Genesis 3:15 "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
I am not moving away from the subject of "People of the Bible."
I will go ahead and reveal that this verse is speaking about Jesus, but
this is not the first time He is mentioned in the Scriptures. We read,
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." (Genesis
1:26) Though they are not mentioned individually, we see the Trinity in this
verse: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Today's subject is our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ. The Father was speaking of Jesus the Christ when He mentioned the
"seed of the woman" in Genesis 3:15. Only Jesus, the Son of God, has
the power to "bruise" the head of Satan. It is a bad mistake to think
that Jesus only came into existence at His birth in Bethlehem 2000 years ago.
He is the eternal Son of God and in fact we read in Revelation 13:8 as
"... the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The work of
redemption which was completed by Jesus is mentioned throughout the Old
Testament. We already have mentioned Genesis 3:15. But Psalms 22 is a very
detailed account of the work of Jesus on the cross on Calvary's Hill. It begins
with the words recorded by Jesus, "My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken
me?" Isaiah chapter 53 speaks of the work of Jesus as also found in other
chapters of Isaiah. These are just a few places where Jesus is mentioned. Paul
writes in Galatians 4:4-5, "But when the fulness of the time was
come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
Jesus, Himself, speaks of the words of the prophets. We read in Luke 24:27,
"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in
all the scriptures the things concerning himself." John wrote by
inspiration of God, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. (2) The same was in the beginning with
God." (John 1:1-2) And then he declares, "And the Word was made
flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14) The writer
of Hebrews declares, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for
ever." (Hebrews 13:8)
You might ask, "Why is it important to be reminded of all these
texts?" Let me go back to this past Friday when we looked at Seth and that
time in the history of mankind. We saw in Genesis 4:26, "... then began
men to call upon the name of the LORD." I hope to be able to tie these two
things together. Our prayers are presented to God through the intercessory work
of Jesus, our Redeemer. It would be fruitless - very much ineffectual - for us
to pray to an inanimate object. I'm so thankful that we do not pray to an
historical figure that is no longer alive; rather, our prayers go to the throne
of grace by the power of the living, resurrected Saviour! Yes, we call upon the
name of the LORD with the blessed assurance that He hears and answers our
prayers because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus lives,
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Hebrews 4:16)
I serve a risen Savior
He’s in the world today.
I know that He is living,
Whatever men may say.
I see His hand of mercy;
I hear His voice of cheer;
And just the time I need Him
He’s always near.
He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives, He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart.