Well, let's turn over to Genesis chapter 3. A familiar passage, I would think. Starts off, of course, with the temptation, seduction of our first parents by the serpent, who is none other than the devil. And in verse 8, it tells us that in light of that fall, God comes into the garden, and Adam and his wife try to hide in the trees. But of course, you can't hide from God, boys and girls. And when God inquires where they are, He's not looking for information, but He's calling them out of that phony darkness and into the light of His judgment. into the light of His promise. So let's pick up in verse 14 and we'll read down to verse 20, 21 rather. So after the inquiry to our parents, the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field. On your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 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. To the woman, he said, I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you are taken, For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." So there it is, a little bit in Genesis chapter 3. Well, let's pray, shall we? Our Father in heaven, we thank You for Your Word, and as we consider Genesis 3, verse 15 tonight, we pray, Lord, for understanding, and we pray for grace, that we might be pointed to Jesus and receive in Him that wonderful promise that is found, one of eternal life and forgiving grace. So make it so, we ask, and do it, we pray. for His sake and in Jesus' name, amen. Well, beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the books that I bought this past year has a title that summarizes the Bible's main message. So if I gave you one guess to think of what the title to that book might be, what do you think you'd say? Think for a minute. What would the title of a book be if that title summarized the main message of the Bible? You give up thinking? Are you ready to hear the answer? Here it is. And see how well maybe it lines up with what you had in mind. The book's title was, It's All About Jesus. It's a book written by Randy Alcorn, probably the only book of his that I have. It's worth reading, it's an interesting, it's a topical, thematic, resource-type book. It's got, if you're interested in looking through something like that, it would be well worth your time to take a look. The Bible really is all about Jesus, isn't it? From start to finish, boys and girls, the Lord Jesus Christ is front and center on these pages. Think about it, from the perspective of the Old Testament, Jesus is the one to whom all things pointed, and He's the one to whom our forefathers in the faith looked. And from the perspective of the New Testament, Jesus is the one who arrived as the long-awaited and promised Messiah. And Jesus is the one to whom the Church of all ages has looked back upon and whose return at a future date we all anticipate with joy and gladness. So tonight, as I mentioned this morning, we begin an Advent series. What we're going to try to do is look at four verses from different passages in the Old Testament. At this point, the one here in Genesis 3, maybe also Isaiah 7, verse 14, Isaiah 9, verse 6, and Micah chapter 5, verse 2. So by my count, This is the first time since 2018 that we've had an Advent series. And the prayer and hope is that each one of these verses that we'll look at will be looked at in light of the fact that Jesus is the central figure in the Scriptures. And hopefully, with God's blessing, by the time December 25th rolls around, We'll all be in a position where we're ready to hear that this one who was promised to come, in fact, arrived and showed up on the scene. Maybe then we'll look at John 1, verse 14, that the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. So let's keep some of that in mind as we come to Genesis 3, verse 15. If you have one of the inserts, you can see what we have there for theme and points. Our God makes the best promise to our first parents. And as we listen, we hear of hostility in the first part of the verse, and we hear of victory in the second part of the verse. So as things open up and we listen and hear of hostility, that's a quick overview this way. The hostility that we hear about in this verse is called enmity in that word near the beginning. And this enmity is something that God himself imposes or puts in place. And this hostility is something that's going to characterize the whole time of this present age that began there in Genesis chapter 3 and will end when our Lord Jesus returns from heaven. And this hostility that God put in place is something that will mark the distinction between those who are God's people and those who belong to the world. So as far as the recognition that God imposed this hostility, that's right out of the language of the passage itself, isn't it? Like he says to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. So right off the bat, Almost immediately after the fall of our first parents into sin and thereby the subsequent corruption of the entire human race that flowed from them, Christ only being accepted, God reveals Himself as the sovereign Lord of human history, as the sovereign Lord of heaven, and as the sovereign Lord of earth. I will put enmity. And what God puts in place, boys and girls, it stays around. Here's the key. This word, which is, as Harry Bosma used to tell me, the moter belofta. Maybe I'm not saying that exactly right. The Dutch word for the mother promise. Verse 15 is of such tremendous significance. Our Old Testament professor at Mars, Reverend Vander Hart, said that after Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, the whole rest of the Old Testament is a footnote. explaining what that verse entails as everything flows from it. So this word, which is judgment upon the serpent, announces Satan will be subject to God's rule and to God's dominion. Therefore, Even though Scripture calls the devil elsewhere, the God of this world, 2 Corinthians 4 verse 4, yet Satan is not in any kind of a position where he ever can be or ever will be equal to or above or over the true and living God. So let me pause for a minute and say this. Remember that, congregation. The warfare that this world is experiencing, that's in the Lord's hands. I need to keep that in mind, and I imagine some of you need to keep that in mind as well. It's God who calls the shots, not the devil. It's God who guides the ebb and flow of history, not Satan. And as the courtroom scene here in Genesis 3 unfolds, the trickster is taken to task as God admonishes him and judges him, and in the context of that, makes a promise to Adam and his wife. So he who deceived our first parents, he will never again be able to have that kind of holding sway over the human race. Because God, according to his eternal counsel, has carved out a people for Himself, and in due time, God will call a people to Himself, and He will preserve us from the evil one and all of his evil deeds. And when the time of fullness comes, back from this perspective, when the time of fullness comes, when God's Son, His only begotten Son, enters into this world, Well then, Jesus, like we've seen in the Gospel of Mark, when he comes, he's going to have a showdown against Satan throughout the whole course of his life, and particularly during that three and a half year period of his ministry. And in the midst of this hostility, Jesus will prevail. So congregation, know that. Remember that. Trust that. Believe that message to be true, not just in a general sense, but believe it to be true for you personally. Because in Christ and according to God's promise, it is that. So let me say it like this. Even though sin and rebellion and judgment have always been characteristic of this present age since the events of this chapter, along with things like death and disease and destruction. None of that is what's going to carry the day. None of that is permanent, even though in this life it's normative, let's say, because of the judgment. And none of that's going to change during the course of these days. But here's a key to keep in mind. In the midst of what appears, to be chaos and craziness. God has been working in, with, and through all things to bring His plan and purpose to pass. And in Jesus Christ our Lord, that's the message of Advent, that it has been fulfilled for us. And what that means in the context of a hostile world, God imposing this enmity, It means that Jesus came to conquer in this fight against sin and Satan, against death and hell. He came in the context of all of the mess and ugliness of this world, to overcome the demonic host in battle, to wage war, and to launch a campaign that would, if I can say it like this, reestablish God's kingdom here in this world. Think of the Incarnation this way, in terms of this warfare imagery of Genesis 3 verse 15. The Incarnation is a beachhead. It's Christ entering this world and the womb of the Virgin Mary is the place from which the King goes forth to conquer in the battle. And one day, to sum up all things as He brings them to their finale and God's kingdom reaches its highest, most magnificent point and endures throughout the ages of eternity. And it's that great work of restoration of recreation and of redemption, to which and into which sinners like you and me are called by God's grace through the gospel promise which announces grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone. So now, now that this work is in progress and will be completed one day, we wage war, We wage war against the world, against the flesh and against the devil. We all have personal corruption that remains in us and we see that in different ways in our families. We see that sometimes at school. We see that sometimes at work. We experience that sometimes in church life and being part of a broader community. So now, in the context of this warfare, In the context of hostility, let's put on the full armor of God each and every day, like it tells us over in Ephesians chapter 6. Let's march by God's orders. His Word guides, His Word directs, His Word leads, His Word corrects, His Word counsels, His Word encourages, His Word offers promises. Now we go, now we do, and along the way of going and doing, We depend upon God's grace and His goodness, and we commend our lives into Christ's own care and keeping, trusting Him not only for some pie-in-the-sky salvation, but trusting Him for real redemption, for ultimate deliverance and freedom from any trace of sin or of the devil's wild tactics. Every opportunity is ours, congregation. to walk in that peace and in that safety that Christ promises to us, even in the midst of this storm. As we continue and we listen, we hear not just of hostility, but we hear of victory. And if you look at verse 15 again, maybe just a brief overview, the focus of this promise is on a specific seed or offspring of the woman. And notice, this seed of the woman will not obtain the victory without himself suffering a fatal wound. That's the language, he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. However, even though the seed of the woman is going to suffer a fatal wound, this seed of the woman will yet be triumphant. That triumph, it could not have not happened. Failure for the Messiah, according to God's promise, is totally out of the question. This is something God has put in place, and this is something that God Himself will bring to pass. I read somewhere once, a long time ago, that in Old Testament Israel, as the ages unfolded, that something like an anticipation of a newborn son, who may be the promised deliverer, came to be part of the culture so that, some have said, expectant mothers thought about the possibility during their pregnancy that maybe they would be the one to give birth to God's promise of a Savior for the world. If you look at chapter 4, verse 1, that's one of the passages where that sort of a theme is appealed to because the language there, Adam knew his wife, they come together physically. She conceives and bores a son, Cain. And what does she say? I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord. Eve anticipates already, apparently, that Cain is going to be this one, some have said, who God provides as fulfillment in light of verse 15. But of course, Cain isn't that. Cain's the opposite of that. Cain turns out to be Antichrist rather than Christ. But however unfounded or unrealized those thoughts would have been for generations of women, eventually there was a young maiden who did conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and who was told specifically that her son would be the Messiah. So the hope that came to develop among Israelite women, it wasn't totally unfounded because one day God brought that hope to pass, not just for Mary, not just for Joseph, but for you and for me and all others who believe in and belong to our Lord and Savior. But look at verse 15, that last part, the particulars of God's promise here. They point to the coming and the arrival of a distinct individual. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." So the offspring mentioned in this verse is designed to draw our attention to Jesus Christ, to one particular individual who will come in the fullness of time. Think of verse 15 this way, boys and girls. It's like a spotlight already. shining from the garden going forth that will illuminate the cradle. It's like a frame that highlights the picture. It's the right sort of color, and it's the right sort of size, and it gives us a window, a picture to look at, or like a window that lets us see out where things are clearly viewable and clearly visible. That's why it says, he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. So from the very beginning, God directed our faith to His only begotten Son, didn't He? Verse 21 is another example. Those skin suits that God made for our first parents are a foreshadowing of Christ's atoning sacrifice that covers us in God's sight. Something He made, something He provides, and something that comes through the shedding of blood. So it wasn't just a general hope. that sons would be something special or that generations would carry the day. But it was the hope that a specific son would come, according to promise, and that he would do all of what was necessary to defeat the devil, to ransom otherwise lost sinners, and to accomplish all things that pertain to the redemption of the whole wide world. And guess what? God fulfilled that in the sending of Jesus Christ into human history. Remember that. Rejoice in light of that. Let that give you hope. Let that guide your steps. Let that shape your service. Let that help you endure trials. Let that enable you to be optimistic as you look to the future and the days that lie ahead. Let that calm your fears. Let that erase your doubts. Let that strengthen your faith. What God has said He would do, He has done. And it's all found for us in Christ. Because in coming to carry out this rescue mission, the Son of God didn't just snap His fingers and do His work. He didn't wave a magic wand and accomplish all things, but rather, and quite to the contrary, He suffered and He died. That's the language here of having His heel bruised. He tasted death, like it says in Hebrews chapter 2. He shed His blood, apart from which there could be no atonement or forgiveness, like it tells us in Leviticus chapter 17. He was hung on the cross to bear the brunt of our judgment. That's why Calvary was, for the Lord Jesus, a rugged Roman rack. That was the crucible, the purpose and reason for His earthly ministry. That's why the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Like it says in Galatians 4, verse 4, right? When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law in order that he might redeem those who were under the law. So having his heel bruised through death, that wasn't optional for Jesus. Think about it like this. Most of us would desperately cling to our life if we knew it was in danger, right? Is that fair to say? Not Jesus. He laid down His life because He was born in order to give up His life. He will save His people from their sins. We heard that this morning. That's what the angel told Joseph. So, while our Lord was still in the womb of His mother, newly conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, even then, the dark shadow of Calvary was casting itself over our Lord's earthly life before He was even born. But of course, the death of the Son of God, that's not the end of the story, is it? Nope. And not by a long shot, either. Because by that death, He not only crushed or bruised the serpent's head, which tells of His victory over Satan and sin, but by His death, Christ was preparing the way in God's providence for his own resurrection from the dead. His death and resurrection are two sides of one coin. It's a composite ministry that he undertook and accomplished for us. That's why, at least in part, the sermon title is Advent, a season of promise. Because the one who was promised to come and die didn't stay dead, but he rose in triumph. He conquered death and the devil for us. His light shone on His resurrection and His light still shines today. He entered the age to come and is preparing a place for all who believe in Him and belong to Him here and now. And guess what? That means Jesus calls us, you and me and everybody who hears the preaching of the gospel, to join His victory and to share in His triumph. men and women, boys and girls, young and old, He calls to repentance and He calls to faith. And He promises to bless and to be with everyone whom the Spirit brings to Him as they come humbly, as they come believingly, as they come expectantly, and as they come with full assurance that His grace and His promise is more than sufficient to forgive and to provide acceptance with God. So as you hear of Jesus tonight, and you consider Advent as a season of promise, look to Jesus with a believing heart, know that He is yours, and more importantly, you are His. Amen. Let's pray, shall we? Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We pray that a simple ministry of it would be blessed by you to come to us in conviction, in truth, in power, and as something that would strike and stick and stay with us. So lead us by it to Jesus, and lead us by Jesus through this life, and into the ages of eternity, that we might join that great company of the redeemed and sing Your praise and worship fully in the freedom of a new heavens and a new earth, as we ask all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.