The First Advent (12/24/2023)

Genesis 3 and the First Promise of the Gospel

Let's turn to the book of Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3, and this is the second part of our study on the advents of Christ. Last week we looked at the second advent, so this morning for Christmas, of course, we'll be looking at the first advent, where Christ arrived in Bethlehem.

But instead of beginning at maybe his birth or even before that with the announcement made to Mary, I want to start in the beginning. So let's look at this passage in Genesis because this actually talks about, well, it's the first time the advent of Messiah is referenced.

So Jesus came. Why did Jesus need to come? Well, let's look at it. Genesis chapter 3, starting in verse 1. Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And when he said to the woman, or he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, that is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.

Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die, for God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

And of course this act of Adam sinning against God, this is what led to what we call the curse. So all of the death and misery, all of the world's problems can be traced back to this. This fellowship that mankind had with God at this point is now broken.

Look at verse 7. So as soon as they ate the fruit, it says, 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 coverings.

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. So instead of having fellowship with God, we see that Adam is now trying to run and hide from God.

And of course, ever since this moment, mankind has been doing the same thing. Man is running from God, hiding from God, doesn't want to talk about God or think God, certainly not experience God. Look at verse 9.

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? So he said, I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you that you should not eat? And then the man said, Well, the woman that you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate. And the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done?

And the woman said, Well, the serpent deceived me and I ate. So God speaks to Adam, Adam in turn blames Eve, God speaks to Eve, she in turn blames the serpent. Of course, the serpent has no leg to stand on, so who's he going to blame?

But in verse 14, here's what the serpent, or what God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. And on your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

And here it is, here is the promise. Maybe we could say it's the first promise of the gospel, but the first promise that there would be an advent. God speaking to Satan, He says, I will put enmity or hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.

And he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. So this is a little cryptic, it's kind of hidden of what's really being said, but it was the serpent, we know, that led mankind into rebellion against God.

But God had a plan all along. So the seed of the woman is a reference to who? Christ. Christ is the seed of the woman. And women are typically not described as having seeds, so this may even be a reference to the virgin birth.

But this is speaking of Christ, that He would come into the world and when Christ comes into the world He will inflict a mortal head wound upon the serpent. And in the process Christ would be bruised.

He died by crucifixion, but it wasn't final. The death wasn't final, He rose again. So the serpent, his head essentially is crushed, but the one who would come, the Savior, He shall receive this bruise of His heel.

So this is maybe the first passage, first prophecy of the advent of Christ. So we want to look this morning at the other passages, significant passages that speak of Christ's first advent. Let's turn to Isaiah 7 .14.

Isaiah 7 .14, this is a well-known passage that we often read, quote, at Christmas time. So we're going to look at this and a few others from the Old Testament, kind of build up to the birth of Jesus and Luke too.

Because here's what a lot of people do, they jump right in to the deep end and they start with Christ. They start with His birth or with His ministry or His death on the cross. Well, why is that even necessary?

And who is Jesus? Like why did He have to come? Why did this have to happen? So that's why we started in three. We want to kind of work through the story so that we understand it all. But here's another great prophecy of the first advent of Christ, which of course is what we celebrate at Christmas.

Isaiah 7 .14 says, therefore the Lord Himself will give you a what? A sign. The Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call His name Emmanuel. Of course we know when this verse is later quoted in Matthew's Gospel Emmanuel means God with us.

So this child who is born is going to be God with us. God with mankind. Well, what happened in Genesis 3? That fellowship. God was dwelling with man in the garden until Adam sinned and that fellowship was broken.

After that God didn't dwell with man, did He? But now that's all starting to be reversed. The curse is starting to be reversed. Now when Jesus is born, when He is going to be born, that will be God once again dwelling with mankind.

So very important. The prophet Isaiah speaking to the nation of Israel says that God Himself would give a sign. In Scripture sign, wonder, power, these are all different words that describe miracles. So what's He saying?

God will perform a miracle. Behold a virgin shall conceive. Now some of you might have maybe the RSV, the Revised Standard Version of the Bible or other translations that translate Isaiah 7 .14 as behold the young woman shall conceive.

And a lot of churches this holiday season, you know these maybe more liberal and progressive pastors will say something like the Hebrew word Alma translated virgin. It doesn't really mean virgin. Mary wasn't a virgin.

Jesus is just a regular man and they want to deny the Scriptures. Which is, you know you're just being a real grinch around the holidays when you say stuff like that. That is not true, ok? The word Alma can be translated young woman, that's true.

But you know back then young women in that culture, even today like 13, 14 years old, a young maiden, I mean they were typically virgins. But you know even if a young woman had a child is that a miracle?

I mean correct me if I'm wrong but a young woman having a child is not a miracle. It's only a sign. It's only a miracle if what? If she's a virgin. And besides Matthew in his account he translates it and understands it as virgin.

So anyways don't get mixed up if your Bible says that. You should be on the New King James anyways by now, right? I'm just kidding. Not really. So Mary gave birth. She was a virgin. She gave birth to Jesus.

So I said last night at the Christmas concert I said there are two great doctrines of Christmas. Number one the virgin birth. Number two the incarnation. So this is the virgin birth. Mary, this is a miracle.

With God all things are possible. She gave birth to Jesus. And obviously if a man were Jesus' father, if Joseph were Jesus' father, he wasn't the son of God, he was the son of Joseph. So this is absolutely essential that we believe and trust in the virgin birth.

Amen? Virgin birth, the first great doctrine of Christmas. Now skip over to Isaiah chapter 9. This is the next prophecy. Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6 and 7. This is also very familiar to us. It says, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.

Actually I'm just going to stop there. And this could be, a child is born, a son is given. This could be what scholars call a synonymous parallelism. So in Hebrew writing, Hebrew poetry is very common for writers to basically say the same thing twice just using different terms.

So when it says that the child is born and the son is given, it might just be saying the same thing again. That's a possibility, but at the same time I think there's more to it. The child that is to be born is the human Jesus, right?

The baby who is fully man. But the son that is given, I believe is a reference to the eternal son of God, His divine nature who existed long before Bethlehem. So the second great doctrine of Christmas, the Incarnation, that when Jesus was born He was God in human flesh.

So the baby, the human Jesus was born in a moment of time, but the eternal Son of God was given, right? God gave His only begotten Son. So Jesus the man had a beginning, but the Son of God really had no beginning.

Bethlehem, the Eternal Son, and the Mystery of the Incarnation

So now let's turn to Micah chapter 5 verse 2. And obviously these passages, Isaiah 7 -14, Isaiah 9 verse 6 clearly speak of the First Advent of Christ. When He came to be born in Bethlehem's manger. Now this next prophecy, this definitely speaks of Christ's First Advent.

Last week we spoke of the Second Advent, Jesus coming again, and all the things that would take place. But it's Christmas so we're looking at the First Advent. Jesus was born. Everybody knows this about the Christmas story, Jesus was born where?

Bethlehem. Look at Micah chapter 5 verse 2. And keep in mind Micah wrote, I don't know, what is it, seven, six, seven hundred years before Jesus was born. So this book existed long before anyone had ever heard of Jesus.

So there's no way to write it in after the fact. Like this prophecy proves that Jesus is who the Bible says He is. It proves this is all supernatural. Look at Micah 5 -2. The prophet says, But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, because there's two Bethlehems so he's identifying which Bethlehem he's talking about.

But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from old, even from what?

From everlasting. So there you see it. Even before Bethlehem the Son of God was quote from everlasting. He is eternal. And yet He was born as a man, as a baby 2 ,000 years ago. This is a great mystery.

There's a lot of mystery around the First Advent, Christmas time. We say that we believe in one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And that's certainly mysterious. No man can fully understand God.

If you could understand God that would probably just mean, well it would mean that God isn't that great if you can understand Him. It might mean that you're God if you can fully understand. Right? So if you can't understand God, join the club.

I mean that's the way it's supposed to be. But there is this mystery. There's also mystery with the person of Jesus. So Jesus is one person but He has two natures, the divine nature and the human nature.

Now why is that necessary? Someone might be tempted when they start hearing things like, well this is theological language. This is what people are taught in Bible college and seminary. And why do I really need to know this?

Well it's very important. It's technically true and truth matters. Yes. But it matters for a lot of reasons. First of all, whatever the Bible teaches, you want to know God. Right? You want to know Him better.

You want to have a relationship with God and grow in grace as we say. In any personal relationship, if you care about the person you want to continue to get to know them better. That's how the relationship improves.

Same with God. So we want to know these things. That's how, one way we grow in our relationship with God. So that's important. But also the fact that God became a man. That tells us that God cares about humanity.

God became a man in the person of Jesus. Why does the human nature of Christ matter? Because Jesus understands what you're going through. You know there's a lot of religions. They have a God who's, He's out there somewhere and He's doing whatever He, but He doesn't really care about people.

Well the Christian God, which is the only true God, cares about His creatures. When God came to this earth in the person of Christ, Jesus, God incarnate, He experienced all the same things we experience.

The same difficulties you face, Jesus faced. The same general categories of temptation. God we can say knows what it's like because He's lived through it. This proves the God of Christianity isn't distant.

He isn't detached. He isn't indifferent. And this is why we can say this with confidence because the scripture teaches He came to this earth. He dwelt among us. And because of that He can sympathize with our weaknesses.

He can better understand you. So we want to better understand Him and learn these things. Grow in our relationship with Him. And He came so He can better understand us. This is why it's important. And this is why we celebrate the arrival of Christ.

He is the Savior of all mankind. He loves all mankind. Now let's turn to Luke chapter 2. We've looked at some of the prophecies that speak of Christ coming. And of course we call this season Advent. And as I explained last week, you probably already know, but the word Advent means what?

What does it mean? Arrival or coming. So as far as the Advent celebration we've been doing for the four weeks, we have the four candles. Actually if you have a Christmas Eve service there would be a fifth candle that you light on Christmas Eve.

But some churches, just to kind of go over that quick, some churches observe Advent and some don't. We don't know exactly when the tradition started. It's not in the Bible so it's not something that churches have to do.

We have liberty that we can do it or not do it and that's fine. But Advent, just a description I pulled off line, it says Advent is a period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas.

And also of the preparation for His second coming. Advent means coming. And it starts on the Sunday nearest to November 30th and it lasts until Christmas Eve. Advent is observed by some Christians as a season of prayer and fasting.

Which, you know, that kind of stood out because you think of Christmas as a time when people indulge. And that's typically the way it is in the West, but it wasn't like that in the early days. Christians actually spent the month praying more and fasting.

But anyway, you can do without what you will. Again, this is liberty. You can choose to do that. I think it would probably be a good thing. But in this two-part series, we've talked about this. Advent.

Well, here it is. Here's Christ coming to this earth born in Bethlehem's manger. Of course, He wasn't born, we say that, but He wasn't born in the manger. He was placed in the manger. And I didn't even know what a manger was.

I'll admit up until recently, I'll explain that in a moment. But look at Luke 2, verses 1 -14. Actually, before I read that, Galatians 4 says, When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son.

So, Jesus, He came just at the right moment that God had ordained. Okay. Luke 2, 1 -14, this is the traditional Christmas story. It says, And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This census took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So, all went to be registered, every one to his own city. And I had said last night in talking about, I usually make this point, that it doesn't start out like stories start once upon a time.

It doesn't start that way. It gives us real historical figures, real places. So, we know this is real history. We even hear about Caesar Augustus. He wanted more tax money. That was his desire, register everybody.

So, to keep it orderly, everybody had to travel back to their, the city their family was from. So, you realize Jesus would have been born in Nazareth normally. I mean He wouldn't have been born in Bethlehem except for this census.

So, it's like, here's the cool thing about it, Caesar wanting more tax money in the providence of God, that is what led Jesus, His family, to go to Bethlehem so He could fulfill prophecy. What does that tell you?

You know, Caesar, he's like, he's just like a puppet on a string. You know, and God is sovereign over all of this. I think that's pretty cool. So, that's how Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Look at verse 4, Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

So, it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her first born son. What does that tell you? Well, it tells you that Mary had other sons. And of course, we learn this in the Gospels.

He had a son named Jude, a brother named James. He had four brothers at least. And that's important because some teach that Mary was a perpetual virgin for all her life. And that's really not the case.

But that's a way to kind of exalt Mary as sort of like this goddess figure. Mary's not the focus of Christmas. Very important, instrumental certainly. Blessed among women, but Jesus is the focus. So, she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and she laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now, a few things jump out. That part where Mary had her first born son. So, that's one thing that jumps out at me. Another thing, there were no accommodations at the inn. So, they had to be, they had to do something a little different.

Improvise at the last moment. They had nowhere for her to give birth. So, it says that she laid Jesus in a manger. I told you I didn't even know what a manger was up until a few years ago. I always thought the manger, the reason I bring, it would make me feel a lot better if someone else had this thought too.

I wouldn't feel as bad. Because you drive through town, like in Greenfield they have the creche on the town common. We call it the manger scene. What is it? It's like this barn or shed with a few animals, Mary, Joseph and the baby.

I thought the whole thing was the manger. I thought the barn or the shed was the manger. Am I the only one? That was the only one. Okay, now I feel really bad. Thanks. But no, they laid him in a manger, which is the feeding trough.

So, it's like what we would call a bassinet or something like that. Okay, I learned something. It wasn't recently. It was a few years ago. Why is that significant? Whether he was born, some say he was born in a cave.

Whether he was born in a cave, in a barn, laid in a manger, in a feeding trough. The king of kings is laid in a feeding trough for animals. What does that tell us? Well, it shows us the humility of the whole thing.

A few verses later, when the angels appear to the shepherds, the shepherds, you can look this up, shepherds were lowly, this was a lowly occupation. I heard a sermon about a month ago where, well I shouldn't say this because someone will take offense to it, but it's an occupation where if people have this job, you're looked down upon.

Shepherds were not respectable people. The idea that the angels would appear to the shepherds, this is like the last thing you would expect. Same thing with putting Jesus, King Jesus, into a feeding trough.

Basically, I view this as God's statement against the world system. This world values money, and fame, and power, and all the rest. And it's like God is speaking against that with this act, saying, I'm going to take the world system and I'm going to do the exact opposite.

It's like a statement from God against the world system. Look at verse 8, now they were in the same country, shepherds, living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.

Then the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. Yeah, all people, as in the rich and the poor, the nobility and the common man.

Male, female, free, slave, this good news, the gospel is to be for all men. Then you get to this great verse, Luke 2 .11, what does it say? Here's what the angels say to the shepherds, for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

That's a message we want to proclaim. Because of that, we put up a billboard in Greenfield last year, and it had this verse. We've done that in the past, just a simple Bible verse on a billboard, so people driving by, walking by can see this statement.

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Why put up a billboard? Why tell the shepherds this? Why tell other people about this? Why put up a billboard in Greenfield with this verse?

Because Greenfield, there's people in Greenfield who need saving. There's people in this world, the majority of people in this world who need a Savior. The sin that started in Genesis chapter 3, from that point forward, we tend to try to lessen all this, like well to err is human.

We all make mistakes. Like it's no big deal, and that's the way people talk about it. But look around. Look at the suffering. Look at the warfare. Look at the bloodshed. Look at the true evil that is in this world.

This world needs saving. It's not just the world that needs it. People need a Savior. Well this is the message of Christmas, that a Savior has been born. Look at verse 12. And this will be the sign to you.

You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly hosts, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest and on earth.

Peace and goodwill toward men. We're going to end here on this verse. Just one comment on this statement. This is maybe the most famous verse around Christmas time. The one that makes people feel the warmest inside, right?

Glory to God in the highest and on earth. Peace, goodwill toward men. Even unbelievers like this verse. I think everybody loves this verse. Luke 2 .14. And I'm reading, you know, the New King James Version.

And most people, you know, the unbelievers of the world, or maybe just nominal Christians, people, a lot of people their exposure to this verse came not from them reading the Bible, it came from where or what?

Yeah, yeah, if you're my age or older, I don't know if younger people still watch this, but it's the Charlie Brown Christmas special, right? Linus is reading from the King James Version of the Bible. And that's how Linus renders this verse.

Glory to God in the highest and on earth. Peace, goodwill toward men. But I suspect some of you have a modern translation, which is fine because I actually think this is probably what was intended. But most all modern Bible translations render Luke 2 .14 this way.

Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth. Peace to those on whom God's favor rests. So it kind of sounds like two different things. One, that this goodwill and peace is for everybody. Now is it for everybody?

Is the gospel for all men in general? Well that's true. God so loved humanity in general. However, those benefits, God's peace, being in a relationship with God, peace with God, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.

Does the atheist have the peace of God reigning in his heart? No. Does the unbeliever have that? No. See, God's peace in this goodwill, the only people who receive it are the ones who believe. The ones on whom God's favor rests.

You know, Mary was told by the angel, Mary you have found favor with God. And I think there is one thing, if I could have just one thing, is to know that I have God's favor. If you have God's favor, I mean everything else is just details.

How can a person have the favor of God? Basically in the day and age we live in, the common message that you have from pulpits is that God's love is unconditional and everybody is a child of God. Just one more verse to go to, John chapter 1.

I just want you to see it in black and white. John chapter 1, but this is the message that is preached in most churches today. They say everybody is a child of God and therefore God's love is unconditional.

Now I do believe God's love is unconditional for His children. Just like your love for your children is unconditional. So God's love is unconditional for His children, but are all people children of God?

Look at John chapter 1, verses 11 and 12. Speaking of Jesus, He came to His own and His own did not receive Him, but as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

Who are the ones who experience God's favor? Who are the ones who have God's peace reigning in their heart? Who are the ones that are at peace with God and when they die they will go directly into God's presence in heaven?

Well, it's God's children. But God's children, you become God's child when you place your faith in the gospel. So, in conclusion the world needs saving. Genesis chapter 3, ever since then, it's been non-stop death, disease, suffering but God is going to turn it all around.

2 ,000 years ago when He sent Jesus into the world, that was the beginning of the reversal process. And it's still being played out. And when Jesus comes back the second time, He's going to finish that work.

But in the meantime you can have God's favor. You can have that peace. And around the holiday season, people need peace now more than ever. You can have that peace. You can have God's favor if you would simply receive Christ as Savior.

A Savior has been sent into the world. His name is Christ Jesus. Let's pray. And Heavenly Father, I just ask that you would use this message as you see fit. Lord, if there's someone who knows the Lord but for whatever reason they have been straying and they know that deep down they're not really experiencing that peace Lord, that can be restored and I pray that that would happen.

But Lord, if there's someone listening right now who has never trusted in Christ, help them to know and to realize that peace doesn't come through a bottle. Peace doesn't come through drugs or the pursuit of power or the pursuit of money or possessions or all these other things that people, they're searching, they're trying to fill that void.

Lord, that void can only be filled by your Holy Spirit. Lord, if there's someone who has never trusted in Jesus, I pray they would do it now and simply recognize that just as Adam sinned in the garden Lord, I have sinned as well.

Please forgive me. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe He was born of a virgin. I believe He lived a sinless life and died an atoning death. And the scripture says, if a person would confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in their heart that God has raised Him from the dead, they will be saved.

I pray that would happen. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.