#49: Christmas Begins In The Garden

This week on Beyond the Pulpit, we trace Christmas back to the garden to answer why the world needed a Savior and how the promise in Genesis 3 points straight to Jesus. We talk about the serpent’s cunning, the Second Adam, and how to stand firm in a real spiritual battle.

• Genesis 3 as the true start of Christmas
• The serpent identified as Satan from Revelation 12
• Spiritual warfare as real yet under God’s rule
• Satan as created, limited, and dangerous
• How lies twist partial truths to tempt
• Jesus as the Second Adam who triumphs
• Hostility between the seeds and new birth
• Standing firm by knowing and trusting Scripture

Transcript

Kicking Off Christmas With Genesis 3

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Welcome to Beyond the Pulpit, exploring the life and ministry of Walnut Creek Church downtown. Walnut Creek Church exists to glorify God by making authentic disciples of Jesus Christ who love and worship him in all they do. Well, alright. Welcome to Beyond the Pulpit. My name is Derek Wadley, and I'm joined here by Lou Cookie. Hey. And Dan Rude. What's up, everybody? And uh Merry Christmas almost to everybody. Uh we kicked off our Christmas series this last weekend at church with that old Christmas classic Genesis 3. Um and so uh Why do we need Christmas? Why we need Christmas. Um so I had a number of conversations where people were like, I did not expect that. And then next week you're gonna need some more. Get ready this week. Buckle up. Buckle up. But yeah, I just thought it was such a good way to kick off Christmas, just to remind ourselves of like why we need Christmas.

The Old Testament As One Story

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Correct. Correct. Yeah. And and to uh remember the kind of the storyline of the old testament is it's it there are so many stories, so much is happening, so much of God's character is revealed. But one of the main themes is that it's tracing the line uh through whom the pro the seed of the woman would come. And I I think if you don't if you miss that out or miss if you leave that out of the Old Testament, um, what you end up with is a bunch of random stories that that appear to be disconnected. You know, it's like, oh, you have Gideon and you have Rahab and you have Moses and you have all these disconnected stories, but the Bible really is one story. And uh it's all it's all looking ahead to the seed of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent. The serpent and undo undo the the curse of sin and and bring blessing into the world. Yes. So it's it's a pretty cool, it's it's pretty it's a pretty cool story when you when you connect uh Genesis chapter three to all the way to the cross.

SPEAKER_00 2:05

I think it's pretty much it is also helpful with Christmas because you're like it in it gives the bigger meta-narrative like of why Christ actually came into the world, like how this is promised from the very beginning. It's not just now all of a sudden interjected into, but from the very beginning of uh uh the fall of mankind, God has always been, you know, he's had his his work of redemption is being carried out. Certainly.

The Second Adam And Our Need

SPEAKER_02 2:29

There's a lot of good conversation about how like Christ being born brings light into the world and like hope and like all these things, but it's like we will overlook the reason why that hope is even necessary. Certainly. Uh because like we we often just forget Jesus was born to die. He was born to die. He was born to die for us because of us.

Is The Serpent Satan

SPEAKER_01 2:49

That's exactly right. The new Adam. He is the new Adam. You know, the first Adam, he should have crushed the head of the serpent. That's what Adam should have done in the garden, but he didn't. He didn't fail. He failed. He failed, and we all have failed and sinned in Adam, and so we need the second Adam. So it's pretty cool. You know, one one uh uh key character in the story that uh is often uh minimized, and I think it's it's a it's appropriate not to make the emphasis of Genesis 3, the serpent, um, but he is definitely part of the story. Yep. And I didn't really have time to get into it this week, but uh I did do quite a bit of reading about the serpent this week. And one of the big debates is uh whether or not the serpent is Satan. Yeah. There's there's a whole uh wing of commentators who say this is this is just a serpent who is maybe uh demonically inspired. Uh that talks. That talks. Yeah, yeah. Um but I I don't think that's the case. I think it's right for uh us to understand verse one to be the devil.

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Yeah, especially when you look at Revelation, how John talks about uh the serpent or Satan, the ancient serpent. I don't remember exactly what verse it is on the page.

Spiritual Reality And Modern Life

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Yeah, it's Revelation 12, uh verse nine. It says, So the great dragon was thrown out, the ancient serpent who was called the devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. Pretty clear. There, yeah, there it is. The ancient serpent who is called the devil, who deceives the whole world. And uh and so what we are introduced to in chapter three is the reality that um the world is beautiful, like it's gorgeous, it's it's good, it's paradise, uh, but there is a spiritual battle that starts all the way back at the very beginning. And um, you know, it's something I've I've thought about over the years is is sometimes when I think about the the spiritual battle that we're in, I'm like, wait a second. So I believe I believe in demons and angels and uh Satan and God. And um, I'm like, that there's this whole invisible world uh that if we're Christians, we're committed to that world being just as real as the physical world. Yeah, and so so so I kind of feel a little bit crazy until I actually look at the world, and then I'm like, oh yeah, how do you explain what's going on in the world today? Like just in the last like 48 hours. I know.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

It's like what in the world?

SPEAKER_01 5:24

I mean, yeah, how how do we explain the world? And so I feel crazy believing in angels and demons, but I would feel much crazier not believing in angels and demons. That's how I feel.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

It'd be like a hard time sitting there, like not believing anything, but like people are inherently good and like that the universe is manifesting like it's goodness for me or something like that.

Satan Is Created And Limited

SPEAKER_01 5:48

I know. I know. So it's crazy. So there is a spiritual battle, and if we forget that we're in a spiritual battle, we're gonna be caught off guard all the time. Yeah, I mean, there is a real spiritual battle. Now, just a few details to notice about the serpent. Uh, I didn't have time to get into, but might be helpful. Verse one says the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. So first we learn that uh he's made. That he is he is a created being. So Satan, Satan is not eternal, um, and he's not ultimate, he's not infinite, he's not all-knowing, he's not omnipresent, you know. Yeah, he's he is um he is limited, he is a creature. And this is significant because some people think of God versus the devil, that God is this all-powerful good being, and the devil is this all-powerful evil being. But that's not actually the picture of the Bible. Like, yeah, they're like, yeah, there's like yin and yang. Yeah, yang and yang. You know, there's this light versus darkness. Now there is light versus darkness. Um, but God is eternally and infinitely greater than the devil. Yep. Uh Martin Luther says that the devil is God's devil. You know, there's no competition. Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Yeah, there's people are like anecdotally be like, oh, the devil's like trying to get me. It's like, I don't, I don't know. I don't think the devil, it's like he's not omnipotent, and I'm pretty sure that he had nothing to do with like this tiny little situation, but that maybe that like global conflict, yeah. He has something to do with it. Certainly.

SPEAKER_00 7:29

Well, when you look at Job and Satan has to get permission, you know. That's exactly right. He can't just go do what he wants to do. That's exactly right.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Yeah, because in in a battle at uh in in war, uh I've been uh reading about uh World War I lately, and um there are pills. I've been reading the Bible. Thanks, Luke.

SPEAKER_02 7:51

World War I might be more of a mystery to me than the Bible at this point.

Dangerous Yet Not Ultimate

SPEAKER_01 7:54

I still can't tell you what it was about, or like I would admit that on the admitted ignorance. Yeah. Peter Hart, he wrote a book on World War I, and it's it's wild. But the the book is about it just explains how World War I began, but then how um there were several points in the war where it was really unclear how the battle was going to go. Like who's gonna win? I mean, like, you know, who is it is it gonna be Germany who's gonna win, you know, or is it gonna be uh France and Great Britain and Russia? What's gonna happen? Russia at one point loses, they actually lose the war, they concede like half the country, anyways. But it it's back and forth. You don't know exactly how this is gonna go. Um, but in the spiritual battle, there is no uncertainty here. You know, from from the very beginning, uh God who is ultimate, uh, he's he's in control. And so we see the devil, but we ought not fear the devil. That's right. We ought we ought not uh pretend like the that the devil is uh an equal competitor to God. Um so one commentator said uh the serpent, the devil, is not is is not ultimate, but he is dangerous. And that's how the Bible treats the devil. Yeah. Well he's not ultimate, but he is dangerous. Prowls around like a roaring lion. Yes, looking for someone to devour. And he devours people. And even if Satan is not uh if even if Satan is not individually tempting people, uh his temptations spread far and wide. His lies, you know, that's what he does. He's a liar. He's a father of lies. And so for the for the lies of the devil to go all over the place, in a sense, is to be uh uh is to be attacked by the devil. And um, but so he we do have a we do have an enemy.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

Well, in in the Bible does, I mean he gives the Bible uh describes Satan with great power, you know, the prince of the power of the air in Ephesians. Yes. And so there there is like a real sense of power that the devil does have. Influence, certainly the devil does have. But as you said, uh the devil's not ultimate. It's not he the devil's not greater than God.

When Did Satan Fall

SPEAKER_01 10:05

He is not equal to God, he's he's infinitely beneath God. Yes, uh the Lord. Um and um we're introduced to him in chapter uh three, verse one, and it says that he is the most cunning. He is cunning. Yep, he's clever, he's a schemer. Um, he is a he is a an angel of of light. And um he comes to the woman and he tempts the woman, uh, he tempts Eve. And uh one question that I know I I've had, I'm sure a lot of people have had, we didn't have time to get into it, is just when when did Satan fall? Uh Jesus says in Luke 10, verse 18, uh, if you want to uh see a uh a passage or a verse that indicates the the divinity of Jesus, uh Luke 10, verse 18. Do you have it there? Yeah. I hope it's the right verse. It is. It is.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Um yeah, 10 or 18, he says, uh he said to them, I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Whoa.

Cunning Lies And Seed Of Doubt

Twisting Truth To Drive Autonomy

SPEAKER_01 11:09

What a state, what a statement, Jesus. Jesus is like, yeah, I saw him fall from heaven like lightning. What? So Satan fell. Um he fell. And the question is, when? When did he fall? And you know, did he fall uh years before, uh millennia before this encounter? Um there are a few basic views, but I think I think one of the most common views is that we are reading about the fall of Satan. Exactly. Uh so in Genesis chapter three, as as Satan, the serpent, is tempting Eve, deceiving Eve, and uh bringing Adam uh uh into sin, that is the fall of the devil as well. So it's it is the same act. Yeah. Now one comes first though, the serpent. Yeah, so the serpent comes first. Uh but the serpent, he's the one initiating the evil. So God is not initiating the evil. Uh man, Adam and Eve are not initiating the evil. The serpent is the one initiating the evil. And so originally that's where that's where the evil is coming from. Uh you know, God made a good world, but there is a rebellion, uh, cosmic rebellion. There is a cosmic rebellion. And um, and so he he lies. He lies to the woman. Now, what's kind of interesting about these lies, the lies from from the devil, is that they're not by definition lies. Oh boy. Dan, what do you mean? It is deceit in but if you if you read what he actually says, you know, yeah, uh he asks a question in verse one. Did God really say you can't eat from any tree in the garden? It's a question. So it's not it's not um it's not a lie per se. It's uh question though to get you to question. Exactly. It's it's one commentator called it the seed of doubt. He's planting the seed of doubt in her mind. He he's cracking the door open. It's it is an attack on the very character of God and the word of God, but it's not technically a lie. Right, right. And then this is where it gets real trippy, really, really trippy. Um in verse five, in verse four, he says, No, you will certainly not die. The serpent said to the woman. Yeah. Now that is a reference back to Genesis 2.16. So the the serpent knows what God has said. Yep. Verse 16. And the Lord God commanded the man, you are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die. On the day you eat from it, you will certainly die. Now, I think this is speculation, uh, but I think Satan knew that if Adam and Eve ate from the tree, they would not die physically. I think so. So when he says you will certainly not die, I think he knows on the day that they eat from the tree, they will not God will eat that. He knows there's a death. He knows there's a death, but but he knows that they're gonna remain physically alive. I think he knows, or at least he's counting on it. Yeah. And he was right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

Like the the the physical death is yeah, it's not it's not the death God had in mind. It's like the the physical death is nothing compared to like the actual death experience.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Yeah. Separation from God. And I I think that when God says you will certainly die, I think God means uh if you get what you deserve, you will die spiritually and physically, and you will be cut off eternally and kicked out eternally. I think that's what he means when he says that. I think so. But the devil says, wait a second, God's not gonna kill you. Yeah, he's not gonna kill you. He's not gonna do it. You're his crown jewel. Yeah, you're his crown, you're yeah, that's what that's what he's banking on. And so, in one sense, you know, the the the statement, no, you will certainly not die, it's like true and not true. It's like true and not true. It's it's framed a certain way. Yeah, which we're this is uh Moses showing us the cunning nature of the devil.

Jesus Counters With Scripture

SPEAKER_00 15:26

And I can imagine, you know, the way that it gets said is with a sense of persuasion of no, you he's like, no, you won't die. Like, no way. It's not like monotone, no, you're not. He's not screaming at them. But I think there's a sense of, yeah, like there's uh the way it's spoken is with a uh a sense of he's genuine, you know, he's sincere. I mean that's how the best best uh if you want to be convincing of the lie or the deception you're telling is you need to you need to present the emotion that you know that's the most convincing with it, or the smooth talk of the devil.

Hostility, Two Seeds, Two Families

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Smooth talk of the devil. No, you will certainly not die. Verse five. In fact, God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil. Okay, so here's the question Um, is that true? Yes, and no. I know, yes, I know. See, that's the way the devil works. Yeah, it's like true and not true. It's like he frames, he reframes the truth of God's word. He it's like he's taking God's word and reframing it. It's he's perverting it, he's he's twisting it, he's twisting it. So he's actually saying something that's true. And this is really hard for for us to wrestle with because you look at verse five. In fact, God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God knowing good and evil. Is it is it true? Yes, yeah, but God knows that on the day you eat from it, when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil. Look at verse six or verse seven. They ate from it, the tree in verse six, verse seven, then the eyes of both of them were opened. Their eyes were opened. Later in chapter three, verse twenty-two, the Lord God said, Since the man has become like one of us, whoa, knowing good and evil. Whoa. So it's a reframing uh of the truth to to motivate, to drive disobedience, uh, to drive autonomy, to move us away from what God has said. So he is cunning. He is cunning. He is cunning.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

The yeah, the I mean the best lies mm highlight the the benefit, minimize the punishment, and sound just adjacent to the truth. Yeah. Just adjacent. So it's like the it's like if he came and it's like, you know, if you God doesn't want you to do that because if you eat it, you'll turn into a hippo or whatever. I know. It's kind of like, well, I mean, I'm like, the hippos don't get to like hang out with God the way that we do. I know. Uh I know. It's but you know, it's like any silly lie is like the the lies that we struggle with are the ones that sound they're mixed with truth. They're mixed with truth, mixed with actual truth.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

I know. I know. And that these lies, the reframing of the truth to motivate disobedience, it moves even, verse six. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, delightful to look at, and it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. Now, is that true?

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Yes. I mean, searching verse nine. Yeah, so she's looking at the same tree.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

So the the tree is not is it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it it's it doesn't have like um um demons you know hanging on it. Crawling along, crawl, you know, there aren't giants crawling out of the fruit or whatever. No. That's not what it is. Everything that God made was good.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Uh do you want to read Luke? Do you want to read Genesis 2 9? Yeah, the Lord caused the uh caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Born Again Into God’s Family

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Yeah, so what she saw was in one sense Right. Right. It it wasn't like it was a mirage. She saw that the tree was good for food. God says that tree is good for good for food. That means that the this is so interesting. That means that the fruit, in and of itself, may have been indistinguishable from the other fruit. So people call people say it's the poisonous apple. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's no poison. Right. There's no poison. It's probably a figure. Whatever the whatever the new fruit was. Probably a fig tree. I mean if it comes with fig leaves, yeah. Maybe. But um uh but but they're the fruit was probably good for food. Right. It w there's nothing inherent in it. Yeah. You know there's some fruit you know, fruit that grows on trees. If you eat it, it'll kill you. It'll kill you or Make you sick. But I don't think that's the case. I think it was good for food. Because God said it was good for food. Right. So the sin isn't just if you eat it, you will this the sin is not that the fruit will make you sick.

unknown 20:13

Right.

Waging War By Loving Christ

SPEAKER_01 20:14

It's the it's the issue over what has God said. Yeah. And who will you trust? And who will you trust? Who will you obey? That's exactly what it is. Yeah. And that's that's exactly what the devil does today. Yeah. And when he goes after the Lord Jesus, when you know, in the in the wilderness, Satan, the same Satan, the same serpent, shows up quoting and misquoting scripture. The scriptures. And Jesus He don't fall for that. Jesus is like, wait a second, I'm I'm the word here. And he he responds to the devil misquoting the word of God. Satan misquotes the word of God. Um in the garden, Eve misquotes the word of God. But when Jesus is tempted by the devil, who the devil who's misquoting the word of God, Jesus takes takes out uh the word of God, the sword of the spirit, and wins. Verse free. It's because he knows God's word. And not only does he know it, he trusts God's word. And um, and I I I've I haven't been able to get that idea out of my head for the last week or so. As I've been studying it, I'm just like, oh man, that's the battle. That's the battle that we're in. Yeah, yep. It's do will we know God's word? Yeah, and will we trust God's word? Will we trust what God says? Or will we just live according to our feelings?

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Yeah, because I mean, you know, you jump back, jump not back, forward into Ephesians, and Paul talks about the devil series several times. And one of those he says, uh, verse 11, chapter 6, put on the full armor of God so you can stand against the schemes of the devil. Yes, that's right. And uh and so, or Paul in Corinthians talks about our our war is not against flesh and blood, uh, but it's against the ideas. And so, how do we actually stand against the devil and his schemes, his cunningness, his deception is like we have to know what's true.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

And we have to stand on it. We gotta know it and stand on it. Um otherwise we're just we're ripe. You know, we're just we're positioned so badly uh to to be deceived, to be tricked. Verse 15 when God judges the devil, he says, I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring, or between your seed and her seed, he will strike your head and you will strike his heel. And uh verse this verse fifteen, some commentators uh point out just how this is a mercy, it's the mercy of God that God would put hostility between because see, there isn't hostility right now in the garden. There's no hostility. No see, Adam Adam and Eve, they are approaching the devil, or the devil's approaching them, I should say, as if there's no hostility.

SPEAKER_02 23:02

There's no separation, no wall, no weirdness.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

They're just interacting with creation. That's all that's going on. But but um verse 15 says, I will God says, I will put hostility. I'm gonna put hostility between you, the serpent, and the woman. Um, I'm gonna break the alliance, the allegiance, the the relationship between Eve and Satan, uh, which is an act of God's mercy. And then he says, and between your offspring and her offspring. Wait a second. Satan has offspring? Wait a moment. Uh how does Satan have offspring? And this is so interesting. Uh in chap in 1 John chapter 3, um, he talks about uh let's see, let me find the verse here. Um 1 John chapter 3. It says, Little ch verse 7, little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right, righteous, the one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who commits sin is of the devil. Wait a second. He's of the devil. The one who sins is of the devil.

unknown 24:18

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

For the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose to destroy the devil's works. Everyone who is born of God does not sin because God's seed remains in him. He is not able to sin because God he has been born of God. Now, this is this is how God's children and the devil's children become obvious. Whoa. Whoever does whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother. And so here, John is saying, there are the children of the devil. Now, who are the children of the devil?

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:58

People in rebellion to God. People, yeah. And so what that means is when a little baby comes out of the womb, because we're all in Adam, they're not they're not born children of God.

unknown 25:09

No.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

They're born, our default setting is to be children of the devil. Whoa. Ephesians 2, same. Same same idea. Same idea. And that's that's part of the glory of the gospel, is that that in Christ, uh, we become children of the new Adam. We become children of God. And co-heirs with Christ. But we are born again into this new family. And um and that's the basic uh war that's that's playing out in the world today. It's the hostility of the devil and the flesh against the seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus Christ, and all who are in him. And uh it's such a it's such a joy and a privilege to be born, uh, to be born again, to have a new life, to be in the family of God. And um, and the way we wage that war, it's not by hating people, but it's by loving Christ. It's by obeying Christ and knowing his word, proclaiming his word, taking our stand on his word.