MAN OF PROMISE – FORGOTTEN by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC
Introduction: Years ago, we lived on the other side of town in the church parsonage. Unbeknownst to me, Nicole lost one of her gold earrings. These were not some ordinary earrings, but 24 karat gold earrings given to her by my mom back in 2000. She didn’t tell me because she didn’t want to disappoint me. One day, 5-6 years later (maybe more!), as I was walking back from the mailbox, I noticed something shiny in the ground. So, I reached down and lo behold, it was the missing earring. Keep in mind, the driveway was dirt with gravel on it, and we had been driving our vehicles on it several times a day! Maybe, it was because the gravel had washed away or the dirt had washed away, but there it was! I brought it in thinking that she had just lost it. That’s when she informed me that she had lost it years ago and didn’t know what happened to it. She was very happy because they were so special to her. We’re in our series on apologetics, but I’m going to jump ahead from the Tower of Babel to the calling of Abraham and Sarah in this miniseries called “Man of Promise.” We will come back and pick up by the Tower of Babel after Christmas. Main point: The coming of Jesus was not some random event 2000 years ago. It was promised, expected, and opposed by the Enemy throughout history. At times, the plan appeared almost buried under the sands of time, but God had his hand on it, and in his timing, he brought the plan to fulfillment
Genesis 12 1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Context: When we read this without much thought, we think that Abraham was going about his life minding his business, and God came out of nowhere and told him to uproot his life and go to some random place. That’s not true. The plan of God to bring his son into the world was always there since the Garden of Eden. In this message, I want to do a quick recap of the plan and the repeated attempts by the Enemy to destroy it:
It all began in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” There are 3 important things that that were part of the cure for the sin of Adam and Eve:
- Enmity between the Serpent and the Woman
- Enmity between the descendants of the Serpent and the descendants of the Woman
- Enmity between the Serpent and the Messiah
Item B is very important for our message today: According to the curse on the Serpent, there will be two groups of people in humanity: descendants of the Serpent and descendants of the Woman. The descendants of Satan will be those who will despise God and want to deceive others into disobeying God. These descendants will not be biological but ideological. On the other hand, there will be the descendants of the Woman. They will not be perfect, but they will seek to be like God, obey God, and lead others to God. There will be hostility between these two groups. Ultimately, it would be the seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent. Satan does not know which woman. Neither does Eve know which son. Therefore, Satan has been going after the young ever since. So also, Eve thought that Cain was the one. Genesis 4:1 “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “‘I have acquired a man from the LORD.’” The word is “Ish” for man or male, not a baby. Eve was thinking that Cain was the “Man of Promise.”Unfortunately, there was a rivalry between the first brothers, Cain and Abel. Cain was warned – Genesis 4:7 “…And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Cain chose to kill his brother. Listen to Jesus’ commentary on this when the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders opposed him in John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
Eve was mistaken again in Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” Every woman had to raise every child as if he could be the one to break the curse. That’s why Paul said in 1 Timothy 2 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control. Can you imagine Eve on her deathbed coming to grips with the fact that it would not be her direct seed who will crush the head of the serpent?
It started again in Genesis 6:4 “There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” We looked at this in a previous message titled “Domain.” Based on Job 1 & 2, 2 Peter 2, and Jude 6, based on 1 Enoch, these were fallen angels. Satan and the fallen angels were trying to corrupt the seed. Hence their punishment was so severe. Listen to God’s response – Genesis 6 5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” As horrible as the original sin was to humanity, the sin of the fallen angels spread sin on a whole new degrading level. Yes, the people of Israel saw some giants in the Promised Land. They were probably another attempt by Satan to corrupt humanity.
Only one man at that time, Noah, represented the seed of the woman. Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD…13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch…17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female…22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. When they came out of the ark, God gave the original creation mandate to Noah and his family. Genesis 9:1 “So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.’” In a sense, the wicked fallen angels who infested humanity were the seed of the serpent and Noah was the seed of the Woman.
Now, when we come to Abraham, the promise to Eve is visible again. We will see that in detail in this series how the seed of the serpent will try to strike the seed of the woman – Going to Egypt, Hagar as the Egyptian maidservant, and Abimelech, king of Gerar. When we were in Egypt, we saw the symbol of the snake, the uraeus, everywhere, from Pharaoh’s miter/crown to the hieroglyphs, to the writings. It is Wadjet, the goddess of Lower Egypt. Did Abraham understand all this? Listen again to Jesus John 8 53 Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”…56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” 57Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” 59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him…”
Ultimately, the promise will come to pass 2000 years ago Matthew 1 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
There are other promises that will also be fulfilled daily and ultimately:
- Romans 16 19b “…but I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil. 20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly.”
- Revelation 12:9 “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Invitation: Do you see the plan of God throughout history? Whose seed do you want to be? Satan or the Woman. Do you know Jesus, the one who crushed the head of the Serpent at Calvary, as your Savior and King?
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