Year 2 Day 194

Year 2 Day 194


Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 3


Message - Scott Woodburn
If you want to know why Covid 19 currently stalks the globe you can find the answer in Genesis 3. Our God made all things out of nothing and He made it very good. He even made humanity to whom He gave a soul and appointed as His image bearers on the earth. The Lord willingly lowered Himself and entered into the Covenant of Works with the first man. This man called Adam was promised everlasting life on the condition of his personal and perfect obedience.


Yet as Genesis 3 begins, Satan enters the picture. The origins of Satan are mysterious and Scripture does not spend too much time on the finer details of his rebellion. Nevertheless we can say that Satan was an angel created by God who at some stage rebelled against the Lord.


In today’s passage he comes with lies upon his lips and leads the first woman to sin against God. Soon Adam follows the lead of his wife and the most tragic moment in history takes place. Sin enters the world and death follows sin. The relationship between God and man is ripped asunder and the impact of Adam’s rebellion is still seen everywhere today. Every pandemic, every war, every death, every illness, every broken relationship, every alcoholic, every bomb, every gossiper…all of it can be traced back to the garden where our distant ancestors decided that they knew better than God.


Thankfully the Lord in a wonderful yet mysterious way was not overtaken by the events in the garden. Even as the Covenant of Works lay in ruins, the Lord spoke of another covenant…the Covenant of Grace. To Satan the Lord declared “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.” (v15)


In the moments after the fall of humanity, the Lord preached the Gospel to Satan. Throughout the rest of human history there would be conflict between those with Satan and those with the woman. We could speak here about the Kingdom of God against the Kingdom of Man. Or we could speak of the City of God against the City of Man. Or we could speak of Jerusalem against Babylon. However we describe this conflict it has raged throughout human history and will only end at the return of Christ.


The offspring of the woman will battle against the offspring of the devil and, praise be to God, the outcome of the battle has never been in doubt. Christ would come in the flesh and at Calvary His heel would be struck. This certainly does not downplay the horror of the cross, but just as a wounded heel would not be considered a fatal wound, so Christ is not defeated upon the cross. Satan however would be categorically defeated by Christ. His wound would be to the head - a fatal wound and so today we can say that Satan may bark but he has been utterly defeated and his time is short.


Genesis 3 should cause us to pause and consider the gravity of sin. Our rebellion has unleashed a tidal wave of agony and depravity that has swept through human history. Walk through any graveyard and you are reminded of the fall. Visit any hospital and you are reminded of the fall. Watch the news from Afghanistan and you are reminded of the fall. Yet even as this chapter fills the sky with dark clouds, the light of the Gospel shines.


Adam and Eve are banished from the garden but before they go, in an act of extraordinary grace, the Lord clothes them in animal skins. The imagery shouldn’t be missed. They stand guilty before Almighty God. They are both naked and ashamed but God clothes them in garments that are not their own.


Once more a little signpost points us to Christ. He is the Saviour and friend of sinners and if we have received Him by faith then we are clothed in His righteousness. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.” (Revelation 22v14) Thank God for the Gospel!   


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q76 Which is the ninth commandment? The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
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