● Intro
○ Good Morning & welcome to Great Commission Church
○ My name is Michael and I am a wretch of a man, hellbound by my own sinful choices
○ But thanks be to God, while being told I couldn’t participate in communion because I wasn’t a Christian, God made my soul alive to the truth of the Gospel
○ That Jesus, the Son of God, came, lived the perfect life I couldn’t live, died the death I deserved, then victoriously rose from the grave 3 days later
○ And through faith in the person and work of Jesus, I could be made right with God and have a relationship with Him forever.
○ And since nine years old I’ve been stumbling, and I mean stumbling, toward glory by the grace of God
○ And by that same grace, He will bring me home at my death or the return of Christ
○ So until that day - my desire is to proclaim this good news
○ And today it is my honor and privilege to do so from this pulpit and preach as we finish our Discovering Jesus series.
○ Today I will be focusing on the Promised Jesus
○ So with that in mind please open your Bible to Genesis chapter 3
○ No I don’t know about you all but I love surprises in movies
■ I love plot twists and unexpected things
■ Now I hate it when people blow the surprise
■ I remember watching the movie Signs as a kid, alien movie, and being shocked by all the twists and surprises
■ Or when I was boiling with hatred for the intergallactic villain, darth vader, and then he tells Luke that he, Darth Vader, is Luke’s father
■ Or how about in Harry Potter when 3 beloved characters die, of most importance is Dobby the Elf
■ Now all of those surprises happened naturally for me, meaning I was involved in the plot and didn’t know what was coming until boom it hit me
■ But sometimes someone spoils the ending.
■ Like my english teacher ruining the 6th sense halfway through the movie only to find out the kids therapist wasn’t really there…. That was great…
○ Well today, we are going to see the greatest foreshadowing moment, really the greatest spoiler, that the universe will ever see.
○ So Let’s read Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
○ Let’s Pray:
■ God thank you for this spoiler. Thank you for this promise. That you would destroy the deceiver. God I pray that for the believers in this room, that are existing in the ‘already but not yet,’ that they would find peace and rest in knowing you are the best promise keeper. God I pray that for the non-believer in this room, that today would be their day of salvation. God, quicken someone’s soul. By your grace. In the precious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
● 1st promise
○ Now some of you might be mad at me for spoiling those movies, but come on they all came out over 10 years ago.
○ Now one of the goals in this series was to show that from table of contents to maps our Bible is all about Jesus
○ And here we are in Genesis 3 and God is promising, to satan, you will be destroyed
○ And being on this side of the cross we know that the satan destroyer is none other than Jesus
○ But we have a long long ways to go before we are singing away in a manger, regardless of what Walmart’s seasonal section has on display just past the toothpaste…
○ I mean we haven’t even gotten to Noah’s Ark
○ Or the prince of Egypt
○ Or David and Goliath
○ And God is saying - Satan, your time is limited
○ But how did we get here, what’s got us to this spoiler alert….
○ Well turn back to Genesis 1:1 and recall God created the universe and everything in it
■ ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. … 3 Then God said, “Let there be light” and there was light… God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
○ He went on to finish creation
○ Day 2 - Heaven/Sky
○ Day 3 - Dry Land & plants
○ Day 4 - Sun, Moon, & Stars
○ Day 5 - Birds & Sea Creatures
○ Day 6 - Land animals & man
○ And when God made man, there was something special.
■ Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
○ God made something in His own image. And that something was to have dominion. To rule over the earth. To steward the earth.
○ But when look at man, God then saw something he made, that wasn’t good, that wasn’t complete
■ Genesis 2:18 ‘And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
■ And then God brought every animal to Adam - and Adam named all the animals - but none of them were a suitable helper
■ So God did something about it in Genesis 2:21-25 “the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”
○ And now man has a helper - and they were cool being naked
■ This is important because of the upcoming contrast
○ And they together were to care for the garden, to tend it, to have dominion over creation
○ And had a perfect unblemished relationship with God
○ And they had 1 main rule - 1 rule articulated to Adam first in Genesis 2:16-18 ‘And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
○ As the timeline progresses Adam and Eve are approached by the cunning serpent
○ Who twists words and has the woman question what God said
■ Genesis 3:4-5 “Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
○ And with this input of doubt in the creator of the universe, and then seeing the fruit was pretty & desirable to make one ‘like God’ to make one wise. Eve took the fruit and ate - and gave some to her husband WHO WAS WITH HER (verse 6) and he ate as well.
○ Genesis 3:7-8 “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
○ 8 And they heard the sound 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 among the trees of the garden.”
○ Formerly naked and unashamed - now naked and hiding from God. What a change.
○ Their disobedience changed everything. For them, and for all mankind.
○ This here is our backdrop to the spoiler alert that is Genesis 3:15
○ You see in this moment of disobedience - creation was defiled
○ Sin entered the world - As Paul says in Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned”
○ Shame came upon man and woman
○ They hid from God
○ What a change this would be from dwelling with God, God being with them in the garden.
○ And yet in this moment where they deliberately disobeyed the clear and obvious command of God
○ A beacon of hope is spoken
○ Genesis 3:15 God speaking to the serpent, “And I will put enmity, active opposition, Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”
○ Warren Wiersbe on this moment “To God’s old covenant people, this verse was a beacon of hope; to Satan it was a declaration of war, climaxing in his condemnation; and to Eve, it was the assurance that she was forgiven and that God would use a woman to bring the Redeemer into the world.”
○ And this beacon of hope
○ This promise made to Satan and Eve
○ Will echo throughout the old testament
○ Satan - your timer is counting down
○ Woman - the redeemer is coming - and he will be your great great great great great great great times about 50 grandson
● 2nd Promise
○ As creation moves forward God chooses a man to make a promise to, and from that man would come a great family, that would turn to a great nation, and from that nation the whole world would be blessed
○ Turn over now to Genesis 12:2-3 “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
○ The key phrase there is ‘in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
○ This was the continuation of the promise - this is the promise fortelling of the coming redeemer who would indeed come from the line of Abraham.
○ Matthew Henry here says “In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. This was the promise that crowned all the rest; for it points at the Messiah, in whom all the promises are yes and amen.”
○ Now hearing this sounds great and all but something that makes it extraordinary is that Abraham and his wife are old, ancient really.
○ And they have no children!
○ And yet God is making a promise to this childless family, like he made to Eve
■ Something that seems impossible
○ And this promise continues to Abraham’s son Isaac in Genesis 26:4 “And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;”
○ And then to Isaac’s son jacob in Genesis 28:14 “Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
○ And from these promises as time goes on the family turns into a great nation
○ The nation of Israel
○ And Israel, still dealing with the sin brought through Adam, wanders from God, then back to God, then from God, then back to God
○ But God’s love for His people is steadfast
○ It’s unchanging
○ And his promise, is never broken, it is reiterated
○ Now, Eventually Israel wants a King, like all the other nations,
○ And God gives them a King, and this King fails, so God appoints another King
○ King David,
○ Starts out as the little shepard boy, then fights that giant goliath
○ Ask my son Jude about it sometime, he’s great at telling the account of David & Goliath
○ But back to David
○ The man after God’s own heart
○ Maybe this is the redeemer?
○ Wrong….
○ King David - the man who got the arc back to Israel
○ The man after God’s own heart
○ Was also a royal screwup
○ You see David was born with a sin nature
○ Psalm 51:5 “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”
○ And David was not perfect
○ He failed, big time, and we all know about it
○ We find in great detail about his adultery, taking another man’s wife and being with her outside of marriage and then murdering this man through a wartime plot of desertion.
○ So David isn’t the promised redeemer but turn to 2 Samuel 7
○ In 2 Samuel 7:12-13 God delivers a paramount promise after David’s great failure
■ ““When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”
■ Skip down to verse 16 God reiterates this promise ‘And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever’’
○ The Key word here is forever
○ What monarch wouldn’t want an eternal dynasty
○ And God is revealing to David, is promising to David that his dynasty would exist forever
○ Forever, through the Messiah
● So here we have the echoes of a promise throughout the old testament that there will be a blessing,
● A foreshadow that a worldwide blessing to all peoples was coming,
● And this would result in a re-establishment of right relationship with God through a serpent head crushing seed of Eve
● So did it ever happen?
● I mean what good is it if the promise never comes to fruition
● Let’s turn to the right in the Bible and see what we can find
○ Now again we are Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament
○ And we looked at the promises that foretold of Jesus’ arrival
○ Spoiler alert - Jesus does show up
○ So quickly sing away in a manger - but is Jesus related Eve in any way?
○ But is he part of the lineage of Adam & Eve, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, & David?
■ Luke 3:31-38 you will see Jesus’ lineage. We won’t read it all but hopefully we can put it all on the screen
■ If you look closely you will see
● Adam in verse 38
● Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob in verse 34
● King David is found in verse 31
“the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattathah, the son of Nathan, the son of David, 32the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, 33the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 34the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, 35the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 36the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech, 37the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, 38the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.”
○ So the seed of Eve is here
○ And the seed is Jesus
○ And Jesus came on mission to keep God’s promise
○ Fast forward in Christ’s life
○ And we find Jesus, in great anguish heading toward the moment he would fulfill the promise and crush the head of satan.
○ To the point he was sweating blood as he prayed.
○ But as Jesus prayed - he fully submitted to the will of His father saying in Luke 22:42 “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
○ He, knowing fully what was about to happen, let the betrayer come and aid in his arrest
○ Jesus did not complain or argue during his unfair trial that wasn’t trial by jury but trial by mob
○ He, though innocent, now faced a criminals cross
○ And Jesus stayed the course, there was a promise to fulfill
○ Jesus Was nailed to that cross, the bruising of Eve’s offspring’s heel
○ And we now approach the climax of history in this moment
○ For centuries there has been a long expected long promised redeemer
○ Many longed for the head crusher.
○ Many longed for the blessing that would come from Abraham’s family.
○ And here he is hanging on the cross?
○ Is this going to be like King David and be a failure in the end?
○ How does this establish David’s eternal kingdom?
○ How does this crush the head of Satan?
○ Try to be in the middle of the plot
○ Now the Romans were very good at killing.
○ So this was going to take Jesus’ life.
○ And As Jesus approached his final moments “...Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
○ And in that moment, God turned His back on His one and only son.
○ And Jesus, with his pierced feet, pierced hands, the blood stained son of many cried out
○ “It is finished” (john 19:30)
○ And he breathed his last…
○ And if the account ended there… we’ll it would seem like promise failed not promise kept
○ Later Jesus’ body would be placed in a tomb where you would think this account ends
○ But, let me tell you another promise echoed in scripture
■ In Psalm 16:10 we see this “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption”
○ You see the promised redeemer had to finish the job
○ He had to pay the bill in full
○ And for 3 days he laid in that tomb
○ And when the job was done
○ Well let’s read about it Luke 24:1-7
■ Some women came to care for the body of Jesus… 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’
○ This is how we know the promise is fulfilled - Christ rose - his heel was bruised (death on a cross - but he didn’t stay dead!)
○ I think Hymn Writer Robert Lowry put it well
■ “Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o’er His foes, He arose a Victor from the dark domain, And He lives forever, With His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
■ Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior; He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!
■ Up from the grave He arose, With a mighty triumph o’er His foes... Hallelujah! Christ arose!”
○ Weirsbe again “At the cross, satan bruised Christ’s heel; but because of His death & resurrection, Christ crushed Satan’s head & won complete victory over him.”
○ The promise was fulfilled
○ In Acts 3:18-26 we see Peter proclaiming the promise fulfilled “...But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began… 25 You (jewish people) are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.””
○ And for 21 centuries now - people have been - proclaiming the good news of the head crusher
● So what do we do with this?
○ First - Have you turned from your iniquities?
■ Weirsbe “We are not saved by making promises to God; we are saved by believing God’s promises to us. It was God who graciously gave his covenant to abraham and he responded with faith and obedience. How you respond to God’s promises determines what God will do in your life. “
■ Have you put all your eggs in the basket of Jesus paid my bill in full?
■ Have you believed that God raised Jesus from the dead and submitted to Jesus as Lord?
■ What are you waiting for?
■ Nobody knows the hour of his return or of your death?
■ Trust in Jesus today
■ Not sure what that means? Mark salvation on the ministry card, come talk to me after we wrap up today, do not delay!
○ Next - Does the fulfilled promise of Jesus the redeemer replay in your mind all day every day?
■ What does your mind run to while you go through your day?
■ When you contemplate all the good and all the bad, does Jesus show up as the ultimate good? Greater than all other things?
■ Matthew Henry puts it this way: “when we reckon up our family blessings, let us put Christ in the imprimis—the first place, as the blessing of blessings.”
■ So believer, Christ should be at the forefront of our minds, all day, every day.
○ Lastly - Do you find rest in the promises of God?
■ When the week is bad, do you turn to the promises of God as Beacon of hope?
■ When you fall into the stupid pool, do you lean into the promises of God?
■ When the doctor visit doesn’t go well, where do you turn?
■ Oh Christian, the hard works should push us to Christ!
■ The hard days should push us to lean into God’s promises!
■ Let us say as Charles Spurgeon did, “I’ve learned to kiss the waves that push me against the Rock of Ages!”
■ Lean into promises like:
● Isaiah 41:10 - Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
● Joshua 1:9 - Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
● 2 Corinthians 1:20 - For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
● Romans 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
● John 6:37-40 - All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
● Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
● 2 Timothy 1:7 - For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
● Philippians 4:19 - And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
● 2 Corinthians 9:8 - And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
● Psalm 84:11, For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly
● John 10:27-29 - My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.
● Isaiah 40:31 - But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
● Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
● Psalm 23:6, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
● Philippians 1:6, And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
● Revelation 3:5 - He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Oh Christian God will bring you home. Just as he brought the promised head crusher. Lean into him.
Pray
God you are good, and great, and wise, and all knowing. Thank you for making a way of salvation. For planning it out and then making it happen. You are the best promise keeper. We see this in the head crusher Jesus. We see that the whole Bible points to Jesus. Help us to lean into your promises. And fall in love with discovering Jesus from table of contents to maps. In Jesus name. Amen.
