"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.”
- - Genesis 3:15
After Adam had sinned in the garden
God while addressing the serpent mentioned about the enmity that be between the
woman’s seed and his seed.
The question that needs to be asked is
“does a woman have seed?” A woman does not have seed except the seed of man
planted in her. Straight from the onset God was declaring an impossible scenario
from a human point of view. It was a hint that was God was up to something in
his wisdom.
The problem was that Adam and Eve was
looking at God’s promise from a human narrative. This is also one of the major
we have with the scriptures all the while. Many see the Bible either as a
constitution, a road map to heaven, a book of stories, a documentary or
anything that points to us in our humanity.
The best way to
extract the plan and counsel of God from the Bible is to first of all
understand the theme of the Bible. The theme of the Bible is not about Israel
and a list of moral codes. It is not also a road map to get you into heaven, it
is a revelation of how heaven came down to find its way into the hearts of men.
It is about Jesus.
Everything is designed to point us to Jesus. Any other drive and interpretation
without that in mind would lead to error and a misconception of God.
In Luke 24 Jesus
appeared to 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus and taught a lesson for all of us
to review.
27 Then beginning with Moses and all the
prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the
scriptures.
He appeared to his disciples in the evening to continue from where he
stopped.
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I
was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and
the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled.”
When God appeared to
Abraham, He reiterated the coming of the seed through His loins. This was the
same seed he spoke about with Eve.
The major problem was
that Israel saw themselves as God’s chosen seed. What they didn’t know what
they were 2 things:
1. They were a shadow of the substance to come.
2. They were the womb for the Messiah to come
through
In
the Old Testament, the nation of Israel is called God's son; then in the New
Testament, Jesus is called God's Son. From here forward, we will begin to see
that everything done in the Old Testament was merely the shadow of Jesus.
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. - Exodus
4:22
17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
- Matthew 3:17
God
declared in front of everyone that this was his son, that one that gives Him
pleasure. The Jews and everything that had in the covenant was a shadow of the
real deal.
They serve at a sanctuary that is a
copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned
when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything
according to the pattern shown you on the mountain" - Hebrews 8:5.
Israel
was considered the seed of Abraham "But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob,
whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend" - Isa. 41:8
In
the New Testament, the Seed of Abraham is Jesus:
The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his
seed. Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and
to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ" - Galatians 3:16
The
seed was not a Jew nor a man. It was God’s man. The seed was the word. As Peter
once said
“For you have been
born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and
enduring word of God.” - 1 Peter 1:23
This seed, this word was made flesh and tabernacled amongst men. Jesus
was the promised seed. Now look at what God told Abraham.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever
curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12:3).
And through your offspring all nations on
earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me (Genesis 22:18).
The
early church through Paul got a grasp of the truth of who the promised really was
and why the promise was made in Galatians 3:
6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness.”[c] 7 Therefore know that only those
who are of faith are sons of Abraham.8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be
blessed.”[d] 9 So then those who are of
faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
Now
see from vs 13:
13 Christ
has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it
is written,“Cursed is everyone
who hangs on a tree”[h]), 14 that
the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we
might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
15 Brethren,
I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one
annuls or adds to it. 16 Now to Abraham and his
Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but
as of one, “And to your Seed,”[i] who
is Christ.
17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years
later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ,[j] that it should make the promise of no effect. 18 For if the
inheritance is of the law, it is no
longer of promise; but God gave it to
Abraham by promise.
And he concluded
with:
26 For you are all sons
of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as
were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew
nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s,
then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
The
scriptures clearly states that the seed was Jesus Christ. Now if any man be in
Him he receives the promise of the seed. That is why goes to a great length to explain
a lot “In Him” realities. Being a Jew no longer holds any advantage before God.
The only thing that matters now is the man that found in Christ, the seed. To
him belong all the promises by faith and no longer will it be on account of
your good works.
The
Old testament was a long cast shadow of Jesus and he has come. Now its time for
the church to start embracing the substance and leave shadows and copies
behind. You wouldn’t want to kiss the picture of your wife in front of your
wife. Get a hold of the true image.
The
Jews kept holding on to the shadows and the temple and land was destroyed.
Nothing was salvaged to be rebuilt again because God was done with the shadows.
All the promises are now in Christ, not because of your heritage and
performance. It’s in Jesus and they are Yes and Amen.