The Promise Of Christmas
CCCAG 12-18-23
Scripture: Genesis 3:15
About 3 years ago, I was in an elevator with my 3rd semester nursing instructor. This particular instructor saw it as her mission to fail as many people as possible. In fact, we started our nursing class with about 70 students, and only graduated 23- most of which had failed one of her classes. It was obvious she now had her sights on failing me, and was looking for anyway she could to fail me at one of the three classes I was taking with her that semester. All nursing school classes demand at least an 81% to pass instead of the usual 70% for the rest of college so there isn’t much of a margin of error.
As we rode down in the elevator, she was looking through her grade book and gleefully telling me there was no way I could pass Complex Health Alterations- I would need to get a 97% on the final exam to raise my average enough to pass, and no one had ever scored more than a 92 on one of her exams, so I might as well get it in my head that I’m yet one more paramedic that couldn’t handle nursing school and flunked out. As the elevator door opened, she looked back and said, “Maybe you should just give up- you don’t have what it takes to be a nurse.”
It was a real punch in the gut, and I drove home from Marshfield with her words echoing in my head- I have failed, and I might as well give up.
I am going to have to face my family, my church, and my coworkers as a failure.
Failure…..that word kept echoing in my heart, mind, and soul.
Think about a time for a moment that you had not gotten the grade, or mess up a job, or failed in your relationship. All of us have had to deal with failure of one form or another.
Relating that to our scripture this morning-
The first failure ever experienced by anyone was Adam and Eve.
Imagine how they felt. They were the first to ever fail.
They didn’t even have a frame of reference to deal with this idea. There was no mental chip to process this situation.
They trusted the words of the serpent, and the serpent was now laughing at their failure.
They were being led out of paradise by God Himself- thrown out from the most perfect existence ever known.
The weight of their failure had to be crushing them.
God in His mercy gave them a promise that foretold of a person who would make everything right someday.
That’s where we pick it up this morning. He speaks first to the serpent, and then to them.
-Scripture- Genesis 3:14-15
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Prayer
Today I want to talk about the promise of Christmas. The promise that God will someday make all things right again.
The promise we just read is called the protoevangelium- the big theological word that means the first mention in the bible of the Gospel. Genesis 3:15 is the first prophecy of John 3:16.
It’s the promise even when we fail God, we can be assured that HE has already made a way to bring us back.
Christmas is the ultimate proof of that. The coming of the Son of God in human form was the fulfillment of what was promised by God in the Garden of Eden.
That was a promise for every human that has ever lived.
But what does this mean for us personally?
But what about when we do fail?
How do we come back from that?
How do we experience the joy of the LORD when we are being crushed by the weight of guilt and failure?
Let’s explore that today by looking at the darkness of failure.
We are going to explore this by looking at one of the darkest times in one of the bible’s most famous men- King David.
Undoubtedly, his biggest failure was when he committed adultery with the wife of one of his mighty men, Uriah. You read about this in 2 Samuel 11.
Let me tell the story
One night David was standing out on the porch of his palace and saw a young woman bathing on her rooftop. This woman was named Bathsheba. Now some may think that her bathing outside was her being lascivious or an exhibitionist.
That’s not the case.
Bathsheba was most likely doing this in obedience to the Jewish law found in Leviticus 15 that said a woman who had just finished her period had to bath herself to be considered clean again. According to Levitical Law anything touched by even a piece of clothing worn during that time of the month would be considered unclean and have to be deeply cleaned or destroyed. That’s why bathing tents were erected on housetops for this very reason.
Unfortunately, perhaps the wind blew a cover aside and David got to see her naked, which inflamed a lust that was already present in his life.
That’s an important point to this story.
Remember- David had multiple wives and a harem with at least 10 concubines. This guy was swimming in sexual desire 24/7, so it’s no wonder why satan used this bait to try and make him morally fall.
By the way men, before we condemn David- we have the same thing available to us today via the internet…and many fall into that trap.
And fall he did-not only did he sleep with one of his best friends’ wives, Bathsheba gets pregnant. David tries to cover it up by having Uriah recalled immediately to Jerusalem to spend some time with his wife. Uriah returns but refused to go homes. Being a man of honor, he will not partake in marital relations while his troops are in the field.
Having no other options, and not wanting to deal with the shame of his sin being discovered, David arranges for Uriah to die in battle.
David thought his plan worked. Uriah is dead, and he takes Bathsheba as his wife so the timing of the pregnancy works out.
But God wasn’t going to let him get away with it.
The Father sends a prophet to publicly confront David about his hidden sin, and pronounced judgment- that his son, born thought the sinful act with Bathsheba would surely die.
That’s the background of what we will be talking about first-
I. The darkness of failure
As many of you know, David wrote most of the book of Psalms. Several of the Psalms he recorded were written around this time, especially around the several days where his son was on his death bed.
Take a moment and imagine David on his face before God, crying out to God for forgiveness and to have mercy upon his son. Pause
David wrote a prayer during this time.
Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight;
There is a truism in life that many of us have experienced-
Like David, sometimes we are so stubborn in insisting on doing what we want to do, that it takes a huge fall to get our attention.
Perhaps it’s an addiction.
Maybe it’s a poor choice in our love life
Or a bad habit you can’t seem to be free of.
Whatever it is, often the end result is that we need to hit rock bottom before we will change.
That’s where David is right now. This whole incident was a result of him having multiple wives, and then concubines on top of that.
I remember I was in a bible study once where a newer guy who was reading the bible for the first time came upon this story and said that “Man, the men in the OT had it made- they got to have all the women they wanted, and it was ok.”
It was not ok. God was not winking at David’s sin. David paid a heavy price not only here, but in his entire family. That spirit carried into his sons.
David’s first born son Ammon inflamed with that same spirit of lust as his father, rapes his half sister, and is killed by her brother and David’s 3rd son Absalom.
Speaking of Absalom- he tries at least 2 times to kill his father and take his throne. He is later killed by Joab, the general of David’s armies.
Adonijah- also attempts to usurp his father and take the throne. He is forgiven but then tries it again when Solomon becomes king and is executed.
David’s first born child with Bathsheba, died in infancy.
Let’s not forget David’s son Solomon- he multiplied his father’s sexual sin 100 fold. 700 wives and three hundred concubines.
This eventually leads to the Kingdom fracturing after Solomon’s death, and the eventual destruction of both Israel and Judah.
I bring this up to show that no matter how clever you are, how well you think you are able to hide your sin.
Your sin will find you out. (Repeat)
And now David is paying the price. The weight of that price is crushing him. He is in the darkness of failure.
He pens these words in Psalm 6
6 I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. 7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.
Has anyone here ever been there?
Buried underneath the weight of guilt and shame. You feel trapped, all hope gone, and no way out.
That’s where the enemy wants you, where he can destroy you unless you reach up to take ahold of
II. The promise
The power of what God promised in Genesis 3:15 was pointing to both Christmas being the birth of Christ and later to the cross of Christ.
As the Prophet Isaiah foretold-
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
The light of Christmas was humanities hope being realized, but it was at the Cross of Christ that it was fulfilled.
Looking at it from the immediate human perspective, at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, it didn’t seem that way.
Put yourself in Jerusalem at Passover in AD 33.
All anyone can talk about is that Jesus, the great teacher and miracle worker- the one that most of his followers called Messiah is beaten beyond recognition, hanging on a Roman Cross, gasping to breath and fading fast. I think in their spirits the disciple heard the laughter of hell as Jesus cried out a final time, and then gave up His spirit.
The serpent had struck the son of man’s heel… the sun grew dark, all of heaven and earth recoiled and shook as the creator died. All of creation screamed in terror as hell rejoiced in accomplishing their mission- killing God’s son so that humanity now had no hope of salvation.
The light has gone out
The hope is gone
Have you ever been there? Does anyone here feel that way this morning, or maybe someone on the podcast?
It feels like your enemies have surrounded you- they have won and you are going down for the last time? All you can hear in your mind and spirit is the laughter of hell, and you are ready to give up.
If that is you, listen to me-
Three days after the cross- satan striking the heel of Jesus, that same heel came slamming down on the serpent’s head, crushing it and His power.
The promise made in Eden is now fulfilled. The lesson here is this-
No matter how dark it gets- God is there. Cast your cares upon HIM, and HE will lift you up in due time, and let you experience the joy He has promised.
It happened to me.
At the beginning of the message, I was speaking about an incident from nursing school.
I was so stressed out thinking of that last exam- the exam my instructor said I would never even pass much less pass with a high enough grade to bring my average up enough to pass the class.
I was sitting in my office, trying to study, just staring at Powerpoints and textbooks but it was like a roadblock existed in my brain and I couldn’t remember any of it. The final exam was in the morning, and I felt total and complete hopelessness.
I was sitting in my office, heart pounding, fear and anxiety ruling in my heart. Then I heard God say, “Just worship”
I thought, “I can’t. I have no joy, no peace, even my faith is at an all time low. I’m so overwhelmed I can’t even have rational thought at the moment.”
The voice repeated. “Son, just worship”
Ok…. clicked a few things on my computer to open up Spotify, selected a worship playlist, and began to play some worship music.
Didn’t work. couldn’t get into it at all.
Just made me more frustrated.
Again, “Just worship”
I sighed, opened up the bible to a random page which happened to be Psalm 63
Psalm 63:1
Oh God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.
I suddenly felt the presence of God fill me in a very intimate and special way. All of the fear, all of the doubt, and all of the unbelief melted away. Suddenly, I felt like I had swallowed all 1712 pages of the nursing textbook. It was all clear in my head, and I was able to go to bed in peace and sleep all night.
The next morning I was sitting at the fire station to take my test online. You need to do it alone, in a room, with no interruptions on a web camera to make sure you aren’t cheating.
I was at total peace when I clicked “begin”
In 35 minutes, I was done. I took a deep breath and clicked “finish”
After a brief pause, it accepted the test. I switched screens to the grading screen, and had gotten a 97.5%, with a final grade of 82% for the class.
Cast your cares upon the LORD, and HE WILL LIFT YOU UP!
I want you to remember this lesson I learned, because it’s vital in your life. This is exactly the same lesson David learned during this part of his life.
When all grows dark, when all hope is lost, and when it seems like there is no way out of the mess you are in-
Just worship. If music doesnt’ work, open the word, particularly to the Psalms, and let the truth of God’s word fill you, illuminate you, and restore you.
Why worship? Because-
Worship brings God close, and with God comes the light you will need to overcome whatever life or the enemy is throwing at you.
Then you will experience-
III. The joy of restoration
There was a second part of the promise made in Genesis 6:15-the promise of restoration.
In this case, the relationship was restored at the cross, but the intimacy was given at Pentecost.
The spiritual nakedness humanity experienced after the Fall in Genesis 3 was now clothed as the Holy Spirit returned to HIS rightful place- the human heart.
That’s why god’s word to me was “Just worship” because nothing attracts the Holy spirit more than a repentant heart lifting up to God in honest praise.
That is why throughout church history, even when faced with the worst that the enemy can throw at them, people have gone to their physical deaths with a smile, because the Holy Spirit was in control, and lifting up their eyes to see where their hope comes from.
That my friends is the power of the Promise, and the power of Christmas-
Reminding us this-
The devil is defeated. He is a toothless lion- all he can do is roar, but if we only have ears for Jesus- that roar will sound like a kitten’s mewing.
Finally, that fulfilled promise of Genesis 3:14 remind us this-
All of God’s promises to us is yes, and amen.
Let’s all rise.
