Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The Lord cursed the serpent
to show his rejection of Satan, the father of lies. The seed
of the woman is Christ, and the seed of Satan are those who are
of their father the devil, even as the Lord described those who
would not, that is, could not hear him. Why do you not understand
my speech? Even because ye cannot hear my
word, ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father
ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning
and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar,
and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth,
ye believe me not. The Lord later said, But ye believe
not, because ye are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. This
is further explained as he taught Nicodemus of the necessity of
the new birth, using the wind as an illustration. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the
spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must
be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the spirit. All of these things occur according
to the good pleasure of God and not according to the will of
the creature who is dead in trespasses and sin. The word enmity appears
eight times in the King James Bible, three times in the Old
Testament, five times in the New. The meaning of the word
in the Hebrew and Greek is the same, hostility or hatred by
implication, a reason for opposition. It is interesting to consider
that this enmity which exists between the seed of the woman
and the seed of Satan did not just happen or occur randomly,
but the Lord put this enmity between them according to his
design. This enmity is the reason given for the desire of Satan
to destroy Christ and is certainly demonstrated in the purpose of
the Lord Jesus to crush the head of Satan and make a show of defeating
him openly. Though Satan was used to bruise
the heel of Christ, yet this bruising was without power and
only fulfilled the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. And we see Christ thereby completely triumphing over all
of the principalities of darkness and the inhabitants therein.
While we see God's purpose unfolded as he put enmity between the
serpent and the woman, along with her seed and his, we see
an even greater demonstration of his power as Christ came to
take away that enmity for those who are the objects of his redemption.
Pilate and Herod were at enmity with one another, yet they became
friends as they bonded about the matter of condemning the
spotless Lamb of God. As Luke reports in the book of
Acts, the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were
gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ.
For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people
of Israel were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand
and thy counsel determined before to be done. In this we see the
concerted effort of the whole world to destroy him, who is
the heir of all things, even as the Lord taught in the parable
of the wicked tenants. They said among themselves, This
is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his
inheritance. And they caught him, and cast
him out of the vineyard, and slew him. The carnal mind is
enmity with God, yet Christ has come to cast down the wicked
imaginations of His elect, calling them out of darkness and bringing
them into subjection to Him according to His mercy. For the law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death, For what the law could not do, and
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in
the flesh. For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Speak ye comfortably
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished,
that her iniquity is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Our arms of rebellion are
cast down at his feet, and we gladly serve him whom we formerly
despised. This is the reconciliation which
he came to accomplish. The law of Moses created the
division between those who were of Abraham's lineage and those
who were not. Yet just as the law could not
continue by reason of the weakness of the flesh, so too has this
division been forever taken away, and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.
Jew and Gentile alike are made one in Christ, who is the Savior
of the world. We know that we have passed from
death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth
not his brother abideth in death. Do you love the people of God?