Breaking the Curse
Christmas • Sermon • Submitted
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· 17 viewsJesus fulfills Gen 3.15 and removes the curse for us
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What is the earliest reference in Scripture to the Incarnation?
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.
This text, I believe, finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ. The seed of the woman who will bruise or crush the head of the serpent is Christ. And it is the reference to the woman’s seed or the woman’s offspring where we see the first glimpse of the Christmas story.
We see so much of the purpose of the Incarnation here in . What is the immediate context of this verse? What is taking place at this moment when God is giving this prophecy of Christ?
The curse!
To Eve:
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
To Adam:
Gen 3.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
But notice in , this wondrous prophecy, that the cure to this horrible curse, the curse that dooms man to die and return to dust, the remedy for this curse in found in same breath and the curse is enacted. Do you see the remedy?
It (the serpent) shall bruise thy head… What is this a reference to? The cross!
What is the ultimate remedy to the curse of sin? It is the cross of our Savior.
Listen to
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
This is the joy and the peace and the gladness of the incarnation. You see, before our Lord could become a curse for us and hang on the tree of Calvary, He first had to be made of the seed of the woman. First, there had to be a Christmas.
This is why the angles sang aloud that Christmas night:
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace,
Good will toward men.
This is why Simeon took the baby Jesus and lifted him up in his arms and blessed God saying:
29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart
In peace, according to thy word:
30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
Luke 2.29
It was the Incarnation, that moment of great peace and joy and gladness, that made it possible for the seed of the woman to be bruised by the serpent. And it was Christ willingness to be crushed on the cross, to be our curse, that provided a way for our curse to be lifted.
There is one more part of I want us to think about
It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
The seed of the woman, Christ, will bruise or crush the head of the serpent or the devil.
Has the devil been crushed yet? No. He his power has been destroyed or canceled out by Jesus’ death on the cross. (We will talk about that tomorrow), but he is still very much alive and at work in our world today. When will Christ crush the head of the snake? When He comes again!
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
Rev 19.11-
1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
All the way back in God had a plan. He had a plan of sending His Son to earth to become of the seed of the woman in the Incarnation. He had a plan to allow the serpent to crush the heel of the Christ by putting Him to death on a cross, and God has a plan that one day Christ is coming again and He will crush the head of that old serpent the Devil, and Satan will be forever locked away in the lake of fire and brimstone.
And all of this is made possible because of the season that we call Christmas.
I am reminded of the words of a favorite Christmas carol - Joy to the World. You have probably heard that the song Joy to the World is more about Jesus’ second coming than His birth. Yet the two are inseparably linked. Listen tot he words of Mr. Isaac Watts in v. 3
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.