Sunday Morning December 9, 2001 Bel Aire Baptist Church
Series: Christmas Surprises [#4]
WHO WOULD HAVE EVER GUESSED?
Genesis 3:15
Introduction:
1. As most children, I enjoyed the Christmas game of trying to figure out what gifts I was getting. I would shake them. I would look at the size of the package. I would try to listen for any sounds coming from the box. I would do whatever I could do, short of fully opening the package. (If you can figure it out by tearing a small hole in the package and repairing the hole without getting caught, that is O.K.).
2. I can specifically remember one year that I had asked for a bicycle and during that entire Christmas season, I never found or saw anything that resembled a bicycle. I remember as I opened my presents that Christmas morning, trying to not act disappointed, that I had come to the conclusion that there would be no bicycle this year. As I opened my last package, the smallest package by far, I was amazed at what I found. What I found was a magazine clipping of a bicycle; in fact it was the exact bicycle I had asked for. Underneath the picture was a note that said, “I am waiting for you in the backyard by the tree”.
3. What a surprise! Who would have ever guessed that I was going to be getting that bicycle?
4. This morning we are going to look at another surprise that no one would have ever guessed. Turn with me to Genesis 3.
The Need For A Gift
1. The Cause (Genesis 3:1-7)
As you look in Genesis 3 we find that the first man and woman start something new. Unfortunately this something new still exist today and that something is sin. In these first 7 verses we read of the fall of man.
The serpent tempted the woman into eating fruit from the tree that God had forbid them to eat of. The woman in turn gave the fruit to her husband and he also ate the forbidden fruit.
2. The Cost (Genesis 3:8-24)
Just as today, there is a price to pay for sin. Not only is there a price to pay for sin, but also there is shame and embarrassment.
Illustration:
I can remember growing up that when I did something wrong and got caught that I knew I would get a spanking. But, do you know what was even worse than the thought of a little pain? It was knowing that had disappointed my father and the shame and embarrassment that came from that.
We know that Adam and Eve were ashamed because in verse 8 we are told that Adam and Eve hid from God. See they had been naked the whole time, but now there sin had caused them to realize that they were naked. Sin exposes everything in our lives and it causes us to want to hide. Adam and Eve experienced separation from God.
The Promise Of A Gift
1. The Curse (Genesis 3:14-24)
The sin of Adam and Eve brought consequences and curses, not only upon Adam and his wife, but also upon all of their offspring. Was there any hope for Adam and his offspring? Is there any hope for us? There certainly is.
2. The Cure (Genesis 3:15)
Ironically, the cure is closely related to the curse. God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden, and while this is a punishment for their sin, it was also a gracious action on God’s part. Had God allowed them to live in the garden, they would have eaten of the fruit of the tree of life. The problem is that having done so they would have lived forever, as fallen creatures. What a terrible fate! God also pronounced death as a part of the curse, but this too was a part of the cure. The only way out of this life and the consequences of sin is death. The death of animal sacrifices was a way of putting off judgment, until God provided a permanent solution.
The Receiving Of A Gift
1. The Crib (Genesis 3:15)
And so it is that in the midst of a text dealing with sin and its consequences, there is hope in these early chapters of Genesis. Adam expressed hope when he named his wife Eve, “because she was the mother of all the living”. It seems to me that Adam has already begun to find hope in the promise of Genesis 3:15. As the “mother of all the living” Eve was also the mother of the promised Savior. While Cain and his seed must have been a source of sorrow and disappointment to Adam and Eve, Seth was certainly a source of hope. It was through his offspring that the deliverer would come.
The Messiah would be of the “seed of the woman:” He would be human (and, of course, divine).
In Luke 2:7 we find this promise lying in a manger. Lying in this unfit crib was the Messiah that Eve had been promised many years before.
2. The Cross (Genesis 3:15)
Again in Genesis 3:15 we find that one of Eve’s descendants would “crush the head” of the serpent, while at the same time “bruising His heel.”
The blow of Messiah’s heel to the serpent’s head would destroy the serpent, but it would also bruise the heel of the Savior. Here we find the first prophecy of the cross of our Lord, where Satan’s defeat is accomplished.
As we read in the New Testament, we find that this baby grows up and is a great teacher, a great healer, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior of the World. In John 12:31-33 we hear the words of Jesus.
Was Jesus brought to this earth so that He could die? (Read John 3:16-18)
Conclusion:
1. Who would have ever guessed that a baby born over 2000 years ago would be the gift of eternal life? Even better is the fact that if you have not yet received the gift of Jesus, you can today.
2. This gift is free, but it will cost you your entire life. See, once you receive this gift, the Bible says that the old you are gone and the Holy Spirit of God takes up residence in your life.
I’ve received a lot of gifts in my life, but the greatest gift I ever received was the gift of Jesus. Who would have ever guessed that Jesus could save me? But, He did!
