Participants: Pastor Stephen Bohr
Series Code: CGC
Program Code: CGC000002
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01:13 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
01:15 Father in heaven, we thank you so much for the 01:19 opportunity, the awesome opportunity of opening your 01:23 Holy Word, and particularly the book of Genesis. We ask 01:28 for the guidance of your Holy Spirit as we study about 01:32 "The Serpent, the Woman, and the Seed. " We thank you for 01:37 sending your Holy Spirit to be with us, and we ask it in 01:40 the precious name of your beloved Son Jesus, Amen. 01:45 We'd like to begin our study at the book of Genesis Chapter 1 01:52 and verse 1, Genesis Chapter 1 and verse 1. 01:56 This is one of the better known texts of Holy 01:59 Scripture. And I don't even have to look it up because I 02:02 have it memorized, and I'm sure you do also. It says there, 02:08 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. " 02:14 Three things I want us to notice in this verse. First of 02:18 all, the expression "in the beginning. " Secondly, "God. " 02:23 And in the third place, "created the heavens and 02:27 the earth. " Now let's go to the gospel of John Chapter 1, and 02:33 we'll read verses 1 and 3, and I'm trying to make a point by 02:37 comparing these two passages of scripture, or these texts 02:42 of scripture. It says there in John Chapter 1 and verse 1... 03:09 Very clearly, these two 03:12 texts of scripture are closely 03:16 linked, because in both of them you have the expression "in the 03:21 beginning. " In both of them you'll have the idea of God - 03:25 in fact, the word "God" is used. And in both, you have 03:30 "creation. " In Genesis it says that "God created the heavens 03:35 and the earth. " In John Chapter 1 it says that "the 03:39 Word created all things, and without Him nothing was made 03:44 that was made. " So, we have the same three ideas in Genesis 03:48 and in John. The point that I'm trying to make is that the 03:53 Creator of Genesis Chapter 1 and verse 1 was none other than 03:58 Jesus Christ, because in John Chapter 1, we find that the 04:03 Word is Jesus, because we're told in verse 14 that the Word 04:08 was made flesh. And, so, the Creator of the book of Genesis 04:13 is Jesus Christ. And obviously in Genesis it says God, and 04:18 Jesus is God. Now, even though Jesus was the Creator of this 04:24 world, He did not directly rule the world. He placed on this 04:30 earth a king to rule for Him. I want you to notice this in 04:36 Genesis Chapter 1 and verse 28, 04:39 Genesis Chapter 1 and verse 28. 04:42 Actually, God placed here a 04:44 king and a queen, if you please. It says in verse 28, 04:50 "Then God blessed them and God said to them, 'Be fruitful 04:55 and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it... 05:12 Every king has to have a 05:14 territory over which to rule. Now, what was the territory? 05:17 Let's go back to verse 28. It says, "Then God blessed 05:21 them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply... 05:36 So, we have two principle ideas in this verse. Number one, 05:42 Adam was placed as king on this planet and, of course, Eve was 05:47 by his side as queen. And their territory of dominion, 05:52 or their territory of rule, was Planet Earth. 05:58 However, if we go to Genesis Chapter 2 and verses 16 and 17, 06:03 we're going to discover that God laid down a condition for 06:08 them to continue their rule and for them to continue enjoying 06:13 the earth as the territory of their domain. Genesis Chapter 06:19 2 and verses 16 and 17, God put a test in the garden. You see, 06:24 Adam and Eve did not ask God to create them. They were 06:29 created, and now they had to choose to be loyal to God. 06:32 It wasn't enough just to create them and automatically they 06:36 would serve God. God wanted to give them a choice. And He 06:39 placed the tree in the garden to give them a choice so that 06:43 they could serve Him, not because He merely created them, 06:46 but because they could choose to do so. 06:50 Now, Genesis Chapter 2 and verses 16 and 17 say this... 06:55 "And the Lord God commanded the man saying, 'Of every tree of 06:59 the garden you may freely eat. But of the tree... 07:13 So, God placed this condition in the Garden of Eden. He 07:17 said, "Adam and Eve, I created you. If you want to continue 07:22 reigning over the earth, if you want to continue enjoying 07:26 the territory of your domain, you must abstain from eating 07:31 from this tree. You must make the choice. I'm not going to 07:35 force you. I created you, yes, to serve Me, but I'm 07:38 giving you a choice and the tree will give you that 07:42 opportunity to choose. " Now, let's just pause for a 07:47 moment before we continue our study of Genesis Chapter 2. 07:51 And I want you to notice the condition that Adam and Eve 07:56 were in when they were created. Notice Genesis Chapter 2 and 08:01 verse 25, Genesis Chapter 2 and verse 25, just a short 08:06 parenthesis in our study to notice how Adam and Eve were 08:11 garbed originally when they were created. It says there 08:15 in Genesis Chapter 2 and verse 25... 08:27 We get the impression from Genesis 2 verse 25 that 08:31 Adam and Eve were totally naked and they weren't 08:35 ashamed. However, we need to understand that they were 08:39 naked with respect to human garments. They had no 08:43 man-made garment, so to speak, but they were robed. They 08:48 were robed with the garment of light. And you say, 08:52 How do we know that? Well, we have several avenues in 08:55 scripture which indicate this. By the way, do you know that 09:00 God's garments, which are spoken of as being white in 09:05 scripture, are actually garments of light? I want you 09:10 to notice Psalm 104 and verses 1 and 2. Psalm 104 09:15 and verses 1 and 2. Here the garments of God are described. 09:20 And it says here, "Bless the Lord, oh, my soul. Oh, Lord 09:26 my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor 09:31 and majesty. " And now notice verse 2."Who... 09:44 Notice here that God covers himself with what? With light 09:49 as a garment. In other words, the garments of God 09:52 are garments of light. They're not made out of 09:55 satin. They're not made out of any other type of material. 09:59 They are light. And Adam and Eve, even though they were 10:03 naked with respect to human garments, they were 10:06 covered with the glorious light of God. 10:09 Notice Revelation Chapter 12 and verse 1 where it speaks 10:13 about the "true Church. " Revelation Chapter 12 and 10:16 verse 1. It speaks here about a Woman. And I want you to 10:20 notice how this Woman is garbed. She's garbed in white 10:24 garments. But I want you to notice what the white garments 10:27 are. It says, "Now, a great sign appeared in heaven. A 10:32 woman clothed with" what? "Clothed with the sun. " We'll 10:35 We'll stop there. We'll only read till there. The woman was 10:39 garbed with the sun. She had radiant garments. They were 10:44 not artificially-made garments. They were garments of light. 10:49 Notice also Psalm 8, Psalm 8, and we'll see once again that 10:54 Adam when he was created - because it's talking 10:57 specifically about Adam in Psalm 8- he was robed in 11:02 garments of light. Notice Psalm 8, and we want to begin 11:09 reading at verse 3. Psalm 8 and verse 3. Here David says, 11:14 "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the 11:19 moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that 11:24 you are mindful of him? And the son of Man that you visit 11:29 him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels. " 11:35 And now notice this. "And you have crowned him -" who 11:41 wears crowns? Kings. "You have crowned him with glory and 11:46 honor. " Some versions say "with glory and splendor. " In 11:51 other words, Adam, when he was created, was covered with the 11:56 glory and the splendor of God, and he was crowned to be king 12:01 over creation. And, so, you can imagine Adam and Eve in the 12:06 Garden of Eden in their innocence, naked, but covered 12:11 with the garments of light that God provided for them. 12:17 But then Adam and Eve decided to disobey God. They decided to 12:22 exercise their freedom of choice to eat from the tree 12:26 rather than obeying God. And I want you to notice what the 12:31 first result of their sin was. Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 7, 12:37 Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 7. The first consequence of their 12:42 sin; we're told there in Genesis 3 and verse 7. 12:46 "Then the eyes of both of them... 13:00 What happened with the glorious robe of light? The glorious 13:05 robe of light disappeared. It left them. That's why in the 13:09 book of Romans it says, "All have sinned and come short of 13:13 the glory of God. " Because when they sinned, the robe of 13:18 light left, and now suddenly they see themselves naked. 13:23 And I want you to notice what solution they implement to the 13:27 problem of their nakedness. It continues saying, once again, 13:31 Chapter 3 and verse 7... "Then the eyes of both of them were 13:35 opened and they knew that they were naked... 13:46 In other words, they covered their own nakedness by making 13:50 garments of fig leaves. But do you know what's interesting? 13:55 Even though they had covered their nakedness with artificial 14:00 garments, they still felt naked, which clearly indicates that 14:05 the original garments they had were not artificial 14:08 garments; they were garments of light. I want you to notice in 14:13 Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 10, here we're told in Genesis 3 14:16 and verse 10, that even after they covered themselves with 14:20 the fig leaves, they still feel naked. Obviously their 14:23 nakedness is not nakedness of body, it's nakedness of soul. 14:27 They're guilty before God. They've lost their innocence 14:31 because garments represent innocence... represent 14:34 righteousness... represent holiness. They were sinful now. 14:39 They no longer had innocence and holiness and 14:42 righteousness. Therefore, the garments of light left them. 14:46 Notice Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 10. God comes looking 14:52 for Adam. So, he said - that is, Adam says, "I heard your 14:58 voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and 15:04 I hid myself. " Now, wait a minute. At this point Adam 15:08 wasn't naked. In verse 7 he had covered himself with fig 15:12 leaves. And yet even though he was covered with artificial 15:17 garments, he still felt what? He still felt nakedness. Why? 15:22 Because he no longer had the glorious robe of light. 15:27 He knew that his garments were artificial. They were made 15:31 by himself, and garments made by himself and by Eve could 15:35 not begin to cover the nakedness of their soul, 15:39 the nakedness of sin. So, God now comes down to 15:43 the garden. He's searching for Adam. And I want you to 15:47 notice Genesis Chapter 3, and let's start reading at 15:51 verse 8. Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 8... 16:38 Verse 13. "And the Lord God said 16:39 to the Woman, 'What is this that you have done?' 16:43 The Woman said, 'The Serpent deceived me and I ate. " 16:47 Now, there are some very 16:49 important things that I want us to notice in this 16:52 passage that I just read. You know, psychologists 16:55 and psychiatrists today - I have nothing against 16:57 psychologists and psychiatrists, but many 17:00 times what they do is they treat the symptoms, but they 17:03 do not treat the disease. I don't know whether you 17:06 notice in this passage that for the first time in human 17:10 history, you have guilt. For the first time in human 17:14 history you have Adam and Eve with a very low self-image. 17:19 That's why they're introverted. They're hiding from God. 17:24 For the first time in human history you have fear. For the 17:28 first time in human history you have blame. Adam is saying, 17:33 "This woman that you gave to be with me, if it hadn't been for 17:37 her I wouldn't have eaten. " And the woman says, "If you hadn't 17:40 made that Serpent, the Serpent would not have tempted me and I 17:44 would not have eaten. " The blame game begins with sin. A 17:49 low self-image begins with sin. Guilt begins with sin. Strife 17:53 begins with sin. Fear begins with sin. And if you are going 17:58 to resolve these psychological problems, the only way that you 18:02 can resolve them is by solving the problem that caused these 18:06 things in the first place... the problem of sin. And any 18:10 psychiatrist or psychologist that does not deal with 18:14 the central core issue of sin can never actually 18:18 bring healing to people. And, so, Adam and Eve are there 18:22 in the garden hiding from God. God searching for them. 18:27 They're naked. They're covered with artificial garments, but 18:31 they're naked. They're hiding from God. They're filled with 18:35 fear because God has said that if they would eat from the 18:40 tree, they would surely die. Now, when Adam and Eve ate from 18:45 the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they lost what 18:49 God gave them originally. First of all, they lost their 18:54 dominion. They lost their role as rulers of the planet, 19:00 primarily Adam who was the head of the household. I want you 19:05 to notice in Luke Chapter 4 and verses 5 through 7, who took 19:09 over dominion? And who took over the earth? Because Adam 19:14 and Eve also lost the earth as their territory, and they lost 19:18 their position as rulers. I want you to notice Luke 19:23 Chapter 4, and we'll read verses 5 through 7. Jesus is 19:28 here on the Mount of Temptation, and notice what the Devil says 19:32 to him. "Then the Devil, taking Him upon a high 19:37 mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a 19:41 moment of time. " What did the Devil show Him? All of the 19:45 what? All of the kingdoms of the world. To whom did those 19:50 kingdoms originally belong? To Adam. 19:55 Verse 6... And the Devil said to Him... 20:19 Notice that the Devil said, "The kingdoms of the world have 20:23 been delivered to me, and to whomever I wish I give them. " 20:27 Now, the question is: Who gave 20:29 these kingdoms to the Devil? It was Adam and Eve, primarily 20:35 Adam, because Adam was the father and the representative 20:40 of the human race. And, so, when Adam and Eve sinned, Adam 20:45 gave up his position as king. Adam gave up the territory of 20:50 the world, and the Devil took it over. This is the reason why 20:55 Jesus called the Devil "the prince of this world. " In 20:59 fact, in the New King James Version, which is the one we're 21:03 using in this seminar, it says "the ruler of this world. " We 21:07 have an interesting story in the book of Job where God calls 21:10 a heavenly council and the representatives of the 21:13 different realms of the universe come to present 21:16 themselves before the Lord. And among the sons of God who come 21:20 from different places in the universe to present themselves 21:24 before God, it says that Satan comes to that meeting. And God 21:28 asked him, "Where did you come from?" God knew, of course. And 21:33 the Devil says, "I have come from roaming around the earth. " 21:37 What he's saying is, "I have come from patrolling my 21:39 territory, from reigning over my territory. " In other words, 21:43 he went to that meeting representing Planet Earth. 21:46 Actually, Adam should have been the one representing Planet 21:50 Earth in that meeting, but at this point the Devil had 21:56 stolen dominion from Adam. And, so, you can imagine Adam 22:01 and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they're shaking. "God has said 22:05 that the day that we eat of the tree we are going to die. 22:10 What's that, death?" There had never been any death. But they 22:15 know that it's something terrible! God has told them 22:17 that it's something horrendous! And, so, now they're about to 22:21 give up hope, and God comes down to the Garden. He's 22:24 already talked to the man. Notice He talks to the man 22:28 first, holds him accountable. Then He talks to the woman. And 22:32 then He says, "I have some business to deal with the 22:35 Serpent. " And, so, He comes and He speaks to the Serpent. 22:39 And I want you to notice what He says to the Serpent. We call 22:44 this the first Gospel Promise of the Bible. And, you know, 22:49 many ministers say that this is a promise that God made to Adam 22:53 and Eve. That's true, but only indirectly. Because, really, 22:57 these words were not spoken to Adam and Eve. They were spoken 23:02 to the Serpent. But Adam and Eve, according to the story, 23:06 were there listening to what God was saying to the Serpent. 23:09 And, so, as they were listening to what God was saying to the 23:13 Serpent, it became a promise for them as they heard 23:17 the challenge of God. Now, notice Genesis Chapter 3 23:21 and verse 15, the words that God - actually, Jesus in this 23:26 case - speaks to the Serpent. And there's four elements 23:30 in this verse that I want to underline... 24:07 And I want you to notice that this battle goes between the 24:12 Serpent and the Woman, and between the Serpent's seed and 24:16 the Woman's Seed. But the real warfare is not primarily 24:20 between the Serpent and the Woman, and the Serpent's seed 24:25 and the Woman's Seed. The real warfare is in the last part of 24:30 this verse. Notice the last part of the verse. It says... 24:46 Now, what is God saying? God is saying, as a result of sin 24:49 there is going to be enmity, and I'm going to put that 24:53 enmity between the Serpent and the Woman, and between the seed 24:57 of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman. Notice, two ways 25:01 that the warfare runs. Serpent-woman, seed-Seed. 25:05 But He's saying that's not the real primary warfare, because 25:09 He says the Seed of the Woman is going to do battle with 25:13 the Serpent, and He is going to bruise the Serpent's head, 25:18 and the Serpent is going to bruise his heel. 25:21 Do you know what the picture is 25:22 here? The picture is that God is saying to Satan - and we're 25:25 going to notice in a moment this is Satan. The Bible makes 25:29 it very clear that the Serpent was really Satan. Maybe he used 25:33 the Serpent as a medium to speak. Some people think that he 25:37 converted himself into a Serpent. That's immaterial, but 25:40 the person behind this really was Satan. And the picture that 25:44 we have here is that God is saying to the Devil, "Listen, 25:50 you took dominion... you took the earth from Adam and Eve and 25:55 from all of their descendants. But I am declaring war on you. 26:00 I am going to send a Seed to Planet Earth. That Seed is 26:04 going to do battle with you. In the process of the battle, 26:10 you are going to hurt His heel. But in the process of hurting 26:15 His heel, He is going to crush your head. " 26:19 The idea, if you can catch the picture, is an Individual who 26:23 is raising His foot to have the foot fall upon the head of the 26:28 Serpent. Now, what might happen if you lift your foot to crush 26:33 the head of a Serpent? What might happen before your foot 26:37 falls on his head? He might just bite your what? He might 26:41 bite your heel. But after biting your heel, the foot 26:44 comes down and crushes his head. That is the image that we 26:48 have here. God is saying, "I'm going to send a Seed to the 26:52 world. He's going to be born of a Woman. He is going to take 26:56 the place of Adam. He's going to be the second Adam, and He's 27:00 going to do battle with you on the same battleground as the 27:04 first Adam did. In the process of the battle, you're going to 27:07 hurt Him. You're going to bite His heel, but it's going to be 27:11 a very expensive bite because after you bite His heel, His 27:15 foot is going to come down upon your head and He is 27:18 going to crush you and He's going to return to Adam and Eve 27:22 and all of their descendants that which they lost. " 27:27 Now, if that isn't good news, I don't know what good news is. 27:32 I can imagine now the glimmer of hope, Adam and Eve saying, 27:36 "There's hope! God is going to send Someone to the rescue! 27:41 He's going to send a Man born of a Woman who is going to do 27:46 battle with this enemy, and He's going to recover 27:49 that which we lost. " Now, the question is: Who is 27:53 this Serpent? It's not an animal. It represents something 27:59 beyond the literal animal. Notice Revelation Chapter 12 28:04 and verse 9. Revelation Chapter 12 and verse 9 explains the 28:10 identity of the Serpent. It says there, "So the great dragon... 28:28 What is God telling us? "Hint, hint, go back to Genesis. If 28:32 you want to understand this final battle, go back 28:34 to Genesis. " Isn't that what He's saying? 28:37 Now, who is this great dragon, 28:39 that ancient Serpent? Well, "So, the dragon was cast out, 28:44 that Serpent of old called the Devil and Satan who... 28:54 Do you notice here who the Serpent really was? The Serpent 29:00 was Satan himself. Either he used the Serpent as a medium to 29:05 speak, or he disguised himself as a serpent. That's 29:09 immaterial. But behind the original temptation was Satan. 29:14 Now, who is the Serpent's seed? 29:19 Well, we need to go to John Chapter 8 and verse 44, the 29:25 Serpent's seed. John Chapter 8 and verse 44. By the way, the 29:29 Devil doesn't do anything in this earth directly, or usually 29:33 he doesn't work directly. He works through whom? He works 29:37 through human instruments. He works through human beings. 29:41 And in this way, the Devil accomplishes what he wants to 29:45 do. He doesn't do it directly. He does it indirectly. 29:48 Jesus is speaking here in John Chapter 8 and verse 44 to a 29:53 group of Jews who claim to be the children of Abraham, but 29:57 they want to kill Jesus at this point. So, notice what Jesus 30:01 says in John Chapter 8 and verse 44. By the way, no 30:06 political correctness in the comment of Jesus... 30:32 Jesus says to these people who are sharing the spirit of 30:35 Satan, wanting to kill Jesus, "You are of your Father the 30:39 Devil. " By the way, when we speak about the seed of Satan, 30:42 we're not talking about people who literally genetically 30:46 originate with the Devil. We're talking about people who have a 30:49 character similar to the character of Satan. We have 30:53 several other passages in scripture. I'll just mention 30:56 them in passing. We have, for example, 1 John 3:12 where it 31:00 speaks about how Cain killed his brother Abel. It says 31:03 there, "not as Cain who was of the wicked one and killed his 31:09 brother. " Notice that Cain killed his brother, yes, but he 31:14 was actually of the wicked one. He was the seed of Satan. Satan 31:20 accomplished his purpose through a human instrument. 31:23 By the way, in the parable of 31:25 the wheat and the tares in Matthew Chapter 13 and verse 31:30 38, Jesus refers to the tares as "the sons of the wicked 31:36 one. " So, once again, the seed of Satan are his followers. 31:41 We're going to identify in a moment who is the Seed of the 31:46 Woman. The Serpent is Satan. Now, let's go to identify who 31:52 this Seed born of a Woman is, and who the Woman is. Go with 31:58 me to Galatians Chapter 3 and verse 16, Galatians Chapter 3 32:04 and verse 16. Let's notice who this Seed is born of a Woman. 32:09 Galatians 3 and verse 16 says this: "Now to Abraham... 32:32 Who is the Seed? The Seed is Jesus Christ. Now, notice 32:39 also Galatians Chapter 4 and verse 4, just across the page. 32:43 It says there in Galatians 4 verse 4: "But when the... 32:59 So, who is this Seed of the Woman? The Seed of the Woman 33:04 is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. 33:09 Also go with me to Matthew 33:11 Chapter 1 and verse 16, Matthew Chapter 1 and verse 16. And 33:15 while you're looking for that verse, I want to tell you that 33:22 in the Bible, genealogies are really lists of men who bring 33:27 men into the world. In other words, most of the names, with 33:32 a couple of exceptions in the Bible, in genealogies are names 33:36 of men. You go, for example, to Genesis Chapter 5. You find all 33:41 of the pre-Flood heroes of the Old Testament, and they're all 33:46 men. You go to the genealogy of Genesis 11, which is the 33:51 genealogy from the days of Shem, the son of Noah, all 33:55 the way to the time of Abraham, once again, they're all men. 33:58 You go to the genealogy of Jesus Christ, every one of them 34:02 is a man except for three women, two of them are 34:07 mentioned very briefly. And I want you to notice how this 34:13 list ends in Matthew Chapter 1 and verse 16. It says there... 34:35 Do you notice something interesting in this verse? 34:38 Jesus is actually born of a what? Of a woman, but he is not 34:45 born from Joseph. That's very unusual, because in all of the 34:50 genealogies, a male begets a male, begets a male, begets a 34:55 male... and so on. But here we have the exception. It says 35:01 here that Jesus was born from Mary His mother, but He was not 35:06 born from Joseph. The reason why is because Jesus Christ was 35:12 actually the Son of... God was His Father. God was His Father. 35:18 And, so, Jesus came into the world differently. This was 35:22 contemplated in Genesis 3:15, where it says that the Seed - 35:25 it doesn't say that the Seed would be born from a man or the 35:28 Seed would be born from a man and a woman. It says that the 35:32 Seed would be born from whom? From a Woman. And, by the way, 35:35 Mary is the culmination of a whole series of women in the 35:39 Old Testament, and men which ultimately from that 35:43 genealogy comes Jesus Christ. Let's go to Revelation 35:48 Chapter 12, once again, to identify this Seed. 35:51 Revelation Chapter 12, and let's read verses 1 and 2. 35:55 "Now, a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed 35:59 with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her 36:03 head a garland of 12 stars. Then being with child, she 36:08 cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. " 36:12 Notice that she's pregnant. She's got 36:13 to give birth to a Seed. Now, who is that Seed? 36:17 Notice verse 5. "She bore a male Child... 36:30 To His what? To God and to His throne. 36:32 Who is the Seed of the Woman? The Seed of the Woman is 36:37 Jesus. Galatians 3:16 says so. Galatians Chapter 4 and verse 4 36:43 tells us so. Matthew Chapter 1 and verse 16 tells us so. 36:47 Revelation Chapter 12 and verses 1 and 2 and 5 tell us 36:52 that Jesus was that Promised Seed who was going to come to 36:58 the world to rescue that which Adam and Eve and all of their 37:03 descendants lost. Not only Adam and Eve, because scripture 37:08 tells us that there is none righteous, no, not one. 37:11 Scripture tells us "all have sinned and come short of the 37:15 glory of God. " There is no one within the human race who can 37:19 rescue that which has been lost, because everyone on 37:23 Planet Earth at one point or another has become a slave of 37:26 Satan, has been conquered by the evil one. So, the human 37:30 race needed Someone to come and do battle, Who would never sin, 37:35 Who would win the victory so that eventually Adam and Eve 37:39 and all of their descendants could recover dominion and 37:43 could recover the earth as their inheritance. 37:47 Of course, the key question is this: How was the Seed going to 37:54 gain the victory over Satan in order to restore rulership... 38:00 in order to restore the earth? Obviously the nakedness of man 38:06 had to be covered again, but how could the nakedness of sin 38:13 be covered as a result of the iniquity of Adam and Eve? How 38:18 could that happen? Let's go to Genesis Chapter 3 and verse 21. 38:24 I want you to notice that God not only says that He's 38:28 going to send a Seed to recover that which was lost, 38:31 but He's going to explain how He's going to do it. Genesis 38:36 Chapter 3 and verse 21. Do you remember that Adam and 38:41 Eve, after they sinned, they covered themselves with what? 38:46 Fig leaves. Were they still naked after they covered 38:49 themselves with fig leaves? Could they appear before 38:52 God's judgment bar in their nakedness? No, they couldn't. 38:57 Did they need coverings that would truly cover their 39:01 nakedness in order to appear before God and receive that 39:05 which had been lost? Yes. Now, how was the Seed going to 39:09 be able to cover them? How was the Seed going to cover the 39:14 shame of their nakedness? Genesis 3 verse 21, one of my 39:19 very favorite verses in the whole Bible. It says, "Also... 39:37 Who made the garments? God did. Who clothed them? God did. What 39:46 did he clothe them with? With garments of skin. What do you 39:52 need to do in order to get the skin of an animal? You have to 39:57 kill the animal. You see, on the very day that Adam and Eve 40:02 sinned, there was an animal sacrifice. Most likely two 40:09 animals were sacrificed, one for Adam and one for Eve. In a 40:14 world where there had been no death, now the hand of Adam has 40:18 to be raised up... You can imagine the little lamb coming 40:23 when Adam calls the lamb. And Adam takes that little lamb in 40:28 his arms, he takes the knife, and he slits the throat of the 40:33 lamb. And suddenly the blood gushes out of his throat and 40:38 that little lamb is limp in his arms. And then he has to take 40:43 another lamb and slit that lamb's throat, and the blood 40:48 gushes out and the other lamb is limp in his arms. What was 40:53 God trying to teach Adam and Eve when he took those skins 40:58 after the lamb died and covered the shame of their nakedness? 41:03 He was teaching what the Seed needed to do when He came. The 41:08 Seed would have to shed His blood in order to cover the 41:13 nakedness into which Adam and Eve and all of their 41:18 descendants had fallen into. Now, let's go to Genesis 2 41:24 verse 17, and notice something very interesting. I'm going to 41:29 underline this point. Genesis 2 and verse 17. By the way, 41:33 sometimes I read texts wrong, and I've been told that I need 41:38 glasses, and that's true. After this series I'm probably going 41:41 to have to start using glasses. But I think I can read this 41:46 text well enough. Genesis 2 verse 17, it says, "But of... 41:59 ...A thousand years later 42:00 you will die. " 42:03 "930 years later you will die. " 42:07 No... God says, "The day that 42:11 you eat of it, that day you will surely die. " By the way, 42:16 in the Hebrew it says, "you will die by death. " I don't 42:20 know of any other way that you can die. But God is saying, 42:24 "You are going to be dead as a door nail. " "You are going to 42:28 surely die. " "You can take it to the bank," is what God is 42:32 saying. "The very day that you eat, you will die. " 42:36 Then the question is: Why did Adam die when 42:40 he was 930 years old? Why did all the heroes 42:44 in Genesis Chapter 5 die in their 800s, in their 42:49 700s, in their 900s? Did God lie when He said, "The day 42:54 that you eat of the tree, you will surely die"? 42:58 God did not lie. That day the sentence of death was 43:01 executed, but it was executed on those lambs. 43:06 Do you know what happened that day? The sacrifice of those 43:11 lambs was an earthly indication that Jesus Christ had presented 43:16 Himself before His Father in heaven and He said, "Father, 43:21 My creatures have sinned. Father, they deserve to die! 43:25 You said that they would die the day that they ate from 43:29 the tree! But, Father, I offer My life in place of theirs. I 43:35 offer My life for everyone that will descend from them. I offer 43:40 My life in place of theirs. " And the Father says, "Being 43:44 that You're the Creator of everyone who is going to come 43:48 into the world, I accept Your promise of being sacrificed so 43:53 that they don't have to die. " Now, is that good news? 43:57 Now, I want you to notice some interesting texts from 44:01 scripture that indicate this. The sentence, by the way, was 44:04 executed that day. I want that to be clearly understood. 44:07 The sentence of death was executed that day, was it not? 44:10 It was executed in the lambs. And what did those lambs 44:14 represent? How did John the Baptist introduce Jesus? 44:18 He said, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away 44:22 the sin of the world. " Notice what we find in 44:27 1 Peter Chapter 1 and verses 18 through 20. 44:31 1 Peter Chapter 1 and verses 18 through 20. Here we find 44:36 a very interesting passage which indicates that Jesus was 44:41 actually sacrificed before the foundation of the world. Now, 44:45 you say, How could Jesus be sacrificed before the 44:47 foundation of the world? He died about 2000 years ago. 44:51 Yes, He died personally 2000 years ago, but the Plan of 44:54 Salvation was devised in eternity, and it was 44:57 implemented as soon as Adam and Eve sinned. 45:01 Notice 1 Peter Chapter 1 and beginning at verse 18... 45:46 When was this Plan devised? Before the foundation of the 45:52 world. But then it says, continuing in verse 20... 45:56 "But was manifest in these last 45:59 times for you foreordained in eternity. " But the Plan 46:04 implemented "in these last days for you," says Peter. 46:09 Notice also Revelation Chapter 13 and verse 8, Revelation 46:14 Chapter 13 and verse 8. It's speaking about those who 46:19 worship the beast, and we're not going to dwell on that at 46:22 this moment. We have a whole lecture on that later on. 46:25 It says here in Revelation 13 verse 8... 46:42 When was Jesus slain, according to this verse? 46:47 He was slain from the foundation of the world. 46:51 So, what happened that day when Adam and Eve sinned is that God 46:56 said to Satan, "I'm going to send a Seed to the world. He's 47:00 going to go over the same ground that Adam and Eve went 47:04 over. He's going to do battle with you. He's going to live a 47:09 life without sin, redeeming the failure of Adam and Eve and all 47:14 their descendants. He's going to live a perfect life. He's 47:17 going to be a perfect Lamb without blemish. After He gains 47:21 the victory over sin, you're going to wound Him. You're 47:24 going to hurt Him because He's going to die. But guess what? 47:29 He's going to resurrect. And by His death and His resurrection, 47:33 you who have hurt Him, He is going to what? He is going to 47:38 crush your head and He's going to buy back - He's going to pay 47:43 the price to get back dominion and to get back the earth which 47:48 Adam and Eve originally lost, and which all of their 47:52 descendants lost as well. " And all of that happened 47:56 the very day that Adam and Eve sinned. 48:01 Now, how do you suppose the Devil felt when he heard these 48:06 words? You know, I can guess that the Devil must have been 48:12 shaking in his sandals, if he wears such a thing. He was 48:18 scared! And he made up his mind, as we're going to study 48:24 in this seminar, that he was not going to allow that Seed to 48:28 come to this world. He says, "I'm going to keep the Seed 48:33 from coming. I'm going to do everything in my power so that 48:38 that Seed can't come, because if the Seed doesn't come, then 48:42 He's not going to crush my head. " And, so, from that 48:46 moment on, the Devil decided that he was going to prevent 48:49 the Seed from coming. And we're going to study that there were 48:52 two methods that the Devil was going to use. 48:54 Let's notice the first method as it's found in Genesis 48:58 Chapter 4. And in a moment I'm going to read verse 25. 49:02 Do you remember the story of 49:03 Cain and Abel? This is the first illustration in human 49:09 history of Genesis 3:15. Let's take a look at that story. Do 49:14 you have enmity in the story of Cain and Abel? Is there enmity? 49:18 Is there war? Oh, yes. Do you have a woman in the story of 49:24 Cain and Abel? Who is it? Eve. Do you have a Serpent in the 49:30 story of Cain and Abel? Not in Genesis, but when you 49:34 go to 1 John 3 and verse 12, it says, "not as Cain who 49:38 was of the wicked one, and killed his brother. " So, 49:42 behind Cain was the wicked one. So, the Serpent is there. 49:47 Do you have two seeds in the story of Cain and Abel? Do you 49:51 have a Seed of the Woman which represents, by the way, the 49:55 righteous? And do you have a seed of the wicked one? You 49:59 most certainly do. And, by the way, all throughout the Old 50:03 Testament, you have preliminary seeds of the Woman. I want 50:07 you to understand that. Abel was not the Seed of the 50:12 Woman. He was an individual through whom God eventually 50:17 would bring into the world The Seed. Are you understanding 50:21 what I'm saying? So, there are many preliminary seeds. There 50:25 are many preliminary wars before the real war takes place 50:30 and before the real Seed actually comes. 50:33 Who wanted the death of Abel? 50:36 Cain? Is that all there is to the story? Cain was the only 50:42 one who wanted the death of his brother Abel? No. Satan wanted 50:48 the death of Abel. Why did Satan want the death of Abel? 50:52 Not because he just hated him, right? No. What had God said to 50:57 Satan? "I'm going to send" what? "I'm going to send a Seed 51:02 to the world. And that Seed is going to" what? "Is going to 51:08 crush your head!" So, when Cain and Abel are born, Cain grows, 51:14 and the Devil says, "Hmm, he's quite like me. I don't have to 51:20 worry about him. But Abel, a different story. He offers the 51:28 sacrifice of the lambs. And I remember Genesis 3:21. Who 51:35 knows. Maybe he's the Seed. Who knows. Maybe God is 51:41 planning through his descendants to bring into 51:44 the world the Seed. " So, the Devil says, "I'm going 51:48 to nip this thing in the bud. I am going to have my seed, 51:54 Cain, kill Abel. And if Abel dies, there will 51:58 be no possibility of the Seed coming into the world 52:01 because there's only two brothers. Cain is already mine. 52:04 And if Abel is dead, no Seed. " Do you see what the agenda is? 52:09 Now, you say, How do you know this? 52:12 Let's go to Genesis 4 verse 25; Genesis Chapter 4 and verse 25. 52:17 This is after Cain kills 52:19 his brother Abel. It says here in verse 25... 52:39 Do you know what "Seth" means? 52:42 It means "substitute," "in place of. " Isn't that a strange 52:50 name to give a son? "Oh, this is my son, Substitute. " "This 52:55 is my son, In Place Of. " Why would she call him "in place 53:01 of"? Well, she explains it. Notice once again verse 25... 53:32 And do you know what's interesting? 53:33 In the very next chapter, you have a genealogy. 53:38 Who does that genealogy begin with? It begins with Adam, 53:42 it continues with Seth, and it goes all the way down to Noah. 53:49 What was God doing? He was preparing a what? He was 53:56 preparing a Holy line. He was preparing a genealogy from 54:02 where Messiah would eventually come. And then in Genesis 11 54:09 verses 10 through 32, you have the list of descendants from 54:15 Shem, the son of Noah, all the way to Abraham. And then in 54:20 Matthew Chapter 1 you have the list of descendants, from 54:24 Abraham all the way to the birth of Jesus. And after Jesus 54:30 is born, no more genealogies. Why did God keep genealogies in 54:35 the Old Testament? The sole purpose was to show that God 54:40 always had a Holy line from which eventually the Messiah 54:44 would come into the world just as He had promised. 54:50 The Devil wanted to keep it from happening, but God did 54:55 not allow His plans to be frustrated. In the fullness 55:00 of time, the Messiah came to the world, born of a woman 55:06 did battle with Satan, lived a perfect sinless life for 33 55:11 years. And at the end of His life, being a perfect Lamb, 55:16 without spot and without blemish, He offered His blood 55:20 in place of the blood that you and I should shed so that we, 55:25 once again, could recover dominion and we could recover 55:29 the earth. For, the Bible says, "The meek shall inherit the 55:34 earth. " What a marvelous prophecy in Genesis Chapter 3. 55:38 You see, when man sinned, God had a solution to the problem. 55:42 Now, I'd like to just do a little bit of introductory work 55:46 here into what we'll study a little bit later on before we 55:50 bring this to a close in our lecture today. This prophecy of 55:55 Genesis 3:15 is actually described in all of its glory 55:58 in Revelation Chapter 12. We're going to study Revelation 12 56:04 later on in this seminar. But you're going to find in 56:06 Revelation 12 that the first scene is of a Woman - we just 56:10 read part of it a while ago - a Woman who has a child in her 56:17 womb, a Seed. As she's about to bear the Seed, a Dragon, who is 56:23 identified as the Serpent, stands next to the Woman to 56:27 devour her child as soon as He's born. But he is not 56:30 successful in killing and devouring the child. 56:34 Does that have any relationship to Genesis 3:15? 56:37 Do you have a Woman? Yes. 56:40 Do you have enmity? Yes. Do you have a Serpent? Yes. 56:45 Do you have two seeds? Yes, because Herod acts in 56:50 place of the Devil to kill all of the male children. And then 56:53 we're going to find later on in Revelation Chapter 12 that when 56:56 the child escapes from the hands of the Serpent or the 57:01 Dragon, he goes after the Woman. Remember the war is 57:05 also between the Serpent and the Woman? He goes after the 57:08 Woman! And later on in Revelation Chapter 12, he goes 57:12 against the remnant of the Woman's Seed who keep the 57:15 commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 57:18 We have fascinating things to study in this seminar, and I 57:23 hope that we will all make it a point to be here regularly. |
Revised 2014-12-17