Well, we're turning back to the chapter that we read in Genesis chapter 3.
! I'm not going to spend much time by way of introduction because we covered all of it last night.
Remember that I said to you there were four things I wanted to think about.
One was the uniqueness of the nature of humankind, and then the work that God had given him to do,
and then the companion that God had created specifically for him.
But you remember the last one was the choice that man faced, the first man faced.
And that's what I want to explore with us this evening, the choice that the man faced.
I want to do that by just thinking about three things.
One of them, the first one, is the specific arrangement that God came to with Adam.
The specific arrangement that related to, focused on, the trees he was allowed to eat and the tree that he wasn't allowed to eat.
And then secondly, I want us to think about the process.
That's what this chapter is all about, at least in the first part of it.
The process through which sin entered into the world.
I want us to think about the conversation that took place between Eve and the serpent.
And then I want us to think lastly of the fall itself.
That moment when Eve and Adam, they took the forbidden fruit, and they immediately, everything changed.
Everything changed.
The whole atmosphere changed suddenly from one of perfection to one of destruction and shame and darkness.
And I want us to look at the consequences of God's wrath and his mercy.
So I think there's enough there to be getting on with for the next half an hour or so.
First of all, I want us to think about the arrangement, the specific arrangement that God came to with Adam.
Now, we're not told the half, of course, of what Adam was shown, the kind of conversations that must have taken place between Adam and God.
There must have been loads and loads of words exchanged between the two of them.
But the Bible wants us to focus on a very narrow area of interest.
And the reason for that is because this is where the test of man lay.
This is where it was going to be determined whether or not the man who was made in the image of God
was going to live up to that image perfectly and indestructibly.
And so the focus of the chapter is on what they ate, the trees in the garden,
and what God was prepared to permit them to eat,
but also what he forbade, the prohibition that God imposed on the man.
And we're given this in very, very clear terms, and specific reference is made to it.
God says, first of all, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
Now, if you think about it, just think about that one verse.
It's formulated in a particular way.
And theologians down the centuries have identified such a formulation as a covenant.
A covenant.
And so when it came to the writing of the subordinate standard
that our church adheres to the Westminster Confession of Faith,
they identify that specific covenant as,
you should know this,
the covenant of works.
The covenant of works.
And just as an aside,
it's probably best,
it's probably valuable to just spend one or two minutes
just identifying what a covenant was in the first place.
A covenant was a promised bond.
A promised bond.
I suppose that's probably the best way of describing it.
And it very often takes place in human terms
between two kings,
two countries that are at war with one another.
When one country,
when it becomes clear that
one country is going to dominate and win the war,
to the extent where the other king decides,
I'm going to surrender,
they come together and they talk terms of peace.
And in the old days,
way back in Old Testament times,
those terms of peace would be called a covenant.
The two kings would come together,
two governments,
and they would come to a deal,
if you like,
in which the winner or the suzerain
would say to the loser,
the vassal,
here are my terms of peace.
Here is what I'm going to promise you
by way of security for the future.
And here is what I'm going to demand of you
as our vassal.
And so that made for a resolution of the conflict.
And it made for a secure future,
both for the winner king and the loser king.
And it meant that,
hopefully,
if the terms of peace were good,
which they often were,
that both countries would be able
not only to live in peace,
but actually to improve relations with one another.
That's how it worked
in Old Testament times.
And it wasn't just an agreement.
It wasn't just a loose agreement.
It was a very solemn set of...
They often went through a very solemn ceremony
in which blood was...
The blood of an animal was spilled.
And indeed,
when you come on to Abrahamic times,
an animal was cut in half.
And there was a ceremony
in which the two kings would go through the...
walk down the aisle,
if you like,
together.
And they were saying,
if either one of us breaks this covenant,
let us be like this animal
that has been cut in half.
That was the solemnity of the covenant.
And a fascinating,
fascinating theme.
Not least because the idea of covenant
is rooted in God.
That's how God operates.
By way of a formal promise bond
in which he comes to his people
and he says,
I am the Lord.
You are my people.
Here is what I am promising you.
And here is what I am expecting of you.
Now, if you put it like that,
go through the Old Testament
and you'll find that that occurs
on several different occasions.
And the first of them is this one.
I'm tempted to go through this
in greater detail,
but I'm going to say this rather cheekily,
that if you want to explore this
in more detail,
sign up for the ETS Saturday course
two weeks from today.
And we will be exploring this
in great detail
all the way through the Bible.
I hope you'll forgive me for a plug.
But it's all to do
with what we're doing
and the kind of work that I do.
Not just for students,
but for the whole church.
The first of these covenants
is found right here.
Now, there's some people who say,
well, there's no mention of a covenant.
It doesn't tell us
in other places in the Bible.
There's clear mention
that this is a covenant,
but not here.
But when it bears
all the hallmarks of a covenant,
then I think we can safely assume
with good reason
that the covenant exists.
And here it is again.
Let me just read it to you once again.
The Lord God
commanded the man saying,
you may eat.
Here's the provision
that I'm making for you.
Here's the promise
that I'm making for you.
You may surely eat
of every tree of the garden,
but of the tree
of the knowledge
of good and evil,
you shall not eat.
There's the prohibition.
There's the terms of peace.
The terms of agreement
between the two of us.
That's how God operates.
And then he says,
for in the day
that you shall eat of it,
you shall surely die.
Very often a covenant
contained not only a prohibition,
but it contained the consequences
of breaking the covenant.
We have all the hallmarks
of this promise bond.
And that forms the basis
of our understanding
of the arrangement
between God and Adam.
One of the objections
that I've often heard
to Genesis chapter 3
is this.
And I've often heard this.
Skeptics who come to you
and say,
well, you know,
do you honestly mean,
do you honestly mean us
to believe
that all of the world's problems,
all of the world's difficulties,
all of the violence
and the mistrust
and the betrayals
and everything happened
just because
someone ate an apple?
Now, if you put it like that,
then it does sound
on the surface
a bit ridiculous,
doesn't it?
I can understand
when somebody comes
and they say that.
And what I would say
to that person is,
you haven't really understood
Genesis chapter 3
or Genesis chapter 2.
You've taken
a very superficial view
of what,
and that's the reason,
that's part of the reason
I wanted to cover this
this evening
because I think people
do take,
for one thing,
all the focus
is on the forbidden fruit,
isn't it?
And when we,
when we simply think
about the tree of knowledge
of good and evil
and that's all we think about,
then we lose sight
of the big picture
of Genesis 2 and 3.
There's more to it than that
and I think it's worth exploring
the bigger picture
that is happening.
The fact is
that Adam was given
a choice
of one path
or another.
The tragedy is that
we pay all our attention
on the tree of knowledge
of good and evil
and we forget
that there was actually
another tree
in the middle of the garden.
You find it
in verse 9
in chapter 2.
The tree of life
was in the midst
of the garden
along with
the tree of knowledge
and good and evil.
We often think of
the tree of knowledge
of evil
as standing on its own
but that's not so.
There were two trees
in the middle of the garden.
The tree of life
and the tree of knowledge.
Now let that form
the basis
for your understanding.
There was the two trees
and here's God
in this covenant
and he says to the man,
the first thing
he says is
you may surely eat
of every tree
of the garden.
Now you put two
and two together
and what does that equal?
If Adam had
made use
of the provision
that God,
the invitation
that God had given him
to eat of any tree
of the garden,
every tree of the garden,
then,
you know what the answer,
he would eventually
have eaten
of the tree of life
because the tree of life
was one of the rest
of the trees.
It's bound to have happened.
So God's,
God's intention was,
God's provision was,
his invitation was,
that in the course
of obedience,
if Adam had chosen
to obey
and just eat
of the marvelous fruit
that God had given him,
he would have eventually
eaten the tree of life
and by so doing,
he would have lived forever.
And you might ask,
well,
why was this?
Well,
I'll tell you why.
Because man
is given
free will.
He's made in the image
of God.
He knows the difference
between,
he knows right,
but he's given this command
as a test.
It has,
it has to be tested
because if he's given
the ability
to choose
and to opt
for one
or the other,
then the way
to determine
which way he's going
to go
is to test him.
And so this was
the test.
But if he had
chosen to obey,
if he had chosen
plan A,
if you like,
then it would have
been a very different
outcome,
not only for him
and Eve,
but for the rest
of humanity,
I believe.
If you want to think
about it like this,
each tree
is a door.
You have door one,
which is
the tree of life.
You have door two,
the tree of knowledge
of good and evil.
Now,
if you think about it
that way,
I think it adds
a little bit of clarity
to the situation.
Adam's choice was
he either goes
through door one
or door two,
but he doesn't
get to come back.
He chooses
one or the other.
And what his choice
is,
is for himself
and for all
of humanity
because he stands
as what they call
the federal head,
which means that
we were in him.
he represented us,
not just himself
and his wife.
Genesis chapter 3
tells the story
of how Adam and Eve
chose to enter
door two
by eating
of the forbidden fruit.
I hope that that
clarifies
the situation
for us
and it adds
depth to the objection.
Oh,
well,
you're not going
to tell me
that all the troubles
of the world
are because somebody
ate an apple.
It's not just that at all.
This is a solemn covenant.
This is a solemn choice.
It's an opportunity
to exercise his free will
one way or the other.
In many ways,
it doesn't matter
what the fruit was
or whether it was fruit
in the first place.
It so happened to be
there cannot be
an easier,
more clearer option.
Nobody could mistake it.
What's more,
it doesn't get better
than the Garden of Eden.
It was no difficult thing
for Adam and Eve
to simply obey.
If they only had obeyed,
then they would have
opted for the right choice
both for themselves
and for the rest of humanity.
But it didn't happen
that way,
did it?
It didn't,
that's not the way it was
because through a process
of conversation,
this brings me on
to the second point
I wanted to raise with you,
a process of conversation
in chapter three,
which sees the introduction
of the serpent,
all kinds of questions
in chapter two,
chapter one,
two,
and three.
I know that Genesis,
first chapters of Genesis,
they conjure up
all kinds of questions.
Where did the serpent
come from?
Who was the serpent?
Where did evil come from?
Where is the origin of evil?
You read in chapter one,
God saw everything
that he had made
and it was all very good.
In that case,
where did the presence
of evil come from?
That's the most common question
everyone asks
who wants to know
the Bible more.
The answer,
I don't know.
Nobody can give you
a definitive answer
to that question.
It's one of these areas
where you just have to
throw up your hands
and say,
there is so much
I can understand
about the Bible
but it's limited.
We have to leave that
to God.
I do not know
where evil is originated
but it's there
and it's personal.
It takes the form
of Lucifer,
Satan,
whatever you want
to call him
and he takes the form
of a serpent
and he comes to Eve
in some way.
I don't know
what the serpent
looked like.
It doesn't matter.
He comes to Eve.
I would suggest
very quickly
after God commanded them
not to eat
of the tree
of knowledge
of good and evil
and he embarks
on this conversation,
the temptation
to do exactly
what God had forbidden
and there are
certain features
of this conversation
that are eerily
and scarily similar
to the way
in which he has operated
all down the centuries
even today,
even maybe even
right now
in this building.
He's never far away
but I want you to notice
one or two features
about this conversation.
First of all,
I want you to notice
that at no time
does the serpent
ever tell Eve
to eat the fruit.
Do you notice that?
At no time
does he actually say
I think you should
eat the fruit
because that's not
subtle enough
and it sort of
gives the lie
to the idea
that we think
of temptation
as this voice,
this little demon
on our shoulder
and he's whispering
to us
this is what you should do.
That's not the way
it works at all.
The way it works
is that
he began
to chip away
at the woman's trust
in what God
had said
and it was a slow
drip, drip, drip
process
in which he starts
the conversation
in a plausible manner
and says
to Eve
you know how
God said
what was that
he said?
He said
you can't eat
any of the tree
of the garden
again.
Remind me again.
She says
it's about
that we mustn't
touch the tree
in the middle
of the garden
of the tree
of the good
and evil
and at that point
he seizes
the opportunity
to chip
even further
and he says
actually
in actual fact
things are not
the way
that God
is presenting
them to you.
You're not
going to surely die.
He knows
that the day
you eat it
you'll become
like him.
that's what
he wants
to prevent
you from
better things.
And
you see
what he's doing?
He's chipping
away and he's
undermining
her trust
in the bare
word of God
alone.
and it works
because as the
conversation
proceeds
her mind
is wandering
away
from that
position
where she
accepted
or where
Adam
accepted
the simple
command
of God
not
to go
not to
touch
not to
eat
of the
tree
of
knowledge
of
good
and
evil.
I think
you know
what this
is about
don't you?
You know
this voice
at least
I do.
it works
in different
ways
according to
our
circumstances
where you
are
this evening.
The serpent's
been doing
this.
This is the
first time
he did it
to a man
and a woman
but he's
been doing
it for
centuries
ever since
and he's
doing it
probably
even
tonight.
even as
we speak
perhaps
some of
you open
the Bible
and say
is this
really
true?
Is this
really
true?
Is this
really the
basis of
our
understanding
of the
human
race?
I mean
look at
all these
eminent
scientists
that are
telling us
that we
can do
away with
God
because we
know so
much more
now in
the 21st
century.
We're so
advanced in
our
understanding
of science
and surely
this belongs
to the
Middle Ages
belongs to
the past.
Some of
you have
probably heard
this in
your place
of work
or perhaps
even people
in your
family have
said to
you
are you
serious
about this?
You still
believe?
That word
still is
really painful
isn't it?
You still
believe?
And it
gets to
you.
it gets
to you.
Can I
be personal
the way
it gets
to me?
I'm
coming to
the sort
of senior
end of
life.
I'm
there.
Senior
end of
life.
And the
voice I
hear very
often is
what have
you done
with your
life?
you
spent all
these years
following
Jesus
albeit
rather
badly.
You
haven't
made a
very good
job of
it.
But that's
just an
aside.
You
follow
Jesus.
Look at
what you
could have
done.
Look at
all these
people who have
decided to
go on
different paths
than you.
Are they
all getting
struck by
lightning?
No.
They're all
thriving.
They're having
a great time,
far better
time than
you are
choosing all
the difficulty
of ministry
and being
involved in
the church
and following
Jesus
instead of
just making
the most
of life.
You know
what you've
done?
You're only
going to
live once
and you've
blown it.
Exactly the
same thing.
Chipping
away.
the word
of God.
That's how
he does it.
How does
he do it
for you?
How does
he do it
for you?
Probably in
a similar
way.
What do I
do about
it?
How do I
respond to
that voice?
Well I
come straight
back to
the Bible.
And I
discover
actually in
the Bible
that I'm
strangely not
alone.
If you
read Psalm
73,
it's the
most remarkable
testimony in
which the
psalmist,
he goes
through exactly
the same
process and
conversation as
I've just
described.
And he
tells us that
the wicked are
thriving.
They're happy.
They're not
suffering in
any way.
And here
he is.
following God
in vain.
And now
there's a
turning point
in Psalm
73 where
he says,
then I
went into
the house
of God.
And the
moment I
went into
the house
of God,
I saw
things from
an entirely
different
perspective.
That's what
we need to
do.
my dear
friends,
when we
are overcome
by those
voices of
doubt,
we must
take refuge
in the
word of
God alone
that tells
us who
we are
and it
tells us
where our
hope and
our promise
and our
assurance
lies in
God's
word alone.
that's
what we're
here for,
isn't it?
We don't
have anything
yet.
I mean,
how else
when you
think of
the most
impossible
prospect,
which is
the resurrection
of the
dead,
that's what
God promises.
He says,
I am the
resurrection
of the
life.
He believes
in me,
though he
were dead,
yet shall
he live.
We believe
that.
Why would
we believe
that?
Because God
has said
it.
that's all.
The bare
word of
God alone.
Now,
I must
hurry up.
Then the
third thing
is that,
of course,
you know the
rest of the
story,
the rest
literally is
history.
The woman
took the
fruit,
and by
the way,
Adam was
as culpable
as Eve
was.
She was
the first.
Somebody
had to be
the first.
Well,
so be
it.
But the
moment that
Eve took
the fruit,
everything
changed.
The whole
environment
changed.
Light
became
darkness.
Sweetness
became
bitterness.
Security
became
fear.
Peace
became
turmoil.
Outside
and inside,
they knew
that they
all of a
sudden
discovered
that they
were naked.
Whereas
beforehand,
in a
perfect world,
that was
immaterial.
It didn't
matter because
God had
created them
that way.
There was
no need
for clothing.
Now they're
full of
shame and
embarrassment.
They
pathetically
sow fig
leaves for
themselves and
they hide
from God.
It only
gets worse
as the
chapter
proceeds.
God
comes into
the garden
in the
cool of
the day.
They know
it's going
to happen
because it's
happened
before.
Beforehand,
they've had
no problem
with God.
God has
been their
delight.
They've
looked forward
to him
coming in
and to
every
conversation
that they've
had,
every opportunity
of fellowship
with God.
They said,
yes,
Lord,
we want
you to
come in
now.
They don't
want to
see him.
They don't
want him
anywhere near
them.
And yet,
he's going
to come
in in the
cool of
the day.
It's
interesting.
Just a
little bit
of an
aside here.
When it
tells us
that the
Lord God
walked in
the garden
in the
cool of
the day,
well,
God,
that's an
anthropomorphism
when God
describes himself
in human
terms because
God doesn't,
he doesn't have
legs to
walk,
but that
doesn't matter.
We know
what's being
said.
But the
other question
here in
this verse
is the
cool of
the day.
Be very
careful,
very careful.
This is why
we teach
our students
Hebrew,
by the
way.
It's not
that cool
of the day
is not
correct,
but there's
maybe a
better way
of putting
it and
something
that is
a bit
more,
that will
fit the
context.
The cool
of the day,
walking in the
garden,
sort of
gives the
impression
that God
comes in
blissfully
unaware of
what's
happened.
He's going
for a
quiet stroll
in the
garden,
and he
doesn't see
Adam at
first,
and he
says,
Adam,
where are
you?
that's not
the way
it was.
You'll
notice
there's a
footnote
that says
the wind
of the
day.
This was
not some
kind of
innocuous
walk.
It
wasn't a
stroll.
This was
judgment.
This was
an angry
creator
who was
righteously,
exceedingly
angry
at the
fact that
his image
has
deliberately
disobeyed
him,
and he
has every
right to
be angry,
and he
seeks them
out,
and he
calls them
out,
and he
begins the
process of
interrogation,
and he
has three
things to
say.
When he
hears Adam
and his
pathetic
excuse,
he says,
what have
you done?
Have you
eaten of
the fruit
that I
told you
not to
eat?
Adam
immediately,
first case
of passing
the buck
in history,
when he
blames his
wife,
God
turns to
her,
he says,
what's
this you
have done?
She
passes the
buck to
the,
it's a
classic
case of
refusing to
take
responsibility,
if ever
there was
a mark
of sinful
behavior,
sinful human
nature,
it is that
we refuse
to take
responsibility
for what
we have
done.
It was
a serpent,
she says,
that deceived
me,
and I
ate.
And so
therefore,
God turns
to the
serpent,
and he
says,
he then
decides to
say three
things in
judgment,
he talks
to the
serpent,
then he
takes to
this woman,
and he
talks to
the man.
I'm going
to take
these in
reverse order,
simply because
if I do
so, we
will end
on a
note of
hope.
What he
says to
the man
is two
things.
There are
two edges
to what he
says to
Adam.
There's the
edge of
judgment,
but perhaps
surprisingly,
hidden in
this judgment,
there is
grace.
Where do I
see that?
Well,
what he
says to the
man,
he says,
because you
have listened
to the
voice of
your wife,
verse 17,
and have
eaten of
the tree
which I
commanded
you,
shall not
curse to
the ground
because of
you.
In pain,
you shall
eat of
it.
Now,
the good
news is,
you shall
eat.
In other
words,
you're going
to continue
to exist.
to be
with
difficulty.
Whereas
beforehand,
when you
planted seed
in the
ground,
it grew.
In a
perfect world,
if you
planted seed
in the
ground,
it will
yield
100%,
and without
any kind,
now you
are going
to have
frustration
after frustration.
And like I
said last
night,
these are
the first
fruit,
these are
the symbols
of all
the difficulty
that was
going to
arise,
the things
that go
wrong,
either minor
inconveniences
or major
catastrophes,
natural
disaster,
it's all
contained in
these words.
In pain,
you shall
eat of
it all
the days
of your
life.
Thorns
and thistles,
it shall
bring forth
to you,
and you
shall eat
the plants
of the
field.
Yet,
you shall
eat.
Do you
remember?
Do you
see that?
He's repeating
himself twice.
You shall
eat.
It's what
we call
common
grace.
It's how
theologians
explain the
fact that
God allows
life to
continue and
very often
to thrive
in a
sinful
world.
It's a
sign of
God's
kindness,
making the
sun to
shine on
the righteous
and the
unrighteous,
and the
rain to
rain on
the righteous
and the
unrighteous,
in the
words of
Jesus.
But then
to the
woman,
he says
this.
He says,
I will
surely
multiply you.
Two things.
He was going
to multiply
her pain
and child
being.
That was
going to
be a
mark of
the
consequence
that she
had to
suffer by
way of
her part
in the
disobedience.
It was to
become a
feature of
the human
race,
that whereas
animals with
relative ease
gave birth to
their offspring,
the woman
was to do
so in
pain.
I have no
direct knowledge
of course of
this.
I can only
talk about
having witnessed
the birth of
my six
children from
afar, but
it is true.
It's true,
isn't it?
But then he
says this,
your desire
shall be for
your husband
and he shall
rule over.
What does this
mean?
Your desire
shall be for
your husband
and he shall
rule over
us.
what it
means is
that whereas
there was
perfectly
balanced
desire for
him before
now,
there is a
distorted,
exaggerated
dependence on
him now.
And the
rule that he
would have
had before
now, which
was a
loving,
balanced
rule,
would now
become a
monstrous
one.
or might
become a
monster.
Again, if it
wasn't for
God's common
grace that
restrains us
sometimes more
than others.
So what God
is saying is
that whereas
beforehand you
had a perfect
equilibrium in
your relationship
with each
other, now
that's all
spoiled.
And your
view of him
is going to
change and
his view of
you is going
to change and
it's all going
to become
ugly.
Again, to a
lesser or
greater extent.
Let me give you
an example of
that.
I know the
time is
going.
Let me give
you an
example of
this.
Later on in
chapter 4,
we go into
the next
chapter and
chapter 4 as
the human race
develops and
as more people
are born and
as things
happen, you
come across
this nasty
character called
Lamech.
Chapter 4,
verse 23.
And he
marries two
women.
Well, that was
a red flag for
a start.
One of them
is called
Ada and
the other
one called
Zilha.
A nasty,
nasty piece
of work.
Right?
And he
kills a man.
But it's
not just
that.
He wants
to boast
about it
to his
wives and
he says
to them,
Ada,
Zilha,
hear my
voice,
you wives
of Lamech,
listen to
what I've
said.
I've killed
a man for
wounding me,
a young man
for striking
me.
What's
this?
What's
the idea
here?
The idea
I believe
is an
exact
fulfillment
of what
God said
to Eve.
That here
is a man
and he
is threatening
his wives
and he's
saying to
them,
see what
I've done
to this
guy.
Just be
careful.
Domestic
abuse
didn't start
in the
21st
century.
It started
way back
then.
But what
I want
to end
with is
God's
word to
the serpent.
Not only
was the
serpent to
crawl on
the ground
forever
as a
mark of
what God
had said
to him.
I don't
want to
spend any
time on
that.
I want
to spend
all the
time on
the next
bit,
the second
bit where
he says
I will
put enmity
between you
and the
woman and
between your
offspring and
her offspring.
I'm going to
split the
human race
in two.
There's going
to be race
number one
which is
going to
serve me,
the seed of
the woman,
and race
number two
which is
going to
serve you,
the seed of
the serpent.
They were
both going
to look like
sometimes two
people in the
same family
were born.
The seed of
the woman,
seed of the
serpent.
Seed of the
woman followed
the Lord.
Seed of the
serpent followed
the serpent.
I'm going to
split the
human race.
And as you
read all the
way through
the Old
Testament,
it becomes
very clear
who belonged
to which.
He says there
are going to
be enmity
between them,
there's going
to be war,
there's going
to be conflict
between these
two types of
human being,
those who
follow me and
those who
follow you.
But it's going
to end,
and here's how
it's going
to end,
because he
says it
will culminate
one day
in a man.
The reason
I know that
is because
the masculine
singular is
used in
verse 15.
He,
he,
he
shall
bruise
your
head,
and you
will
bruise
his
heel.
He'll
you.
You know
what this
is,
don't you?
It's the
first glimpse,
the first
glimmer.
It's the
wrath
remembering
mercy.
It's God's
solution to
an otherwise
hopeless,
catastrophic
event that
would have
ruined the
world
forever,
ever.
And yet
here is God
and he's
saying,
yes,
I'm going
to judge
you.
Yes,
you're going
to suffer.
There's
going to be
untold
suffering in
the human
race,
but
nevertheless,
he will
bruise
your head
and you
shall
bruise
his
heel.
And you
know when
that
happened.
You know
who the
he is.
The he
is Jesus
Christ,
the son
of God
who was
going to
come into
the world
as the
second
Adam or
the last
Adam,
some people
prefer to
call him.
And by
so
representing
his people,
he was
going to
reverse.
How was
he going
to do
it?
He was
going to
crush the
head of
the serpent
in his
death on
the cross.
By so
doing,
he has
to go
through
death
by which
the serpent
will bruise
his heel.
one.
And that
leads us
nicely, I
hope,
into tomorrow,
God willing,
where we
are going
to look at
the death
of Jesus
in terms
of his
victory
over the
evil one
as demonstrated
in the
temptation.
But so
much of
what I
said tonight,
I hope,
resonates
with all
of us.
We have
an enemy.
It goes
about like
a roaring
lion seeking
whom he
may devour.
and using
the same
kind of
tactics,
chipping
away of
the word
of God.
And tonight,
I hope that
our coming
here together
will be
as laying
hold as
never before
on the
bare word
of God
alone and
resting
in the
he, the
seed of
the woman
who is
going to
come and
one day
give his
life for
us and
thus bruise
the head
of the
serpent.
He's got
the victory.
And in
him, we
have the
victory.
And God
promises that
in his
son.
Our
father in
heaven, we
thank you for
our time
together and
we ask that
you will bless
your word to
us, bless
us as we
prepare for
to sit at
your table and
remember the
death of
Jesus.
In his
name,
amen.
Amen.
Well, we're
going to
bring our
service to
a close by
singing in
Psalm 103,
verse 3.
It's the
Scottish
Psalters,
page 369,
and it's
verse 3.
All thine
iniquities who
doth most
graciously forgive,
who thy
diseases all
and pains
doth heal
and thee
relieve.
And then on
to verse
verse 8.
Psalm 103,
all thine
iniquities who
doth please
stand if
you're able.
Amen.
Psalm 103,
doth please
put
iniquities who
put
iniquities who
put
iniquities who
CHOIR SINGS
O sufferer in counsel to us, in mercy, pectinus.
Amen.
Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, rest on and abide with each one of you, both now and always. Amen.
Amen.