Genesis 3.14-15
I have this theory. I've mentioned it before. It goes like this. Everything that God will reveal in the rest of the Bible is contained, in seed form, in the first three chapters of Genesis. While there might be some debate on some aspects of that, it is certainly true when it comes to the point of today's text. Genesis 3.15 has a fancy name in the theology books that boils down to this. God will send someone to defeat Satan. Our text is the first expression of the Gospel. The conflict referred to here, the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, is the key theme of the Bible. This war shows up throughout the pages of Scripture. It's Abel against Cain, Noah against the unbelievers of his day, Job against his so-called friends, David against Goliath, the prophets against faithless Israel. The seed of the woman against the seed of the serpent.
All of these skirmishes lead us, of course, to Jesus' conflict with Satan. Here's a good summary statement from Hebrews: 'Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself [Jesus] likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.' Jesus has come to do battle with the devil that he might be destroyed and we might be rescued. We see Jesus battling Satan when He was tempted in the wilderness at the start of His ministry. We see the same battle referred to when Jesus says this about His ministry of casting out demons: 'When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.' Jesus has come to attack and defeat the strong man, Satan. He has come to crush his head under His feet. The climax of Jesus' work, of course, is the Cross. This is the decisive battle. And it has been won. Satan is a defeated foe. He has lost and he knows it. But he doesn't give up fighting. The war continues even though the outcome is not in any doubt. Satan is still doing his worst, but Jesus is Lord. He now rules over all.
It is so important to understand Jesus' goal in this. It's not just a matter of dealing with Satan himself. Jesus also intends to deal with the results of his evil work. Listen to John. 'The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.' Satan breaks things. He breaks relationships. That's what his goal was in the Garden of Eden. And it's worth noting that he succeeded. The relationship between Adam and Eve was broken. Their relationship with the Father was broken. He also breaks people. He shatters their lives. Here, just think about the man with the legion of demons. Physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually the man was broken. And Satan also breaks institutions and communities. A brief glance at a newspaper will prove that. Satan breaks things. This is part of his strategy. It's the goal of his temptations. That apple never was just about a bit of disobedience. It was about destroying the relationships. Satan breaks things. But thanks be to God Jesus has come. He has come to deal with Satan. He has come to do a complete job of it. And that means undoing his evil work. Jesus has come to mend what has been broken. Consider His ministry. Jesus went about doing good. That included healing bodies, casting out demons, restoring relationships, the relationships people had with each other and most importantly the relationship they had with the Father. Jesus' work as Redeemer includes fixing what Satan has broken.
In addition to writing his Gospel, Luke wrote the book of Acts. He begins that book by referring to his Gospel. That is an account, he tells us, of what Jesus began to do and to teach. The implication is that though Jesus is now with the Father, He nevertheless continues to do and to teach. Jesus continues His work of crushing Satan and undoing the fruit of his evil. So, Jesus continues to heal what is broken. Through the centuries He has been making progress and He will continue to make progress until the last day when He returns to complete His work and to consign Satan and his demons to hell forever. But until that day arrives, Jesus continues to heal what is broken. He does that first by calling people to follow Him. And some respond in faith. He takes these and mends their lives. In this way, He is undoing Satan's evil work. He is crushing Satan. The seed of the woman continues His work of crushing the serpent.
I went through all of that to prepare you for a verse. This verse sheds a great deal of light on how Jesus pursues His goal today. 'The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.' What an amazing thought. The goal of the Gospel of Jesus from Genesis 3 to the end of Revelation is to deal with Satan and his works. Genesis 3 pictures that as Jesus crushing Satan under His feet. But here the Apostle Paul says that it is under our feet that Satan will be crushed. Satan will be crushed by the Church. Jesus is not physically with us. But He continues His work. It's just that He uses the Church to accomplish His task, to achieve His goal. Jesus is undoing the works of Satan and He is doing that through His Church.
Clearly, there are some things that we are to do as individuals. Jesus said 'Seek first the kingdom of God', and we are to obey that individually. But He also said this. 'You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.' This is something that Jesus expects us to do as a group, as a Church. And we know that because of the grammar. Every 'you' or 'your' here is plural, but every time we see the word 'light' it is singular. That means that we, each and all of us, are to shine together as one light. We are to stand together as one city on a hill. This is something that we are to do as a Church, one Church together. If He meant for us to do this as individuals He would have said, 'Let your lights shine'. But that's not what He said. Jesus also said this about His Church. 'And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.' We, the Church, are called to storm Satan's stronghold, hades, to rescue those held there. Jesus promises that we will triumph in that warfare. The defenses of Satan's lair will not be able to prevail against us. But this, again, is something that we do as a Church. So, Jesus is still dealing with Satan. He is still fixing what Satan has broken. And He uses us to do those things. There are aspects of this work that He intends for us to do as individuals. And there are aspects that we are to do as as group, as the Church. In this way, Jesus will heal the world until one day all of the works of Satan will be gone.
Now, all of that leads to this. Jesus intends to use us, Faith Reformed Church, to charge into Satan's domain to rescue some enslaved there, and then to mend what is broken in their lives. But, as a Church, we are not doing that as well as we need to. Jesus calls us to shine our light that those around us will notice what we are doing as a Church of Jesus so that they might praise the Father. But our light as Faith Reformed is dim. It needs to get brighter. That light needs to shine more brightly so that we can be used more effectively by Jesus to free those enslaved by Satan and to heal their broken lives. These are some of the things that Jesus calls us to do as a Church. And if we are to be faithful, these are things we need to do better.
So, what should we do? The first step is acknowledging that we are broken people. In one way or other, the evil work of Satan still affects us. We still need healing. But that is not something that we can do alone. If we would be healed, there are things we need to do together. We need to encourage each other, teach each other, rebuke each other and comfort each other. We need to 'rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.' We need to get close to each other and learn how to trust each other with the fragile parts of our souls. This is part of what it means to be the Church. And we pursue these things not only that we might enjoy more healing. We do these things so that we can, together, do the same for those who, having been freed from Satan's domain by the Gospel, will join us. They have been battered by Satan. They are broken. They will also need to be healed. You see, the Church is a hospital. It is a place where Jesus heals lives using, of all things, the other patients. New Christians enter the hospital to be healed. Jesus uses their relationships with the other patients as part of His therapy. And as they are being healed, they are also used to heal others. This is one key way that Jesus crushes Satan. He uses His Church to bring healing. We need to do better at being a Church, a group, bound together with the cords of love and doing things together so that Jesus can destroy His – and our – evil enemy under our feet. This is what Jesus has called us to be.
Let me anticipate a possible obstacle here. What if someone says, 'Yes, I see what you're saying. But to do that will take time, and I have no time to spare. I am booked to the max. I understand what you're saying about my ministering as a part of the Church, but there's just no time.' Let's consider this. Why might this be the case? Let's assume what might be the very best of reasons: the family. It's the concern for the family that demands the time. Even the demands of a job boil down to being concerned to care for the family. So, though our friend understands the call to be the Church, because of family concerns, he just has no time to do it. What would Jesus say to this? I think that this saying fits. 'Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.' If it really does boil down to what Jesus wants from you on the one hand and concern for your family on the other, Jesus is quite clear. If you don't put Him before your family then you don't deserve to be His disciple. Jesus is very demanding. Understand what's going on here. Jesus has called us to be His Church, to be the primary means of crushing Satan and undoing his evil works in the lives of so many people. This is a part of His call to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. And this is His way for you to find true life.
So, what happens next? I recently read before you the five questions for membership. I have come to appreciate the third question in that list. Let me read it to you. 'Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance on the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?' Whoever wrote this got it so right. At its heart is the crucial matter of following Jesus. The question is simple and to the point. Will you follow Jesus? Is there a more important question anywhere? But the question understands that we are but dust, so very weak, so very sinful. So, it highlights the grace of the Holy Spirit. We'll get nowhere without His gracious work in our souls. And it also includes the word 'endeavor'. Will you 'endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ'? Not 'will you do it', but 'will you work at it'. How honest. Who can promise to follow Jesus well? We all fail at this. But what we can promise, in humble reliance on the grace of the Holy Spirit, is that we will work at it. Jesus is very demanding. He demands that we put Him ahead of everything. Everything. That is not incredibly difficult for sinners. It is impossible. It's incredibly difficult just to work at it. And Jesus knows this. So, He is very patient. He does not expect perfect discipleship in this life. But He does expect us to work at it. The Spirit has put His finger on something that we need to work at. We need to do better at being the Church as He defines it. Do you want to follow Him in this area? Will you work at it? Where will you begin?
I have this theory. I've mentioned it before. It goes like this. Everything that God will reveal in the rest of the Bible is contained, in seed form, in the first three chapters of Genesis. While there might be some debate on some aspects of that, it is certainly true when it comes to the point of today's text. Genesis 3.15 has a fancy name in the theology books that boils down to this. God will send someone to defeat Satan. Our text is the first expression of the Gospel. The conflict referred to here, the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, is the key theme of the Bible. This war shows up throughout the pages of Scripture. It's Abel against Cain, Noah against the unbelievers of his day, Job against his so-called friends, David against Goliath, the prophets against faithless Israel. The seed of the woman against the seed of the serpent.
All of these skirmishes lead us, of course, to Jesus' conflict with Satan. Here's a good summary statement from Hebrews: 'Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself [Jesus] likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.' Jesus has come to do battle with the devil that he might be destroyed and we might be rescued. We see Jesus battling Satan when He was tempted in the wilderness at the start of His ministry. We see the same battle referred to when Jesus says this about His ministry of casting out demons: 'When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe; but when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.' Jesus has come to attack and defeat the strong man, Satan. He has come to crush his head under His feet. The climax of Jesus' work, of course, is the Cross. This is the decisive battle. And it has been won. Satan is a defeated foe. He has lost and he knows it. But he doesn't give up fighting. The war continues even though the outcome is not in any doubt. Satan is still doing his worst, but Jesus is Lord. He now rules over all.
It is so important to understand Jesus' goal in this. It's not just a matter of dealing with Satan himself. Jesus also intends to deal with the results of his evil work. Listen to John. 'The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.' Satan breaks things. He breaks relationships. That's what his goal was in the Garden of Eden. And it's worth noting that he succeeded. The relationship between Adam and Eve was broken. Their relationship with the Father was broken. He also breaks people. He shatters their lives. Here, just think about the man with the legion of demons. Physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually the man was broken. And Satan also breaks institutions and communities. A brief glance at a newspaper will prove that. Satan breaks things. This is part of his strategy. It's the goal of his temptations. That apple never was just about a bit of disobedience. It was about destroying the relationships. Satan breaks things. But thanks be to God Jesus has come. He has come to deal with Satan. He has come to do a complete job of it. And that means undoing his evil work. Jesus has come to mend what has been broken. Consider His ministry. Jesus went about doing good. That included healing bodies, casting out demons, restoring relationships, the relationships people had with each other and most importantly the relationship they had with the Father. Jesus' work as Redeemer includes fixing what Satan has broken.
In addition to writing his Gospel, Luke wrote the book of Acts. He begins that book by referring to his Gospel. That is an account, he tells us, of what Jesus began to do and to teach. The implication is that though Jesus is now with the Father, He nevertheless continues to do and to teach. Jesus continues His work of crushing Satan and undoing the fruit of his evil. So, Jesus continues to heal what is broken. Through the centuries He has been making progress and He will continue to make progress until the last day when He returns to complete His work and to consign Satan and his demons to hell forever. But until that day arrives, Jesus continues to heal what is broken. He does that first by calling people to follow Him. And some respond in faith. He takes these and mends their lives. In this way, He is undoing Satan's evil work. He is crushing Satan. The seed of the woman continues His work of crushing the serpent.
I went through all of that to prepare you for a verse. This verse sheds a great deal of light on how Jesus pursues His goal today. 'The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.' What an amazing thought. The goal of the Gospel of Jesus from Genesis 3 to the end of Revelation is to deal with Satan and his works. Genesis 3 pictures that as Jesus crushing Satan under His feet. But here the Apostle Paul says that it is under our feet that Satan will be crushed. Satan will be crushed by the Church. Jesus is not physically with us. But He continues His work. It's just that He uses the Church to accomplish His task, to achieve His goal. Jesus is undoing the works of Satan and He is doing that through His Church.
Clearly, there are some things that we are to do as individuals. Jesus said 'Seek first the kingdom of God', and we are to obey that individually. But He also said this. 'You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.' This is something that Jesus expects us to do as a group, as a Church. And we know that because of the grammar. Every 'you' or 'your' here is plural, but every time we see the word 'light' it is singular. That means that we, each and all of us, are to shine together as one light. We are to stand together as one city on a hill. This is something that we are to do as a Church, one Church together. If He meant for us to do this as individuals He would have said, 'Let your lights shine'. But that's not what He said. Jesus also said this about His Church. 'And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.' We, the Church, are called to storm Satan's stronghold, hades, to rescue those held there. Jesus promises that we will triumph in that warfare. The defenses of Satan's lair will not be able to prevail against us. But this, again, is something that we do as a Church. So, Jesus is still dealing with Satan. He is still fixing what Satan has broken. And He uses us to do those things. There are aspects of this work that He intends for us to do as individuals. And there are aspects that we are to do as as group, as the Church. In this way, Jesus will heal the world until one day all of the works of Satan will be gone.
Now, all of that leads to this. Jesus intends to use us, Faith Reformed Church, to charge into Satan's domain to rescue some enslaved there, and then to mend what is broken in their lives. But, as a Church, we are not doing that as well as we need to. Jesus calls us to shine our light that those around us will notice what we are doing as a Church of Jesus so that they might praise the Father. But our light as Faith Reformed is dim. It needs to get brighter. That light needs to shine more brightly so that we can be used more effectively by Jesus to free those enslaved by Satan and to heal their broken lives. These are some of the things that Jesus calls us to do as a Church. And if we are to be faithful, these are things we need to do better.
So, what should we do? The first step is acknowledging that we are broken people. In one way or other, the evil work of Satan still affects us. We still need healing. But that is not something that we can do alone. If we would be healed, there are things we need to do together. We need to encourage each other, teach each other, rebuke each other and comfort each other. We need to 'rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.' We need to get close to each other and learn how to trust each other with the fragile parts of our souls. This is part of what it means to be the Church. And we pursue these things not only that we might enjoy more healing. We do these things so that we can, together, do the same for those who, having been freed from Satan's domain by the Gospel, will join us. They have been battered by Satan. They are broken. They will also need to be healed. You see, the Church is a hospital. It is a place where Jesus heals lives using, of all things, the other patients. New Christians enter the hospital to be healed. Jesus uses their relationships with the other patients as part of His therapy. And as they are being healed, they are also used to heal others. This is one key way that Jesus crushes Satan. He uses His Church to bring healing. We need to do better at being a Church, a group, bound together with the cords of love and doing things together so that Jesus can destroy His – and our – evil enemy under our feet. This is what Jesus has called us to be.
Let me anticipate a possible obstacle here. What if someone says, 'Yes, I see what you're saying. But to do that will take time, and I have no time to spare. I am booked to the max. I understand what you're saying about my ministering as a part of the Church, but there's just no time.' Let's consider this. Why might this be the case? Let's assume what might be the very best of reasons: the family. It's the concern for the family that demands the time. Even the demands of a job boil down to being concerned to care for the family. So, though our friend understands the call to be the Church, because of family concerns, he just has no time to do it. What would Jesus say to this? I think that this saying fits. 'Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.' If it really does boil down to what Jesus wants from you on the one hand and concern for your family on the other, Jesus is quite clear. If you don't put Him before your family then you don't deserve to be His disciple. Jesus is very demanding. Understand what's going on here. Jesus has called us to be His Church, to be the primary means of crushing Satan and undoing his evil works in the lives of so many people. This is a part of His call to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him. And this is His way for you to find true life.
So, what happens next? I recently read before you the five questions for membership. I have come to appreciate the third question in that list. Let me read it to you. 'Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance on the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?' Whoever wrote this got it so right. At its heart is the crucial matter of following Jesus. The question is simple and to the point. Will you follow Jesus? Is there a more important question anywhere? But the question understands that we are but dust, so very weak, so very sinful. So, it highlights the grace of the Holy Spirit. We'll get nowhere without His gracious work in our souls. And it also includes the word 'endeavor'. Will you 'endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ'? Not 'will you do it', but 'will you work at it'. How honest. Who can promise to follow Jesus well? We all fail at this. But what we can promise, in humble reliance on the grace of the Holy Spirit, is that we will work at it. Jesus is very demanding. He demands that we put Him ahead of everything. Everything. That is not incredibly difficult for sinners. It is impossible. It's incredibly difficult just to work at it. And Jesus knows this. So, He is very patient. He does not expect perfect discipleship in this life. But He does expect us to work at it. The Spirit has put His finger on something that we need to work at. We need to do better at being the Church as He defines it. Do you want to follow Him in this area? Will you work at it? Where will you begin?
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