November 26, 2021 – Genesis 3:15 & 1 John 3:8

So, at Baxter, I am preaching through the birth narratives of Luke’s Gospel. I got to thinking, as I wrapped up the Psalms, yesterday, about the Old Testament prophecies about Messiah and their fulfillment in the New Testament. Being too lazy to try to start from scratch and to discover and pull out all the Old Testament prophecies, I did a quick internet search and, from the JesusFilm folks, came across a list of 51 prophecies. Under the heading “Christ's ministry will destroy the devil's work,” they mention Genesis 3:15 and its fulfillment.

“And I will put enmity

between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Fulfillment: “The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1John 3:8).

I think we need always to be careful about seeing a single text as THE fulfillment of an OT prophecy. In fact, Jesus’ defeat of Satan and destruction of his works is seen in so many places in the NT: Jesus’ victory over Satan’s temptations, his many miracles, his confrontation of the demonic, his raising of the dead and, in particular, his defeat of sin on the cross. But the verse from 1 John does certainly, to me, seem to encapsulate all this. Our Christ has crushed Satan’s head, and he has included us in his victory!

The foe in triumph shouted

when Christ lay in the tomb;

but lo, he now is routed,

his boast is turned to gloom.

For Christ again is free;

in glorious victory

he who is strong to save

has triumphed o'er the grave. --Paul Gerhardt (17th century)