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welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God before our call to worship this evening you can turn in your Bibles to the book of Revelation Revelation chapter 21 Revelation chapter 21 I'll pick up reading in verse 22 and read to 22:5 revelation 21 beginning in verse 22 but I saw no temple in it for the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple the city had no need of the Sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it the lamb is its light and the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it its gates shall not be shut at all by day there shall be no night there and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nation's into it but there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and he showed me a pure river of water of life clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the lamb in the middle of its street and on either side of the river was the Tree of Life which bore twelve fruits each tree yielding its fruit every month the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation's and there shall be no more curse but the throne of God and of the lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him they shall see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads there shall be no night there they need no lamp nor light of the Sun for the Lord God gives them light and they shall reign forever and ever amen well please turn in your Trinity Psalter to Psalm 100 Psalm 100 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] well let us pray father again we thank you for a blessed day we thank you that we are given this gift from on high even that Sabbath rest we thank you for your kind provision and for your mercy and your grace we praise you that these Lord's days are for tastes of heaven above and how we look forward to that eternal state that we just read up in the book of Revelation how we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ and for his work on our behalf how we thank you that he secured for us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places that he is brought out for us justification and sanctification and glorification how we praise you that our our eternal state is most secure and most blessed and it will be most wondrous and glorious when we as your people are in the presence of God Most High even Father Son and Holy Spirit may these things encourage our hearts and may these things spur us on to holiness and righteousness as John said everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure help us Lord God to think often on heaven to think often on that eternal state to think often on what our Lord Jesus Christ has done on behalf of all those whom the father has given him how we thank you for your blessedness and for your glory how we praise you for your sovereignty and for your power for God as we survey the gospel in our own lives we see our own sinfulness or waywardness or rebellion against you and yet you conquered us by your grace how we thank you that you've granted us faith and repentance to see and respond to the Savior in the way that the Bible sets forth and how we thank you that you have forgiven us for our sins for our iniquities and our transgressions how you have blot out all sin and wickedness and Lord God may these things constantly and frequently encourage and strengthen our hearts we ask tonight that you would be enthroned upon our praises as we sing that you would communicate to us by err word and spirit that you would help us to receive with grateful and thankful hearts that word of God that authoritative infallible and inerrant Word that were given by inspiration of God that word that's profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction and for instruction in righteousness may you help us to see the the blessedness of Holy Scripture and the fact that it does thoroughly furnish us unto every good work we would pray tonight that your Holy Spirit would be at work in our minds and in our hearts that he would be at work in this place taking the Word of God making it effectual to the hearer we pray for those who have not come to Christ those who have not believed the gospel we pray father that the Spirit would work that out in their hearts bringing conviction for sin showing them their their depravity before a holy God and showing them the way of salvation to the father through the son and the power of the Holy Spirit may God be all in all in this gathering together tonight and may you be worshiped and glorified and honored we ask that you would look with favor on our local church we all have many issues and struggles and trials and difficulties and we pray that you would speak to us through Scripture on on appropriately to the various things that we are going through we pray for the sick among us that you would watch over them we pray for the new Feld's that you would give them physical strength and health and give them growth and grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus and caused them Lord God to rejoice in their Savior be with our dear sister Beth and may you watch over her and may you strengthen her spiritually in the inner man and may you give her relief from her many aches and pains and trials in her in her physical frame and Lord God we pray that she would just continue to longed to be with the people of God and father we pray that we would be able to see her with us we also ask Lord God for others in our congregation those known to you father going through various things we just commit them to you into the word of your grace and pray that you would look with favor and mercy upon them we pray for the governing authorities in this land the Apostle tells us we are to pray for kings and all who are in authority so that we may lead peaceable and quiet lives it grieves us to see the sorts of things that are done not only authorized but even subsidized by tax monies at times god we cry out to you that you in your wrath you would remember mercy and that you would send forth your glorious gospel we do take interest in things politic but Lord God we know that ultimately it's not politics that will save man it's the Lord Jesus Christ so we pray that your churches would be marked by a spirituality that your churches would be a church people of Prayer the people committed to the Word of God that gospel preaching would go forth in this land that many would come to say salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord and for those in high places of government we pray that you'd put the fear of God in their hearts the the king of Israel even David himself told the surrounding nations to to kiss the son to bow to Messiah to confess him as Lord lest they perish in his way when his wrath is kindled but a little we ask Lord God that you would be merciful to these persons cause them to govern according to righteousness according to justice according to those things that seem so foreign in this day and age Lord God have mercy we pray and be merciful as well and the various nations that that do not enjoy the degree of Liberty that we have we think of those steeped and in nature nation steeped in Islam where the people of God oftentimes suffer and in other nations where Buddhists and where Hindus and these so-called peace-loving religions often target the people of God Most High and they destroy them and they make life miserable for them we pray for our suffering brothers and sisters that you would uphold them that you would encourage them to aggress in the grace to persevere in the midst of such trial and may they indeed confess Jesus Christ as Lord in every situation and in every circumstance and we do pray for gospel preaching to go forth throughout the various nations of the your purpose is to save a great multitude that no man can number from every tribe and every tongue and every people a nation and Lord God we see even in this passage in Revelation where the nations of the earth there were the nations of the manner gathered together in the New Jerusalem and Lord God we look forward to that day but we know that that day is not now so we pray that the gospel would go forth and that Jesus Christ would have dominion from sea to sea we pray as well Lord God that you'd bless other churches in our community thank you that we're not alone in this city we pray for other churches that you would bless them that you would prosper them that you would use them for your glory in the preaching of the gospel and in the the edification and building up of the People of God and Lord we pray now forgive us for our sins and our transgressions Lord God cleanse us in that fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness wash us and purge us and thoroughly cleanse us from all iniquity and grant us the help now to approach you in a manner that is consistent with the written word with fear with trembling and with great joy and with great encouragement that our God is the God who tells sinners even Jerusalem sinners who murdered Messiah to repent and to turn and to enjoy the the blotting out of sins to enjoy times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord to enjoy the presence of the Lord Himself God this does demonstrate and it does display to us your great grace and the richness of your mercy and may these things always encourage our hearts and we pray these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen well please turn with me in your Trinity hymnal to him number 19 hymn number 19 will stand as we sing together [Music] you can turn in your Bibles for our scripture reading to the prophet Micah we are in Micah chapter 7 Micah chapter 7 remember that Micah was a contemporary with Isaiah both of whom prophesied concerning the fall of the southern kingdom and we saw in this book in this prophecy how Micah functions as a prosecuting attorney on behalf of Yahweh calling the people to repentance and faith calling the people to deal with their sin and to come to God and Micah chapter 7 I'll pick up reading in verse 1 woe is me for I am like those who gather summer fruits like those who glean vintage grapes there is no cluster to eat of the first ripe fruit which my soul desires the faithful man has perished from the earth and there is no one upright among man they all lie and wait for blood every man hunts his brother with a net that they may successfully do evil with both hands the prince has asked for gifts the judge seeks a bribe and the great man others his evil desire so they schemed together the best of them is like a Brier the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge the day of your Watchmen and your punishment comes now shall be their perplexity do not trust in a friend do not put your confidence in a companion guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom for Sun dishonours father daughter rises against her mother daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law a man's enemies of the man of his own household therefore I will look to the Lord I will wait for the God of my salvation my God will hear me do not rejoice over me my enemy when I fall I will arise when I sit in darkness the Lord will be a light to me I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he pleads my case and executes justice for me he will bring me forth to the light I will see his righteousness then she who is my enemy will see and shame will cover her who to me where is the Lord your God my eyes will see her now she will be trampled down like mud in the streets in the day when your walls are to be built in that day the decree shall go far and wide in that day shall come to you from Assyria and the fortified cities from the fortress to the river from sea to sea and mountain to mountain yet the land shall be desolate because of those who dwell in it and for the fruit of their deeds Shepherd your people with your staff the flock of your heritage who dwell solitarily in a woodland in the midst of Carmel let them feed in Batian and Gilead as in days of old as in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt I will show them wonders the nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might they shall put their hand over their mouths their ears shall be deaf they shall lick the dust like a serpent they shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth they shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of you who is a God like you pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy he will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea you will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham which you have sworn to our fathers from days of old a man well the book certainly ends on a high note where the Prophet highlights the mercy and the Grace and the goodness of God I said earlier that this is an indictment against the nation for their sin and rebellion against God it's an announcement that they will in fact ultimately reap the consequences for having violated the covenant but nevertheless the Prophet ends on this high note of great hope he asks the question which is really literally his name the name Micah means who is a god like you and he asks that in verse 18 and then he answers or he demonstrates or he displays why that question who is a god like you pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the of his heritage so the announcement of doom is calm but there is this call to faith and repentance and with that call to faith and repentance there is this promise that God does pardon iniquity God does pass over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage and then it goes on to say he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy that's the God whom we serve it's always disconcerting to me when men misrepresent dot and they sort of fashion God as if he's this harsh taskmaster who's not bountiful in mercy and grace who's not like the father of the prodigal who runs and falls on the son that is to misrepresent the Lord God Most High we need to capture what Micah says here concerning our God he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy if our God the God that we preach or proclaim is not a God who delights in mercy it's certainly not the God of the Bible the God of the Bible is a God who delights in mercy and then he goes on in verse 19 to say he will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities he will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea go back for just a moment to verse 15 as in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt I will show them wonders what happened on the day that they came out of the land of Egypt God cast the Egyptians into the sea to devastate to demet and to destroy them so the Prophet picks up that sort of an image and he says the same thing with reference to our sin in verse 19 you will also or you will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea the way those Egyptians were decimated so the Lord our God will deal with our sins and we ought to be encouraged about that we ought to be greatly comforted by that and we ought to delight in the fact that our God is a God who delights in mercy well let us pray our Father thank you for this your written word thank you for the prophets thank you for their announcements of not only judgment but of blessing thank you that they point us to the Lord Jesus that they pointed the Old Covenant people that Messiah that would come that would save his people from their sins god help us to understand what scripture says concerning who you are concerning your perfections concerning your attributes concerning the the God whom we serve and worship and love and honor and may these things be very practical in our own hearts and lives may the doctrine of God afford us great great comfort as we consider things like the prophet Micah specifies here continue with us we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well for our final hymn you can turn in your Trinity hymnal again to 173 hymn number 173 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] you can turn in your Bibles to the book of Genesis Genesis chapter 3 I figured we'd finish Genesis chapter 3 last Sunday night we looked at the temptation to sin in verses 1 to 5 and then the fall into sin verses 6 to 7 and then the reckoning with God in verses 8 to 13 tonight we'll consider the consequences of the fall for the serpent the devil the woman and the man and I want to read beginning in verse 1 now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and he said to the woman has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden 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 and the serpent said to the woman you will not surely die for God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate she also gave to her husband with her and he ate then the eyes of both of them were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden of the cool of the day and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him where are you so he said I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself and he said who told you that you were naked have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat then the man said the woman whom you gave to be with me she gave me of the tree and I ate and the Lord God said to the woman what is this you have done the woman said the serpent deceived me and I ate so the Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this you first 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 to the woman he said I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception in pain you shall bring forth children your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you then to Adam he said because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you saying you shall not eat of it cursed is the ground for your safe in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the herb of the field in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken for dust you are and to dust you shall return and Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them then the Lord God said Behold the man has become like one of us to know good and evil and now lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken so he drove out the man and he placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life amen let us pray father thank you for your word thank you for the book of Genesis the origin of man thank you for the record of your creation and the your creative work and thank you for that distinction between creator and creature give us grace now as we approach this passage we know that we have fallen in Adam that in Adam all died but in Christ all shall be made alive and we rejoice Lord God that there is a last Adam there was a man a public man who did all that the father commanded him and he did it victoriously he did it as a substitute he did it as the mediator and how we praise you for that finished redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ and we would ask now that she would guide us by the Holy Spirit illumine our minds in our hearts and may you cause us to see and cause us to appreciate the great grace of God Almighty that is displayed even even after the fall of man into sin and we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well as I said we saw last week the fall into sin and now there are consequences there are repercussions because God had give at a given Adam a specific prohibition notice back in chapter 2 at verse 15 then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it and the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden you may freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat from the day that you eat of it you shall surely die there are consequences of sin with reference to God in other words when we violate what he says visa vie his law there are judgments there are liabilities there are punishments there are consequences and so much of what we find here in Genesis chapter 3 serves or functions to basically tell us what the rest of the Bible is going to detail so want to look first at the consequences of the fall and verses 14 to 19 and then secondly the hope beyond the fall in verses 20 to 24 but note in the first place we pick up in verse 14 so the Lord God said to the serpent notice there's no interrogation here God had asked Adam what he had done now God didn't ask Adam what he had done because God needed information God knew specifically what was going on but he asks for the benefit of the creature in other words that question should have caused Adam and Eve to repent to own their sin to forsake it and to cast themselves upon the mercy of God but he interrogate them he questions them he does not do that with the serpent Calvin says he does not interrogate the serpent as he had done the man and the woman because in the animal itself there was no sense of sin and because to the devil he would hold out no hope of pardon and when he goes on or it goes on he says 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 now son suppose that prior to this the serpent had legs I don't think that's necessary to infer from this but rather it demonstrates the lowliness and the defeated state of this animal Michael Riedel Nick explains when God proclaimed that the serpent would crawl on its belly it does not mean that serpents previously had legs rather crawling would now forever be understood as a sign of defeat and that convention arises in several places in the rest of the Bible specifically we just saw it in Micah chapter 7 this whole idea of crawling this whole idea of eating dust it shows the victorious hand of God subjugating and destroying his enemies and that is precisely what is in view here with reference to the serpent now attention shifts to the devil in other words the Lord's curse moves from the serpent to the evil power that animated it we know that the serpent as serpent isn't the the malicious and nefarious being but rather it's the devil utilizes him we know from later redemptor revelation specifically in John 8 revelation chapter 12 and revelation chapter 20 it's the devil who is behind the scenes it's the devil who animates this serpent it's the devil who engages in this onslaught against the creature in order to bring or produce or provoke rebellion against the creator now note in verse 15 this is a very important passage in Scripture some have referred to it as the proto Evangelion it is the proto Evangel the first announcement of gospel it is the first declaration concerning God's plan to save his people from their sins and notice he says 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 so the God brought enemy enmity here notice I will put enmity that is divine initiative all that happens subsequent to this is as a result of God the world is not a chaos but it rent rather reflects the plan of God the sort of antithesis that exists or the the antithesis that is present is from God's design there is this enmity put between the woman and between the serpent the ongoing nature of the warfare until the decisive victory is the rationale or the the way that we understand the way that we can explain the great disparity between say Cain and Abel between those persons given to us and in Genesis chapter 6 there is both a collective reference to this seed and there is an individual reference to this seed the collective nature means all of her seed all the people of God all of the faithful throughout all the ages son say for some asked where Adam and Eve saved I hope that by the end of our study tonight you will conclude that Adam and Eve were in fact saved and that this was an announcement that there would be these two lines the seed of the woman the godly the righteous holy and the seed of the devil the ungodly the unrighteous and the unholy but then when we look at this word see notice the New King James capitalizes it and I think that's accurate that's a good interpretation 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 so there's both a collective reference all of the people of God throughout all ages as the godly seed but there is this individual reference now this idea or concept of seed will get even more narrow or narrowly defined when we get to say the call of Abraham remember the blessing to Abraham is that Abraham would have a seed Abraham would have descendants Abraham would have offspring when we get to the book of Galatians Galatians chapter 3 verse 16 it gives us the identification of the singular seed it's the Lord Jesus Christ that's why this is the proto gospel the proto Evangel this is the first announcement of salvation by Jesus Christ he is the seed of the woman the skull-crushing seed of the woman that in the fullness of the times God will send forth he will be born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law and then as we survey or as we consider the various things that are stated here notice there will be this enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed now note he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel I think there's several implications that we ought to draw from this the Redeemer would be a man born of a woman in other words it's not an angelic being that Adam and Eve are told to look for the Messiah the Christ the Redeemer the deliverer whatever we want to call him would be a man born of a woman now it's not a fully developed doctrine of the virgin birth here but the fact that only woman is highlighted certainly jives with what we find later in redemptive history that he is born of a woman there is that at least now looking back upon it at least laden with in the promise itself this virgin birth the Redeemer would accomplish victory through suffering notice he Christ shall bruise your devil head and you shall bruise his heel so this bruising of the heel intimates or indicates that when the deliverer comes when this Redeemer arrives on scene his life will indeed know something of suffering in fact his redemptive work is going to be carried out or executed through suffering but I would also suggest we ought to appreciate that it's not just suffering that is highlighted here but the death of the deliverer the death of the Redeemer the death of the Messiah himself notice he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel many read it as a comparative a comparative well what Christ does is he is he smashes the devil's head and what the devil does he only comparatively makes this dent upon the Redeemers heel I don't think that's an accurate way to read the text i think that riedel neck makes this very excellent observation if you think about it for just a moment before I read this quote where do serpents typically bite remember they don't have legs so they don't bite you on the head unless you're that guy in Kentucky that was swinging the snake and it bit him on the hat I don't know if y'all saw that recently somebody took mark 16 seriously well people have done that for a long time snake handlers and this man was snake handling and the snake bit him right on the side of the head and he started to bleed well the only way that a snake could obtain a head shot is if you picked him up but a snake typically is going to bite the fee he's going to bite the heel he's going to bite where he can reach now the particular word that is used here for this serpent is a deadly a venomous serpent that can inflict a lethal blow and so when we read he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel the bruising of the heel is probably a reference to the death of Jesus Christ at the place of the skull even Golgotha riedel neck says since in the context the tempter has taken the form of a serpent it is likely that the tempters blow would be equated with the Serpent's bite and in the case of this animal the hebrew generally uses it to speak of a venomous and lethal snake most likely therefore the text is speaking of two comparable death blows the future Redeemer will strike the head of the tempter and thereby kill it and at the same time the tempter will strike the heel of the Redeemer and kill him so this first gospel promise goes along with what Peter said this morning God by the mouth of his prophet said that the Christ would suffer he would suffer and he would die and that is the means by which the Redeemer will bring total victory when we get to the New Testament commentary on this particular situation we find that is exactly what happened Colossians 2:14 and 15 Hebrews chapter 2 first John tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ destroyed the works of the devil where does he do that he does it at the cross that's the place where the deliverer renders this Skull Crushing blow to the devil himself so the New Testament passages Colossians 1:13 Colossians 2:15 Hebrews 2:14 first John 3:8 and then revelation 12 is a detailed explanation of this particular passage of Scripture also we ought to be helped in our understanding of the rest of the Bible in terms of God's sort of pension I think that's the word or God sort of authorization or legitimization of head blows to the enemies of God throughout redemptive history it's no accident that in the book of Judges many of the enemies of God meet their demise by losing their heads it's not an accident that David defeats Goliath in the valley of a law by delivering a lethal blow in terms of chopping off his head all of that furthers this promise it furthers this understanding that the seed collective of the serpent is going to buckle under the seed collective of the people of God because of the individual seed even our Lord Jesus Christ head blows her head wounds or or death by you know heads be chopped off are quite common in the Old Testament so when you're you know your little child comes to you and says I was reading in judges 4 and Jael took that tent peg and drove it right through Cicero's head that that's pretty interesting usually if they're boys they say wow that that's just great that's you know look at how God is dispatching the enemies of the Lord I mean they're not saying it that it's great because they're sick and twisted and they're gonna go out and you know kill animals and do likewise but there's something about it I met these two young fellas in Vernon and after the sermon I preached on Elijah on Mount Carmel and afterwards these two young dudes came up and we're talking about all the heroes of the faith and and I may have mentioned this one of the boys said I I think that people today in the church should name their girls Jael because Jael was a great hero she absolutely positively was never ever by the lie that she was a murderer somehow that she was wrong in what she did no she's acting on behalf of God's kingdom to dispatch the enemies of Yahweh but Jail renders a head blow a head wound against Sisera as well the heads of Ora bands heed from the Midianites the woman and Abimelech remember she throws down that millstone from atop the tower and crushes a Bethel axe head we see it with David and Goliath you see it in the Psalter as well and intriguingly the play where Jesus is crucified is the place of a skull and so all of this shows us the interconnectedness of biblical revelation we see that everything that appears here in Genesis chapter 3 ultimately comes up again later in redemptive history so that's the consequences for the serpent note the consequences for the woman in verse 16 - the woman he said I will greatly multiply your sorrow in your conception and pain you shall bring forth children your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you up to this point the two primary blessings for woman as woman was procreation and marriage lords these are the two things that define her the two things that that bring her blessing and fulfillment you see the Bible world is not anti womanhood the Bible world isn't look at or doesn't look at children as some sort of a curse rather children are a gift they're a blessing they're a provision from Yahweh they're they're a heritage from the Lord blessed is the man whose whose quiver is full of that you see today we don't like children as much because they get in the way of us spending our money on whatever it is we want but in this context womanhood is seen primarily the blessings of woman that are seen in procreation and in marriage you see that in Genesis 1:26 - 28 be fruitful and multiply you see it in Genesis chapter 2 18 to 25 this marriage arrangement is good and so the curse finds its mark in those things that are most blessed to the woman such that now when she has babies are such that now when she enjoys times with her husband there will nevertheless be this reminder of her sin this reminder of the fact that she succumbed to the tempter that she was deceived and that she fell into transgression and rebelled against God most high so I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception and pain you shall bring forth children your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you that last Clause has been debated over the last little while I think it's best to understand your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you simply means that she will try to usurp his authority you see the idea of headship and authority and Submission in marriage is not a consequence of the fall a distortion of headship and Submission is a consequence of the fall Lord's God made Adam and then he made Eve to be a helpmeet he made Eve to come alongside of him and to assist him in his vocation and his vocation as we've seen in our studies in Genesis was not primarily a farmhand Genesis tells us that the temple or rather that the the garden was a sanctuary it was a temple where God would meet with his creatures Adams task primarily was priestly Adams tasks primarily was to be a man that served in the that functioned in the service of God Almighty and Eve was made to assist him so never let it be told you that that headship and authority and Submission and those things that that that Paul deals with in Ephesians 5 that's all as a result of the curse no it's been twisted it's been distorted and that's what we see in this passage your desire shall be for your husband you'll want to usurp you'll want to arrogate to yourself headship in the home this is why Paul tells you on on a few occasions in the New Testament wives be submissive to your own husbands because one of the marks or one of the proofs or one of the the evidences that we know that we're in Adam is when women don't want to do that and then it goes on to say and he shall rule over you again headship was present prior to the fall but post fall that headship will not always be exercised in a godly way that's why Paul speaks to husbands and says love your own wives as Christ loved the church the husband is the head of the wife it's not something that's a consequence of the fall but rather a consequence is the distortion of something that was intended by God to be good so the next time husbands wives you abdicate or you don't do what you're supposed to do and you say well you know it's only this way because Adam and Eve fell into sin I would encourage you to be quiet it's not that way because Adam and Eve fell into sin Adam and Eve falling into sin certainly affected and certainly made difficult and certainly brought turmoil to the situation but headship and Submission were intended by God in a prelapsarian state that means a pre-fall state this is a good thing but rather when it comes to that to the introduction of sin it's going to affect things it's going to make things difficult one man says what the woman wants was to do is a blessing be a marriage partner and have children had become tainted by the curse in those moments of life's greatest blessing marriage and children the woman would sense most clearly the painful consequences of her rebellion from God and then note thirdly the consequences for the man verses 17 and 19 again we see the same sort of same sort of a pattern labor is not a consequence of the fall you know I don't say well I got to go work on Monday morning because Adam and Eve fell into sin know Adam and Eve messed up and certainly it affected the Blessed ordinance of labor but labor predates the fall into sin labor is good hard work is good the foundational text is the fourth commandment we remember it as making sure that we keep a day holy unto the Lord but we oftentimes neglect six days you shall labor and do all your work that's absolutely positively commanded by Yahweh as well so it's not work as work that's the curse but it's going to be difficult now in this post-fall situation it's going to be far more difficult than it was in a pre-fall situation so we cannot infer from the passage that headship and Submission are post-fall consequences they're not neither can we infer from the passage that labor is a post-fall consequence it is not there is problems now to be endured as a result of our fall into sin but the things in and of themselves are good and blessed but now they will be tainted by the reality that Adam and Eve have transgressed against God now note verse 17 atoms are then eat then to Adam II set because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you saying you shall not eat of it the word of judgment to the woman is not the imposition of male headship but a distortion of it and with reference to add-on this will indeed be further illustrated later in redemptive history even if the wife of your bosom entices you would solicit you to commit apostasy don't listen to that Deuteronomy chapter 13 Adam listen to the voice of his wife rather than to the voice of God men we love our wives but when it comes to our wives or God we always must choose God we don't do what they say if it is in contradiction to what God Most High says that's not loving leadership that is rejection of God's Word in his rebellion and treason and we need to guard against that so the Lord God comes to Adam and says because you've listened to her and not to me this now is your lot verses 18 and 19 I think that when I'm sort of reflecting on the consequences here he says the sentences on the man and woman take the form of a disruption of their appointed roles it's a disruption it's it's now distorted it's always the case that a man was to exercise headship it was always the case that a woman was to submit but with the introduction of sin that's gonna be challenging now because the wife is gonna want to eat CERP the husband's role it's gonna be challenging now because the husband's either gonna be a tyrant or he's going to be milquetoast that's probably one of the problems that we have in our day and age husbands love your wives or the husband is the head of the wife I you know we always say oh that means every man's gonna be a tyrant or a despot well that's certainly possible but my observation is that a lot of men just abdicate their authority the husband is the head of the wife he's not to be voted into office he's not to be agreed upon he's supposed to function as a godly head in his home he's supposed to do it in a christ-like way self sacrificially loving his bride that's what biblical headship looks like the people of God unfortunately have given the very pattern of God a bad rap because we don't do what says in the way that God says so people in the world say oh that had headship and Submission it's just a terrible thing yeah it's because we're terrible people not obeying God the way we're supposed to but according to plan if we did what we were supposed to it would be a beautiful model it would be a beautiful display a beautiful expression of what Paul tells us in Ephesians 5 is Christ's relationship to his church but notice with reference to the consequences the ongoing difficulty of labor again prior to the fall labor was present but not with the challenges of a post-fall world the ground is cursed because of man one man says the Vista of thorn and thistle is diametrically opposed to the luscious vegetation of the garden and already intimates the verdict of banishment that will be carried out in verses 23 and 24 Romans 8 comments on this section as well what does creation do it yearns it it groans it is it is waiting for it Redemption the creation around us is yearning for that day when Jesus Christ will come again in glory to judge the living in the dead and usher in a new heavens and a new earth but there is post-fall a curse now there is going to be great struggle to get the ground to yield its fruit there's going to be great difficulty it will be by the sweat of your face it will be by you know hard labor and toil you're not going to just wander out and do a few things and then eat wonderfully no you're gonna have to work for it and then notice this return to the ground it's intriguing because the narrative continually highlights man's origin it tells us he's from the dirt and if you think about it what we have in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 is a man who tries to achieve godlike status but will ultimately return to the dirt from which he was pulled the narrative is showing us that we are creature 2:7 3:19 3:23 the man of clay attempted to rise to godlike status but will instead return to the dust from whence he came the obvious illusion there is to death boys thought about this particular passage in light of Philippians chapter 3 you know the Bible is about two men it's about Adam the first and Adam the second or Adam the last Israel functions as an Adam as well and I think we'll see that as we continue in our Wednesday night studies and our Bible studies but but but there's Adam the first and Adam the last and what Adam the first gets us is to return to the dust what Adam the second brings us or Adam alas is the transformation of our of our lowly body Philippians chapter 3 he transforms that which is distorted and and and messed up because of the fall into sand brethren as you study or read the first chapters of Genesis don't do so divorced from a knowledge of who Jesus Christ is Paul sets up that parallel we call it covenant theology federal theology there's an Adam Christ parallel in Adam all died in Christ all shall be made alive we're going to end this particular chapter with Adam and Eve being exiled being banished from this garden well that's what happens to Israel they have tenure in the land and they continue in rebellion against God so what happens exile they are banished from the land Jesus in a census he is like Adam as he is like Israel as he is the the anti-type of both of them he comes and he is banished he goes into exile visa vie his death but then there's this resurrection and Christ secures for us permanent tenure in the land a canaan that is above a canaan that is heaven a canaan that is most blessed and most excellent never read genesis 1 2 3 without thinking of jesus that's why we read revelation 21 and 22 tonight when we looked at the the guard and as a as a temple in genesis chapter 2 we saw all of the things in genesis or rather revelation 21 and 22 that that sound just like what we find here in the book of Genesis the Bible is whole the Bible isn't random it's not just bits and pieces sort of thrown together and bound up in a nice goat skin leather that's not what the Bible is our confession speaks of the Bible as having a consent of all the parts they all feed into one another this morning in our confession study we considered this very theme or this very idea the Book of Ruth is it in there because we all love a love story and it's such a nice story Boaz takes mercy and pity upon Ruth and he brings her into his home and he confers upon her great blessings it is nice I mean especially in a world like this it's nice to see decent people different decent things isn't it there's something about that that just brings a bit of an encouragement to you know the weary pilgrims in this world that see non decent people more often than not doing non decent things but the point of Ruth is the last few verses it's from Ruth that David gums it's from David that Jesus comes the contribution of Ruth to redemptive history is not the love story it's the gene pool it's the line of David it's Messiah it's the seed of the woman that will crush the head of the serpent brethren the Bible holds together tight whenever those people outside of the church air the Bible this or the Bible that obviously they haven't read the Bible we should know better we should understand not only the particular trees in the forest but we ought to fly over the forest and see how it all holds together it is wonderful it is beautiful that is glorious and genesis 3:15 I don't think it's a stretch to say is programmatic it is foundational for all of the rest of the Bible that GK Beale says all of the rest of the Bible is commentary on Genesis 1 2 3 that's how important this section of scripture is but notice let's move finally and quickly to the hope beyond the fall verses 20 to 24 we see this first in the naming of Eve notice in verse 20 Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living this is the second time that Eve his name she was named woman initially why because she was taken out of woman out of man woman means out of man now she's called Eve why because she's the mother of all living what do you think Adam is reflecting upon here he's reflecting upon verse 15 that from this woman her seed will be the one that renders the deathblow to the devil himself and so Adam in faith names his wife the mother of living he names his wife based on the reality communicated by god in genesis 3:15 Klein says this reflects adam's faith as he gave this name to the woman his reference probably to her spiritual seed who should trample underfoot the Prince of death and so rest life from the curse so we see Adams faith in naming his wife the mother of all living living but then notice as well the coverings of skin in verse 21 also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them remember what they did when they sinned they tried to hide from God they make these girdles and they cover themselves these fig leaves they sew them together and they try to cover their nakedness and then they run and hide amongst the trees that the Lord God had made as if somehow God isn't going to see them in the trees that he had made of course he's going to see that but what does God do here he doesn't make girdles for them he makes tunics it's not plant life that sacrifice to deal with their sin but it's blood atonement you see this text indicates how extensive sin is it ain't no little girdle of fig leaves that is going to help you out of this mess you need blood atonement and God communicates blood atonement as he kills these animals and he makes tunics of skin and then he clothes them this is foreshadowing the Levitical system which foreshadows the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world see how the Bible holds together it is not disparate pieces thrown together put in you know in one cover it is a consistent whole the consent of the parts this the the scope of the hole which is to give glory to God all of this is demonstrated here the Lord highlights the necessity of atonement as the basis for fellowship between God and men now Israel is going to learn this Israel is going to learn this when the Shekinah glory of God comes down and rests upon the tabernacle in Exodus 40 they're going to learn it when Moses himself who's the godliest man that they have to offer can't go in there because of the glory of Yahweh they're gonna learn it Leviticus chapters 1 to 9 they're gonna learn that the way to approach Yahweh is through a bloody knife and a smoking altar the way of access to God a holy God by sinful man is through blood atonement and that Levitical system points forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world so that's what God does here he makes for Adam and Eve these tunics of skin and he clothed them Gill says but the of creatures slain not merely for this purpose God brought a skin over them nor for food but for sacrifice as a type of the woman see whose heel was to be bruised or who was to suffer death for the sins of men and therefore to keep up and direct the faith of our first parents to the slain lamb of God from the foundation of the world and of all believers in all ages until the Messiah should come and die and become a sacrifice for sin the sacrifices of slain beasts were appointed you see God killed animals right before their eyes so that when we get to Cain and Abel we're to Abel get the idea to kill animals and bring an offering to the Lord he watched daddy he watched what the custom was how did they know to do so at the end of days that's what the text says in terms of Cain and Abel he watched daddy and daddy had watched God the Sabbath was not instituted at Sinai it was instituted in Genesis Genesis chapter 2 given to Adam who then subsequently gave it to Cain and Abel so at the end of days at the end of all days but the end of the days of the week they came and they offered up their sacrifices and Abel brought blood Abel brought blood in faith that was not some pagan notion but it was instituted by Yahweh by pattern exemplified here in verse 21 and then notice finally the expulsion from the Garden this is actually an act of mercy for Adam and Eve now we may not approach it that way we may say well it's judgment it is judgment but it's judgment with a very remedial end for Adam and Eve if Adam and Eve reach out and take from the tree of life in this sinful state that's a terrible thing you see eternal life isn't always just associated with blessedness the Damned live eternally as well and so that's how we need to approach this passage notice in verse 22 the Lord God said Behold the man has become like one of us us there is Trinity just like us in Genesis 1:26 is Trinity the Trinity is God God is Trinity Father Son and Holy Spirit you see that in Genesis chapter 1 itself God spoke by the word of the Lord he created the heavens in the earth Jesus is the word of the Lord the Spirit of God is brooding over the waters all three persons are present in Genesis chapter 1 so this plural form us refers not to some heavenly council or divine council it certainly does not extend to man but rather it is the triune God that's what's in view in 126 and 322 behold the man has become like one of us to know good and evil and now lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat live forever therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken notice how it just cuts off thought is saying something and then he drives the man out it shows the need to get him out of there right away now as we seek to understand this what is this knowledge behold he has become like one of us to know good and evil now so in the common haters say it's an ironic statement as if God is saying oh now he's like one of us it's not ironic it's true I mean this is what the devil promised him but the devil said or made it seem like this would be a good day but it's a bad thing it's not good to be like God in this sense so what is this sense that God is speaking of it's not experiential because God doesn't possess such knowledge of evil the knowledge was not a higher knowledge but it was a knowledge forbidden demand the knowledge was a knowledge that sought to operate autonomously the Lord's it sought to operate independently it sought to remove itself from under God and to think after one's self he said well that's not so good it's terrible look what happened when Adam and Eve stop thinking God's thoughts after him misery ensues independent thought is is good in some areas if you're an artist be independent you're an artist be innovative you're a you know whatever it is you do you can be independent great but when it comes to metaphysics or the doctrine of being or it comes to you know how we know it comes to who God is we need to listen to God each and every step of the way and they didn't listen to God Hermann BA Fink explains what's happening here he says in Genesis 3 the issue is not primarily the content of the knowledge that humans would appropriate by disobedience but the manner in which they would obtain it the nature of the knowledge of good and evil in view here is characterized by the fact that humans would be like God as a result of it by violating the command of God and eating of the tree they would make themselves like God in the sense that they would position themselves outside and above the law and like God determined and judge for themselves what good and evil was we saw that last week in the temptation remember when the devil presents this temptation to Eve there's three reasons why Eve wants to eat from this first of all it's good for food second of all it's pleasant to the eyes and third it's desirable to make one wise it was pleasant to the eyes throughout the creation week God saw that it was good God saw that it was good God saw that it was good and now the creature is seeing what is good and making making decisions based on that the problem isn't the knowledge of good and evil per se as blobbing says it's not the content it's the manner it's the ye shall be as gods it's this this challenge to to adopt this godlike status he goes on to say the knowledge of good and evil is not the knowledge of the useful and the harmful of the world and how to control it but the right and capacity to distinguish good and evil on one's own that is the problem and then note they are excluded from the Tree of Life notice in verse 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was placed so he drove out the man he placed cherubim at the east of the Garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life the ponta the expulsion from paradise this is Kyle and Dale it therefore was a punishment inflicted for man's good intended while exposing him to temporal death to preserve him from eternal death if he reached out and takes from the tree of life when he's in this state it's gonna be bad we need the Redeemer to come we need the mediator to come we need a righteousness that avails with God we need blood atonement that is efficacious before we ever go out and reach out for the Tree of Life its Christ who brings us the Tree of Life that's why the Tree of Life is in generation 21 and 22 that's why it's there in the New Jerusalem you see John the seer is finishing what Moses starts in Genesis we have Paradise Lost and paradise restored and it hinges upon not the faithfulness and the obedience of Adam the first not on the faithfulness and the obedience of Israel but on the faithfulness and the obedience of Jesus Christ the Adam the last the brethren we will conclude there just a couple of thoughts and then we'll close first the programmatic nature of genesis 3:15 ganba Vinc he says in principle Genesis 3 contains the entire history of humankind I I don't think that's hyperbolic at all I think some people might hear that so I'll come on that's over overdoing it you want to know why the world looks like the world does look at Genesis 3 you want to know why the New Testament reads the way it does and why there's these allusions to this this this section of Scripture it's it's all here it's all it's programmatic that means that it's a program for the future it is a description of what's going to happen subsequent so back to bobbing all the ways of God for the salvation of the Lost and the victory over sin in substance the whole gospel the entire covenant of grace is present here all that follows is the development of what has been German aliy planted here that's accurate as well and I want to highlight this once again by way of application the fact that we are called to work the fact that men are called the lead in the home and the fact that women are called to submit to their own husbands not every husband not every man don't misunderstand Paul Paul is not a Muslim Paul is not telling women they need to submit to men Paul says wives submit to your own husband's as to the Lord now again there did that that word has been traded or weighted down with all bunch of bad stuff submission is bad Jesus submitted to the Father submission is not bad submission is it's often practiced is bad headship as it as it is often practiced as bad but first Corinthians 11 shows us the father is the head of price in terms of deity but in terms of mediator ship Christ willingly submits himself to the Father according to his humanity that's a blessed and a good thing but the thing to notice from the Genesis account is that this is not a penalty of sin it was always God's intention for husbands to love their wives like Christ loved the church and give themselves for her and and lead her was always God's intention for a wife to submit to her own sin distorts its in twists it's and makes a challenging but it doesn't militate against it and we need to make sure that we understand that your role as a husband your role as a wife is not because of the fall into sin the fall into sin affects it but you as new men and women in Christ Jesus have the ability and the power and the resources to do what you're supposed to do and then as well labor labor society shouldn't be a society full of deadbeats it shouldn't be the case that everybody's sitting around or laying around watching TV all day six days you shall labor and do all your work what part of that do we miss what part of that are we you know absent God you know we we we we live for the weekends we live for retirement we live for off time brethren find blessing and labor I really am committed to the thought that if you work hard you don't have time to do a bunch of other foolish stuff you know a lot of people that get into trouble it's because they're not doing what they're supposed to be supposed to be doing well then this one of David's downfalls when David you know fell into sin with Bathsheba I don't want to moralize the taxes I don't think that's the point ultimately but having given that qualification you ever notice that people say I'm not of this but and then they are that I'm not a racist but and then they say something very racist so I'm gonna say I don't want to moralize but I'm gonna moralize at the time when Kings went out to battle David didn't know David if you would have went if you'd have been with your troops if you'd have been leading them into battle destroying Philistines for the glory of your way you wouldn't have been on your roof you wouldn't have looked at Bathsheba and you wouldn't have went into her and having gone into her and having impregnated her you certainly wouldn't have been had to murder her husband Uriah all because you didn't go to work brethren work is good work is a blessing God's given you work praise him for it now there's a need for rest don't overwork to be rich Solomon says in the Proverbs don't work your fingers to the bone don't be the guy with knobs because he never takes time off that's not righteous either Jesus said to the disciples come apart and rest awhile the fourth commandment six days you shall labor the seventh is a day of rest God's not an tiem rest God gives his beloved sleep according to the Psalms Jesus according to his humanity or in his humanity went into that boat picked up a pillow laid his head down and slept he dignified the nap praise God Almighty for the goodness of our Savior labor is good grass is good but made sure that the ratio is 6 to 1 the commandment stipulates that now there's always some sensitive soul out there that's going to say hold but my employer you know they make me take Saturday and Sunday off should I go to my employer tell them I I must work on Saturday work around your house do your honeydew's make your wife happy that's labor - you know take the trash out mow the lawn pressure wash rip the wood off whatever it is do those things but be busy brethren the more time we have on our hands the more likely we are to sin now the subtle devices of Satan we ought to appreciate that in the passage or at least understand that 2nd Corinthians 2:11 the Apostle says lest Satan should take advantage of us for we are not ignorant of his devices seems to me within the Christian Church there are two extremes with reference to the devil one is to deify him and one is to completely defang him the diya fires see the devil as omniscient omnipotent omnipresent they see the devil is having all authority and power he can make us do things that haven't made me do this no you did this willingly freely and happily it's not the devil he doesn't have that power he can entice he can incite he contempt but it's you who says so the devil is deified in some corners of the Christian Church but then he's defamed in others brethren he is a real foe he roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may this is what first Peter chapter 5 tells us and so we with Paul ought not to be ignorant of his devices we ought to be conscious of his devices and I think that some of those are seen here in the tempters work with reference to Adam and Eve the devil works with cunning I mean does that surprise us he doesn't just come you know and say look I want you to sin against God and reap for yourself hell damnation pain and suffering he doesn't do it that way any more than when we go fishing we just put a big fat hook right in the water and say okay fish I want you to put that hook in your mouth no we bait it we deceive we will use subterfuge we we make it look good and tasty and lovely so that so that the fish will eat it well that's what the devil does he doesn't say I want you to look at this porn because you're gonna end up in hell now I want you to have joy I want you to have happiness I want you to have delight I want you to rob this bank because you're gonna get caught you're gonna the prison or better yet in a state that has the other death penalty here to be execute he doesn't do that think of what you'll get think of the benefits think of the reward he does this cost reward analysis and it's going to tip in your favor every time when the devil is selling his wares it's just the way he does it he doesn't say put this big nasty hook in your mouth so that you can be dragged off into hell no he works through Connie as well he works through deception part of his art is to distort the truth in subtle ways it is intriguing that what he says would happen happened that it was the implications that he attached to it that was absolutely positively wrong God knows that in the day you eat of it you will be like God knowing good and evil well that's precisely what God says in 322 but the devil made it seem like this would be a good thing you will be like God knowing good and evil this was the reason why God expels him from the garden why God exiles him and banishes him from the garden because he has sought to be like God thinking man's thoughts after man instead of with an orientation to God the devil works through a knowledge of man's susceptibility man's susceptibility the woman being deceived all tells us I think that's me I don't think Paul me and you know every woman is always susceptible to being deceived I don't think that's what Paul means in first enter they do but it was there there was a susceptibility there and he comes to her and he plies her with these particular things that are appropriate to her situation it it was a tree that was good for food which she didn't mean because there was a whole tree filled with good food or whole garden filled with good food it was a tree that was pleasant to the eyes which again there was a whole garden filled with trees that were pleasant to the eyes it was that desirable to make one wise she's susceptible at that point and so he gets her side Jesus in the wilderness when the devil comes to tam-tam he goes for food brethren forty days and forty nights without food makes a man very hungry and when the devil comes he doesn't say okay I want you to you know do this no he says I want you to change these stones into bread now the Bible tells us that Jesus was tempted in all points like us and yet without sin Jesus temptations were real we oftentimes do not contemplate it that way because after all Jesus is God remember Jesus is God and man the the hypostatic union the one person of God in two natures humanity and divinity according to his humanity he is tempted by the devil to do something that any human would want to eat bread so the devil comes to us knowing our not knowing I think in an omniscient way but but guessing and typically guessing pretty well what our susceptibilities are and then the devil works through a character assassination upon God anything that comes from without that makes God look bad is to be resisted notice in verse 5 God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and evil what's the implication God's petty God's small God doesn't want any competitors in the god realm God wants to keep you down God wants to hinder you from being all that you can be God's good with you being at this point but he doesn't want you to rise to that other point this is a great a direct assault upon the character of who God is and then of course the final application is genesis 3:15 we ought to rejoice that it's in our Bibles we ought to rejoice that it's there concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and we ought to rejoice in those passages that I mentioned previously Colossians 1:13 Colossians 2:15 Hebrews chapter 2 first John chapter 3 the son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil it's the soul Skull Crushing seat of the woman that brought decisive victory at the cross for his people if you don't know this Skull Crushing seat of the woman the way is by grace through faith in Him it is to believe the gospel to believe all that the Bible says generally but to believe all that the Bible says specifically concerning the Lord Christ the principle acts of saving faith has to do with who Jesus is whose life of obedience his death at Calvary and his resurrection the third day all those who believe in him will have everlasting life well let's close in a word of Prayer father thank you for Genesis 3 thank you for the entirety of your word and Lord God help us to see the connection help us to see that what is promised and the old is fulfilled in the new helped us to see that antis anticipation of the old is realized in the new and helped us to see that Jesus Christ is that that seed of the woman that one who did crushed the skull of the devil that one who renders that decisive victory at the cross and that one who will come again in glory to judge the living in the dead may it be the case Almighty God that we would all be clothed in his righteousness that we would all be covered and clothed in his righteousness by the same God who killed the animals and made tunics for Adam and Eve thank you for your graciousness thank you for your mercy thank you for all of your kindness and we pray now that you would go with us into this coming week help us to glorify you help us to honor you and please protect us and please watch over us and please grant us your peace and your mercy and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen you