A Battle Line Drawn-Christmas the defeat of the work of the Devil
Genesis 3:15-NASB
“And 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.”
The history of the "battle line" has two possible origins. One is that it is the initial place where two enemy forces clash. The other is a defined marker or line were when the enemy crosses over or through signaling the defending army to attack. Either idea may be right.
In the book of Genesis we have such a battle line drawn in 3:15. In chapter 1 we watch as God creates and places the universe in order. Then in chapter 2 we see Him making man from the dust of the of the earth and giving him a command, "...From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.'" (2:16-17). Then in the latter half of chapter 2 we see Him make woman from the side of man.
In chapter 3 we have an interesting situation occur; a new character called the serpent shows up uninvited. He talks to the woman about eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He questions God's authority and spouts out uncertaintiesabout God's intentions. In time she gives in and eats the fruit. Then she invites her husband into this unholy act.
As usual God shows up at the moment when wrong is being done. He calls Adam's name. In a hurry the man and woman tie fig leaves together to hide their nakedness. And to make things worse they attempt to hide. The point is that humanity attempted to make its own way of salvation without any intervention from God or confession to the wrong they had done.
When Adam and Eve finally came out from hiding they confess that they hid from God because of their nakedness. Understand the issue, it was not just the nakedness of their bodies, but of their souls. No longer did purity of love for God exist. Rather the tortured disfigurement of sin was born in the hearts of God’s representatives who exhibited His image. After God asks who told them they were naked (already knowing what had happened and what would occur), the man blamed his wife. The wife blamed the serpent. And as the joke goes, the serpent didn’t have a leg to stand on.
Then God goes about pronouncing judgment on each of the participants. He starts with the serpent which is backward from the blame game that just happened. In that judgment He makes an announcement. The serpent/snake would be at odds with humanity. And in time a representative of humanity would destroy the serpent even though the serpent would inflict great harm to him.
So what does all of this mean? God in His righteousness drew a battle line in the sand of life. For the serpent ultimate defeat and destruction would occur. For the woman great pain would be involved in child bearing. For the man wasted years of unfruitfulness in a land that use to flourish with plenty. To all, death (both physical and spiritual) due to the nature of sin.
What does this have to do with Christmas? While it is not a pleasant look at what we like to think about Christmas, it is in fact a reality. God drew the battle line between us and him. Our parental representatives chose to make themselves their own gods, forsaking the One who created them and loved them. The serpent is understood to be Satan. His only weapons are lie and deceit. He cannot make us do what he wants, only deceive us into thinking that what he wants is best. But verse 15 gives us hope; a promise is made. That human representative would one day destroy the works of Satan himself, but at a cost to Himself. 1 John 3:8 states, “…The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”
Christmas is about more than a baby in a manger. It is more than a story about the magi following a star. It is more than a moment in history about shepherds finding the baby in the manger. It is more than what we could ever imagine. That morning that we read about in both Matthew chapter 2 and Luke chapters 1-2 was not the beginning of the life of a man. It was more, much more. It was about the God who became a Man, who would feel the pain of death for all of humanity (“you shall bruise him on the heel”). He would feel that pain not only for humanity, but at the hands of all of humanity. His shed blood would provide a covering for the sins of all who place their trust in Him alone. But the defeat of the works of the devil do not occur until this One who died for us all rose from the dead physically (“He shall bruise you on the head”). Through His death we find salvation from sin that is destroying us from within. Through His resurrection we find eternal life because we have placed faith in the eternal One.
Who is this One who did this for us? Who is this Son of God who destroyed the works of the devil? “…you shall call His name Jesus…” (Matthew 1:21)
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I hope and pray that God can use this.
Steven Swaim, President and Founder of Be Devoted Ministries
If you would like to invite me to speak at an event, contact me at StevenSwaim@BeDevotedMinistries.com.
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