In
the first blog, I drew upon Genesis 3 and highlighted on the section
in which God says to the Serpent, “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”. Out of this
passage I presented the idea that there is a Cosmic War
that began here and rages on to this day. Although this is a great
truth, I; however, did not tell you the whole story. I addressed the
first part of this passage, but did not speak to the second part: “it
shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel”. In this
short phrase, God gives us one of the most wonderful promises of all
time and since I found it so very significant, I thought it would be
appropriate to explore this section in a separate blog.
In
these few words spoken by God, there is an abundance of things that
we can learn.
First,
it is imperative to understand that the seed of the woman here is
Jesus Christ himself. God would send His only Son, the One who does
His will perfectly, to destroy the Devil. Jesus was the seed of Eve
through genealogy, but more importantly He also was born into the
world by a virgin woman a true seed of the woman. (Gal. 4:4- “But
when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law,”) Here in Genesis, after sin
has just entered the world, God reveals His perfect solution to
redeem His creation. This is the very first presentation of the
Gospel—the Good News of salvation from death.
Second,
many attributes of God's character are evident in this passage. We
find that our God is a God of promises. And most importantly, as time
has testified with the life, death and resurrection of Christ, we
find that our God is a promise-keeping God. Next, God hates sin and
those who entice others to rebel against Him and He takes punishment
very seriously. God pronounced eternal damnation on Satan for his sin
of tempting and indeed, God will have his head for his actions. This
passage testifies to the total sovereignty of God as God shows His
power over all his creation, even the prince of Darkness. We also see
the power of God's spoken word. God commands this to come pass and in
his perfect timing it does! That which God begins, he brings to
completion. Finally, it is clear that God is merciful and gracious.
Just after the crime is committed that brings the sentence of death
upon mankind, He has mercy on His creation and reveals to them His
gracious plan that would allow them life eternal.
The
questions now remain: How does this apply to us? How did this affect
the Cosmic War?
In
discovering the answers to these questions, we will find the most
important and exciting truths that we could ever find.
To
answer the first, this applies to us on a very personal level! Christ
came unto earth, born of a woman only and took on the whole humility
of a human nature. The humiliation Jesus underwent when He willingly
walked as a man, the tempting He was subjected to by Satan and the
physical abuse He endured were all a part of his “heel” being
bruised. However, it was in His death and resurrection that He
crushed the head of the Devil and conquered the death penalty that
all mankind faced for their sins. Heb. 2: 14 says, “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;”. It
is in the fleeting breath and the death of Christ that we can
individually find life from sin since Christ was a perfect man whose
death was an acceptable offering to God. After Jesus was subject to
death three days, God raised his Son out of death for it is Him alone
that has complete control of the grave. This resurrection symbolizes
the resurrecting work that God does in us as a new man is birthed in
our life in Christ that is quickened by the Holy Spirit! Because of
this amazing work of salvation done by our loving and merciful God,
three persons in one, He no longer looks on us in our sinfulness but
instead sees His pure, perfect, righteous and beautiful Son. This, my
friends, is the rest of the story; the part that is so very important
to each and every Christian! We would be damned to eternal death if
it were not for Christ suffering and dying in our place.
To
answer the second question, we must remember that the Cosmic War is a
war between life and death. Now, here is the exciting part, the war
has already been won! When Christ conquered the Devil and death, He
won the war; however, that does not mean the fighting is over. It is
our duty to fight for our Savior! Many people will hear this and
think, “Well, I am not going to fight in this war because Jesus
obviously doesn't need my help”. This, on the contrary, should be
taken as a huge encouragement to us as soldiers in this war. If one
really stops to think about it, “What more awesome privilege could
one have than to be asked to fight on the side that has won?” Oh,
how this knowledge should cause us to be ever so more bold a soldier
because we know that it is a fight we will not lose! How amazing a
promise!
Jesus
is leading His army on a victory campaign, are you marching behind
him?
Colossians
2:6-15 (ESV)
Therefore,
as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and
built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were
taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
See
to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit,
according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of
the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness
of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the
head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with
a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the
flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in
baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the
powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who
were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our
trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us
with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by
triumphing over them in him.
(I thought I posted this last night...)
ReplyDeleteI was so inspired by this article this morning, Justin! :) I was encouraged to be reminded of that oh so beautiful promise. I love how you said that, "What more awesome privilege could one have than to be asked to fight on the side that has won?”. You made it so sensible. Because, yes! It should make us want to follow and fight for our faith, Jesus Christ all the more. :)
Thanks for the great post!