CHRISTMAS ACCORDING TO GENESIS

Introduction

Everything was good, it was even very good. God created this world in six literal days and gives his assessment of His newly made creation. Yes, everything is good in chapter one and chapter two in the book of Genesis. Then tragedy strikes at the beginning of chapter three. Adam and Eve had just eaten the prohibited produce in direct obedience to God. What is the first thing they do? They try to hide from their Creator. The next thing they do is to begin making excuses for their sin. Rather than acknowledge their sin, they begin playing the blame game.

What was once pristine perfection has now been permanently marred. Yet, in the distance, can you hear it? Can you hear the sounds of Christmas coming from the Garden of Eden? All seems bleak at the moment, but listen for the divine footsteps of Christmas because they are there.

We will observe three steps the Lord God uses to gain our attention on our path to celebrating Christmas according to Genesis.

God Confronts Humanity’s Sin (3:11-13).

“And He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat (11).’”

Man sins and then tries to hide that sin from God. People would rather try to cover their sins (which does not work) and be bound by those sins, rather than confess their sin and be freed from them. This is exactly what Adam did.

Suddenly, it dawns on Adam that he is naked. He had just been created so how did he know that he was naked? God never told Adam that he was naked. Before Genesis 3:6 Adam and Eve knew nothing of sin. After Genesis 3:6 they “knew nothing but sin and its consequences. Before they sinned against God they knew nothing of shame. After they sinned the guilt of sin completely riddled their lives.

Here is an important point to remember. When we start focusing on what we don’t have and are not content with the blessings of God that we do have, we begin to put restrictions on ourselves that God Himself never put on us. “Well, I cannot believe that God would not let me do this. I cannot believe that God will not let me have this.” I refuse to be self-limited by falling into the trap of moaning over those few things I cannot do. Rather, I will focus on the thousands of things that God has given me permission to accomplish.

This question to Adam is God’s correction of Adam. God has moved Adam into a corner and he will not be able to wiggle out of his guilt. God is direct and pointed concerning our sin so that we will come to the point of repentance. Our response ought to be, “Thank You God.”

“The man replied, ‘The woman you gave to be with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate 12).’”

Remember, both Adam and Eve were playing the blame game. They played it and if we are honest we will have to admit that we have all played it. Our society loves to play it. Just blame everyone else for your problems. Just blame your parents, blame the environment, blame the President. I know, just blame the preacher. It must be his fault for the situation I am in.

The blame game that we play is always the result of our own rebellion. Because of sin, we are all part of the same dysfunctional human family. Adam and Eve’s sin messed it up for everybody. It is your sin and it is my sin that messes us up. So, let us stop playing the blame game. Let us stop trying to shift the blame of our own sin on everyone else.

“So the LORD God asked the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate (13).’”

God confronts Adam and Adam blames his wife. God turns to Eve and confronts her. She blames the serpent. Eve’s form of the blame game goes something like this, “The devil made me do it.” Does this sound familiar. Is this really what happened?

“Okay Eve, let me get this straight. The devil made you pick that fruit off that tree. He forced your hand open and forced you to put your hand around that piece of fruit. Then he forced that piece of fruit into your mouth. Surely, that must have been how it happened (sarcasm mine).”

In all my years on this earth, the devil has never made me do anything. However, at certain times in my life I have chosen to allow Satan to have a foothold in my life. Every time I have allowed him to do so I have regretted it. The devil will never force you into an agreement with him. You have to choose to walk right into it with your eyes wide open.

God will always confront our sin. When He does, He is looking for us to have humility of heart, not to make excuses and blame others, but to have the godly sorrow over sin that will lead to repentance, restoration and freedom.

God Has Cursed Satan (3:14)

“So the LORD God said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life (14).’”

The beauty of Eden is gone. In its place dark shadows fall and the stench of death is in the air. Nearby, under a tree, maybe the very tree that was to be off limits, the serpent contently lies. Maybe he is smirking a bit. One thing is for sure, he is the only one in the garden with any sense of happiness. He is drunk on his own arrogance as to what he has been able to accomplish. This was his sinister plan from the very beginning. His desire was to humiliate God by ruining paradise and the relationship between the man, the woman and God. He thinks to himself, “I have succeeded. I have won.”

In his godless glee, Satan forgets who he is trying to mess with. As He surveys the moral wreckage of the fall of man, God immediately begins to deliver judgment. He begins where the sin began. He begins with the serpent. He addresses and judges Satan, the father of all lies. War has just been declared. Before this episode, sometime in eternity past, Satan had initiated a divisive war against God in heaven. Satan was subsequently thrown out of heaven forever. God now declares a war against Satan from which he will ultimately never survive.

God Confirms Hope in the Promised Seed (3:15)

It would a good idea to circle Genesis 3:15 in your Bibles. This is the meat and potatoes of the Christmas message as found in Genesis. It is the first mention of the gospel in the Bible. it is the first gospel sermon ever preached. It is the first promise given after Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. It is the earliest promise of redemption in the Bible. Genesis 3:15 is God’s measure of grace to overturn the curse of Genesis 3:1-14. Here in this one verse we observe the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus in one sole verse. This verse also spells the eventual end of sin and Satan.

In the midst of the fall of man, God was already promising redemption. There are three components to this Christmas gift called redemption.

Component #1: There will be a continual conflict

“I will put hostility between you and the woman.”

The key word here is hostility. It carries the idea of a constant state of deep-seated ill will. This means that Eve and the serpent will never get along. If Satan thought that his use of deception on Eve was the end of the matter, he was greatly mistaken. It would not stop there.

“and between your offspring and her offspring”

This animosity would continue down through the ages through successive generations. The word offspring (“seed”) is a reference to the descendants of these two groups. There is the offspring of the godly. This line includes those who believed in God including Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, and Joshua. It also includes people like Charles Spurgeon, D.L. Moody and Billy Graham. It includes all those who refuse to bow the knew to the lies of Satan.

Wait a minute! Yes, God has His people. However, Satan has his offspring too. Throughout history in every generation, in every nation, in every city, in every neighborhood and in every family Satan has a people . The sinful “seed” was initiated when Cain killed Abel. It continued up through the generation of Noah’s day, through the time of the pharaohs, and in the pagan people as represented by Goliath.

Who was it that threw Daniel into the lion’s den and the three Hebrew young men into the blazing inferno of Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace? Who hated the prophets and murdered them in cold blood. It was the offspring of Satan. The seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman have opposed each other throughout human history. That struggle continues today.

2. Component #2: There will be times when evil seems to be victorious

Let us take note of the very end of verse 15:

“and you will strike his heel”

Let’s face it, sometimes in this life Satan does win the battle. Sometimes we will become discouraged by the wounds of condemning and critical people. At times we will be oppressed by fear, anger, frustration, and bitterness. There will also be times of disillusionment from dreams that never come true. The list could go on and on. Yes, Genesis 3:15 reminds us that this life is not always a bed of roses. In this life sometimes the bad guys win and Matt Dillon is not coming to save the day.

When Jesus died on the cross, Satan struck the heel of Jesus. Satan delivered a horrible blow to Jesus on the day we refer to as Good Friday. On this day, many years after his gloating in the garden, Satan again without a doubt was full of pride as he thought that this time he had won. That is what happens when one presumes. All that Satan was able to do was to strike the heel of Jesus. As painful as it was, that suffering was nothing compared to what Jesus would do to Satan.

3. Component #3: There is the ultimate victory in the Christmas message of Genesis

“He will strike your head.”

Heel wounds are painful but they will not kill you. However, no one can survive a crushed head. That was God’s deathblow against Stan. Victory belongs to the woman’s seed.

This begs the question: If Satan has been crushed, why does he seem to be able to accomplish so much evil two thousand years later? How can a defeated being, who was crushed by Christ exercise so much power? The answer is quite simple. At the cross, Satan was judged. At the cross, his sentence was pronounced. However, the execution of that judgment and that pronouncement is awaiting final implementation. For now, he is able to roam the earth. This truth explains why Satan’s destructive and deceptive power will grow greater and greater in the last days. Yet, in the end, he will be destroyed as well as all those who follow him.

CONCLUSION

We are living in difficult days are we not. Everywhere around us seems to be chaos, confusion, fear and divisiveness. It seems as though Satan is in control. However, let me assure us that God is sovereign and He is in full control of His creation. He has not abandoned His throne and neither is His power diminished to accomplish His plans.

In the midst of crafting this sermon, I was confronted by an individual one day concerning our faith in Jesus Christ. He was using insulting language and basically accusing us of living a myth. He was twisting truth (probably ignorantly so) to communicate his great contempt for our faith. His confusion over biblical truth broke my heart. I have offered to meet with him as a friend and address any issues he has (if he is serious). I pray that I will have the opportunity.

Folks, people have always made fun of us, derided us, and opposed us because of our Lord. It is because they do not understand the hope that is found in Christmas according to Genesis. As long as this world continues, there will be continual conflict, and there will be times when it will seem that evil is ruling on the throne. Yet, for Christmas 2020 let us also be reminded that Satan is a defeated foe and that the ultimate victory is still to come.

Consider the words of Martin Luther’s powerful hymn,

“And though this world with devils filled,

Should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God has willed

His truth to triumph through us.

The Prince of Darkness grim,

We tremble not for him.

His rage we can endure.

For lo, his doom is sure.

One little word shall fell him.”

That word and that name is Jesus. He is the Seed that triumphs over Satan.

I pray that the body of Christ will remember and be encouraged and emboldened. I pray peace will be your portion this Christmas.

Merry Christmas