A Strong ChallengeBuilding Core StrengthBy Steve Viars

Bible Text: Genesis 3:1-16Preached on: 11/25/12

Website: www.faithlafayette.org/churchOnline Sermons: www.sermonaudio.com/faithlafayette

Well, if you know anything about baseball history you probably heard about Babe Ruth’s famous called shot in the sixth inning of game three of the 1932 World Series. Some elements of that story will be forever disputed. I get that. But here is what we know for sure. On that day several players from the Chicago Cubs had been riding Babe Ruth who obviously played for the New York Yankees mercilessly. Perhaps if the Cubs had known how their franchise was going to perform over the next 80 years they would have been bit more humble, but I digress.

Anyway, that was part of the fun. And Babe Ruth was certainly know for making things fun. The pitcher for the Cubs that day was Charlie Root. In his first pitch to Babe Ruth was a called strike. At that point Babe Ruth looked over at the Cubs dugout holding up his hand with a number one saying he recognized that he had just let on purpose the first strike go by. The guys on the Cub bench are going crazy. The next two pitches were balls, but then Charlie Root threw another strike and Babe Ruth just let it go. Then he looked over at the Cubs bench and he held up two fingers as if to signify: I purposely let a second strike go by. Then if you know anything about this story you know what happened next. He took his bat and he pointed out to center field and he hit Charlie Root’s next pitch so far that it went past the flag pole which stood behind the scoreboard at the 440 foot mark at Wrigley Field. He called the shot.

By the way the Cubs left Charlie Root in as pitcher but for only one more pitch, because the next Yankee up to bat was Lou Gehrig who hit the very first pitch of his at bat into the right field seats, his second homer of the day. The Yankees went on to win that game seven to five and they finished off the Cubs by the score of 13 to six the very next day sweeping the World Series in four games.

There has always been controversy about whether Babe Ruth actually called that shot in advance. And it doesn’t help that Babe Ruth, always the showman, changed his story several times over the years. You may know that an amateur film of that event eventually surfaced. There is no question that Ruth made a clear gesture in that direction at that point in the game. That is why, for example, Joe Williams, a sports writer for Scripps Howard wrote an article that evening, “Babe Ruth Calls Shot as he puts Home Run number two in the Side Pocket,” is the title of the article. The Cubs public address announcer Pat Piper told the Chicago Tribune—remember this is the Cubs’ guy—he said, “Babe Ruth said, ‘That is strike two, all right. But watch this.’ Then Ruth pointed to center field and hit his homer. You better believe Ruth called it.”

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And if it couldn’t get any crazier, it turns out that John Paul Stevens, the John Paul Stevens, the one who went on to be a judge in our Supreme Court, he was actually at that game as a boy and here is what he said. “My dad took me to see the World Series and we were sitting behind third base, not too far back. Babe Ruth did point to the center field scoreboard and he did hit the ball out of the bark after he pointed with his bat. It really happened.”

You can decide if you want to argue with a Supreme Court justice or not on that point.

Even his team mate Lou Gehrig said this. “What do you think of the nerve of that big monkey? Imagine the guy calling his shot and getting away with it.”

I suppose this side of eternity no one is never going to know for sure what happened, but the fact that there is so much dissension and the fact that there is so much controversy about whether Babe Ruth did that or not, it actually proves a point a trying to make here. How could anybody say in advance what they were about to do and then actually follow through on the promise. Nobody does that.

Well, friends, that is part of the beauty of the story of Christmas and that is what we are going to start studying this morning.

With that in mind, let me invite you to open your Bible to Genesis chapter three. You probably won’t have much trouble finding that one, huh? But in case you need some help, pull out that Bible from under the chair in front of you and turn to page two of the front section of the Bible. Obviously, Genesis is the first book of the Bible, page two of the front section of the Bible under the chair in front of you.

All this year we have been looking at various aspects of the matter of building core strength. And what does it mean to be a person? What does it mean to be a church that is strong? And what are the key areas in which that really needs to be true? And many times we have come back to this key verse in Psalm 138:3.

“On the day I called, You answered me; You made me bold with strength in my soul.”1

That is what we are talking about, core strength.

Now we are coming down to the last few Sundays of the year, of course. And we would like to organize our Christmas series around this theme, quiet strength, with the story of the birth of Jesus isn’t loud, is it? It is not flashy. It is not flamboyant. In many ways it was a silent night. It was a holy night, but it was simultaneously strong. And I would suggest to you that that is part of what God wants us to become, people who possess quiet strength. But we want to think out that from several different perspectives this Christmas season.

1 Psalm 138:3. Page 2 of 15

Now let me just say a few things about our upcoming schedule. I mentioned this a little bit earlier while we were praying, but Christmas is a time of year when many men and women are more open than ever to hearing about what it means to have a personal relationship with God, to contemplate the nature of their faith. And we want to capitalize on that as a church, don't we? We want to help men and women establish or cultivate a relationship with the Lord. So we have a number of key outreach opportunities in the next 40 days and, frankly, I can’t understand a church not being high powered at this time of year.

So what are some of those opportunities? Well, one of them is Christmas for everyone. And that ministry is in full swing along with several other evangelical churches. We are hoping to seven 1800 children in need at Christmas time and we want to serve their parents and help them provide gifts for their kids. Now I realize that last Sunday we ran out of names. Of the 1800 our church had committed to serve 475 children and we had all of that together over the last couple of weeks. I know we ran out. And I know some of you are a little bit... well, not happy about the fact that we ran out. And that is a good thing. And we were able to talk with the Red Cross. They were able to allow some folks who signed up late to go ahead and become part of the program off of their waiting list. Then we received a contact from those who work with the angel tree program. That is a group that serves children in our area whose parents are incarcerated right now. Think about what that would be like. So providing gifts for them and so there were about 75 that had not be served yet. And some we brought all that together and that is available this ... today if you would like to participate in that. But thank you for your generosity. That is good and right.

And I want to encourage you to be praying for our distribution day on December the eighth. And I appreciate the article that was written yesterday about that. A lot of ways just for us to get the seeds of the gospel into our community through that event.

And then, of course, there is the living nativity. That is going to be held on the weekends of the seventh through they ninth and then again on the 14th through the 16th. We are looking forward to a great time of serving the Lord together on those weekends. And that is why I mentioned to you that there is some invitation cards out in the foyer and I want to challenge you to take a fistful of them and use them. And I understand Christmas is a lot of things and it ought to be, but I hope for you it is outreach. What do you think about that? I hope that everybody in our church, everybody sees this as an opportunity to for outreach. So I want you to encourage you to grab a fistful of these cards and to distribute those to people that you know and people that you come in contact with.

By the way, we are going to tear down the living nativity on the evening of the 16th and, guys, that is a great opportunity of the guys and some ladies like to join us. God bless them. They are welcome, too. But it is primarily a guy thing, power tools, lots of yelling and screaming and just messing around, throwing people off the trailer. It is just all kinds of stuff. It is just a guy time. And I want to encourage you to plan to be with us on... I have no idea what that has to do with outreach, but it is just fun. Serving God together and I want to encourage you to be part of that.

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Then note this. We already kind of alluded to it because of the music this morning, but the morning of December the 16th is our Christmas musical. And that is on the other side of this card. So you don’t even have to manage two different cards. We love you so much. Bang, living nativity, bang, Christmas musical. How much more simple could outreach be than that? And I really want to encourage you. Sometimes we get so high powered about living nativity we forget that Christmas musical. That, too, is going to be a great opportunity. And if you—and I don’t really have to tell this group this—but if you could attend at eight on that day that would really help us, because, obviously we can’t have four services that day and so we are going not do the best we can to serve everybody who is here for those three.

Then remember this. Because of the way the calendar fell last year Christmas Sunday was on Christmas day. And obviously a lot of people were gone. But this year there is one more intervening Sunday, the 23rd of December. And we are going to do everything we can to make that a special day, too, because we realize there will be a lot of folks in town. There will be a lot of folks in our community. And you say, well, C E Christians, Christmas Easter, that is the only time they come. Well, fine. We aren’t going to fuss about that. We are going not do everything we can to make those services great, to minister to people exactly where they are. So I would encourage you to be inviting folks to come to that as well as if you are going to be in town.

And then our Christmas eve services, another great opportunity for outreach. We have three of them this year. Two candlelight services and then that alternative service for children and their families if they would like to attend at six and then another candlelight service at eight. Again, great outreach.

And then the New Year’s even spectacular. You want to know when that is? Yeah and that is hosted by our interns and I want to encourage you to bathe these outreach opportunities in prayer and I want to encourage you to plan right now how you are going to be a great steward of the opportunity of proclaiming the gospel during this Christmas season.

Now this morning we are going to study a strong challenge that occurred in the Garden of Eden. It was the very first prediction in the Bible of the event that we now refer to as Christmas time. And if you think Babe Ruth’s called shot was something, that is nothing compared to what we are going to see in this great text. Genesis three beginning in verse one.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?" The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’" The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! "For God knows that in the day you eat

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from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?" He said, "I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."

And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 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."2

We are talking this morning about a strong challenge. It really makes Babe Ruth’s gesture look like child’s play. Because the textual evidence is so undeniably clear. There is no question about the fact that this prediction as made thousands of years before the birth of Christ and no body, nobody regardless of what they think of the Bible is going to take the position that Genesis three was written after the time of Christ. No, it was made thousands of years before the time of Christ and then when the fullness of time came as the apostle Paul would later say, God knocked it out of the park. That is what happened.

And with the time we have remaining let’s think about three ways God’s prediction of Christmas was strong. First of all there was the strength of declaration. Now I probably need to deal with something before we get much further into this. And I know. Those who would ask me, “Pastor Viars, in this sophisticated age in which we live, do you really believe in a literal Adam and Eve? And are you suggesting that people like us should as well?”

2 Genesis 3:1-15.Page 5 of 15

Well, the answer to both of those questions is, of course. I am amazed at men and women who want to start picking and choosing what portions of Scripture they choose to believe and follow. And generally that is done without knowing one’s Bible very well, which leads people to say things like, “Well, I don't really follow the God of the Old Testament. I just prefer to follow the teachings of Jesus.” Have you ever heard that one? Or I like the teachings of the apostle Paul or I like the teachings of Peter or whatever.

Well, the problem with that position is the New Testament writers clearly affirm the Old Testament record of the events that we just read. The New Testament writers clearly affirm repeatedly their belief in a literal interpretation of the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis because the Word of God is a unit. That is very easy to prove.

For example, when Jesus is discussing divorce and remarriage in Matthew 19:

And He answered and said, "Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’?3

Read where? Read in the book of Genesis. In fact, he is quoting right now from the very Scripture that precedes what I read to you this morning. So clearly Jesus believed in a literal Adam and Eve. The same is certainly true of the early Church’s chief theologian the apostle Paul who said things like this. And this is like shooting fish in a barrel, friends. It is not like I had to wrestle up some verses somewhere. They are all over in the New Testament if you know your Bible, like 2 Corinthians 11:3 from Paul.

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”4

Clearly he saw that as a literal event. And you realize, if you are trying to do some mental gymnastics here, if you want to say, “Well, now, then I cancel out all of the apostle Paul’s words. I don’t like him anymore.” You have just canceled out a substantial percentage of your New Testament. And once you start doing that, how much of your Bible are you going to have left?

And I say, well, what about other writers of the New Testament? How about the author of the book of Hebrews? We don’t even know who this person was for sure, but listen to what he said.

By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he

3 Matthew 19:4-5.4 2 Corinthians 11:3.

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obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.5

You better believe that. In fact, there was a dust up on that very issue this past week. Everybody is arguing about creation and what one of the politicians said about that. It is in the paper again this morning.

“By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death.”6

Later in that text:

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him...”7

Not blind faith, but faith in the revealed Word of God.

“...for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”8

That writer went on to quote from Genesis six.

“By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household...”9

All of this comes from the first six chapters of the book of Genesis. How could you possibly have a New Testament without the message of the book of Hebrews? So now we have got Jesus and the gospels affirming a literal interpretation of the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis. We have got the apostle Paul. We have got the writer of the book of Hebrews.

And you say, “Well fine. I don’t like any of them any more.”

Give you Peter. Do you really want Peter? Ok, fine. You have got Peter. Stop arguing with me. Here you go. 2 Peter three.

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But

5 Hebrews 11:3-4.6 Hebrews 11:5. 7 Hebrews 11:6. 8 Ibid. 9 Hebrews 11:7.

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by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.10

So now we have got Peter clearly speaking about the events of the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis as if they were literal people and literal events. You realize if you want to discount everything I have said so far you really don’t have much left.

Who would I have left? Ok, start counting. Who do you have left? Well, how about Jude. Yeah, you probably could get something out of Jude even though it is a one chapter book. Jude said it was also about these men that Enoch in the seventh generation from Adam prophesied saying:

“Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones...”11

Real people, real events or I am running out of Bible writers I know. How about this? How about John?

For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.12

Literal people, literal events or even Luke. You know, Luke, the person whose gospel we have been studying all year said about Jesus:

“When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years...”13

And then he goes through an entire genealogy. I have just summarized it for sake here.

“...as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli...”14

And what Luke does he goes backwards, unlike Matthew’s genealogy he goes backwards and he comes down to:

10 2 Peter 3:3-9. 11 Jude 14.12 1 John 3:11-12.13 Luke 3:23.14 Ibid.

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“...as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli...”15

Here is the point I am making to you, friends. The Bible is a package. It is to be read and understood as a unit. And if you are going to reject its message in its entirety, that is one thing. That makes sense logically. If you say, “I am just going to throw all of this out. I am not going to believe what any of these people said,” that makes more sense logically than trying to pick and choose what is acceptable to the modern mind. And if you choose, “I am just going to pick and choose a little bit,” you have really demonstrated quite quickly that you have not studied the Bible in your lap very carefully. And, of course, the irony of doing that in Genesis chapter three, “I am not going not believe in a literal interpretation of Adam and Eve,” the irony of doing that in Genesis three is that is exactly the approach our adversary the devil was taking doing everything in his power to undermine the Word of God.

By the way, let me just tell you about a series that our staff is planning to do next year unless Jesus returns first. But we have put our preaching schedule together for next year. It is a little bit more complicated because, Lord willing, next year starting about July, August we are going to have six worship services and the math gets really interesting. So we are putting a lot of time right now into just planning the preaching series for next year. And one of the series we hope to offer you next summer is an overview of the entire Bible in 11 weeks. You say, “Seriously?” In fact, I am going to attempt to in one message preach through the entire Bible. That is right. You might want to bring a lunch. But we are going to try and preach the entire message of the Bible in one Sunday. Then the following Sunday we are going to trace that message through the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible in their entirety in one sermon. And then we will do the same thing through the historical books. Then we will take another Sunday and do that through the poetical books, et cetera. And we hope that is going to be very helpful as we consider God’s overall plan and overall purpose throughout all of recorded Scripture.

Now back to our specific text for today. God’s prediction of Christmas was strong, in part, because of the declaration that is being made in this passage. And I will put enmity. I am declaring war, God says, between you, Satan, and the woman. Why? Well, God had given clear counsel about how he wanted Adam and Eve to live in his created world. And then Satan offered a different approach. He always does, a rebellious approach, a sinful approach. And now there is a problem. Lock on to that. There is a problem. That is the under statement wouldn’t it? Just like you have had problems in your life this week, problems in your family, problems with your friends, problems at work, problems with your neighbors, problems maybe even at our church. And you can either respond to all of that in a way that is strong or not.

Well, what does strength look like? From this perspective the problem has to be acknowledged. This is something that had to be addressed. It had to be discussed. It had to be solved. God is going to get the problem on the table. Why? Because sin destroys. It ruins. It separates. It would not have been gracious for God to look the other way or act as if it had not occurred. Strength always acknowledges the elephant in the room. And

15 Luke 3:38. Page 9 of 15

that, by the way, is a principle that is very elusive to many people, even people who would call themselves followers of Christ, because they ignore problems with the hope that they will disappear, believing one of the worst sayings of all time, that time heals all wounds. No, time just makes unaddressed wounds fester and develop infection and disease. That is why once this problem occurs God, because he is strong, gets it on the table and makes a declaration.

That is one of the first lessons I learned as a pastor here 25 years ago. I came and served under pastor Bill Good and pastor Bill Good was a marvelous pastor in this church and I remember one of the first weeks I was here I was coming over to the church house for an evening event and I wasn’t looking for trouble, but I happened to observe a couple of members of our church involved in some thing that it certainly appeared would not be pleasing to God. Again, I wasn’t looking for it. I wasn’t trying to find it out, but the very next morning I figured, well, I work for this man. I had better find out how he wants me to handle situations like that. So I mentioned it to pastor Good and he said, “Well, we really need to go and talk to those folks about that.”

Now in my way of thinking what that was is we need to do it but we are probably not going to do it any time soon. We are all going to forget it, blah, blah, blah. We are just going not let it go unaddressed. Pastor Good was old school and what I mean by that is what he meant when he said, “We need to go and talk with those persons about that,” is, we need to go do that like right now. And the whole idea of calling somebody before we came to see them, that was not part of his make up. In his generation you just didn’t go through that. So when he was saying, “We need to go talk to those folks about that,” he knew that they worked second shift and so that morning they would be home probably. And so while he was saying, “We need to go talk with them about it,” he was in the process of putting on his hat and putting on his overcoat. And I am sitting there thinking, oh, what have I gotten myself into now? These people probably have firearms. I can’t believe I brought this up. I am never going to bring this up again, blah, blah, blah.

It was really fascinating to go and sit down in that couple’s kitchen and just talk with them about that situation and come to find out what had actually happened, et cetera, et cetera. And I can remember with tears in their eyes that young couple said to us, “Thank you so much for pastoring us. Thank you so much for looking out after our spiritual well being. Thank you when you wondered if there might be a problem that you loved us enough to come... not gossip about it, not talk behind our back, blah, blah, blah, but to come and ask us about it face to face because you care about the importance of keeping problems solved.”

Pastor Good taught me that and I believe that so firmly. Problems are for solving and problems are like guppies. I used to say that all the time. You can either deal with the two you have today or the thousand you are going to have next week, because they multiply that rapidly. And that is what God is doing in this text. It is the strength of declaring we have a problem.

It is also a declaration that responsibility has to be determined and accepted. Adam and

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Eve’s approach was to blame their choices on one another or on the devil. That is the personification of weakness, an unwillingness to step up and take responsibility. And God explained to them exactly who had done what, exactly what the consequences were.

Satan had said, “You won’t surely die.” But the fact of the matter is because of their sin, death had already begun to occur. So death in their relationship with him because for the first time in their life they felt guilty and they hid themselves when he came and death in their relationship with one another because they are already blaming each other of their choices and death because an animal is going not be killed before this story is over to provide covering for their nakedness and death because if something is not done about this problem they will be separated from God forever. And God stopped all of that in its tracks and explained exactly who was responsible for every aspect of what had occurred. And that is why godly people who are growing in core strength like we have been talking about all year, they are people who step up and they acknowledge it when they see it.

That is why Proverbs 28:13:

“He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.”16

There is also the issue of consequences having to be established. God declared war on Satan because of what he did.

“And I will put enmity Between you and the woman.”17

And therefore Satan was cursed more than any other created thing and both Adam and Eve would now face individual consequences and marital ones as well. And I am just saying one of the ways God showed his strength was by ensuring that this problem was faced head on instead of being ignored.

And I would just pause and ask you this morning: Are you strong in that way? I really do believe that one of the reasons many of God’s people are not as strong as they could be is because they let problems go. There are unresolved issues with other people that just drag on and on and on. Paul said it this way:

BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.18

And one of the take always for some here this morning might be I can’t go through another holiday season with that particular issue remaining unaddressed. I want to be bold with strength in my soul by doing exactly what the Lord did in Genesis three. When sin occurred he got the right people in the room and put it on the table. For example, if you just came back from Thanksgiving dinner and your father was rude to your wife yet

16 Proverbs 28:13. 17 Genesis 3:15. 18 Ephesians 4:26-27.

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again I am just going to ask you. Are you going to keep letting that go on? And some people are so afraid of their parents and they are so afraid of Aunt Millie and they are so afraid of blah, blah, blah and they just let that kind of thing go and go and go and there is all kinds of bitterness and every holiday event and it creates all sorts of difficulties in the home. And it is time for some of God’s people to man up and say, “We are not going to let that happen anymore. And I am going not have the appropriate kind of conversation with my father or with Aunt Millie or whomever and I can’t control that person, but I can certainly let them know, man to man, that kind of behavior to my wife is not going to be tolerated because that does not honor the Lord.”

Problems have to be addressed. Problems have to be solved and God did that. God did that in Genesis three.

Certainly when it comes to a church I am going to tell you. If a church is unwilling to solve problems, to face them, to deal with them and to encourage other people to deal with them, that is a recipe for church weakness. There it is. And the polar opposite of that is a willingness to confront and a willingness to be confronted. That is part of strength.

No, it doesn't stop there. There is also the strength of provision. Thank God for that. And God said, “I will put enmity not just between you and the woman. Hear this. But also between your seed and her seed.”

What? Do you know what that means? That means Adam and Eve are going to have a baby and the next generation is going to have a baby. And that goes on to be explained more fully all through the book of Genesis and then through the Old Testament and ultimately that finds its fulfillment in Christmas and then in Easter. The seed of the woman, in other words, let’s not just talk about the problem. Let’s also talk about the solution. Friends, that is strength. That is not just, well, I am mad at you or I am going to go brood about this or I am going to go gossip behind your back. I am going to run away from it. No. We are going to focus on finding a solution, the seed of the woman.

And we start to see exactly what God meant by that being fleshed out in all sorts of ways throughout the Old Testament. For example, in a few chapters God is going to make a promise to a childless man named Abram and tell him of one day he is going to make him a great nation. He is going to make... or give them their own land. He is going to bless them and cause them to be a blessing. And eventually in their old age Abraham and Sarah have a son named Isaac. And then one day God tells Abram to gather up his son and some wood and the items to make a fire and prepare to sacrifice his own son. Scripture says that early that next morning Abraham rose and began to do exactly as God had said and Isaac said to his daddy, “Father, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?”

And in a beautiful picture of the seed of the woman Abraham said, “God will provide for himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

That is a picture of Christmas, a picture of quiet strength, not just talking about the

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problem, but talking about the solutions, because, friend, you understand. The ultimate seed of the woman was the Lord Jesus Christ. And we can’t fail to see that this is communicated thousands of years in advance.

We smile at the Babe Ruth story. I am sure there is even question about whether it happened. But even if it did, he was taking an incredible risk by predicting something he wasn’t sure he could do.

But we are not talking about Babe Ruth. We are talking about God himself. Someday there will be a seed of the woman who will be at war with and who will win victory in the war with you, Satan.

Does the fact that God has the ability to make those kind of predictions in advance, does that give you reason to believe that God can take care of whatever provision you might need today? And I realize we have people in our church services today who are going through great difficulty. Remember this. Trust in the Lord, the Lord who can make a prediction like this in Genesis 3:15.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.19

God could orchestrate this provision in such a marvelous way. You would think he could orchestrate the provision that you need.

Can I ask you this, too? Do you tend to, when problems come up in your life, not only talk about the problem, but also talk about the solution? See, that is what God did in this text. I am going not put enmity, Satan, between you and the woman and between—let’s talk about the solution—between your seed and her seed. Let’s talk about the solution. That is important, too.

We were in a pastor and deacon’s meeting the other night. I really appreciate the deacons that you have elected, have given me the privilege of working with. They are a delight. They really are, but they are men. And so we are talking about some challenges that we face as the church continues to grow and we ought to get those things on the table. And we were having an authentic conversation about some of those things, a passionate conversation about those things. Not everybody in that room agrees on everything and they shouldn’t. We were going at it and discussing it with the level of passion that ought to be true of people who are talking about the things of God. But what I liked about that conversation, it was authentic. Guys knew they could put their ideas on the table, but it was always with an eye on solutions. Let’s not just talk about the problems. Let’s not just talk about concerns. Let’s talk about ways that God in his grace can help us solve them. And in this particular event it was the provision of a substitute.

19 Proverbs 3:5-6. Page 13 of 15

God told Satan—hear this now, “Satan, this seed of the woman, Jesus, you are going to be able to bruise him on the heel.”

Do you realize how expensive a sentence that was to our God? That is why this verse is referred to theologically as the protoevangelium. In other words, the first gospel, the prototype of it because in these words God is pointing to the substitutionary death of his Son. And do you see the strength in all of this approach to handling problems? God would have been perfectly just if he had expended his wrath exclusively on Satan on that day and exclusively on Adam and exclusively on Eve and that was it. But instead he was demonstrating his gracious merciful character by using the intense emotion of that moment as an opportunity of focus on and even provide the solution.

Do you think you will have opportunities in the next month to exhibit that kind of quiet strength? I am not talking about ignoring problems, although sometimes love can and should cover a multitude of sins. But we are talking about dealing with the problem when it ought to be dealt with. We are talking about focusing on solutions even if that means you being part of the solution sacrificially yourself.

My guess is that God is going to give you plenty of opportunities in the next 40 days to be like God in that way.

Well, ultimately it is the strength of victory. You have got to love this where God said to Satan in the Garden of Eden, “My Son the seed of the woman will bruise you on the heads.” You got that right. And think back all the way in the Garden of Eden. God is already talking about the cross and talking about the empty tomb and talking about the ultimate victory that Christ would achieve over sin and death. That is why we can have quiet strength.

Hebrews 2:14:

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.20

Friends, that is what Christmas is all about. Remember this hymn.

God rest ye, merry gentlemen,Let nothing you dismay. Remember Christ our SaviorWas born on Christmas dayTo save us all from Satan’s powerWhen we were gone astray. Oh, tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy.

20 Hebrews 2:14-15.Page 14 of 15

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

If you have got something going on in your life that is hard, if God could call his shot in Genesis 3:15 and come through, he can come through for you in a way that is consistent with the promises of his Word. Christmas proves that yet again.

And, friend, we are going to be doing a lot of talking in the next 40 days, a lot of talking. I hope a fair amount of it is about this Savior, the one that God sent to pay the penalty for our sin.

Let’s stand together for prayer, shall we?

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