Pastor Maselo Mosomane
“So the LORD God said to the serpent: ‘because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.’” Genesis 3:14-15
To the serpent God said “you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field” This differs with the verdict God pronounced over Adam and Eve. Of course they were all guilty. But their sentence and that of the serpent were not the same. The serpent was curse, but they were not. Instead; the ground was cursed. To Adam God said “cursed is the ground for your sake”
To be cursed is to be an outcast – an outlaw. We need to understand that Satan was outlawed in heaven and was cast down on earth. He was thrown out of heaven and cast to the earth. He had the right to be here because that’s where he was thrown. He who banished him from heaven allowed him to be on earth. But he messed that up when he robbed man. This brought a curse upon his life. Since that day he lost the right to be on earth. Hell was prepared for him. If that be the case; why is he still here? Why did Jesus call him the ruler of this world? (John 12:31; 16:11) and Paul call him the god of this world? 2 Corinthians 4:4.
In the first place Satan was not the ruler of this world or the god of this world – man was. That title belonged to man. Man was governor of the earth. But when Satan lied to him he unknowingly handed his title over to Satan. He handed his right to rule and subdue the earth over to Satan. That’s how Satan became the ruler and the god of this world. He is ruler and god over the world not in his own right; he is using man’s lease to assume the position of “ruler” and “god” and as soon as this lease expires he’s going to loose it all.
Unfortunately for Satan, God foreknew this and had already arranged for Adam’s substitution. God had intended for man and his seed to govern the earth. But man failed when Satan deceived his wife. Instead of defending his domain and call her to order, he succumbed. Instead of working and take care of the Garden he allowed the devil in his territory.
When God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden He said he should take care of it. “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.” To keep is to take care of. To take care of is to act as security against intruders. Adam was supposed to guard the kingdom but he allowed the intruder to challenge his authority.
Throughout the serpent’s conversation with Adam’s wife; Adam was there. When his wife added to God’s commandment, he was there and never corrected her. “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Genesis 3:2-3. Do you see the addition? “…nor shall you touch it” God never said that; Eve said it. But Adam never corrected her. “So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too” Genesis 3:6 NLT. Do you see it? He was there with her.
Because of this negligence of responsibility Adam lost his position and was demoted. Hear what God says when He passed judgment upon the serpent; ‘because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.’
We are not so much concerned with the curse and the fact that the serpent will go on his belly and that he shall eat dust all the days of his life. This may bother the serpent’s children but not us. We don’t even pay attention as such. What affects us is the last part of the sentence. God said; “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Look at the way the seed of the woman is spelled; it is spelled with capital “S.” In the last part of the sentence there is also reference to the Seed. A pronoun “He” is also spelled with a capital. Is there any significance in this? Yes; there is!
The Seed referred to here is Jesus. When Adam lost his estate, he was demoted and substituted by the Seed of the woman. It is in this part of the sentence that God announced a replacement. Just as Adam handled it wrong and got the whole human race in all this trouble of sin and death, another was necessary to do it right and get the human race back on track. Adam’s act of disobedience cannot be left to be a way of life for it leads to death and death eternal. The disobedient Adam must be replaced by the obedient One.
They say in the business world; if the company is under-performing the first thing you have to do is to fire the CEO and replace him with another. We see it also in soccer. If the team is not winning games the blame is on the coach and he is replaced. Through Adam the human race was under-performing. God who is the owner of this human business had to solve the problem. He fired Adam and replaced him with someone from the head office.
Jesus is the new CEO of the human race. He is the One who is from head office. Jesus is the right One for the task. He comes from heaven and not from earth. He has never sinned. He obeyed God to the point of death; even the cruel death of the cross. Philippians 2:8. He was not the seed of Adam. He is the Seed of the woman. In other words; He was not conceived through human fertilization. The Holy Spirit came upon a virgin and she fell pregnant. Luke 1:35 He was not born of the will of man nor of a corruptible sin of man but an incorruptible seed of God. It was not Adam’s blood that flowed in His veins.
Adam got us in trouble; Jesus got us out of trouble. Adam introduced us to sin and death; Jesus introduced us to life and life eternal. Adam says ‘we are naked; let’s run and hide ourselves.’ Jesus says “come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30. Adam got us in jail and could not pay our bail. Jesus came not to pay our bail but our fine. Praise God He paid our fine. “The verdict on that one sin was the death sentence; the verdict on the many sins that followed was this wonderful life sentence.” Romans 5:16 The Message. Death sentence that came through the sin of Adam is substituted by this wonderful life sentence.
Jesus is the ultimate substitution for a failing Adam. If God wouldn’t have taken this decision, the whole human race would plunge into the lake of fire with Adam. With Adam “the blind lead the blind? …they …both fall into the ditch” Luke 6:39. Jesus is “…the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through (Him).” John 14:6
Friend; we have a choice to make; to remain with the fallen Adam or to follow Jesus – the way, the truth, and the life. We’ve a choice to make; “to turn …from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that (we) may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Him.” Acts 26:18.
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