December 1, 2024

Genesis 3:15

Advent Foreshadowed

Sunday Sermons

The Old Testament presents us with a beautiful tapestry of anticipation, weaving together promises, prophecies, and types that all point forward to and find their fulfillment in Jesus.

As we gather to observe Advent we celebrate the fulfillment of these elements foreshadowing the first appearance of Christ, who came  to dwell among us and the second appearance when Christ will return to consummate His kingdom and set the world to rights.

Join Pastor Jim as he reminds us that while Advent season begins in the dark, with longing in our hearts, it invites us to wait with hope for the coming of the Light of the World. We are the people of Advent, remembering God’s faithfulness in the past and trusting in His promises for the future!

Speaker

Jim Thomas

Series

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

Go to Series

Scripture

Genesis 3:15

Topics
Growth & Discipleship

Sermon Notes

What does the term “Advent” mean? It comes from the Latin word adventus, which means “appearing” or “arrival.” In the Christian church, Advent is a season in which believers reflect back in time on the first appearance of Christ—His incarnation—and look forward in time, with anticipation, to His second appearance—His return in glory.

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

  • Advent Foreshadowed – Sunday, December 1
  • Advent Promised – Sunday, December 8
  • Advent Fulfilled – Sunday, December 15
  • Advent Fully Realized – Sunday, December 22
  • Advent Proclaimed – Tuesday, December 24

— Where did everything come from?
— Does God exist? If so, who is God and what is God like?
— Who am I? What does it mean to be a human person?
— Do our lives have any real meaning or purpose?
— Why does it seem like something has gone wrong with the world?
— Is there any hope for our redemption?

“The beginning of the Bible is wonderful, awe-inspiring, heartbreaking, cautionary, and hope-instilling all at once. Since God created us to be meaning-makers, he immediately presents us with the wonderful and awful realties that we need to understand in order to make proper sense of who we are and what life is really all about.”
Paul Tripp, Everyday Gospel

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Genesis 3:15

In Genesis 3:15 we see the beauty of a promise in the midst of a curse: The protoevangelium

1. A Cosmic Conflict: Rebellion vs Redemption

“The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.”
John Stott

2. A Divine Solution: A Deliverer Will Come

“In the birth of our Savior, we have received something that is beyond our deserving, beyond our preparations, beyond our human potential, beyond our expectations—that comes to us, in the words of beloved carols, in a ‘silent night,’ in the ‘dark streets,’ ‘in the bleak midwinter,’ in ‘such a world as this,’ to ‘save us all from Satan’s power.’”
Fleming Rutledge

3. A Victorious Savior: Christus Victor

“And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.”
Romans 16:20

“And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Revelation 20:7-12

Christus Victor
Satisfactio
Substitutio Vicaria

“There are some wells that don’t run dry. Some horizons that expand as you approach. Some stories that reach back forever, forward into eternity, down to the depths of mystery, and up to the heights of glory. Advent is one of those. It is inexhaustible.”
John Piper

How should we respond?

  1. Recognize the reality of the battle
  2. Rest in the grace of God
  3. Live with confidence in Christ

Discussion Questions

1. Was it surprising to learn that the gospel starts in Genesis? When you think about the story of Jesus have you previously limited it to the New Testament only?

2. Does knowing about the “proto evangelism” or “first gospel” (Genesis 3:15) change your perception about God’s love for us? How long did it take for God to enact his salvation plan after Adam and Eve transgressed? Were they required to do anything to enact His plan?

3. How did God show gratuitous grace, provision and protection to Adam and Eve amid the curses?

4. Pastor Jim pointed out that Adam and Eve committed the first religious act when they tried to cover themselves with man-made clothes. Are there times in your life when you use other tactics to cover your sin rather than come to Jesus for redemption, renewal and forgiveness? Can you identify them?

5. How do the questions Satan asks differ from the questions God asks Adam and Eve? What do you tell yourself regularly? Who are you listening to?

6. The sermon started with a list of common questions that humans face everyday. In light of this passage in Genesis, do you feel better equipped to answer any of these questions for those who are experiencing them?

7. Of the three fancy latin phrases theologians use to describe God’s redemption for humans which one do you find most inspiring? Have you heard of them before?

  • Christus Victor- The theory of atonement by Christ’s triumph over sin though His death and resurrection.
  • Satisfactio- The theory that satisfies God’s Justice
  • Substitutio Vicaria- the substitutional sacrifice Jesus paid in our place once and for all.

8. We were encouraged by the sermon to recognize the reality of the battle, rest in the grace of God and live with confidence in Christ. Which do you find the most challenging?

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs:

“Angels From The Realm Of Glory“ by James Montgomery
“Hark The Herald Angels Sing“ by Text: Charles Wesley Music: Felix Mendelssohn
“O Little Town Of Bethlehem“ by Phillips Brooks and Lewis Henry Redner
“Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus“ by Music: Stralsund Gesangbuch, Words by Charles Wesley, Arranged by Keith Getty, orch. by Paul Campbell and John Langley
“Christus Victor (Amen)“ by Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty. Matt Boswell, Matt Papa, Bryan Fowler
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois

All songs are used by Permission. CCLI License #200369

Call To Worship: Advent Foretold

Leader: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
People: He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him.

Leader: In him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
People: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Leader: The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
All: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Confession

Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against You this day, in thought, word, and deed; by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole hearts; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us, that we may delight in Your will, and walk in Your ways, to the glory of Your Name. Grant to Your people pardon and peace, that in Your great mercy, we may be forgiven all our sins, and serve You with a quiet and contrite heart. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Classic Prayer: John Murray, 1898–1975

Father, during Advent, as we consider the event when “the infinite became finite, the eternal and supra-temporal entered time and became subject to its conditions, the immutable became mutable, the invisible became the visible, the Creator became the created, the Sustainer of all became dependent, the Almighty infirm,” we are humbled and grateful to begin to understand that “it all is summed up in the proposition, ‘God became man'”…and even more, that he is Immanuel, God with us.

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