seed of the woman.

He said, "I'm going to put enmity

between your seed

and her seed."

Now

this is a this is a little bit shocking

because in scripture

the seed is always traced through man

except here

God says here that it's through her seed

enmity between your seed and her seed.

And so that word seed means offspring.

It means pro post prosperity. It means

descendants.

And this is the first whisper of the

virgin birth.

A virgin

Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 7:14

Isaiah 7:14

shall conceive. Therefore the Lord

himself will give you a sign. Behold,

the virgin shall conceive and bear a

son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.

And what is Emmanuel? Emmanuel is God

with us. Matthew 1 verse 23, behold the

Matthew 1:23

virgin shall be with child and bear a

son, and they shall call his name

Emmanuel, which is translated God with

us. That's the word that God gave to

Joseph. That's the word that that the

woman was going to bear a child. This

virgin was going to conceive.

And what is that seed? That seed is

Christ. Galatians 3 verse number 16. Now

to Abraham and his seed were promises

made. He does not say to seeds as of

many, but as of one and to your seed who

is Christ. And so here God declares,

"Redemption

is coming through my son that is born of

a woman and not of man.

The seed of the woman, the virgin, will

conceive and give birth to a son." So

this prophecy starts a redemptive

lineage. You know, family gets messed

up. I I know not your family, but

family gets messed up. And so the first

family was no ex and I'm not talking

about the White House. The first family

created was messed up. Adam and Eve had

a son had two sons, Cain and Abel. And

Cain got jealous of Abel because Abel's

sacrifice was acceptable to God and

Cain's one. And God confronted Cain and

said, you know, "Hey, what's going on?

there's sin that's crouching at the

door. And so Cain denied it, but then

goes out into the field and kills his

brother Abel.

So the redemptive seed that came through

Adam and Eve was Seth.

And then from Seth to Abraham, God told

Abraham, "I'm going to prosper you. In

you all the families of the earth will

be blessed." And then it goes through

his son Judah,

through his relationship with Tamar. And

you got to read that story if you like

stuff. That's whoa whoa. That's one of

them. And then it goes from there

through David.

David

and his

and Uriah's wife. The scripture refers

to Beth Sheeba every almost every

instance, not by her name, but as the

wife of Uriah.

But yet Messiah comes through her.

I'm telling you, this is good stuff,

man. And then you go from David to

Jesus, the Christ, who is referred to as

the son of David, Messiah. And so from a

single

seed, all of this promise comes from a

single seed,

just a little seed. Now imagine a farmer

and he's holding this seed in his hand

and that seed doesn't look like a tree.

It doesn't look like shade. It doesn't

look like fruit. In fact, that seed

looks completely totally insignificant.

But inside that seed is an entire

future.

The promise of God made in Eden was

small in appearance. But inside that

seed of the woman, there was a cross

and there was a resurrection

and there was a kingdom and there was a

church in Eklesia, a governing body. AND

there in that seed was the final defeat

of Satan. Because listen, a seed never

looks like the harvest.

So what does this mean to you and to you

and I? It means that God plants when God

plants, it may start small, but it's

going to always grow into victory.

It means that you don't measure God's

promise by the size. You measure it by

his word.

It means that God has a plan for you

before the enemy ever attacked you and

stood against you. Somebody needs to

praise God in this house today.

Number three, I want you to see that God

forever decides the outcome of the war.

God decides the outcome. Genesis 3:15,

Genesis 3:15

God said, "He shall bruise your head

and you shall bruise his heel." These

are two blows that are described. One is

a temporary blow that you recover from

and one is a fatal blow, a final blow

that there is no recovery from. So that

word bruise,

he's going to bruise your head and

you're going to bruise his heel. That

bruise means to crush. It means to

overwhelm. It means to strike fatally.

So the serpent strikes the heel,

but you recover from that

while Jesus Messiah crushes the head of

the serpent.

and you don't recover from that.

>> So Jesus came to destroy the works of

the devil.

>> In first John chapter 3 verse number

1 John 3 · chapter mention

eight, he who sins is of the devil. For

the devil has sinned from the beginning.

For this purpose the son of God was

manifested that he might destroy the

works of the devil. And you say, "How

did he do that?" Well, in Hebrews 2,

Hebrews 2:14

verse 14, in so much then as the

children have partaken of flesh and

blood, he himself likewise shared in the

same. Jesus God became man. He parttook

in flesh and blood. And then it goes on

to say that through faith he might

destroy him who had the power of death.

That is the devil,

>> man. What is wrong? Didn't you hear

that?

>> He destroys him who has the power of

death. I hate death. I don't get I don't

understand. Maybe this is an anomaly in

my neighborhood, but we got a couple

neighbors that think they can put these

20 foot skeletons up at Halloween and

then make them decorated for

Thanksgiving and then leave them up

through Christmas. But I'm here to tell

you that in the name of Jesus, Jesus has

already conquered death.

>> There there's no skeletons in the

kingdom of God. They're only saved,

whole, redeemed, set free children of

the most high. And look at what he said

in verse 15. And to release those who

through the fear of death were all their

lifetime subject to bondage. Can

somebody say, "Praise God, I've been set

free.

I've been set free. I've been set free.

And so what what did he do? He disarmed

the principalities and the powers.

Colossians 2 verse number 15. Having

disarmed principalities and powers, he

made a a public spectacle of them,

triumphing over them in it. What? How'd

he do that? Through the cross. He

disarmed the devil through the cross.

And so, Revelation 20 verse number 10

tells us that Satan has been defeated.

The devil who deceived them was cast

into the lake of fire and brimstone

where the beast and the false prophet

are. And they will be tormented day and

night forever and ever and ever AND EVER

BECAUSE WE GO FROM victory to victory to

victory TO VICTORY TO VICTORY. SATAN has

been defeated. He is a defeated foe.

JESUS REIGNS SUPREME ON THE THRONE.

So the cross

>> was the bruised heel.

>> Satan bruised Jesus HEEL ON THE CROSS.

BUT THE resurrection crushed the head of

the devil.

>> He's alive.

HE'S ALIVE. I'M FORGIVEN. I'm redeemed.

HE'S ALIVE. DEATH COULD NOT HOLD HIM.

THE CROSS COULD NOT KILL HIM. JESUS is

alive.

>> Calvary is not the end. It is the

beginning of Satan's defeat. The ancient

world knew that if you injured a

serpent's head, you destroyed its

ability to strike, to slither, and to

survive.

So in the spiritual realm, Jesus

shattered Satan's authority.

>> Now his bite may hurt, but his head is

crushed.

>> HE HAS NO FINAL VICTORY.

>> So what does this mean for you and me?

It means that Satan may strike you but

he cannot defeat you

>> because Jesus has already won the battle

that you are fighting. It means that the

enemy's best blow is temporary.

It's temporary. These light and

momentary afflictions. Do you understand

that? You're going through the valley.

You're not living in the valley. Stop

camping out in the valley and start

pushing through. You were made to

conquer. Your victory's already been

secured.

The bruised heel is THE TESTIMONY THAT

THE HEAD IS already crushed.

>> So here's the the sum the summation of

it.

The first gospel shows three eternal

truths. Number one, God sets the battle,

not Satan.

God is always the first to intervene.

Number two, God provides the redeemer.

God provided Jesus as the promised seed

from the woman. And number three, God

secures the victory.

The serpent is defeated forever. So

Genesis 3:15 is literally the gospel in

Genesis 3:15

one verse. It's grace in the middle of

judgment. It's hope in the middle of

failure. And it is a savior in the

middle of sin.

And some of you need to get this deep in

your spirit this morning because you've

lived under judgment and condemnation

because you know the good, the bad, and

the ugly about yourself better than

anybody except the devil and you've

lived under condemnation. But Jesus

declares through the Apostle Paul in

Romans 8, there is therefore now no

condemnation to them who are in Christ

Jesus. And then he goes on to talk about

what the wall the law was not able to

do. Jesus did for us through his death

on the cross of Calvary. There is

therefore now no condemnation.

Get that in your spirit. Because here's

what the enemy does. The He does to you

what he did to Eve. He talks to you. He

puts thoughts in your mind just like he

did with Eve. And those thoughts when

you you recognize them, it some of it's

very blatant. It's sin. And you have

this sinful thought. And immediately

that thought moves down into your heart.

And it makes you because it's a dirty

thought, it makes you feel dirty.

Because it's a nasty thought, it makes

you feel nasty. Because it's a wicked

thought, it makes you feel wicked. That

thought moves down into your heart, your

feelings. You begin to feel that way.

And when you begin to feel that way, you

begin to act that way. You begin to talk

that way. You begin to walk that way.

But what don't that's where the battle

is. So if you want to defeat Satan,

understand Jesus already defeated him.

And you take that thought captive as

Paul said, you subject it to the law of

God. You bring it under grace and you

cast that thought out. You disarm the

thought and then you say, "Oh God,

cleanse my heart. Take this feeling away

from me and you begin to declare the

opposite of that thought." You begin to

declare, "I am the righteousness of God

in Christ Jesus. I am holy. I am saved.

I am redeemed. I am bought by the blood

of the lamb. Jesus has set me free. I'm

not the man that I used to be. I don't

go to the places I used to go. I don't

say the things I used to say. I don't do

the things that I used to do. I am

redeemed. I am saved. I am whole. I am

set free by the blood of Jesus. His

blood washes me. Don't lose your

identity to a lie of hell that comes

into your mind through a thought.

Remember who you are and remember what

Jesus did. And it's what he did that

makes you who you are.

So in conclusion,

because Jesus crushed the head of the

serpent,

you stand firm in the conflict.

Having done all, Paul said, "Stand.

Stand." But then he went on to describe

how you stand. You stand in armor. You

stand in the breastplate of

righteousness. You stand with the belt

of truth girded around your weight. You

stand with your feet fitted with the

gospel. You stand with a shield of

faith. You stand with a helmet of

salvation. You stand armed with the

sword of the spirit, which is the word

of God. And you begin to speak that

word. You stand firm in the conflict.

And then you believe the promise.

You got to believe what God promised

you. And then number three, you got to

walk in victory.

Walk in victory. You walk forward. You

don't turn around and run.

The armor protects the front because the

Roman soldier was designed to always

push the battle to the enemy, not to

retreat.

Stop running from the devil. That's why

you get hit in the back all the time.

Stop running. Start resisting.

The enemy may strike you, but he cannot

conquer what God has redeemed. And you

are

redeemed. Can somebody say, "Praise the

Lord." Come on, somebody give praise to

the Lord. Hallelujah.

Come on, praise him. Let the redeemed of

the Lord say so. Whom he has redeemed

from the hand of destruction. Satan

tried to destroy me, but I've been

redeemed. I've been washed. I've been

saved. Hallelujah.

Shout to the Lord with the voice of

triumph.