Well, brothers and sisters, would you join me in Genesis chapter three this morning? Genesis chapter three. Genesis chapter three. Most of you know where this, what happens in this scene, but let me just remind you, God has created a perfect world. He has created man and woman in innocence. And yet, in Genesis chapter 3, Satan slithers into the scene, tempts Eve, she is deceived, and she takes the fruit that God has forbidden. Adam was not deceived. He simply partook of the fruit. And God comes and speaks both judgment and grace in this moment. He speaks his truth, his oracle to Satan, to Eve and to Adam. Genesis 3.15 is in the midst of that oracle, that truth that God pronounces upon Satan. And in this verse he says, 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. Well, it is December, and thank you, Kristen, for setting up these decorations in our auditorium. We can kind of get in that mood as we see some of these Christmas colors and the wreaths and so forth. Some of you know that one of our radio stations here in Toronto has been advertising that they are doing only Christmas music now. And I recently took a little time to listen to that radio station. It's not usually my thing, but I took some time to listen to that radio station to see what it is that our culture thinks of as Christmas songs. And of course, when we think about what our culture thinks of Christmas songs, that gives us a window into what our culture thinks of Christmas itself. And so I heard songs about snow, songs about sledding, songs about Santa, songs about stockings hung by the fire, sleigh bells. Didn't hear a lot of songs about Jesus. There were songs about happiness and heartbreak and there were, in the course of my listening, a couple of songs about Jesus but They were sung in such a way that seemed to draw more attention to the performer than to the one that they were singing about. Didn't hear much that pointed us to Jesus. And that's no real surprise because we live in a culture really of Christmas without Christ. There are plenty of people that celebrate Christmas and are very happy to, so that they can get time off work, so that they can get gifts from their friends, so that they can enjoy turkey, whatever the case may be. Perfectly happy to have all of that. But I'm not really that bothered if Jesus is present in their thoughts or not. And so over this next month, I want to hear In Ennerdale Road Baptist Church, focus on Jesus. We always do, I hope. But over the next few weeks, I want us to consider the prophecies about Jesus. The promises that Jesus would come to earth. The promises of just who this child in the manger that we celebrate is. Our little series this month I've titled, The Promised One. And today I want to focus on this, the first promise of the coming Savior. And I hope that we will be encouraged by this truth. This morning I want to focus on this truth, that Jesus is the promised victor. He is the promised victor. Consider exactly what our Lord says to Satan in this oracle. He says, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. This oracle that God pronounces, there are at least three things that I want us to see. First, that there would be enmity between Satan and Eve. We see that very plainly, don't we? I will put enmity between you, Satan, and the woman, Eve. That word that we have in our King James and New King James translations is a word that in other translations is sometimes rendered hostility. It's a very intense word. You could even think of a state of ongoing warfare, being at constantly in a state of having declared war. Eve would be engaged in enmity for the rest of her life. And I want to just Just for a moment, think about this before we move on to the next truth. I want you to remember, sisters, that Satan is no friend to women. He is no friend to women. And I know that today in our culture, there is this push toward what some people think as being freed from God's word, being freed from some of the archaic ideas here. And I want to remind you that Satan promised Eve something that she never truly got to experience. He told her half-truths. He promised her, you'll be as gods, knowing good and evil. Well, certainly she knew good and evil, but he lied to her when he said, you shall not surely die. And Satan will tell half-truths to all of us, but I want to thank women, sisters, Satan is no friend to you. He will present things in a certain way, and I want you to be on guard. There's personal enmity between Satan and Eve. Don't fall for his lies. But second, there is not only personal enmity between Satan and Eve, there would be what we could call corporate enmity between Satan's descendants and Eve's descendants. Look at what it says there, between your seed and her seed. Now, if you look at our new King James, that second seed there, your seed and her seed is capitalized. And I think that that's a bit of an interpretive choice. What seems to be happening in this passage is that God is telling Satan that he is going to be at enmity with Eve. But then the next step is that he would be at enmity with his descendants would be at enmity with Eve's descendants. Now, of course, we know that this is speaking in spiritual terms. Satan doesn't have literal physical descendants. There would be enmity between Satan's spiritual descendants and the spiritual descendants of Eve. There would be, we could say this way, there would be enmity between the wicked and the righteous. Between the saved and the lost. By the way, this struggle between the descendants of Eve, and the descendants of Satan, their seed is actually found in the very next chapter. What happens in the next chapter? Adam and Eve have two children, Cain and Abel. Abel offers the appropriate sacrifice with the right attitude, Cain doesn't. God accepts Abel's sacrifice, but not Cain's. And what does Cain end up doing? Well, even when God tries to talk sense into Cain, to try to keep him from sinning, Cain refuses to listen, rises up and kills his brother Abel. Now in 1 John, John comments on this, and this is where I think it's important for us to see that this is a part of that struggle between the seed of woman and the seed of the serpent, between the righteous and the wicked. Why don't we turn there, 1 John 3, just so you can see this with your own eyes. 1 John 3, verses 10 to 12. 1 John chapter 3, verses 10 to 12. Now, look at what it says here. In this, the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. So in this case, you have the distinction being made between the children of God and the children of the devil. And I think that's the same distinction that's being made, the seed of woman and the seed of the devil. The children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. Nor is he who does not love his brother. Pardon me. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Now, this next verse is key. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one. He was one of the seed of the serpent, who was of that wicked one and murdered his brother. Why did he murder him? because his works were evil and his brothers righteous. Mark this well, brothers and sisters, that there is, from the time of the fall, an ongoing conflict between righteousness and unrighteousness, between the wicked and between the just. This, of course, continues. You think about Jesus' words to the Pharisees. He says, if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came from God, nor have I come of myself, but he sent me. He goes on to say in verse, John 8, 44, you are of your father, the devil. And the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning. Think all the way back to the garden. Satan was a murderer. He said, you shall not surely die. What's the result? Wherefore as by one man, sin entered into the world and death by sin. So then death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth. Because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own, from his own resources, from who he is inside. For he is a liar and the father of it. We see this spoken of in Revelation chapter 12. Revelation chapter 12 talks about how the dragon or the serpent, the devil, was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. There is a perpetual and ongoing enmity between the seed of women and the seed of the serpent. Here's the shocking thing for all of us, is that we are all born into this world, the seed of the serpent. It is only those who have been justified by grace through faith, who have a new family, who can properly be considered the seed of women or the children of God. But there will be enmity between the righteous and the wicked. We shouldn't be surprised. We look around, we see how things may be going in a way that we would not like them to go. And we might see and wonder and marvel about the hostility maybe that we experience or that we see toward God's truth and God's moral standards. This is only a representation of this conflict that began in the garden. By the way, there's always been conflict between the seed of woman and the seed of the serpent. Sometimes it's more obvious. But there's always been conflict. But here's where there's hope in this passage. Because at this point, it doesn't seem all that hopeful, does it? It's like, okay, there's gonna be strife between Satan and Eve. There's gonna be strife between her descendants and his descendants. But look at what we find in the rest of the verse. He, or if you have a King James Version, it says it, He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Notice how the wording changes here. There's personal, then corporate, and then we're down to an individual. The first thing that we saw in this oracle is that there would be personal enmity between Satan and Eve. The second thing that we saw was that there would be corporate enmity between Eve's descendants and Satan's descendants. But now the truth is told us. is that there will be ultimate victory by, or sorry, over Satan by Eve's descendant. One descendant. And who is that descendant? It's Jesus. This word here, bruise, is an interesting word. It's a word that often is rendered crush. And that's the idea behind it. to deal a crushing blow. He, Jesus, would crush the head of the serpent. But in doing so, he would have his heel crushed. There are, in these words, the certainty of victory. He will, I'm sorry, I will put enmity, God says. He shall, God says, crush, bruise your head, Satan. This will happen. Now maybe we live in an age where we're told certain things are going to happen, and we hear that so often that, you know, anytime we hear a prediction, we start to feel a little bit jaded toward it, feel a little bit doubtful toward it. I mean, maybe even some of us, as we look at the COVID predictions, you know, we we've heard predictions that at the beginning of COVID, that there was going to be these mass numbers that we're going to get COVID within the first month or so, and it didn't happen. But now maybe on the other side where we're hearing the optimistic projections, and we're doubtful of those too, because we're hearing, well, maybe by the end of January, then we'll have some of these restrictions being lifted. And by the end of March, we'll have it all back to normal. And maybe we're, OK, that's a prediction we're not sure we can trust. There's a difference when God tells us what's going to happen, isn't it? Just as we looked at last week, God is omniscient and he is omnipotent. He knows all things and has the power to accomplish his will. Satan may be dangerous, but he is defeated and doomed. there is a finality to this victory too. He will crush Satan's head. I knew a guy that he was a bit of a character and he had a tendency to think that he was a little bit better at things than he really was. And he would end up injuring himself. One of the things this guy did was he actually, and I hope I don't gross you out too much, He actually was working with a table saw and lopped off one of his fingers. You lose a finger, you can keep on going in life. I've known of people that had their feet crushed or their hand crushed. It took a little bit of healing, but you can go on living, right? But you get your head crushed, and that's a different story altogether. That's the end. There's a finality to this victory. He shall bruise. He will crush your head. But even in this prophecy of the seed of woman, Jesus, who would come, who would defeat Satan, we see that there's an agony to this victory. That in the very act in which Satan would be crushed, the seed of woman would have his heel crushed. Now, a heel crush is not a blow that you can't recover from. But it is something that would be very, very painful. Some of you maybe have had the experience where you've bruised your heel. It happened to me one time. And then every time you're walking for a little while, you're reminded of what you did to yourself. But you get over it. There was agony in this victory. And it reminds us, brothers and sisters, that the one who is coming, Jesus, would crush the serpent's head under his foot, but in doing so would be wounded. What does this point us to? It points us to the cross. the cross by which Satan is defeated. Yes, Jesus would be wounded, but Satan would be defeated, crushed in that moment. So brothers and sisters, as we think about the holiday season, we think about that child in the manger. Maybe we are tempted to only think about the cuteness of the moment or the nostalgia or the the beauty of it all. Don't forget that that one who was born there was born to be a warrior. He was born to go to war against that great dragon. And he would and has defeated Satan. He is the seed of woman. As I was thinking about this, I really one thought stood out. A great deal to me as I was thinking about this passage, and that's this. It really does matter whose side you're on. It really does matter whose side you're on. Satan, there will be enmity between you and the woman. Satan, there'll be enmity between your seed, the unrighteous, and Eve's seed, the righteous, by faith. but you will lose. What can I say about this, but don't follow a loser. You can cue your Maple Leafs jokes here, but don't follow a loser. It's one thing to follow a team that loses consistently when you hope that they're going to win the Stanley Cup. It's quite another thing to pin your eternal hopes on that which will bring your doom. Satan may be dangerous and destructive, and he is, but he is defeated and doomed. Friends, Satan has lost. We read this repeatedly. For example, John chapter 12, verse 31, the ruler of this world will be cast out. Jesus says, as he looked forward to the cross. John 16, verse 11, he said, the ruler of this world is judged. This is something that the spirit would convict the world of. Revelation chapter 12, verses seven to nine, tells us that the dragon had been cast out of heaven. He has lost. and he will lose. How do we kind of make sense of that? He has lost and he will lose. If he's lost, why is he still accomplishing what he's accomplishing in this world? How is that possible? Let me try to give an illustration. Many who are World War II historians study what happened with Germany and Hitler's plans in that conflict. And they ask, when was it that Hitler really lost the war? I mean, at what point was it actually impossible for him to win? And many historians believe that it's actually when Hitler lost the Battle of Stalingrad in Russia. Some of you who know something of World War II history know that initially Russia and Germany were allies, and then Hitler turned against Russia, sent troops into Russia, thinking that he would defeat them in a fairly quick fashion. He devastated Russia very horribly. But eventually, the same thing happened to Germany as happened to France under Napoleon. Between the resolve of the Russian people and the horrible winters, Germany lost that battle and lost massive numbers of people. He lost, Hitler lost the Battle of Stalingrad by February of 1943. At that point, he really was a defeated foe. There was no way he was going to win the war at that point. But he continued to fight until April 22nd, 1945. And I'll let you all debate whether Hitler lived, faked his suicide and lived and went to South America at that point, or whether that's when he actually died by committing suicide. One way or another, that was the, April really was the official end of the war. But he had been defeated back in February of 1943. And so it is with Satan. Satan has lost, but he keeps fighting. He's a defeated foe, but that final doom is coming. And here's why it's so important. Don't follow a loser. Don't follow Satan because you will share in his loss. Revelation chapter 20. Well, let's turn there. Let's turn to this passage as well. Revelation chapter 20. see the doom of the devil and those who follow him. Revelation chapter 20 in verse 10, the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Now here's why this is so serious. Not only will the devil go down, but all of those who are the seed of the devil And I saw a great white throne and him who sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead small and great standing before God and the books were opened. And another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it and death and Hades, death and hell delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged each one according to his works, and death and hell, Hades, were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. You will share in his doom. In the United States, the war between the states, General Lee actually surrendered on April 9th, 1865. But some would continue fighting on the Confederate side for several months. In fact, one Confederate ship captain did not surrender until November 9th, 1865. So April 9th to November 9th, there were some who were still fighting this. The final actual land battle of the war between the states was the Battle of Palmetto Ranch on May 13th, 1865, over a month after the official surrender. The point that I'm trying to make is this, the war was lost, but the people continued to fight and die, and they went down with the whole cause. You will share in his loss. So don't follow Satan. Join Christ in His victory. Join Christ in His victory. Just as Satan has lost, will lose, and you will share in his loss, if you are on his side. So Christ has won, will win, and you will share in His victory, if you are in Him. The scripture tells us the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. In Revelation chapter 12, where it speaks of that conflict between the dragon and the people of God, it says, they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, which was, I think, is a way of saying that they had trusted in Christ and believed that gospel. And by the word of their testimony, that they spoke the truth of God, and they did not love their lives to the death. In other words, some people will die to win. In this, there's a sense in which they follow the Savior. But we will join in His victory, overcoming the dragon, that great serpent. And so I would encourage you to do, to join in His victory. To dress, if you will, for or in His success. What do I mean by that? Well, put on the garments of salvation. Trust in Christ. He has conquered. Isaiah 61 in verse 10, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21, For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. How do we put on the garments of salvation? We trust in Christ. And when we trust in Christ, His righteousness, the garments of salvation are credited to our account. We are clothed in His righteousness. But let me also add this. Not only dressing in His success by putting on the garments of salvation, but arm yourselves for this conflict by putting on the armor of God. I won't go into all of the pieces. Revelation 6 verses 10 to 19 describe those pieces of the armor that we need to stand against the devil. But even as we do that, we are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Even as we put on that armor, we're putting on the armor that He has provided and we are using the strength that He provides. We're dressing, not just for success, but we're dressing in our Savior's success. And then, brothers and sisters, set your hope on that grace that is to come. In 1 Peter 1, verse 13, we're told to gird up the loins of our mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. just as surely as our Savior came and was born in Bethlehem, that truth that we think of and celebrate this season, just as truly as He came, was born in that stable, lived a perfect life, died on our behalf, rose victorious over sin and death, so He will come again. Set your hope fully on that grace that is coming. when He comes again. Now, listen brothers and sisters, I know that we look around the world and everything going on, and it might seem like the times are very dark. It might seem as though there's very little light. It might seem that there's a whole lot more discouragement than encouragement. It may seem like there's a whole lot more despair than hope. But we who are believers, must have the long-term view in our mind and in our focus. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus. This life is hard. And some of you know it in different ways than other people know it, but we all know it to one degree or another. This life is hard. Or as our Savior said, in this world you will have tribulation. But there's hope. There is grace that will be revealed at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace for those who are in Christ. Grace for those who have trusted in Him. I can't say the same thing if you are the seed of the serpent. I can't say that for you. But I can say it for you if you are in Christ. If you are the seed of woman, if you are the children of God, there is grace that is coming. Brothers and sisters, in some strange and mysterious way, God is even using us to accomplish his great purposes of crushing Satan. So be faithful. What happens, I think, in our lives, when we lose hope, we struggle with faithfulness. When we lose hope in what is to come, we start to wonder, is it even worth it? Why do I bother? Everyone around me seems to be going a different way. I might as well join them. No, brothers and sisters, stay faithful. The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. Set your hope fully upon that grace that is to come when Jesus comes. And brothers and sisters, it will be worth it all. So Jesus is that promised warrior, that promised victor. He is the one who conquered Satan. Don't follow after Satan. Join Christ in His victory. Set your hope on the return of our Savior. Amen.