Christ in Genesis 3 15 — E.A. Johnston

I used to live in a house that sat on a snake-infested lot and every year I would have to go to battle with several poisonous snakes, mainly they were copperheads, and they would have to be killed because my dog lived outside and those venomous snakes were a danger to my dog.

Every year for about 15 years I had to get my shovel and battle those snakes. One time I was in my yard fighting two snakes at once as they writhed and wiggled in between some stones in my drainage ditch.

I poured some gasoline down into the stones to smoke them out and when I poured that gas in there, out they came. One slithered over my boot and the other I hit on the head with the shovel and he spit venom in my eye.

Fortunately for me, I was wearing my glasses at the time and the venom just hit my lenses and did not enter my eye, but I soon learned that the only way to kill a snake was to cut its head off. I would slowly approach a cold snake and raise my shovel over it and aim for its head and then press down on its neck with all my might until the head came off.

Christ in Genesis 3:15: The Serpent’s Bruised Head

That's the only way to kill a snake, friend. You have to go after its head. In Genesis 3 .15, we read about the seed of the woman who is none other than Christ Jesus who shall bruise the head of the serpent.

George Whitefield has a remarkable sermon entitled, The Seed of the Woman, in which he proclaims the great wonder of the incarnation of Christ Jesus. My message today, friends, is found in the book of Genesis as well.

The Fall of Humanity and the Promise of Redemption

In chapter 3, you can turn in your Bibles there now. We will be in verses 9 through 15. Let us begin with the word of God as found in Genesis 3 and verse 9. The Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou?

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

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 thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

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. The subject of my sermon today, friends, is the Lord Jesus Christ as he is seen as the Redeemer, as he is seen as the Deliverer, and as he is seen as the Victor.

And we will explore these glorious aspects of our Savior as we proceed. I want us to honor the Son today as we study him as he is found in Scripture, especially in Genesis 3 .15. Christ gave Satan's kingdom a fatal blow that day at Calvary, friends.

Satan is destroyed and ruined at last by the great Redeemer, signified by the breaking of his head as spoken of here in our text in Genesis 3 .15. I want to explore this first aspect of Christ Jesus as he is seen as the Redeemer.

Christ the Redeemer and the Blood That Pays Sin’s Debt

Years ago, I visited the ancient city of Ephesus in Greece. Perhaps some of you have traveled there as well. It's fascinating to explore those ancient ruins of Ephesus and to imagine the Apostle Paul and the Apostle John, both walking the same streets, active in their work for the Lord.

As I visited that ancient ruin, I came to an outdoor marketplace called an Agora, A-G-O-R-A, Agora, and it was there in that outdoor mall, so to speak, this Agora, that items were purchased and sold.

Also the Agora was a place where slaves could be bought and sold. Now friends, I want to elaborate on Christ as the Redeemer, as seen in the Greek word agorazo, which means that Jesus Christ went into the marketplace of sin and purchased me with his blood.

If you are a born-again believer, then you were bought with his blood. Your sins are washed away by his blood. We don't sing the old hymns much anymore and that's a shame because many of the old hymns speak of the blood and its wonder, work, and power.

There's power in the blood, friends. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus, Christ the Redeemer. By going to Calvary's cross and shedding his precious blood, he redeemed me from the marketplace of sin.

I am saved from the penalty of sin. And if you are a believer, you are saved from the penalty of sin as well. Christ paid it all on Calvary so we would not have to pay for our sins and be sent to hell.

You see, friends, sin must be paid for. God is holy and he hates sin. There is a sin debt that must be paid. Either you pay for it in hell forever or your sins are laid on Christ Jesus and he paid for them.

You must get under the blood to have your sins forgiven. Go to the shelter of the blood. That debt must be paid. The sentencing of the law must be carried out by a just judge. So we see this wonderful aspect of Jesus as the Redeemer who saves from the penalty of sin.

Christ the Deliverer and Freedom from Sin’s Power

Now let us proceed to the aspect of Christ as he is seen as the Deliverer. Remember our word agora and how the Greek word agorazo speaks of our redemption? Now add the little prefix ek before that word and you have ek agorazo, which means that Christ not only went to the marketplace of sin and purchased us with his blood, he removed us from the marketplace of sin whereby delivering us from the power of sin.

We are no longer subjects in Satan's kingdom of darkness. We've been taken out. That's what that little word ek means, out of. Christ is the Deliverer who delivers us from the power of sins. Oh, friend, if we could only grasp the significance of that aspect of Christ the Deliverer.

How many believers live an up-and-down existence in their Christianity? I call it elevator Christianity, where one day you're up in the penthouse suite enjoying a life of victory, but then quite suddenly, soon you find yourself down in the basement of defeat.

It's an up-and-down walk with the Lord where you desire a life of victory, but it seems to be out of your grasp. If we could only appropriate the power of the cross in our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to mortify our sins, we would experience a new life of victory from Christ the Deliverer who delivers us not only from sin's penalty, but sin's power.

Listen, dear friends, the Christian life is lived via the cross. Too much of the world religions gather at the foot of the cross, but true Christianity gets up on the cross. I will recommend some books to you now, and if you'll jot them down and find them and buy them, they're worth their weight in gold.

A few today are familiar with these titles which were written many years ago, but have been such a blessing to so many thousands through the decades. The first book is entitled Born Crucified, and it is written by the founder of Prairie Bible Institute in Canada, L .E. Maxwell.

Get that book and read it, friend. The next book is entitled Bone of His Bone by F. J. Hegel. This remarkable book is a classic on the victorious life as well. Any book by F. J. Hegel is worth reading.

Hegel was a missionary to Mexico many years ago. His son John recently wrote a biography of him, which I have endorsed. It's a great biography about a wonderful servant of God. The third book I recommend to you is The Way of the Cross by Gregory Mantle.

This book I've read at least four times through the years, and it's always fresh to me and helpful to me. I suggest these books to you, friends, on the deeper life because few pastors today preach on the doctrine of the cross and the life of a believer.

Christ the Victor Over Satan’s Kingdom

But friends, Christ the Deliverer has already done the work at Calvary in delivering us from the power of sin. Get those books and read them, and you will be helped immensely. The third aspect I would like to draw out today in regard to Christ as the victor is seen in our text in Genesis 3 .15, his victory over Satan.

Although Satan trampled over the woman and insulted her, the seed of the woman should be raised up in the fullness of time to triumph over the evil one. The victory at the cross gave a fatal blow to the devil's kingdom.

In Colossians 2, the apostle Paul speaks of this very thing. Let me read verses 14 to 15 to us now. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Here is a wonderful picture, friends, of Christ's work on the cross as a victor over the enemy of our souls.

He has obtained a glorious victory for us over the powers of darkness. Just picture in your mind the blood-stained Savior hanging on that cross, friend. There he hangs, arms outstretched, nailed to that ignoble tree.

And although the devil, through his human dupes, drove Jesus to the cross to destroy him, the very opposite occurred. As the dying Redeemer hung there on that bloody cross, the devil and all the powers of hell were conquered on that day through a glorious victory, whereby Christ ruined them and made a show of them openly, triumphing over them and dealing them a mortal blow.

Surrendering to Christ’s Victory

Christ's victory over Satan shook the gates of hell and made the demons quake. The seed of the woman bruised the head of the enemy at Calvary's glorious cross. Hallelujah. So we have explored these three aspects today of Christ as seen as the Redeemer, as Christ is seen as the Deliverer, as Christ is seen as the victor.

May we go to our knees at this time and honor him with a fresh commitment and surrender of our lives unto him. Let us pray.