God’s First Promise of Christmas comes with the Condemnation of Satan.

¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, ESV).

Introduction

I remember hearing in my childhood, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.” In the 1960s, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” Charlie Brown is dissatisfied with how his peers are making it all about consumerism and materialism. However, he doesn’t know what Christmas is all about. Therefore, his best friend Linus reads Luke 2:8-14:

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased” (ESV).

The point of Christmas is that God keeps His promise to save people from sin, death, and Hell through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. This week, we will see the first promise of our Savior.

Context

The book of Genesis is a book of beginnings: the very beginning, the beginning of man, the beginning of the patriarchs, and the beginning of the nation of Israel. This specific section shows us the beginning of sin. The beginning of human sin started with Satan deceiving Eve in the form of a serpent, saying she would be like God if she disobeyed God. The beginning of sin also begins with the promise of a Savior who would destroy the curse.

Thesis

God destroyed sin through His Son, crushing Satan and His power at the cost of His body.

Outline

This will be seen in three movements: I. The Need for the Son, II. The Enmity of the Son, and III. The Power of the Son.

I.   The Need for the Son

1. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” ² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, ³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” ⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. ⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” ¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:1-13, ESV).
2. God created everything perfectly. He made the entire creation in six literal twenty-four-hour days. He created the ability to choose good or evil by creating the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If man chose not to eat of the tree, he chose good. Likewise, if the man ate from the tree, he would choose evil and become very evil. It was a perfect world that reflected God’s glory. It was very good.
3. However, the adversary, Satan, had sinned, and he wanted to take mankind down with him. Therefore, he transformed himself into a serpent or possessed a serpent to seem like a harmless creature under Adam and Eve’s domain.
4. The first thing he does is question God’s Word, “Did God really say?” This is the same tactic that he uses today. “Can you really trust the Bible? Experts say that there are multiple genders. Can we really trust God’s Word? Politicians, family members, and peers say you are on the wrong side of history. Can you really trust what the Bible says?” When we give in to those questions, we are giving in to the same lie that ruined the world.
5. This led our first parents to eat of the tree and spiritually die to God, which started the slow death to complete physical death. This is the need that we have to have solved by God. We are spiritually dead to God, relishing in our sins, and don’t want to be made right with God, left to ourselves. This will send us into the ultimate judgment of Hell, which is the final judgment.
6. Adam and Eve couldn’t hide from God, run from their consequences, or make their sin go away. Yet, this is what we try to do. We try to hide our sins from God and others, justify them, and blame others for them. However, we are completely responsible for what we have done and will eventually receive the consequences. Only God can save us.

II.  The Enmity of the Son

1. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring (Genesis 3:15a, ESV).
2. Mankind is at enmity with God, and so the solution to mankind’s problem needs to be hostile to Satan and his works. God cannot be friends with His diabolical enemy. As Paul said, “¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵ What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15, ESV).
3. The Messiah needed to be sinless and untouched by Satan’s influence. There are many reasons for this:

• • “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:8-9, ESV).
  • ²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV).
  • ⁶ These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, ⁷ but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people (Hebrews 9:6-7). ¹² he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption (v. 12). ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (v. 14).

1. 4. Our savior had to be in opposition to Satan because He alone could pay for our sin, reconcile us to God, and make us spiritually alive again. Jesus was untouched by the one who had corrupted us, murdered us, and deceived us.

• • ³¹ Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. ³² And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself (John 12:31-32, ESV).
  • ³⁰ I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, ³¹ but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father (John 14:30-31, EV).

5. In fact, He had to be against the ruler of this world because He came to undo the works of the devil. This shows Christians must also be at war with the devil and his ways. Therefore, Christians must repent of sin, trust in Christ, and be obedient to God’s Word. It sounds impossible; however, with God, all things are possible, even salvation from a virgin-born human, who also happens to be God

III. The Power of the Son

1. “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15b, ESV).
2. The power of the seed of the woman, the Son of God, was to kill the devil; his power, sway, and life. “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8, ESV).
3. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden for sin, and Satan will be judged for sin and tempting others to sin. Therefore, Jesus took away Satan’s power over sin by paying the debt for His people. He paid the debt by having His heels and hands pierced for our sin, then dying on the cross, the tree in our place. It’s funny to me that our problem with sin and death started with a tree and was overcome be Jesus dying on a tree in our place.
4. Charles Spurgeon said,

“He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” The Lord God did not ask the serpent anything, for he knew he was a liar. There is no creature so degraded as that once bright angel who is now the devil. That which is foul, material, carnal, he delights in. And his head is bruised. Blessed be the name of the woman’s promised seed. The old serpent’s head is bruised with a fatal bruising, while the wounded heel of our Savior is the joy and delight of our hearts.^[1]

Conclusion

God destroyed sin through His Son, crushing Satan and His power at the cost of His body. We have a need for the Son. Jesus has enmity with the devil. Also, the Son has the power to crush and topple the Devil. What lessons do we take away from this?

The main point is that God has promised salvation for His people from the very beginning of the Fall. God has always planned to reverse the curse of death and sin. He has never abandoned us to a hopeless existence leading to an eternal death. Satan is a defeated foe. Yes, it was at the cost of His life; however, He has risen from the dead, proving He is the Son of God and the savior of His people. You never have to doubt God and His promises. He has always fulfilled His promises, even in promising a Son born of a virgin who will destroy the works of the Devil.

“Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

—Isaiah 7:14

Charles Spurgeon wrote,

“Let us to-day go down to Bethlehem, and in company with wondering shepherds and adoring Magi, let us see him who was born King of the Jews, for we by faith can claim an interest in him, and can sing, “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” Jesus is Jehovah incarnate, our Lord and our God, and yet our brother and friend; let us adore and admire. Let us notice at the very first glance his miraculous conception. It was a thing unheard of before, and unparalleled since, that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son. The first promise ran thus, “The seed of the woman,” not the offspring of the man. Since venturous woman led the way in the sin which brought forth Paradise lost, she, and she alone, ushers in the Regainer of Paradise. Our Saviour, although truly man, was as to his human nature the Holy One of God. Let us reverently bow before the holy Child whose innocence restores to manhood its ancient glory; and let us pray that he may be formed in us, the hope of glory. Fail not to note his humble parentage. His mother has been described simply as “a virgin,” not a princess, or prophetess, nor a matron of large estate. True the blood of kings ran in her veins; nor was her mind a weak and untaught one, for she could sing most sweetly a song of praise; but yet how humble her position, how poor the man to whom she stood affianced, and how miserable the accommodation afforded to the new-born King! Immanuel, God with us in our nature, in our sorrow, in our lifework, in our punishment, in our grave, and now with us, or rather we with him, in resurrection, ascension, triumph, and Second Advent splendour.^[2]”

Finally, to those who do not believe. You have heard the warnings. You know you are sinners who deserve to go to Hell. You have lied, stolen, used God’s name in vain, and looked with lust. You are a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. You are not God’s child; you are not even good. It would be just for God to send you to Hell. Yet, God is rich in mercy and not desiring that any should perish but come to repentance. He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, to die on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and rise from the dead three days later to conquer death. If you repent and trust in Jesus, God will freely dismiss your case, adopt you as His child, and seal you with the Holy Spirit so you will never lose your salvation. Jesus is the only way of forgiveness you are ever going to get. Repent and trust in Jesus today. Let’s pray.

Dear God, Thank you for sending Jesus to be the God/Man/King who would also be the Lamb who takes away the sin of the World. He is the promised seed of the woman to destroy the power of sin. Have us trust in Him to save and sustain us, redeeming us from our sin. Help us to share that truth with the lost. Please save them from their sin. It is in Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

^[1] Spurgeon, The Spurgeon Study Bible: Notes (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 7.

^[2] C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).

More From Striving for Eternity

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If you want more information on studying the Bible and how to interpret it correctly, check out the store section at strivingforeternity.org/store. There are tons of resources to help you get started on your journey to interpreting the Bible better. Also, invite Andrew Rappaport and Aaron M. Brewster to come to your church and teach you biblical interpretation with their Biblical Interpretation Made Easy Seminar. Andrew Rappaport, Aaron M. Brewster, and other guests on Apologetics live would also enjoy answering your questions on the live show on Thursdays from 7pm–9pm CST with the link to the stream yard at strivingforeternity.org/apologeticslive. Lord bless you and strive to make today and eternal day for Christ Jesus.