THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
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I couldn't find my luggage at the airport baggage area. So I went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional and I was in good hands. "Now," she asked me, "has your plane arrived yet?"
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Genesis 3:14-15
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
KJV
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How many of you are comfortable around snakes? The serpent was a "beast of the field" (Gen. 3:1), and was the most "subtle" of all the creatures in the garden. He was cunning and crafty. Because he was used for the intitiation of this most evil deed, he would be "cursed" and despised by all men. He would slither along the ground, hiss, and be considered by all as a symbol of evil.
God also established punishment for Satan. He will be constantly thought of as ugly and dirty. He who had been the most beautiful in God's ethereal kingdom would now be the most hideous. Not only had he decided he was good enough to take over God's place, but now he had become the "temptor" for the crowning of God's creation.
The first sin brought the first consequence: ENMITY, WAR, STRUGGLE. Not only would there be constant "enmity" (war, struggle) of man with serpent, but also of man with Satan. This struggle would continue until one day the "seed" of a woman would "crush" the head of the serpent. This is the way you kill a snake! Crush his head! After his head is crushed, he STILL wriggles around for a long time.
Genesis 3:15 is called the "protoevangelum." It is the first mention of "The Gospel" in the Bible. There is a reference here to an odd thing: the "seed" of the woman. In the fertilization procedure for the procreative action of man and woman, the MAN produces the "seed" and the woman produces an "egg." But God said there would one day be a "seed" of the woman!
This is a reference to "The Anointed One" (Christ), born of woman only, by the miraculous act of God! At His death on the cross, Jesus died FOR sin and TO sin. He Who was sinless, died to propitiate God's anger toward sin, and offer eternal redemption to mankind. And in that beautiful selfless act, He crushed the head of the serpent! He defeated Satan's ploy to envelop man in eternal death by rebellion against God.
Satan's eternal consequence for His action is ETERNAL death in the "lake of fire!" "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Rev 20:10) Satan is CRUSHED! DEFEATED! And his eternal consequence is eternal DEATH: eternal SEPARATION from God.
The eternal consequence of sin is eternal death (Rom. 6:23A); but the GIFT of God to man is eternal life through Christ our Lord (Rom. 6:23b).
He Who walked in the garden of Eden with man, came to be a man, born of woman, anointed of God for the PURPOSE of defeating Satan, and offering eternal redemption to sinners.
Through Christ, eternal LIFE is offered to all mankind! If you are "IN CHRIST" all your luggage may not have yet caught up with you, but your plane has ARRIVED!
PRAISE JESUS!
Love ya,
Bruce