weekly sermon
12-2-07
A Child Is Born
The chill is in the air, the lights are twinkling, the glimmer is all around,
and the children are all getting excited. Now that we have that great holiday of
Thanksgiving out of the way, we immediately shift our minds into the Christmas
mode. Last week we spoke, because of the holiday, about thanksgiving. We
discussed when, where, and how to give thanks. This week we will start a series
that will lead us into the holiday of Christmas.
I titled this message "a child is born" because the reason for this season of
course is the child that was born, Jesus. God promised us His Son long before
most of us even know. Jesus was mentioned from God long before the angel
appeared in a dream to Mary. From the beginning of time, back in the garden of
Eden, our Saviour was promised to us. Turn with me if you will to Genesis 3:15,
"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." If we look at
this verse, Jesus is mentioned more than once, well actually twice. Read on to
see where.
Let us look, first, at a few things that would lead up to the mention of our
Lord Jesus. First let me set the stage. Eve was tempted by satan, she took a
bite from a piece of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, she
showed Adam, he took a bite, and God had to punish them. Now I state it as a
piece of fruit and not an apple for the simple fact, that it is not mentioned in
the Bible anywhere as to what kind of fruit it was that she took a bite of when
she was tempted. I say it was a cherry tree because you could tempt me easier
with a cherry than with an apple. In this verse God is talking to satan. God has
just told satan, look, I am going to put this enmity (condition of hostility or
hatred) between you and the woman. Most women, and quite a few men have a fear
or hatred for snakes. Let me show you another piece of humor I find in the
Bible. Back then serpents, unlike serpents of today, had legs. So when satan
came to Eve as a serpent he had legs. We know this because when God punished
satan, He said that from that day forward the serpent would crawl on his belly
in the dirt. But anyway, back to the message. Well the minute God told satan
there would be a hatred between him and the men and women on the earth, then He
would have to find a way to wash away that same hatred. In the next part of the
verse, it shows how God intended to wash that hatred away. God said "the" seed
of man will bruise the head of the serpent, and then satan will bruise the heel
of the seed. Plus you see that it says thou shall bruise "HIS" heel. Why would
it say "his"? Because the seed that is being talked about to bruise satan's head
is Jesus. How do we know this you ask? Let us look in Romans 16:20, "And the God
of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ [be] with you. Amen." Galatians 3:16, "Now to Abraham and his seed were
the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to
thy seed, which is Christ." We can see by these two verses that Jesus is that
seed mentioned in Genesis. It says that Jesus will bruise satan's head. This
tells us that He will deliver a fatal shot, being that it is to the head, that
will utterly destroy satan in "that" time to come. Revelations 20:2, "And he
laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and
bound him a thousand years, (3) and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut
him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more,
till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a
little season." This shows the defeat that Jesus gives satan in the end time.
Then it says that satan will bruise Jesus' heel, showing that it is not a fatal
shot being that it is only the heel. We see this bruising as only a temporary
bruise when we look in Hebrews 2:14, "Forasmuch then as the children are
partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same;
that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is,
the devil;". Then in Matthew 28:6, "He is not here: for He is risen, as He said.
Come, see the place where the Lord lay." When we look at both of these verses we
see that Jesus came in the flesh, then died, and then He defeated death. So let
us summarize this verse "Genesis 3:15" by saying, God created man, man was
tempted by the serpent, and failed, God then put a hatred between the serpent
(satan) and man, and God sent His Son to die so that hatred in man could be
defeated.
We start this holiday month with the thought of gifts and good cheer, but let us
also remember the first time the gift was mentioned. The gift, being Jesus, came
to give us life. Thank our God above for such a wonderful gift under our tree,
or should I say on that tree. The Bible mentions Jesus more in the old testament
than in the new testament to show us that through the prophesies about Him, we
may know He was here as the true gift from God.
For those of us that have unwrapped the gift of life I praise Him, but if you
have never been offered the gift above all gifts, the ONLY way to get to God, I
mean the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, then please say a simple little
prayer with me.
Dear Lord, come into my life and forgive
me of my sins, and give me the gift of everlasting life. Amen.
If you have said this simple prayer, then we believe that you have received
salvation. We would love to rejoice with you, so please drop us a note, in our
link, to let us know and confess Jesus before man, so that we may send you a few
things that we hope will help you in your new Christian walk.
With Love in Christ,
Pastor Stone