So once again, we're going to
be in Genesis chapter 3 and come the time we'll read the whole
chapter together down to verse 15. But I just want to say by
way of introduction to today's service that, and I'm sure you
all know, certainly if the older ones amongst you don't know,
the younger ones will, that Christmas Day this year is on a Sunday. And God willing, we shall have
our service just the same. So although we're going to be
in the holiday time, we'll be having our services over Christmas
and New Year just in the same pattern as we do for the rest
of the year. And even though it falls on a
Sunday, we'll still be here to worship. But having completed
our series in Mark's gospel, I plan to use the next few weeks
to anticipate the incarnation of Christ by looking at the way
that the Old Testament saints looked forward to the Savior's
coming. and my calculations are right. I think we've got four Sundays,
and then the fourth Sunday will be our Christmas Day service.
So what I'm going to do is, I thought we would look first at the promise
of Christ's coming, and that's going to be the title of today's
service. And then next week we'll look
at the prophecies in the Old Testament concerning Christ's
coming. And then in the penultimate week,
the preparation for Christ's coming. We might refer to the
book of Malachi and the anticipation of John the Baptist and the coming
of the angel to Mary on that occasion and then the presence
of Christ come will be our title for our Christmas Day service. So really just a little bit again
of forewarning just to say that this will be my pattern over
the next few weeks and by way of introduction to all of these
studies concerning Christ's incarnation. I would like us to note that
of all the triumphs that we might attribute to the coming of our
Saviour into this world. And there are many that we could
list. Now, of course, the world is about the business of Christmas
just now. And we're not going to get bound
up and wound up on that too much at all, I trust. But we will
remember that it's about the triumphs of Christ's coming that
the believer concentrates with the eye of faith. And while we
don't pass over or deal lightly with the event and the occasion,
yet it is with an eye to see what was fulfilled by the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that the believer finds greatest comfort
and the truest manifestation of peace on earth. So when we think about the triumphs
of Christ's incarnation, We could look at many and perhaps know
better than what John, the Apostle John, the beloved Apostle, tells
us in the third chapter of the first epistle, where he tells
us that there were two principal reasons for the coming, for the
incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He tells us the Lord
Jesus Christ came into the world to take away our sins and that
he might destroy the works of the devil. John the Apostle tells
us the Lord Jesus Christ was manifested to take away our sins,
that is to cleanse and pardon our sins and to destroy the works
of the devil. So as we prepare for Christmas
and amid all the buzz and the bother and the wonder and the
weariness that this holiday season brings, we shall not lose sight
of the Saviour's glorious purpose for coming, nor indeed of his
evident success in coming. And as we begin this study and
this series of studies today, I want to pause on that little
phrase that the Lord Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of
the devil. Because I think it is such a
potent, such a pregnant, such a heavy little statement by John. He came, he was manifested. Yes, to take away our sins, but
to destroy the work of the devil. And we will remember that so
as not to err in our day-to-day appreciation of what is going
on around about us in this world. If you're anything like me, we
get depressed when we look at the sin that is in this world
and often when we find that sin in our own hearts and we see
it evidenced all around about us. And we see the hurt that
it causes and the declension that there is in the values and
the morals and the standards around about us. And perhaps
it is that the older that we get, the more we remember better
times and the worse that perception becomes. and we see the wickedness
that is in the world. And I dare say that sometimes
we are tempted to think that the devil is winning. We make
the mistake of construing this life as a battle between the
forces of good and evil, God and the devil. And we surmise
that sometimes the battle goes for us, though rarely, and sometimes
it's going for the enemy. And that usually depends on what
the headlines in the news are or what we see is going on around
about us. But that's not so. That's not
so. We err if that's how we think. Don't ever think like that. It is true that there is a battle
in this world. It's the battle between our flesh
and our spirit. But that is not what we are talking
about here today. That's the subject for another
day. There is a battle that goes on
in the believer's own heart. But let me press the point that
we've just made with respect to John's comment that the Lord
Jesus Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. We learned
last week, and I hope that in our studies together, we build
upon what we learn. We, as it were, lay foundations
and build upon those foundations the lessons that we learn from
the Word of God. We learned last week that our
sovereign King was received up into heaven as the victor returned
home from the fight with his captives in chain. John tells us that he was manifested
to destroy the works of the devil and Mark tells us that the Lord
Jesus Christ was received up into heaven, he ascended into
heaven and Paul tells us that he led captivity captive. Now I'm not going to go back
over that theme again today. But on the cross, our Redeemer
destroyed the works of the devil. And not only the works, but the
devil himself and all his dominion and all his power. He entered
the castle of the strong man and he bound the strong man.
He demonstrated by his resurrection his power over death and he defeated
death itself. Now you might say, well, where's
the evidence for that? That's not what I see when I
look around me. and I would have to say, I agree. But let us also agree on this,
that we rarely see matters as they really are. Take your own
soul, for example. Take your own soul. If you are
a believer, your soul is clean. because your sins are taken away. That was the first thing that
the Lord Jesus Christ was manifested to do, to take away our sins. And the Lord Jesus Christ did
that on the cross. Your soul is clear. If you have
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is a fact, Satan no
longer has dominion over you. God looks on you as righteous
and justified in His sight. He looks at you without sin.
The all-knowing, all-seeing God does not see sin in his people. And we may not be able to explain
that, especially when we feel the weight of our own sin and
we lament our unworthiness and how weak we are and how tempted
and prone to doubt and to failure and to falling. And yet it is
true because the Bible says that you are sanctified, that you
are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. 1 Corinthians
6, verse 11. The sins of God's elect are the
works of the devil. And though we are complicit through
the lust and weakness of our flesh, It's the devil that puts
them on us, that tempts us to them, that delights in them when
we comply. Yet all the sins in us in which
Satan revels are actually destroyed by Christ. They're taken away,
they're born by him, they're removed, they're finished, and
they are made an end of by our saviour Jesus Christ. That is
the testimony of the gospel. Now if this this work of Christ in our own
soul, if this is objectively true, I'm still working on this
example, if this is true in our own souls, true in God's sight,
true by Christ's triumphant rise into heaven and sitting
at the right hand of God, it's true whether or not we see it
to be true, whether or not we feel it to be true. And that
is the same as far as Christ's rule in this world. Christ rules
in the hearts of his people. Christ rules in his church. He is prophet, priest and king. And Christ rules in the principalities
and in the dominions and in the courts and in the parliaments
and in the hearts and lives of men and women in this world. It's in a different way, granted,
than his rule in his own kingdom. But he rules and has dominion
nevertheless. Lord of lords and king of kings. He is reigning in this world
today, even where sin abounds. In Genesis 15, there's an interesting
little verse in Genesis chapter 15, verse three. God tells us
the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. Now, what's
he saying there? The Lord is telling his people,
telling Moses back there in Genesis, that the Amorites as a people
would continue to dwell in the land of Canaan because their
iniquity had not yet reached the levels that they would reach
by which the cup of God's wrath and judgment would then be fittingly
poured out and meted out upon them. And so the Amorites would
continue to dwell in the land of Canaan until the fullness
of their iniquities had come to its completion. And there's
a clue in that for us in this world today. Paul, to take another verse,
speaking of the wicked says, God gave them over to a reprobate
mind to do those things which are not convenient. It wasn't
Satan that gave them over to a reprobate mind. Satan tempts
them in their reprobate state. Satan was the one who tempted
Eve. We're going back to that in a
moment. But God gives them over. He allows them. He grants them
permission to pursue these ends and to do those things which
are not convenient. Of others, the Apostle Paul says,
God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie.
In 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 12, Paul is speaking about those
who withstood him in the preaching of the gospel. And he says this
of them, that they all might be damned who believe not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. So that even their opposition
served its purpose that their damnation would be filled up. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 16,
fill up their sins all way, for the wrath of God has come upon
them to the uttermost. And that could be to the very
last one, but it could also be to that very last degree for
which their sin deserves the wrath and the judgment of God. Do you see what we're saying
here? The Lord is allowing this world to continue and all the
wrath and all the wickedness and all the declension that this
world contains until it is filled up and the wrath of God flows
out upon it. that there is yet a completion
to be had. So when John tells us that the
Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to take away our sin and
that he might destroy the work of the devil, we are to rejoice
to believe that that is true, both for our own sin personally
in our own souls, where we have been cleansed from sin, and also
as we see the evidence of Christ's work in this world. Peter says, be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about
seeking whom he may devour. Now, we know, because Christ
is on the throne, because Christ has led captivity captive, because
Christ is the King of Kings, that Satan, though he is walking
about seeking whom he might devour, is walking about on a lead. He's on a chain. And he has neither
the right nor the power nor the permission to devour the elect
of God because we are safe in the hands of our God and because
the love of God is upon us. so that the significance of these
little phrases appear more clearly when John tells us that the devil
sinneth from the beginning. And John is no doubt remembering
and using that little phrase, the devil sinneth from the beginning.
The words of the Lord himself, which John recorded in John 8,
verse 44, So he recorded it in his own gospel account, although
he is speaking these in his epistles later in life. He recorded in
his gospel account the Lord's word to the Pharisees when the
Lord said, ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning. Remember, we're going back to
Genesis chapter three in a moment. He was a murderer from the beginning
and abode not in the truth. because there was no truth in
him when he speaketh a lie Remember, we're going back to Genesis chapter
3. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is
a liar and the father of it. John is pointing us to Eden. He's pointing us to the fall,
to when Satan at the beginning was the liar and the murderer.
He's pointing us back to Adam and Eve. So that in 1 John chapter
3 verse 8 he says, The devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God
was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. So I want today to take us back
to that early murderous lying work of Satan, as it is recounted
for us in Genesis chapter 3, that we might see how comprehensive
and far-reaching the plan of salvation is. and how even in
the earliest evidence of sin in this world and in the lives
of men and women, there was a gospel hope set before Adam and Eve,
revealing God's plan of redemption and recovery and restitution. So let us now read together Genesis
chapter three and verse one. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he
said unto the woman, Yea hath God said, Ye shall not eat of
every tree of the garden, And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her
husband with her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both
were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed
fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they heard
the voice 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 amongst the trees of the
garden. And the Lord God called unto
Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard
thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked
and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that
thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? And the man said, The
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree
and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the
woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said,
The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said
unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy
belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of
thy life. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Amen. The Lord bless to us this reading
from his word. Now, returning to our thoughts,
What this passage tells us is about the fall, the disobedience
of Adam and Eve, or Eve and Adam. Satan's own fall from heaven
occurred sometime before this. Satan's just a created being
as well. He was created in that period
of the six days of creation before the Lord rested on the seventh
day. together with all the other angels
and that heavenly host, both the good angels and the rebellious
angels. So Satan's own fall had occurred
sometime before this. And while we're not told of what
it was at this stage, it's clear that the devil deviously employs
the subtlety of the snake to get close to Eve. and to use the snake, perhaps
its attractiveness, perhaps its appearances in some way, perhaps
its beauty, to sow seeds of doubt and rebellion in her ear. Eve is enticed and seduced by
the serpent. And we saw in yesterday's little
note that this is a real snake, and yet it could speak, It could
reason, it could deceive. It tempted Eve. It, in her own
words, beguiled her. Tempted her to eat of the fruit
of the tree God had expressly forbade her to do. Satan set
his trap with promises of life and wisdom and the knowledge
of good and evil, even divinity itself. all of which enticed
first Eve and then Adam and brought them into conflict with God.
Here's just a little aside, a little application, a little observation. You know, today men and women
boast of their free will and their power to choose between
good and evil. Adam and Eve had no original
sin. Adam and Eve had no natural bias
to do evil. And yet they could not resist
temptation. How strong men and women today
must be to be able to reach from so deep a pit of their own inherent
sinfulness, what Adam and Eve could not reach
from the mountaintop upon which they were placed. We're told
in Genesis 3 verse 7, that the eyes of them both were opened
and they knew that they were naked. This speaks of the fact
that they now know that they have been separated from God. They felt shame. And so they
sewed fig leaves together. It was the best that they could
do. They made themselves aprons. and Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees and amongst
the trees of the garden. But men and women can hide from
God for only so long. And the day is coming when all
men and women will stand before God as Adam and Eve were required
to stand before God, waiting to hear his final and his unalterable
judgment. And all the leaves of all the
trees will not hide their shame. And all the good works that they
have ever based their hopes upon will not save them from separation
from God eternally. God's curse in judgment came
upon the serpent who was condemned to go on its belly and eat dust
all the days of its life. and also upon the ground, the
earth, the soil, to bring forth thorns and thistles. So God placed
two curses here. The curse on the serpent, the
curse on the thistles, or on the ground to bring forth thistles. Did you notice that God did not
curse the man Adam? The serpent and the earth were
cursed for man's sake, but not man himself. God does not curse
what he will also bless. There were some in Adam seen
and known by God, though yet unborn. upon whom the divine
blessing rested and remained. Some who were loved of God, no
divine curse would ever be their portion until one could bear
it for them. Even in the midst of judgment,
our loving Father remembered mercy. God had a people, he had
a plan to save them from their sin, save them from their lost
condition. And the man Christ Jesus, God's
son, not the man Adam, would carry that final curse. And so God sent his son in our
flesh. God prepared that body for him. He sent him into this world as
the God-man to bear our sin, to carry our guilt, to redeem
us from that judgment. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us. Galatians chapter
three, verse 13. Nor did God's curses come without
hope for Adam and Eve. There were blessings here in
what God spoke and said and did that day in the Garden of Eden. And the first blessing might
be easily missed, it might not be immediately obvious to us,
but it's simply this. that the Lord appeared in the
garden at all and spoke to Adam and Eve. There was no need for
God to do that. The sin had been committed. The
nakedness and shame had been felt. That antipathy, that breach
had already taken place. Now all that was left was the
judgment But God came to where Adam and
Eve were and he called them out from their place of hiding. And that God so calls sinners
is an undeserved blessing that we should not overlook. God the
Holy Spirit seeks out unbelieving, deceived, sinful, guilty, condemned,
helpless sinners to be addressed by the holy, eternal God. Let us never forget that the
initial approach came from God to Adam in his helplessness. God spoke to Adam when Adam did
not wish to speak to God. And the Lord Jesus Christ still
speaks today in the Gospel, calling sinners to examine themselves
and to repent. God seeks them in their hideouts,
wherever and wherever that might be. And the next blessing that we
see is that God made coats of skins and clothed them. That comes a little bit later
on in the passage, verse 21. But makeshift fig leaves were
not going to do the job. They were inadequate. Durable
garments of skin were required. And for that to be obtained,
animals must be slain and blood must be spilled. And here God
prefigured the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ and
also that there would be a sacrificial system put in place. It was not
the animal that had sinned, nor was it the spotless lamb of God
and yet it was the Lord Jesus Christ who died to cover our
nakedness and fit us for the presence of God. Peter again
says in his little epistle, we are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot. And God's people are clothed
in a righteousness which is not our own, nor indeed the skins
of an animal anymore, but the holiness of God himself. For he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. Isaiah 61 verse 10. And then God blessed Adam in
a way which is truly wonderful. God gave Adam the gift of faith. Where do we see that? In Genesis
chapter three. We see it in response and reaction
to God's word. God said, in verse 15, that a
seed would be born that would bruise the serpent's head. And
Adam believed God. Adam now gave his wife a new
name. He called her Eve, for she was
to be the mother of all living. Before this moment, she was merely
called woman. We see that in chapter two, verse
23. Now, according to God's word,
she would be the bearer of new life. and Adam believed God and
gave his wife a new name. Faith is God's gift and Adam
and Eve possessed faith by believing God's word concerning this new
life that would come forth from the woman. And by faith, both
Adam and Eve are in heaven today. They deserved to die in the garden,
but mercy mitigated God's anger. God looked not on the sin of
the man, but on the sacrifice of his son. And Adam and Eve's
faith was focused on a child yet to be born. one upon whom
faith's hope is fixed, a man who would be born to crush the
serpent's head, but not without grief to himself. I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise
thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. There would be suffering
on the part of the man, for his heel would be bruised, but the
serpent's head would be crushed. Satan would be conquered. And
this verse, it's sometimes called the Proto-Evangel. You don't
need to remember that, but if you're interested, there you
go. It's the first revelation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ in the scripture. It anticipates the coming, many
years hence, of the great Saviour and Deliverer. Here in the Garden
of Eden, at the very point of the entrance of sin, is the promise
of the coming of Christ. What is it John says? To take
away our sins and destroy the works of the devil, who was a
liar and a murderer from the beginning. John 1.4 1 John 4
verse 9 says, in this, and in the context it's the manifestation
of the Son of God to destroy the works of the devil, in this
was manifested something else as well. The love of God toward
us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world
that we might live through him. Adam and Eve looked forward to
a son yet to be born. We look back upon the incarnation
of Jesus Christ and this is appropriate. Every child of faith focuses
upon the same person, the God-man Jesus Christ. I shall not forget the coming
of Christ. for this is all my salvation. He shall bruise thy head and
thou shalt bruise his heel. Our Lord Jesus Christ was manifested
to take away our sins and to destroy the work of the devil. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to us today and encourage our hearts in them. Amen.