"The Protoevangelium" | Genesis 3:15 | Pastoral Candidate Sermon | Hillside Baptist Church

Well good morning.

Excited to be here.

As Christians, we live in a world that is hostile towards us.

Jesus says, if the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

Though we strive to be at peace with fellow men, we are often slandered and persecuted for obeying God and upholding his standards of righteousness and justice.

We live in a world that calls evil good and good evil, and people hate us for saying otherwise.

And yet the Apostle Paul reminds us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

It's not just people that we contend with, there is an entire unseen realm that coexists with our own, with cosmic actors at play, waging a war that we can only begin to understand through the lens of a biblical worldview.

I'm talking about Satan and the powers of darkness contending with God's people and the kingdom of God.

It's a clash between good and evil, righteousness and wickedness, holiness and profanity, heaven and hell.

For those who belong to God, we have an enemy who hates us, who wants nothing more than our destruction and to rob God of his glory.

This animosity is personal, and it breeds animosity from generation to generation.

In order to understand the root of this conflict, we need to go back to an ancient time and place, the Garden of Eden, where it all began.

After God had created heaven and earth, separating light from darkness and waters from land, he filled the earth with all kinds of vegetation, including seed-bearing fruits.

He created the sun, the moon, and the stars, and began to fill the earth with creatures of every kind.

The crown of his creation was when he made man in his own image, male and female, he created them.

He blessed them and gave them dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every animal that roamed the earth.

He commissioned the man and woman to be fruitful and multiply, and to fill and subdue the earth.

God gave man and woman everything they needed to carry out this good work, placing them in a garden he made special for them to live and to prosper.

God gave the man and woman every tree to eat from, except for one in particular.

God said, From any tree of the garden you may surely eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat from it, for in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die.

But the man and woman did not obey God.

Instead they allowed a serpent in the garden to convince them that the fruit was good to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

For it would make them like God, said the serpent.

They disregarded God's warning that on the day they should eat from that tree, they would surely die.

And so they ate, and their eyes were opened, but in shame and awareness of their sin.

They hid from God.

When confronted, the man blamed the woman, and the woman blamed the serpent.

Sin and death had entered into the world, and God put a curse over all of creation in his judgment.

God judges humanity and the serpent for their rebellion, but makes a promise to redeem humanity and crush the serpent.

It's this promise made at the scene of the crime that I want to look at this morning.

So if you have your Bibles with you, I invite you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 3.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

We will read verses 14 and 15 with a special focus on verse 15 in particular.

I will be using the Legacy Standard Bible translation, which is essentially an updated version of the NASB.

But before we begin, would you join me in prayer before the Lord to help us receive His Word this morning?

Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning, seeking understanding of your word.

As we read about your first promise to redeem humanity and crush the serpent, we ask for your help.

Help us to understand this passage.

Help us to receive this promise with faith and adoration of you.

Help us to worship you in a way that is pleasing in your sight this morning.

Let this sermon be profitable for building up your church today.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Genesis chapter 3, starting in verse 14.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

And Yahweh God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you more than any of the cattle, and more than every beast of the field.

On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life.

And 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.

As we look at this passage, it's worth noting that when God passes sentence for what had just transpired, he begins where the sin began, the serpent.

As we read verse 14, it appears that God's curse is aimed at the serpent as an animal.

However, verse 15 seems to suggest something more.

Theologians and Bible commentators have pondered and debated the subject of these two verses for centuries, but there is almost universal agreement that verse 15 is referring to Satan, the actor behind and through the serpent in the garden.

Elsewhere in Scripture, the Apostle John connects the serpent in the garden to Satan when he writes, and the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.

He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

In fact, this reference in Revelation 12 9 has caused a good number of theologians and Bible commentators to consider that the entirety of Genesis 3, 14 through 15 is directed at Satan.

And that verse 14 is a way of describing the humiliation of Satan being thrown out of heaven and down to earth.

Crawling on your belly and eating dust, though able to literally be applied to snakes in our animal kingdom, can also be interpreted as Satan being cast out of his position among the heavenly hosts and condemned to subjugation in the place where dust returns to dust.

No matter how you interpret verse 14, I think we can agree that the entire council of Scripture points to Satan as being the evil actor through means of the serpent in the garden to deceive Eve and bring sin and death into God's created world.

And so God says to him in judgment, 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.

You've probably read this verse and wondered what the word enmity means.

I know I certainly have.

But in order to understand the meaning of this verse, we need to understand what enmity means and how it relates to one seed or another.

The word enmity is derived from the Latin word inimicus, from which we get the word enemy.

It can be defined as mutual hostility, animosity, hatred, or ill will.

Elsewhere in Scripture, enmity is used when James says, friendship with the world means enmity against God.

And whoever wishes to be a friend with the world makes himself an enemy of God.

We often think about rivals as enemies, whether it's in sports like the Red Sox and Yankees, or in companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Maybe think about rival enemies, and you picture Shakespeare's Montague's and Capulettes.

Except these examples still fall short to the kind of enmity that is referred to in Genesis 3.15.

Rather, this kind of enmity is irreconcilable.

Sports teams shake hands after games, and players often change teams to join their previous rivals.

Companies come and go out of business, and competition shifts with the times.

Even rival families can find a way to make peace.

However, this is not possible between the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God.

I love the way Joseph Benson, an 18th-century commentator of the Bible, describes enmity as it's used in this particular verse.

He says, it is the fruit of this enmity, first, that there is a continual conflict between God's people and Satan.

Heaven and hell can never be reconciled, no more can Satan and a sanctified soul.

Second, that there is likewise a continual struggle between the wicked and the good.

And all the malice of persecutors against the people of God is the fruit of this enmity, which will continue while there is a godly man on this side of heaven and a wicked man on this side of hell.

This perpetual conflict between God's people and Satan traces its roots back to the Garden of Eden, playing out throughout history and even to a large degree today.

How do you handle this kind of conflict?

I know people who profess Christ yet seek to be friends with the world.

They think they're being good Christians because they stand for things like inclusivity and social justice.

They claim that the loving thing for Christians to do is to affirm the LGBTQ plus community and to deny the exclusivity of Christ in order to preserve friendships with people of other religious beliefs.

The same thing happens when the topic of abortion comes up.

Many of us Christians go inside our little turtle shells, hoping not to get involved in the conversation.

Rather than offend an unrighteous person, we'd rather offend a holy God.

The world is perishing.

We have the remedy in the gospel, but spiritual doctors who are unwilling to administer the cure to dying patients, we're willing to let our patients believe that they are perfectly healthy, or that their disease is actually a sign of good health.

Or maybe we're afraid to tell a dying patient of their condition, all because of fear of man.

As we look back at our text, Genesis 3.15 reminds us that we are in a war between two kingdoms.

Those who love God are hated by those who hate God.

As we look around in the world we live in, we see a stark contrast between that which leads to life and that which leads to death.

Jesus says to enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is broad, that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.

For the gate is narrow, and the way is constricted, that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Just as there are two kinds of seeds mentioned in Genesis 315, there are two kinds of people in this world.

Those who enter through the narrow gate, which leads to life, and those who enter through the way that is broad, which leads to destruction.

As a result of Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden, all of humanity begins our journey on the broad path that leads to destruction.

The unregenerate heart is in a state of rebellion against its creator, just like Adam and Eve, when they disobeyed God.

We are no better than them.

For even the Bible says that no one is good, not even one.

As the prophet Isaiah writes, all of us, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, but God has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him.

The hymn that Isaiah is prophesying about in this verse finds its fulfillment about seven hundred years after he wrote it, in the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

While we were still sinners, enemies of God, Jesus took our sins upon himself and died on the cross.

He, being without sin, fully man and fully God, was the perfect sacrifice to atone for the penalty of sin, to satisfy God's wrath and justice.

The Bible says that the wages of sin is death.

That is what we deserve as sinners before a holy and righteous God.

And that is exactly what Jesus did, so that all who place their faith in him will be forgiven of sin once and for all.

Where there was enmity between God and man, Jesus made a way for peace and reconciliation.

Of course, Jesus did not stay dead and buried.

He was raised from the dead on the third day.

He appeared to his disciples and over five hundred people at one time, and ascended to the Father after forty days.

His death and resurrection have the utmost significance to us because, as the Apostle Paul writes, for since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

There is no doubt that Paul had Genesis 3 in mind when he wrote this.

Jesus took on flesh and came to earth to succeed where Adam failed in the garden.

Through Adam's disobedience in the garden came death.

But through Christ's faithfulness on earth came life everlasting to all who believe in him.

We can't understand the enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman without acknowledging the enmity that first exists between God and man apart from Christ.

Whereas the enmity between God and man can be resolved to peace through Jesus Christ, the enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman can never be reconciled.

So what exactly does this verse mean when it talks about the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman?

Another way to think of seed is simply offspring.

In the most basic and natural sense, offspring is what results through means of reproduction.

Humans have children, animals have baby animals.

You get the point.

One thing reproduces to make another thing just like it.

Offspring is especially important in the Bible, and the book of Genesis is filled with historical records of genealogies, picking up on the creation mandate given to Adam and Eve to be fruitful, to multiply, and to fill the earth.

And that is exactly what they did.

And we see the list of who fathered who, where they went, and in some cases what they did.

This theme of seed is found throughout the Bible, and it's important.

However, seed and offspring are not just physiological and genetic.

We see an interesting use of offspring as Jesus rebukes the Pharisees in John 8 44, when he says, You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.

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.

Now, to state what should be obvious, Jesus is not alluding to Satan having physically fathered each of these Pharisees or unbelieving Jews.

Rather, he is speaking of such people as being the offspring of Satan based on their likeness to Satan and his influence.

Essentially, the seed of the serpent includes all who follow in the ways of Satan, oppose God and God's people, and are carnal, wicked, self-righteous, and rejectors of the gospel.

Their works are evident in their evil ways and disobedience to God.

This concept is reinforced by how Jesus defines the true children or seed of Abraham.

Speaking to a group of Jews priding themselves for being descendants of Abraham, Jesus said, If you are Abraham's children, you would do the deeds of Abraham, which he's implying genuine faith and obedience to God, just like Abraham.

The Apostle Paul picks up on this concept when he writes, Nor are they all children, because they are Abraham's seed, but through Isaac your seed will be named.

That is, the children of the flesh are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are considered as seed.

The New Testament sheds light on this concept of seed to clarify the distinction between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman in Genesis 3.15.

Putting it all together, we see that the seed of the serpent includes those who belong to Satan and oppose God and His kingdom, and the seed of the woman includes those who are children of the promise, who belong to God, and are partakers of his grace and Holy Spirit.

However, the seed of the woman referred to in Genesis 3.15 is not intended to only represent God's people.

The word used for seed in this verse is associated with a singular pronoun, indicating a specific descendant.

In other words, there is a single seed of the woman in view.

The masculine singular is clearly understood when the text says, He shall bruise you.

What this means is that Genesis 3.15 has messianic significance.

The ultimate victory of the seed of the woman over and against the seed of the serpent finds its fulfillment in one promised Messiah.

And his name is Jesus.

Jesus came to undo the works of the devil.

Consider Galatians 3.16.

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed.

He does not say it and he does not say and to seeds, as referring to many, but rather to one, and to your seed, that is Christ.

Or later on in verse 19, why the law then?

It was added because of trespasses, having been ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator until the seed would come to whom the promise had been made.

The seed of the woman is primarily referring to Jesus Christ, the ultimate fulfillment, and secondarily referring to all members of Christ, his church.

Now that we can clearly define who the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman are in this verse, we can move on to the final portion, the one where we receive God's first promise to redeem humanity and crush the serpent.

We already understand the inherent struggle between the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of God.

Now we get to focus on the promise of victory God's church will have through the ultimate seed of the woman, Jesus Christ.

Let's take a look again at the latter portion of verse 15 in Genesis 3.

He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.

Once again, we are reminded of the struggle between two seeds and two kingdoms.

It's also worth noting that both will be afflicted.

The heel, being understood as belonging to Christ, implies his humanity.

Jesus walked on this earth and he physically suffered on the cross.

His heel can also refer to his people, his church.

Christ is the head of his church, and his people are the body.

When Satan attacks the heel of Christ, it is reflected in the persecution and afflictions of the church.

We see this in our own lives, as the tempter seeks to destroy our faith through his corruption and sifting.

We also see this played out in society as Satan corrupts the world's mindset, expressed by ideals, opinions, goals, hopes, and views, along with the world's philosophies, education, and commerce, as Satan blinds people to God's truth.

However, we find in this verse a glorious promise, made of Christ, the seed of the woman, he shall bruise, or in other words, he shall crush the serpent's head.

This is a most glorious promise because it is the first time we get a glimpse of the gospel.

Genesis 3.15 is known as the Proto-Evangelium, which simply means the first gospel.

Or in other words, it's the first announcement of the gospel.

Genesis 3.15 is referred to this because it introduces God's provision for a Savior who would take away the curse of sin and crush the serpent.

Matthew Henry comments: no sooner was the wound given than the remedy was provided and revealed.

The Apostle Paul applies this promise in Romans 16.20, when he encourages believers in Rome that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.

Here we see that even the seed of Christ, his church, participates in his crushing of Satan.

Partakers of God's grace become instruments of victory.

Genesis 3.15 gives us a visual for how Christ and His church are able to strike Satan from a position of authority.

Just as a serpent would crawl on the ground and be in a position for a man to strike its head, so it is that Christ and his church are in a position of authority above Satan and his demons as he delivers the crushing blow.

This crushing blow came at the foot of the cross, where Christ disarmed and defeated Satan through his death and resurrection.

Though Jesus suffered mightily, was beaten, mocked, and eventually killed, death could not hold him.

Nor can it hold anyone who is in Christ.

Satan has no real position or authority to be a true threat to God or God's church.

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, 54 through 57, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?

Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The power of the resurrection took away the sting of sin and death.

We are reminded of Jesus' words and remember who's really in charge.

Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Satan has no real power over God's church.

His fate is already determined, and his day is coming.

He will be thrown into the eternal lake of fire with his demons and every enemy of God.

It takes conviction, commitment, faithfulness to have this kind of impact, all empowered by the Holy Spirit.

We cannot stay in our turtle shells.

We cannot be afraid to speak the truth in love.

We must be willing to go beyond what is comfortable for the sake of carrying out God's great commission to his church.

If you are in Christ, you are his ambassador to a dying world in need of hope, found only in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 3.15 gives us a promise from God that he will crush the enemy.

Therefore, continue to fight the good fight, assured that the victory already belongs to Christ and His church.

I know many of you have been faithfully serving God and His Church for decades, and have been praying for revival in New England.

You inspire me to run the race with endurance.

I want to encourage you to press on and help lead this next generation to do the same.

You still have a part to play in God's mission, and it's an important one.

Genesis 3.15 is a springboard for evangelism.

It demonstrates that from the beginning, God always had the plan of salvation in mind, informing us of his plan as soon as sin entered into the world.

What Genesis 3.15 gives us in part, Jesus gives us the complete picture of God's plan for salvation.

Though we struggle against the kingdom of Satan, God promises us that the church will prevail in victory through Christ.

This is great news.

As Christians, we don't have to be so discouraged when we face opposition for the sake of Christ.

When we suffer for the sake of the gospel, we can know with assurance that it is for a winning cause.

Though the enemy may afflict us, he can never crush us.

We belong to a kingdom that is an everlasting kingdom.

We belong to a king who makes his every enemy a footstool.

We can rejoice in this early promise of God, knowing its fulfillment is in Christ.

Jesus came to undo the works of the devil from the garden to the grave to life everlasting.

It is to him we give the glory.

Let's pray.

God, we give you all the glory for your wonderful gospel.

We thank you that you love us so much that you made provision for us, even in the garden, through the seed of the woman, the promised seed fulfilled through your Son Jesus, to save us from our sin and defeat Satan and all of his works.

As your church, we pray that you would equip us for every good work to fight the good fight, to resist sin, and to live in your victory.

We pray all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.