One Promise, One Prayer, One Person

One Promise, One Prayer, One Person 

Genesis 3:14-15

This is one of the most remarkable verses in the Bible. It was called by the early church fathers “the Protoevangelium”, which means "the first preaching of the gospel." It is the clearest promise of the coming of a Redeemer. There are several things about this remarkable verse which reveal the divine hand.

First, you, notice that it predicts an unending animosity, or hatred, to exist between two classes of humanity. The first manifestation is the enmity between Eve and the serpent, between the Tempter and the woman. "I will put enmity between you and the woman." says God. This is certainly understandable. We can see why Eve would detest the one who betrayed her by his lies, and as the effects of the fall would become more and more evident in her own life, she would feel a continuing hatred against this one who had so cleverly and ruthlessly led her astray. On the other hand, the enemy would surely hate her because she was now the object of God's love and his hand of protection was around her. But also, it was not animosity merely between the woman and the Devil but between his seed and her seed.

This is brought forward in time in Isaiah 7:14 which says: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”   

Without a doubt we have here a remarkable prophecy of the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are those today who tell us that the virgin birth is an unimportant doctrine, but it is one of the most important doctrines concerning our Lord. Here we have a prophecy which cannot be explained in that it finds fulfillment in the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus.  

This concept of the seed of the woman is unique. Nowhere else in the Bible do you find this expression occurring. Everywhere else in Scripture lineage is through the male line. It is the seed of the man that is the lineage and all the genealogies of the Bible trace the line of descent through the male. But, for the lineage of Jesus, this was not the case.

In Matthew’s lineage of Jesus, he names several women. These women often had scandalous or marginalized backgrounds (a harlot, a foreign widow, a woman involved in adultery, a woman risking her life for family) but were pivotal in continuing the line to the Messiah, showing God works through sin and imperfection. 

We continue this in most societies today. Even today families bear the man's name. When a couple gets married, it is normal for the woman to drop her name and take her husband's name, and the name of the ensuing family is the man's name. But here we are distinctly told that the one who is to “crush the serpent's head” (Genesis 3:15) is the seed of the woman.  

As we continue to move forward, there is another person involved in the announcement of Jesus’s birth that is often overlooked. We read about him in Luke 2:22 through 32 which says: 

“When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”  

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:  a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

It would have been easy to miss Jesus among all confusion of this day. It was that way when Jesus was presented at the temple. The temple was a busy place as parents presented their children to the Lord, and people came to pray and offer sacrifices and gifts. People were coming and going at the temple all of the time. There were dozens of parents who presented their children that day, and no one would notice that there was anything special about Jesus. Even today it would easy to miss Jesus.  

Just as the temple was a busy place, our lives can be very busy too. We’re busy with all kinds of things. Many people work long hours. We drive our kids all over the place. We have things that we need to watch on tv. Our phones are always making some kind of noise because of a call, email or text message. There are so many things, which are calling for attention in of our lives. Even Sunday mornings have become busy times. There was a time when Sunday morning was off limits to anything except church. Now it is looked at as the big hole, in which all kinds of groups are trying to fill, especially youth sports. There are so many things that are competing with our time to worship our Lord. It’s even hard to find Jesus in our most popular religious holidays anymore. Are you looking for Jesus or is He lost in so many other things in this world?   

Simeon was blessed to recognize Jesus that day. We know nothing about him, except for what our text says. It says that he was a righteous and devout man, who was waiting for the Savior. His eyes had been in the right place. He knew the Scriptures, which had promised a Savior who would save us from all of our sins. He looked forward to the coming of the Savior with eager expectation. God gave him a special gift. The Holy Spirit revealed to him that he would not die until He saw the Savior with his own eyes. Then one day the Spirit moved him to go to the temple courts, and he knew that this was the Child. He took the Christ Child in his arms and began to praise God with the words. He was blessed to have seen the Savior with his own eyes. 

When Simeon held Jesus, he blessed Him and proclaimed a prophetic statement of three reasons for Jesus’ coming to earth. We find this prophecy recorded in Luke 2:29-32:  

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” 

First, Jesus came to be our salvation that would be displayed in the presence of all people. Isaiah prophesied that one day God’s salvation would reach the end of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). Jesus is the only means of salvation that God provides and the only way that we can be reconciled to God. Jesus was born so that he could publicly display the means of God’s salvation through His death on the cross and His resurrection.  

Next, Simeon prophesies that Jesus came to be a light to show us our sin and darkness. This was also prophesied by Isaiah, that one day, people living in darkness would see a great light (Isaiah 9:2). Jesus preached that he came as the Light of the World to show us the darkness and depth of our sin and our need for a Savior. He came to reveal the truth about who God is, His glory, how He views sin, and why we need salvation from Him. Jesus’ blood allows us to no longer walk in sin and darkness, but instead to walk in the light, have fellowship with God and each other, and to truly love God and our fellow brothers and sisters. 

Finally, Jesus came to reveal the full extent of God’s glory to His people. Israel had previously seen glimpses of God’s glory in the form of fire at Mount Sinai and at the dedication of Solomon’s temple. Moses talked with God but was not able to see his face. However, Jesus’ birth would be the first time that man would be able to see and talk face to face with the only Son of God in the flesh. Jesus had eternal glory with God the Father before creation, and He came to earth to personally show us the full glory of God. In John 1:14, John says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

God’s glory would be further displayed in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and it is God’s glory that also resurrects our sinful hearts that hated God and causes us to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). Ultimately, we glorify God when as His saved people we praise, worship, and confess Jesus as Lord. 

Let us reflect on why Jesus came to earth and how Jesus was the ultimate display of God’s love, His glory, and His mercy to a world of sinners.  

2,000 years ago, Simeon knew that he could rest in peace because he had experienced the peace and salvation that only God could provide, and we too can experience this salvation through the gift that God gave us by sending Jesus to earth. 

The Promised One
(by Charlie Garrett)

In the garden the serpent received his curse  
On your belly you shall go, licking up the dust  
The words were direct and they were terse  
But the sentence was completely fair and just 

Cursed are you more than the cattle  
And more than every beast of the field  
Your existence will be as the heat of battle  
But in the end it is you who will yield 

Of the dust you shall eat  
For all the days of your life  
Never shall you taste the sweet  
But only the fruits of death and strife 

I shall put enmity between you and the woman  
An on-going battle through lengths of ages  
You seed, the unregenerate human  
Who against me reviles and rages 

But there shall come One, a Promised Seed  
Who will crush your head for what you have done  
Your days are numbered so take you heed  
In my mind the battle is already won 

Jesus is coming to make all things new  
This word is faithful and it is true 

In the cross, a victory you will assume  
A victory – yes – but not for you  
After His cross and after His tomb  
He will arise and make all things new 

Man’s redemption will have been wrought  
By the Seed of the woman, my own Son  
With His blood He will have bought  
The right to man’s soul, the victory won.  

For eternity my Son’s redeemed will sing  
They will walk in the glorious light of life  
From the cross of Jesus He will bring  
Out of the sea of troubles a radiant wife 

All hail the splendid name of Jesus!  
Our King sits at the right hand of God on high  
Great and wondrous things He has done for us  
And we will exalt Him as eternal years pass by 

Hallelujah and amen!

What a patient God we have. He worked through His broken creation with only one goal.  The Redemption of His Creation back to Him.