All The Way Part 1 Series

Introduction:

There is a God! He is awesome in power and glory. And He loves you… The Bible says: “…God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) “…God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) He has great plans for you, and He is concerned about what happens to you… “…I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

He knows everything, He can do anything, and He is present everywhere. He built the universe and set it in motion, established the laws of physics and the known world, and set the earth on its foundations. He is a big, awesome God – capable of doing anything, and cannot be contained. Yet He cares about your innermost thoughts and what you are going through right now.

Today and next Sunday, I want to take us on an in-depth look at the fullness of God’s amazing love for us. What is the real height, the width, the depth, how far He as really gone, and will go… that shows His great love for us.

And that brings us to the book of Genesis…

Body:

I. (God created us to have relationship with Him…)

A. In Genesis one and two, it is recorded that God created the heavens and the earth – and made the first two people ever, the pinnacle of His creation: Adam and Eve.

1. Created with a spiritual dimension.

a. In the image of God.

b. They were without sin and had unhindered free flowing unobstructed relationship with Him – that the way it’s supposed to be.

2. (They were tempted by the devil and sinned.)

a. Just like us, they were given freewill.

b. They were given permission to eat of any tree in the Garden of Eden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

c. And then something happened that changed the course of human history – for all of us.

(1) People were pursued by the devil and coaxed into rebelling against God.

(2) They ate the fruit of the forbidden tree.

(i) And that amounted to sin.

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…” (Romans 5:12)

(ii) And this damaged our relationship with God.

B. Immediately following Adam and Eve sinning for the first time, a tense situation was brewing in the Garden of Eden.

1. And there are five major players in what happens next:

a. God, who is going to issue judgement for what happened.

b. The serpent – the vehicle through which satan sent the temptation that caused people to sin against God.

c. Satan – the originator and sender of the temptation.

d. Adam – the man.

e. Eve – the woman.

2. God moves first to issue judgment to the serpent for his part in what has taken place, then to satan, then to the woman and the man…

a. And chapter three ends with Adam and Eve being thrown out of the Garden of Eden and barred from access to the tree of life.

b. But, in the heat of this sentencing and judgement, God’s love for us comes through as He reveals a hope for a fallen people – showing His love for us…

C. And that brings us to the passage that I want to focus on today: Genesis 3:15…

1. Please turn there in your Bibles and read with me.

2. Moving to address satan, God says this…

“…I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”” (Genesis 3:15)

Let’s take a close look at the first part of this passage today, and next week we will look at the second part…

II. (The devil is our enemy) 3:15a. “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed;”

A. The first part of this passage tells us something very important.

1. The devil is our enemy.

2. And we are enemies in two ways:

a. First, as people in general – all people.

b. And second as the people of God.

B. (As people in general we are enemies with the devil.)

1. To understand why all people are enemies with the devil, we need to ask ourselves a question:

a. Why did the devil do what he did?

b. Why did he set out to tempt people into sin?