1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:04,200 Hey, good morning. If you've got a Bible, go ahead 2 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:06,560 and get that open to Genesis chapter 3. 3 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:11,400 We are only looking at one verse this morning and we're only 4 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:15,560 going to do that for one Sunday. I almost, I got to be honest 5 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,960 with you, I almost turned the singular verse into two sermons. 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 But then I was like, man, not everybody's like me. 7 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,000 Some people have lives. So we're going to try and do it 8 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,040 all. We're trying to do it all in 9 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:28,080 this one morning. As you're turning there, Just 10 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:30,560 just a question for you. What are we doing here? 11 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,080 Why, why, why are you here this morning? 12 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,520 And the answer to that question this morning is the answer to 13 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:39,000 that question every Sunday morning. 14 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,600 We're here this morning, we're singing this morning, we're 15 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,000 praying together, we're taking communion together, we're 16 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,920 preaching this morning all for the same singular reason. 17 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,080 And that is to remind one another of the love of God and 18 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,560 Jesus Christ for all of us. And the reason why I'm front 19 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,000 loading with that is because I got a got a lot of content here 20 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,280 this morning. I'm going to cover, I think a 21 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:02,360 lot of ground. I've got a lot of things that I 22 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:03,280 want to teach. We're going to talk. 23 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:04,760 We're going to teach on offspring. 24 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,720 We're going to teach on seeds. We're going to look at Calvin 25 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,040 and Luther's view of this text. I'm going to talk about Arnold 26 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:13,720 Schwarzenegger. Probably I'll talk about 27 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:16,240 Sylvester Stallone. I'd like to quote some of the 28 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:18,400 ancient church fathers if we get around do it. 29 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,600 So it should be when it's all said and done, honestly, a 30 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:25,040 pretty average cold Ike sermon, but we've got a lot to get 31 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,840 through. And so all of the all those all 32 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,800 those details, right, that all the explanation, all the 33 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:34,320 illustration, all of it, it's all aimed at the singular goal. 34 00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:37,840 And, and that singular goal is to remind you that Jesus loves 35 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:39,480 you. OK? 36 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,440 So like no matter what you hear this morning, no matter what 37 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:45,080 unhinged things I'm probably going to say a little bit here 38 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,680 and there, no matter how much I go off the rails over here or 39 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,440 what strikes the heart, just remember that Jesus loves you 40 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,440 and he loves you a lot. So let me pray and then we'll 41 00:01:53,440 --> 00:02:03,520 jump into this text. Heavenly Father, I confess that 42 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:09,080 this morning my heart just feels kind of dull. 43 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:18,200 I don't think for any particular reason, nothing that I can 44 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,760 discern. It's been a relatively good 45 00:02:20,760 --> 00:02:22,560 week. It's just kind of dull. 46 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,320 And so I pray that you would protect our church from a 47 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:30,760 preacher who is bored with the gospel. 48 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:37,080 Don't let me be bored with the Gospel, cut away the extra fat 49 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:42,080 from my heart and just help me experience the life in Christ 50 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,960 that you've given me. And the one thing Lord, that 51 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:50,040 really got to me this morning was I felt really dull. 52 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,000 And until the liturgy, I just legitimately think that the 53 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:58,880 liturgy preached my entire sermon probably more effectively 54 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:01,960 than I then I will. And so I'm just going to re pray 55 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:04,360 this for us because it's all in here. 56 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:09,280 So oh Lord our God, you are Christ the victor, King of 57 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:12,200 heaven, champion of all creation. 58 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:15,000 You rule in the midst of your enemies. 59 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:21,000 You are the destroyer of death, God the serpent stomper, the 60 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,640 curse crusher. You are Christ the victor, 61 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:27,440 worthy to receive glory and honor and power. 62 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,640 For you have hurled down our accuser, that great dragon that 63 00:03:31,640 --> 00:03:34,600 leads the world astray. So where, O death, is your 64 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:38,680 victory? Where serpent is your sting? 65 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,440 Our enemy has been evicted, the serpent put to open shame. 66 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,480 No longer are we slaves to sin, but servants to the triumphant 67 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,720 King. So LOL, lead on Christ our 68 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:54,680 victor, King of Heaven, champion of all creation. 69 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,720 Lord, help us believe that you don't just save us from sin. 70 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,720 You do. You don't just cover us in 71 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:01,120 righteousness. You do. 72 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:06,000 You also defeat, overthrow, and crush the enemy. 73 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:10,680 And so I pray that we would rejoice in in the victor that we 74 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,600 have in Jesus Christ. So it's in his precious and 75 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:16,360 powerful name that all God's people pray. 76 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:18,920 Amen. If you're able, let's go ahead 77 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:27,400 and stand. OK, so last week we if you if 78 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,560 you missed last week, we literally preached chapter 3 79 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,600 verses 14 all the way through 19. 80 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:38,920 God administers righteous curses to the earth and to the serpent, 81 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:40,840 and we see the consequences of sin. 82 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,600 But if you were here last Sunday, you know that I skipped 83 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,400 probably the most important verse in there on purpose so 84 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:48,800 that I could isolate this morning and then preach on it 85 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:54,360 and dig as deep as as I can. And and that verses verse 15. 86 00:04:55,280 --> 00:04:58,840 Nerdy theologians refer to this as the proto evangelium. 87 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,800 I'll explain that in a second. Here's the actual text. 88 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:07,160 God, he's speaking to the serpent and he says, I will put 89 00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:14,080 enmity an enemy. I'll put an enemy between you, 90 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:18,400 the serpent and the woman. And here's where it gets 91 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:20,720 weirder. This enemy is going to stand 92 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:27,880 between your offspring, but the serpent has offspring, your 93 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,400 offspring and her offspring. And here's how it's going to go 94 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:36,440 down. He shall bruise your head, and 95 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:44,280 you shall bruise his heel. Believe it or not, we got a lot 96 00:05:44,280 --> 00:05:46,600 to talk about this morning, so you can go ahead and have a 97 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:52,440 seat. So I'm going to start with that 98 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:53,440 big word. I mentioned it kind of in 99 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,760 passing there really quickly. I've got it on the screen for 100 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:58,240 you. Proto evangelium. 101 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:00,280 There's some debate over the pronunciation. 102 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:03,360 Some people drop the second O and say prot evangelism. 103 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,680 Some people explain it really fancy and and call it the proto 104 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,640 you angelion. I like proto evangelium. 105 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:11,880 I think it's great. But that's the reason why that's 106 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,000 an important word is because that's the word that Christian 107 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:16,840 theologians use to refer to this one singular verse. 108 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,520 This verse stands out so much. It's so important. 109 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,120 It's so foundation to the entire story and narrative of the 110 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:26,440 scripture that it gets its own made-up word. 111 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:29,760 That's how important it is. And that word, even though it's 112 00:06:29,760 --> 00:06:32,880 a handful of of syllables, it's it's pretty fancy, but the 113 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,800 meaning is really simple if you break it down. 114 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:42,440 Proto means first evangelium gospel, and so this is called 115 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:45,440 the first gospel, the proto evangelium. 116 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,080 It's the first time in the entire biblical narrative that 117 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:53,600 the gospel is preached out loud. Now, if you've been with us for 118 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,600 the last 20 weeks of Genesis, you know that we've preached 20 119 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,320 sermons on Genesis, and everyone has had the gospel. 120 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,040 And so already throughout Genesis, the gospel has been 121 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:07,200 hinted at and it's been clued at in a lot of different ways, but 122 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:11,360 nobody yet has preached it out loud until right now. 123 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:14,600 And we see the first character preach it out loud for the first 124 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:16,120 time. Who's the character who preaches 125 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,920 it? It's God before it's ever us, 126 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:22,080 before it's ever Adam, before it's ever Eve. 127 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:27,480 God preaches the gospel out loud, and essentially the 128 00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:31,280 gospel, the proto evangelium that God preaches is this. 129 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:36,360 God says to the serpent, there's going to be a war, it's going to 130 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:41,040 be a perpetual war, and it's going to be between two massive 131 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:47,200 figures throughout all human history, the serpent and the 132 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:50,440 woman. And then it gets, it gets 133 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:52,720 weirder. It's the same way of saying it, 134 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:56,720 but a little bit differently. The serpent seed or offspring 135 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:01,640 and the woman seed or offspring. So glue in really quickly on the 136 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,240 first part of 15. Just look at that really, really 137 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:05,320 closely. I'm just going to take that 138 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:08,840 first bit. We'll call it 15 A God says I'll 139 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:13,280 put an enemy, I'll put enmity between you and the woman. 140 00:08:13,440 --> 00:08:16,080 OK, so there's going to be a war between the serpent and the 141 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:22,720 woman, and between your her offspring and her offspring. 142 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:26,240 Pause. What's what's going on here? 143 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:31,680 The the war between the woman and the serpent is fairly 144 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:36,159 obvious, but what's less obvious and more hotly disputed is the 145 00:08:36,159 --> 00:08:40,480 war between the woman's offspring and the serpent's 146 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:46,920 offspring. Who are who are these children 147 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:53,440 of the serpent? How, how does a serpent have 148 00:08:53,520 --> 00:09:00,800 offspring that can go to war? Well, we've, we've got 2 basic 149 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:02,600 options we can look at right here. 150 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,840 We'll look at both of them. The first view is that these are 151 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:10,640 moral offspring. And so when Genesis 315 is 152 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:13,640 talking about the offspring of the serpent, these are moral 153 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:16,960 offspring of the serpent. This is the view of John Calvin, 154 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:20,440 Martin Luther, 500 years ago, the Reformed view of what's 155 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:22,400 going on right here. The offspring of the serpent 156 00:09:22,400 --> 00:09:25,800 here, their offspring by what influence? 157 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:30,120 Offspring by influence. Essentially the serpent will 158 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,120 bigot children, bigot a family who will belong to Satan by 159 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:35,960 allegiance and loyalty and lifestyle. 160 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,000 So those who embrace a life of celebrating sin, our children of 161 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,680 the serpent, I think this is a pretty strong view. 162 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:47,960 It's been probably the, I think probably the dominant position 163 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,880 throughout Christian history for interpreting offspring of the 164 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:54,080 serpent right here. But I think what's more is that 165 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:56,560 it's supported by the rest of the book of Genesis. 166 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:59,720 Almost immediately after chapter 3, when we turn to chapter 4, 167 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:03,840 what do we see? We see a family war of Cain 168 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,080 versus Abel. These are human characters who 169 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,840 either act like a serpent or God. 170 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,400 Later on, we meet another human character named Jacob. 171 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,960 Isn't he interesting? Jacob is really interesting, 172 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:19,400 especially in light of this verse right here. 173 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:23,040 Jacob is a liar and a deceiver. Does that sound like anybody to 174 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,000 you? Deceiver. 175 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:29,840 Exactly like the serpent. And you know how Jacob was born? 176 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,080 He came out of the womb with his twin brother grabbing what his 177 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:40,920 brothers heal. Hold on, hold on. 178 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:47,200 You mean like almost like a character bruising or biting the 179 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:51,960 heel of another character? And yet Jacob wrestles with God 180 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:54,400 and gets a new name and identity. 181 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,600 Essentially Jacob's the story of someone who was transferred from 182 00:10:57,600 --> 00:11:00,640 the Kingdom of the serpent, who acts and lives like a serpent 183 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:04,320 into the Kingdom of God and then begins to act and live like God. 184 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:08,040 I think this view that they are moral offspring is supported by 185 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,760 Jesus. Jesus calls hypocritical 186 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:16,200 religious people sons of the devil and a brood of Vipers. 187 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,520 That's the Pharisees. Isn't that interesting? 188 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:26,480 That for me that's, that's the, that's the tough thing about the 189 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:31,120 serpent and Satan and the dragon and the devil is it's when you 190 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,240 look at when you look at the serpent, when you look at the 191 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:38,120 devil biblically, he's not, he's not irreligious. 192 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:44,480 Ever notice that? Like he's not, he's not anti 193 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:49,160 religion like Satan. And he knows the Bible, he 194 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,760 quotes it to Jesus. He's he's religiously 195 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,040 pluralistic. He's probably got one of those 196 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:57,720 coexist bumper stickers on the back. 197 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,920 He's willing to work. He's willing to work literally 198 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:06,200 with anybody of any religion so long as their hearts reject 199 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,560 Jesus. And so he shows up in the 200 00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:12,960 morality of human hearts, which is an important note. 201 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,880 And the reason why that's an important note is because a lot, 202 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:21,480 a lot of times, a lot of times when we think about the 203 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:28,160 influence of Satan, Christians will look anywhere like under 204 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:36,560 any Bush, under any rug, right? It's, it's the ACDC records. 205 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:42,640 We got to burn the ACDC records or it's, it's MTV or it's 206 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:48,120 Monster Energy drinks. They'll look for Satan anywhere 207 00:12:48,680 --> 00:12:53,480 besides in their own hearts. And so we're just, we're just 208 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:55,760 blind to this. That's the mistake that the 209 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:58,560 Pharisees made. The devil's out there. 210 00:12:58,560 --> 00:13:02,320 He's on the other team. And Jesus said, no, you're sons 211 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:03,720 of the devil. And so this all points to the 212 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:07,720 fact, Oh my, we're I'm already behind on time. 213 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,160 Time is a valuable thing. Watch it by as the pendulum 214 00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:13,560 swings. This all points to the fact that 215 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,960 the serpent begets offspring by influence and allegiance with 216 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:19,560 human beings. So this is a strong view, but I 217 00:13:19,560 --> 00:13:20,920 want to get a little bit weirder. 218 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,120 And here's the part where the teacher probably loses the 219 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:24,280 classroom. That's the first view. 220 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,640 I think it's strong. Here's the second view, when 221 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:31,560 Genesis 315 is talking about the offspring of the serpent. 222 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:35,760 The second view is that it's talking about literal offspring. 223 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:40,280 This is the view of Doctor Michael Heizer, a relatively 224 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,640 modern biblical academic and scholar. 225 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:44,520 I think he's a smart guy, even though I don't agree with 226 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:46,600 everything that he writes. But he essentially argues that 227 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,600 the offspring of the serpent here, our offspring by, wait for 228 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:55,680 it, literal seed or biological offspring. 229 00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:57,840 Where would he get this interpretation from? 230 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:00,720 Well, this interpretation is supported by a literal reading 231 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:02,600 of the word offspring. Do you see it there? 232 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,200 It's right there in verse 15. It's like the second, it comes 233 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,240 right after the comma, right between off your offspring, her 234 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,280 offspring. That word, if you circle it, 235 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:15,520 that word literally just means seed. 236 00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:21,880 And it's also supported by some strange things that some future 237 00:14:21,880 --> 00:14:25,320 preacher frontier will have to do with in the book of Genesis. 238 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:29,400 I hope it's me. I'm not afraid of it, right? 239 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,000 We, we deal with some strange things later on in Genesis. 240 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:35,200 For instance, in Genesis 6, which is a parallel, parallel 241 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,640 literary text to Genesis 3, we see this crazy story of 242 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:43,080 rebellious angelic beings taking the daughters of man and 243 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,560 populating the world with these creatures called Nephilim or the 244 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,240 giants of old. That seems to strongly suggest 245 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,080 that the serpent knows clearly what God's plan is to win the 246 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:57,280 war through the seed of the woman, the offspring of the 247 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,280 woman. And so Satan, strategically, he 248 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:01,000 tries to win the war. How? 249 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,120 By subverting the offspring of the women. 250 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,840 And so yes, this is hard to wrap your modern mind around, and it 251 00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,560 will make you deal with some hard questions throughout the 252 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,720 rest of the Bible, like Joshua's conquest against giant clans. 253 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:16,440 Where did these giants come from? 254 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:20,320 Even the famous story of David and Goliath, Where did Goliath 255 00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:22,160 come from? Where did these giants come 256 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:25,160 from? Even in the New Testament Jesus 257 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:27,960 war against demons, where did all of these demons come with? 258 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:30,880 It'll make you deal with some difficult historical questions 259 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:33,480 that quite frankly, I don't really care how you answer them. 260 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:34,960 I just think they should be dealt with. 261 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:36,960 Like, what do we do with the fact that virtually every 262 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:39,760 ancient culture up until modernism has literature, 263 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:41,680 evidence and stories about giants? 264 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,560 Those are all questions for a future preacher to deal with. 265 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,040 Not me this morning, at least. But I think this is actually 266 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:53,640 important to reckon with because it reminds us that though we 267 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,440 need to take personal responsibility for our hearts 268 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,200 and not align ourselves with the evil one, we need to remember 269 00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:04,320 that Satan doesn't just want to rule in the human heart. 270 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:09,320 There's also a heavenly realm outside of us that is densely 271 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:13,520 populated with spiritual beings, and not all of them are good. 272 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:18,440 We see demons on cling spirits were evil and want to bring 273 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:23,720 chaos to God's good order. And that all begs the question, 274 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:29,520 who's right which, which position is the correct 275 00:16:29,520 --> 00:16:31,800 position? Should we take a kind of a more 276 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:35,280 meta metaphorical reading and it's moral offspring or a more 277 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,920 literal reading and say it's biological offspring? 278 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:41,760 You can disagree with me on this, it's totally cool. 279 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,600 But my answer is simple. I actually think that both are 280 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,080 biblically valid and I think they both play a role in our 281 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:52,520 biblical theology. I I was, I came home from work 282 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:58,880 the other day and and I walked into my house and favorite. 283 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:01,400 This is one of my favorite things entrances ever. 284 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:03,520 I walked into the house and immediately when the door knob 285 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:06,560 turned, I hear Jack's little voice go Daddy's home, Daddy's 286 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:13,160 here, mommy, Daddy's here and he runs over and we exchange a few, 287 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:18,599 you know, maybe a hug or just a high and he goes, Daddy. 288 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,319 He said Daddy came to Jack's house. 289 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:30,640 I was like, that's debatable. Your mom and I pay for it. 290 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:34,720 How's you in it? Stock it? 291 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:41,360 And so I didn't say that to him. What I did say was, yeah, yes, 292 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:45,000 it's also Daddy's home. And he said no. 293 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:49,240 And he pointed this direction and said the church is Daddy's 294 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:56,200 home now. I actually think my relationship 295 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:59,760 with work is pretty healthy now. So I don't, you know, I early 296 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:02,720 days of church planting were 50-60 regular hour. 297 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:05,040 We're not, I'm pretty close to pretty standard 40. 298 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,760 So I didn't feel I didn't feel rebuked by it, but I was like, 299 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:13,040 no, daddy doesn't have two different home addresses. 300 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,480 I got after you go to bed. I don't like sneak over here and 301 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:19,280 go to sleep here. Like this is daddy's home. 302 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:23,920 I only have one home address. Satan has two home addresses and 303 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:26,280 sometimes denominations. Sometimes Christians don't 304 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:29,800 really understand that, or we emphasize one at the expense of 305 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:31,720 of other. Take for instance, our our 306 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,720 charismatic brothers and sisters in in the Lord. 307 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,720 What our charismatic friends get right about the influence of 308 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:43,800 Satan is that he's out there. He's in the spiritual realm and 309 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:48,080 demons are real and unclean spirits are real and spiritual 310 00:18:48,080 --> 00:18:52,680 warfare is real. But sometimes it gets under 311 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,920 emphasized that we also have a personal responsibility to cast 312 00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:59,360 Satan out and his influence out from our hearts. 313 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,640 And So what ends up happening is everything comes becomes about 314 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,040 spiritual warfare and you look for demons under every Bush and 315 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,440 refuse to take responsibility for your sin. 316 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:12,440 Now I'm, I'm reformed in in my theology and I like being 317 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,160 reformed in my theology. Our reformed brothers and 318 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,160 sisters, and I would also lump our our Roman Catholic brothers 319 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,000 and sisters into that. They do a really good job of 320 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:24,960 remembering that Satan also wants to rule and reign over the 321 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:27,360 human heart. And so they do a really good job 322 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:31,320 emphasizing repenting of personal sin, making sure that 323 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,840 your heart is right with God, acting morally upright. 324 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:39,040 And that is good. Sometimes I sometimes we under 325 00:19:39,040 --> 00:19:44,120 emphasize the fact that also spiritual warfare is real and I 326 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:48,720 think an appropriate reading of Genesis 315 includes both of 327 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:50,920 these things. I think they both have a ton of 328 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,880 biblical support and I think as a literature nerd I think 329 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:57,960 Genesis 315 is probably a double in tundra that purposefully 330 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:04,680 works at both levels. Whatever you think, you can 331 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:09,000 disagree with me on this, just don't miss the clear meaning 332 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,760 which is you were born into a war. 333 00:20:16,160 --> 00:20:22,760 You might be ignorant of it, you might be dull to it, but you 334 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:27,600 were born into a war. Life is war, and your allegiance 335 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,920 is everything. In Genesis 3, what we see is 336 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:39,200 that the world splits into two, those who belong to the 337 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:43,800 serpent's family and those who belong to God's family through 338 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:48,280 the seed of the woman. There are two trenches. 339 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:50,800 Is there a middle in the trenches? 340 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,520 Ben? Ain't no middle in the trenches. 341 00:20:54,160 --> 00:21:00,240 No middle in the trenches. Family of the serpent, the 342 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:02,480 family of God. And there's going to be a 343 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:07,680 massive lifetime war, and there's going to be one son, one 344 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:15,200 seed, who ultimately determines who wins, Who wins. 345 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:20,720 Look at the second part, 15-B, we'll call it. 346 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:31,200 He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. 347 00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:41,120 Huh. The hero the Sun's heel gonna 348 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:42,040 get bruised. What's? 349 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,080 What could that possibly mean? Well, friends, there's levels to 350 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:46,800 this game, so let's go through all of them. 351 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:48,880 Why? Why the heel? 352 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,000 Why does the heel of the hero get bruised? 353 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,120 Well, first and foremost, the serpent will bruise the sun's 354 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:58,040 heel because this is actually just realistic serpent imagery, 355 00:21:58,040 --> 00:21:59,400 right? In the ancient world, you are 356 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:00,920 afraid of snakes, you're afraid of serpents. 357 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:04,920 If you were walk around in tall grass and a serpent bit you, it 358 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:06,440 would probably bite you in the heel. 359 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:07,920 It would come from the grass and boom. 360 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,360 So it's just realistic serpent imagery is really just one 361 00:22:10,360 --> 00:22:14,680 reason why that's there. And chapter 3, verse 15, but 362 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,920 also the serpent will bruise the sun's heel because this is 363 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,440 actually dirty. It's dirty imagery. 364 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:23,280 This is not the kind of the type of combat that you would expect 365 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:25,560 from an honorable person. Honorable people, They fight 366 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,000 face to face. The serpent's deceptive, 367 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,520 cowardly. This is a cheap shot. 368 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:35,440 Evil always comes from below, like a serpent striking from the 369 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:36,880 ground and never comes from above. 370 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:41,320 Even among when humans act Serpentine, it always comes from 371 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:45,240 below. Gossip, slander, anonymous 372 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:50,000 blogging, talking behind your back, It's always a striking 373 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:54,440 from a place of lowness and so it's just a metaphorically tight 374 00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:58,840 and loaded phrase as well. But most importantly, thirdly, 375 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,200 why the heel? Why the heel? 376 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:08,760 The Serpent will bruise the sun's heel because a heel strike 377 00:23:08,800 --> 00:23:16,240 is non fatal. We're not going to kill, destroy 378 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,320 the hero, the head, now that's a fatal bruise. 379 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:26,840 The heel is not a fatal bruise. What does this teach us? 380 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:39,960 This teaches us that the Serpent can wound, but he cannot win. 381 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:49,000 Evil darkness can wound, but it cannot win. 382 00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:50,960 Look at the other part of verse 15. 383 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:56,960 He takes a heel strike, but the seed, the sun will bruise the 384 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:05,000 serpent's what head crush the serpent's head. 385 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:10,680 That's a fatal strike. And so here's here's the point 386 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,800 of the the way that this battle is described in Genesis 315, 387 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:20,880 this lifelong war, there's going to be an exchange of supposed 388 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,880 victories. And what's going to happen is 389 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:29,680 that the serpent will wound, but the sun will ultimately win. 390 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:37,000 The hero will ultimately take a heel strike willingly for the 391 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:43,120 head crushing victory. There's an exchange of pain, but 392 00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:47,280 the good guy wins. Does that sound familiar to you? 393 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:54,040 A bruise on the heel to crush the head? 394 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:57,960 A wound for a win? That sound familiar? 395 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:01,000 You can tell, by the way, which stories are the truest by 396 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,920 thinking about which stories are etched more deeply into the 397 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:07,720 human heart. And you can tell which stories 398 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:13,480 are etched more deeply into the human heart by thinking about 399 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:18,280 which stories are more common across all cultures throughout 400 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:22,160 time. Have you ever noticed then, if 401 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,840 this story is true, have you ever noticed how the story of 402 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:30,600 the bad guy striking the heel so that the hero can strike the 403 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:32,560 enemy's head? This exchange of pain, if you 404 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,480 ever notice how this is everywhere in culture, it's at 405 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:39,640 like it's, it's everywhere. I'm going to go off for a second 406 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:42,720 and I'm not just going off to entertain myself here because 407 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,480 I'll probably be the only person entertained by it. 408 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,200 I'm going to go off here because I want to show you how 409 00:25:47,680 --> 00:25:52,280 frequently, how often the gospel echoes into pop culture. 410 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,760 It tries to weave itself in and recycle itself in literally 411 00:25:57,120 --> 00:26:00,440 every good story or every good movie you've ever watched. 412 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,640 It is everywhere. For instance, the original 413 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:08,520 Predator from 1987. Have you seen this? 414 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,440 Kids? Don't watch it until your dad is 415 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:14,480 ready to watch it with you. I will say I read an article 416 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:16,960 that didn't seem like it came from a reputable source that 417 00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,320 said that the original Predator and watching it can raise your 418 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:22,920 testosterone by 400%. I didn't have any science 419 00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:24,520 backing, but I thought it sounded good. 420 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:28,280 So essentially what happens is how how does you got 421 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:30,280 Schwarzenegger? You've got some of the best 422 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,720 quotes in cinema history, guys. Right. 423 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:37,640 Get to the chopper. If it bleeds, we can kill it. 424 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:40,640 I'm I'm totally freaking to the wrong crowd. 425 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:44,240 I don't have any. Yeah, I don't have any 426 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:45,840 references from the chosen, so my bad. 427 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:49,200 I like, I actually like the chosen. 428 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,560 That wasn't like a a rib. But how does Schwarzenegger 429 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:54,600 defeat the Predator? It's this epic scene, right? 430 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:56,480 Schwartz? It's an exchange of blows. 431 00:26:56,480 --> 00:27:00,560 Schwarzenegger, he literally sheds all of his weapons and he 432 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,320 sheds his weapons. He lowers his defenses and he 433 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:07,600 presents himself as bait to the Predator and he allows Predator 434 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:09,720 to beat him up. There's he even allows the 435 00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:12,800 Predator to grab him by the neck and hold him against the tree. 436 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:14,720 Why? Because he's trying to trick him 437 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:16,840 into a trap. There's even a point where 438 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:21,080 Schwarzenegger says out loud to the Predator from a distance, 439 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:25,480 come on, kill me right here, kill me. 440 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,640 And he gets the Predator to take like two or three more steps and 441 00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:31,360 what happens? Boom, Predator trips the 442 00:27:31,360 --> 00:27:33,880 trigger. Bam, there's the fatal 443 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,280 destruction of Predator. What is that? 444 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:40,440 That's a trading of wounds for a win. 445 00:27:40,440 --> 00:27:43,960 Symbolically, it's the exchange of the heroes bruised heel. 446 00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:47,600 I'll let you beat me up to destroy the enemy. 447 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:51,840 I'll destroy you with my trap. Does that sound familiar or? 448 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:53,760 I hate to be that guy? No, I don't. 449 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:58,600 Rocky Three. Easily the most underrated movie 450 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,560 in the entire Rocky series. Not the best, but easily the 451 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:04,800 most underrated. What Rocky's got to do, he's got 452 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,520 to go up against this imposing, intimidating figure. 453 00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:10,840 It's actually Mr. T, so you know it's good cinema. 454 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,320 Surprising it didn't win an Oscar, but that's not a chip on 455 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:16,920 my shoulder. So he's going up against Mr. T. 456 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:22,000 His whole strategy in the fight is to let Clubber Lang or Mr. T 457 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,600 repeatedly hit him over and over and over again. 458 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:27,840 He literally says to him, is that all you got? 459 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,560 Hit me harder, hit me harder. And what happens? 460 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:34,840 Mr. T exhausts himself, and then Rocky knocks him out with the 461 00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:38,760 left hook of his own. It's a trading of wounds for the 462 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,080 win. It's symbolically the exchange 463 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:45,120 of the hero's bruise heel to bruise the enemy's head. 464 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:49,080 Does this sound familiar? OK comic book people, The Dark 465 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:56,600 Knight Batman literally allows himself to be captured by the 466 00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:00,680 Joker so that he can defeat the Joker's plan from the inside 467 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:03,440 out. It's an exchange of the heroes 468 00:29:03,440 --> 00:29:06,560 bruised heel to bruise the enemy's head. 469 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:11,080 Sound familiar? I can go on and on and on and I 470 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,280 can tell in your eyes you'd like me to spare you. 471 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,600 But I could talk about Godzilla 2000, Jaws, Rambo, First Blood 472 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,840 Part 2, and most action movies. But here's the point. 473 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:31,240 All of culture, all of creation, longs just long for a hero who 474 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:35,960 comes to save the day by allowing himself to be wounded 475 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:38,840 so that he can crush the enemy's head. 476 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:46,360 For it to be a truly great story, the hero's heel must be 477 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:50,760 bruised. The enemy's head must be 478 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:52,880 crushed. Does that sound familiar? 479 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:58,000 Not just too bad 80s action movies, but also a certain book. 480 00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:02,400 Let's keep talking about bruised heels. 481 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,360 Are you guys with me? Let's keep talking about bruised 482 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:08,000 heels. This is going to sound off topic 483 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,720 for a couple minutes and then we'll bring it back. 484 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,840 But the ancient Romans, they didn't actually invent the 485 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:15,800 crucifixion. What they did is they picked it 486 00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:19,880 up and then they absolutely perfected the crucifixion to 487 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:23,880 make it maximally painful and embarrassing and humiliating. 488 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:28,840 And what's interesting is that in the last couple decades, 489 00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:32,680 historians actually discovered the corpse of a 1st century man. 490 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,840 So around the time of Jesus, who was crucified. 491 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:38,920 And do you know where this corpse was crucified? 492 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,080 Jerusalem. And why is that important? 493 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:45,600 Because that means that we would be observing the same local 494 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:50,760 strategies that we would expect to find in the dead body of 495 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:54,120 Jesus after he had been crucified, had his body remain 496 00:30:54,120 --> 00:30:57,240 dead, of course. And what's interesting about 497 00:30:57,240 --> 00:30:59,720 this corpse that they found that was crucified in the 1st century 498 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:02,640 in Jerusalem? So fascinating is when they were 499 00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:07,080 exploring the nail wounds in the corpses feet, they noted that 500 00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:12,840 the nails were driven in at a mathematically precise angle, 501 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:16,480 which we would expect. And the reason why we would 502 00:31:16,480 --> 00:31:20,120 expect that is because Roman soldiers were competently 503 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:24,600 trained expert killing machines. And so the nail in this corpse 504 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:28,520 was driven mathematically through the foot at an angle so 505 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:33,600 that the purpose of holding the body weight up better, it was 506 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,800 driven at an angle actually upwards so that the nail was 507 00:31:37,800 --> 00:31:49,560 driven through the any gas, the heel piercing through the heel 508 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:50,400 bone. Why? 509 00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:52,960 Well, first, certainly because it increased pain. 510 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,320 Secondly, because it held the body weight up more securely, 511 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:58,040 preventing the foot from slicing into. 512 00:31:58,840 --> 00:32:03,240 But third, it also prevented the victims from pushing upwards and 513 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,040 breathing better for momentary relief. 514 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:11,040 To crucify someone well, the heel bone must be pierced. 515 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:17,560 That's why from the vantage point of the Romans, why did he 516 00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:21,880 have to be crucified that way, from the vantage point of the 517 00:32:21,880 --> 00:32:29,080 sovereign plan of God, so that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of 518 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:35,120 Genesis 315 perfectly. That's why the cross, friends, 519 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,400 is the ultimate fulfillment of the proto evangelium. 520 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:45,320 It is the finish line of this story that begins in Genesis 521 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:49,080 315. Jesus on the cross is Genesis 522 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:54,680 315 with flesh on, Genesis 315 with arms and legs, Genesis 315 523 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:56,240 with lungs so that he can breathe. 524 00:32:56,560 --> 00:33:00,560 The great action hero, Jesus Christ himself allowed the 525 00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:07,040 serpent to bruise his heel literally when the nail went 526 00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:10,280 through. Of course there would be blood, 527 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:13,240 but there would also be a literal bruising of the heel. 528 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:17,240 Christ literally and of course, metaphorically, had his heel 529 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:21,360 bruised by the serpent, just like Genesis 315 says. 530 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,440 Make no mistake about it, Jesus is the truer and better 531 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:28,920 Schwarzenegger. He baited Predator into the 532 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:31,080 trap. Jesus is the truer and better 533 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:33,800 Rocky. He allowed Kleberlang to exhaust 534 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,200 himself with punches before throwing the death blow. 535 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:37,920 He's the truer and better Batman. 536 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:41,080 He willingly allowed the Joker to capture him, to destroy him 537 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:44,520 from the inside out. And by letting the enemy bruise 538 00:33:44,520 --> 00:33:47,280 his heel, he crushed the enemy's head. 539 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,880 Make no mistake, Christ took the cross cross into his own hands. 540 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:56,080 He's not a victim on the cross. Get that? 541 00:33:56,640 --> 00:34:02,600 He's a victor victim. We don't worship victims. 542 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:07,440 We support them, we care for them, and we show them sympathy. 543 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:12,400 But Jesus doesn't want sympathy. You want your worship. 544 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,639 So Jesus willingly took the cross into his own hands and did 545 00:34:16,639 --> 00:34:20,239 what with it? He wielded the very cross itself 546 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:24,600 like a sword. And just like David, after 547 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:29,440 defeating Goliath, Jesus chopped the serpent's head off with the 548 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:32,880 enemy's own weapon. Just like David beheads Goliath 549 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:37,560 with Goliath's own sword. It's the same story recycled and 550 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:40,239 brought to ultimate fulfillment in Jesus. 551 00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:43,199 And I know this is gruesome language, but it's not. 552 00:34:43,199 --> 00:34:46,400 It's not locker room talk. It's actually very theologically 553 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:50,000 precise, right? David cutting Goliath's head 554 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,920 off, Jesus crushing the head of the serpent. 555 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:56,159 It's very violent imagery, but it's very theologically and 556 00:34:56,159 --> 00:34:58,640 experientially precise. The serpent's been decapitated. 557 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,840 You can look that. Have you ever, anybody in here 558 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,160 ever run a snake over with a lawn mower? 559 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:08,080 Yeah. What happens for a short time 560 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:09,120 afterwards? What do they do? 561 00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:11,800 They keep on wiggling and moving. 562 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:13,840 You can look it up on YouTube. Maybe don't. 563 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,000 I did. When you look it up on YouTube, 564 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:20,600 when you chop a snake's hat off, it has a strange way of still 565 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:22,560 remaining alive for a short amount of time. 566 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,200 There's even a video, there's even videos of snakes having 567 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:28,480 their heads chopped off and then attacking and biting their own 568 00:35:28,480 --> 00:35:31,680 body. But what's happening there? 569 00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:34,680 Those are mere, they're mere death rattles. 570 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,440 And as Christians, this is exactly the period in human 571 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,240 history that we live in. It's precisely the period of 572 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:46,520 human history we live in. We live precisely between the 573 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:51,560 serpent's defeat on the cross and his eventual annihilation in 574 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:55,440 the resurrection. Satan has been beheaded, but he 575 00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:59,200 continues to wiggle around. He does have real rage and real 576 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:02,760 influence, but it is short and it is momentary, like a snake 577 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:06,200 that's been run over by a lawn mower until on the last day he 578 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:10,080 will be fully and finally destroyed and disposed of in the 579 00:36:10,080 --> 00:36:13,600 crucifixion of Jesus. For those who believe, Jesus 580 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:19,120 takes away all of your sin. That's all that the accuser has 581 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:22,520 to hurl at you. His accusations, it's gone. 582 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:27,200 He's been disarmed. He takes away all your sin and 583 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:30,080 he comforts you with all of his righteousness. 584 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:34,360 And it's not just about a personal relationship with you 585 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:36,440 and Jesus. You get that through the Gospel. 586 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:41,360 What's more than that is that Jesus also destroys and defeats 587 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:47,720 the devil, and then he graphs us sinners, imperfect slobs into 588 00:36:47,720 --> 00:36:51,000 the family of God. That's how you become the 589 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:56,720 offspring of God by the gospel. By believing Jesus through faith 590 00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:59,840 alone and the crucifixion of Jesus, we are made into the 591 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:04,880 offspring of God and we are placed on the winning team. 592 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:08,600 Amen. Even though you didn't do it 593 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:12,480 right. Like imagine yourself on a team. 594 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:15,000 Imagine. I'm not. 595 00:37:15,440 --> 00:37:16,800 Let me do a sport. I'm not. 596 00:37:16,840 --> 00:37:20,600 I don't like basketball. Obviously that was never in the 597 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:23,360 cards for me. I've got a chip on my shoulder. 598 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:29,360 Suppose you're you're on the bench and the hero on the court. 599 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,600 Last second buzzer beater drains A3 to win the game. 600 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:35,920 Everybody goes crazy. Here's my question. 601 00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:37,920 Who gets those points, you or him? 602 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:44,960 Answer is both of you. He scored them, but you get them 603 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:46,920 because you're on the team. You get the victory. 604 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:49,680 That's what the gospel of Jesus is like. 605 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:53,920 Jesus defeated the enemy. He was perfect, He was holy, he 606 00:37:53,920 --> 00:37:56,320 was righteous. By virtue of faith and faith 607 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,920 alone, you are grafted into his team and you get his points. 608 00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,760 It's so massive to understand. This is why the Bible talks 609 00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:08,200 about how how salvation is apart from works of the law, but by 610 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:10,800 faith alone, because only faith alone grafts you into the team 611 00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:13,080 of Jesus. And what does this mean for you? 612 00:38:13,280 --> 00:38:18,760 It means you are born into a war between two different teams and 613 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:23,360 there are two trenches and there is no middle in the trenches. 614 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:24,760 And So what does this mean for you? 615 00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:27,320 It means that you should put your faith in Jesus. 616 00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:31,320 You should pronounce the devil, and you should give your 617 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:33,880 allegiance to the son of the woman, Jesus Christ. 618 00:38:34,320 --> 00:38:37,760 You have to understand that Christianity, Christianity is 619 00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:41,880 like, it's like sports betting. I'm not pastoring you. 620 00:38:41,880 --> 00:38:45,120 I'm not telling you to go download DraftKings. 621 00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:47,440 We're not supported by DraftKings. 622 00:38:48,640 --> 00:38:51,280 I'm saying it's, it's like that, right? 623 00:38:51,280 --> 00:38:52,760 I'm trying to, I'm trying to make a point here. 624 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:57,960 But unlike sports betting, God actually celebrates inside 625 00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:01,080 betting. You get in trouble for that and 626 00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:03,680 sports betting, God actually celebrates it. 627 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:07,000 If you have the Bible, you are an inside better. 628 00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:10,320 You know how the game is going to end. 629 00:39:11,240 --> 00:39:14,160 You know who's going to win the fight, You know who's going to 630 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:15,920 win the war. Like like what? 631 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:19,320 What would you do if you knew for a fact? 632 00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:25,080 Like we're talking about sport? You imagine you're a Sinner and 633 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:28,680 you bet on sports. I'm, I'm kidding, I don't bet on 634 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:33,800 sports, but I, I, it's fine, man, I wish I could walk that 635 00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:39,080 back. OK, but imagine you are betting 636 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:41,960 on the big game, right? That and imagine that you know 637 00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:45,280 for certain which team is going to win. 638 00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:50,400 I'm not talking like 99%, I'm talking 100%. 639 00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:55,800 Imagine you know for certain 100% what team is going to win. 640 00:39:56,040 --> 00:39:59,240 What's the responsible amount of money to bet on that game? 641 00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:06,800 All of it, all of it. Push all your chips in if we're 642 00:40:06,800 --> 00:40:09,120 at 100%. Put them all in. 643 00:40:09,520 --> 00:40:15,880 And so it's no wonder why Christianity demands all of our 644 00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:18,920 lives, right? Every, everything. 645 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:20,240 Faith. That's what faith is. 646 00:40:20,240 --> 00:40:24,520 It's a betting on Jesus as the witting team, a giving of all 647 00:40:24,520 --> 00:40:26,640 your heart, all your mind, all your life to Jesus. 648 00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:31,360 Faith is a confident allegiance of everything you have being 649 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:35,160 placed on Christ because you know that Jesus is going to win 650 00:40:35,160 --> 00:40:36,600 and crush the head of the serpent. 651 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:42,080 That's what faith is. So my encouragement to use to 652 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:45,560 get off the fence with Jesus and push all your chips in today. 653 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:48,240 Faith is the willingness to assume that everything that 654 00:40:48,240 --> 00:40:51,600 happens to you, whether you you win or lose in life, whether you 655 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:54,240 get the promotion or lose the job, whether you get the girl or 656 00:40:54,240 --> 00:40:57,240 lose the girl, whether you get the horrible diagnosis or have 657 00:40:57,240 --> 00:41:00,680 the results come back negative. It's it's the confident belief. 658 00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:03,480 Faith is the willingness to assume that if you were on 659 00:41:03,600 --> 00:41:08,080 Jesus's team, you are on the winning team. 660 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:12,440 No matter what, no matter what befalls you, no matter what 661 00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:16,480 happens to you, no matter how hard it gets, if you are in 662 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:23,720 Christ, you are Romans more than a conqueror on the winning team. 663 00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:26,080 That's what it means for you. What's that mean for you? 664 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:30,400 Well, it means that if you have the Holy Spirit, you will spend 665 00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:35,240 the rest of your lifetime on earth at war for the rest of 666 00:41:35,240 --> 00:41:41,560 your lifetime. So do not make peace with the 667 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:47,560 serpent, Fight against him. Renounce his ways. 668 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:50,200 Do not make peace with falsehood. 669 00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:54,760 Know the truth. Don't make peace with sin. 670 00:41:55,760 --> 00:42:00,480 Fight against the flesh. Don't make peace with cowardice. 671 00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:05,920 Be strong and courageous. Do not make peace with lukewarm 672 00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:09,600 spirituality. Fight for spiritual vigilance. 673 00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:17,320 Don't make peace with cynicism. Fight for hope, living hope. 674 00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:23,560 Take every impulse within you, even the violent ones, the anger 675 00:42:23,560 --> 00:42:26,360 and the rage, and commit to never using it against other 676 00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:28,240 people or neighbors or loved ones. 677 00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:33,400 Use every ounce of that to fight a war against sin, Satan, and 678 00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:37,040 even death itself, the enemies of our Lord Jesus Christ. 679 00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:42,200 Throw it off. Throw it all off Worship Jesus 680 00:42:42,200 --> 00:42:43,920 Christ. He's the living God. 681 00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:48,280 He's the living God and he alone will conquer the evil, the evil 682 00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:52,280 1 And if you are in Christ, you are more than a conqueror. 683 00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:55,520 If you're in Christ, you are on the winning team. 684 00:42:56,040 --> 00:43:00,080 He will be at war for you and he will give you peace. 685 00:43:00,080 --> 00:43:03,160 He's good stuff, Heavenly Father. 686 00:43:08,160 --> 00:43:11,200 It's just there's so much. The right word that comes from 687 00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:14,440 this is peace. There's so much peace and 688 00:43:14,440 --> 00:43:20,960 knowing that you were at war for us, that you are like David 689 00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:25,240 going before our army and doing the hard work for us and 690 00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:27,120 defeating and overthrowing Goliath. 691 00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:31,400 You are the seed of the woman who crushes the head of the 692 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:34,480 serpent. We we know how this ends. 693 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:41,040 I was just thinking about the great irony of not knowing how 694 00:43:41,040 --> 00:43:44,720 my own life is going to end, but knowing how all of human history 695 00:43:44,720 --> 00:43:48,160 is going to end. And so no matter how my life 696 00:43:48,160 --> 00:43:57,920 ends, whether I am peaking at 95 or limping with Parkinson's or 697 00:44:00,200 --> 00:44:04,800 taking early, whatever happens to me, whatever happens to us in 698 00:44:04,800 --> 00:44:09,120 these short momentary lives, we know how human history ends. 699 00:44:09,160 --> 00:44:16,160 It all culminates with the Son of God throwing the evil 1 into 700 00:44:16,160 --> 00:44:20,520 a lake of fire and us living with God in perfect bliss and 701 00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:23,720 pleasure forever. And so Lord you are. 702 00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:33,880 You are Christ the victor. You are the destroyer of death, 703 00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:39,800 Serpent Stomper the curse Crusher. 704 00:44:45,900 --> 00:44:52,180 Jump into his arms right now. Embrace him with every ounce of 705 00:44:52,180 --> 00:44:58,460 faith you have in you, and be of war against the flesh. 706 00:44:59,340 --> 00:44:59,620 Amen.