Advent and the First Gospel Promise (2)

Last month’s editorial discussed Cenesis 3:75a under the subtitle of “enmity announced by Cod” in the context of the Father’s first gospel promise to send His advent Son. This article concludes with an exposition of Cenesis 3:15b, considering “conflict waged against Satan” and “victory assured in Christ.”

Conflict Waged Against Satan

The fruit of divine planting will always be conflict. Spiritual life is a struggling, bruising battle. It is holy warfare. Scripture’s first gospel promise is plain: “It [that is, the Seed of the woman, the Advent Messiah] shall bruise thy [that is, the serpent—Satan’s] head, and thou [Satan] shalt bruise His [Jesus Christ’s] heel.”

The Lord never promised His Son or His people an easy way of salvation. How can the enmity He placed between the devil’s/woman’s seed, Satan/Christ, world/church, wicked/ righteous, flesh/spirit, old man/new man, not lead to conflict?

Where God builds His church on the foundation of the advent proclamation of His Son, Satan will build His temple next door. To the end of time, Satan will wage war against all that is of Cod and Christ.

We must not minimize the power of Satan. He never stops nibbling at the heels of the church of Cod. Though he shall not conquer the living Church, he knows that a church “without heels” will be handicapped and severely weakened in battle. As J.C. Philpot noted: “Satan will never keep a child of God out of heaven, but he is able to keep heaven out of a child of God.”

Satan is a fallen angel. His powers far supersede our human powers. He is mighty. Under the permissiveness of divine decree, he bruises the heel of the woman’s seed. This is the spiritual conflict of all ages: Cain versus Abel, Ishmael versus Isaac, Esau versus Jacob, Egypt versus Israel. Satan’s goal is always the same: Wipe out the chosen seed. Witness the command of Pharaoh to destroy all Israel’s male children. Witness Egypt’s attack at the Red Sea or the plot of Haman.

Witness especially Satan’s attacks culminating on Christ. Go to the desert of Judea. There we meet Christ who had stepped away from the water of baptism into the fire of temptation. For forty days, Satan attacked fiercely. He raged to bruise the heels of Christ, to get the advent Seed to fall. Every avenue of attack was attempted to get Christ’s sacred humanity under satanic control.

In Gethsemane, all the powers of hell were unleashed. Crawling as a worm and no man! Bloody sweat! The profound cry and negated answer: “Oh my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me”—oh, what soul-bruis-ings, heel-nibblings Christ experienced! No wonder He spoke to the satanic forces, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Lk. 22:53).

The conflict continues at Gabbatha. The purple robe. The crown of thorns. Scourging. Mockery. Slappings. More internal war and bloody bruisings.

And then Golgotha. Here Genesis 3:15 reaches its apex. The unfathomable cry rings through the darkened realm of nature: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

Luther once spent an entire morning trying to comprehend this fourth cross-word, only to arise from his knees, confessing: “God forsaken of God; who can comprehend it?”

It is incomprehensible, but this much we know: Satan was defeated on the cross—once for all (Heb. 2:14). The victory belongs to Christ. Nevertheless, Satan will not admit to being a vanquished foe. He continues to nibble at the heels of Christ’s church. Throughout all ages, victory comes through a suffering, bruising way in Christ. Witness the Acts of the Apostles, the early Church’s persecution, the Reformation and Post-Reformation era, the Great Awakening, and times of revivals. The church’s most blessed times have also been times of most severe conflict.

Tertullian rightly compared the church to a mowed field: “The more frequently it is cut, the more it grows.” Church history confirms the adage: The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.

Today the conflict continues in the breast of each true believer. Bunyan calls this conflict, “The Holy War.” Each believer knows the struggle within between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Oh, what battles between the old and new man, flesh and spirit, nature and grace! Rebecca-like, God’s people often feel two seeds within struggling to break forth, causing the cry: “Why am I thus?” The severity of such struggles can better be experienced than expressed. Oh, what struggles with the triple-headed enemy— Satan, world, and self! What doubts, questions, unanswered riddles, unfulfilled promises, satanic bruisings— no wonder such souls become a mystery to themselves!

By nature, we live largely struggle-free. We don’t know holy battle. With God’s people it is different. Dear friend, if God becomes God in our life, Satan shall become Satan—that archenemy of God, that constant “bruiser” who seeks to avenge day and night. Does he not bruise you severely, dear child of God, at such times as these:

• When he injects blasphemous thoughts into your mind?

• When he then whispers that you cannot be a child of Cod and have such thoughts simultaneously?

• When he succeeds to get you to question the very veracity and mercy of that Cod who has never treated you ill?

• When he seeks to persuade you that you have no lot or portion in the matter of salvation, for you have only begun with the Lord and not He with you?

• When he argues with you that no child of God could be like you—so weak in faith, so corrupt, such a poor example, so hard and prayer-less, so foolish and vain?

• When he comes as accuser on the left hand or as an angel of light on the right, seeking to lead you to despair or to presumption?

• When he presents the world to you in fair colors, attempting to move you back into the customs, friendships, and vanities of the world, inch by inch?

• When he presses you to indulge, albeit briefly, in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life?

God’s people experience that the greatest enemy in all spiritual conflict is sinful self. Self becomes chief opponent. On the one hand, the new life desires to live perfectly before God, without sin and blemish; on the other, the old life is constantly pursuing former paths of living without God, without love, and for self.

Oh, what holy battles sometimes wage against self within the renewed heart! Has your own heart ever become your greatest obstacle, greatest plague in spiritual life? Do you know the heavy burden of both hating sin and not being able to purge yourself from it (cf. Rom. 7)?

Such bruised warriors often fear they are fighting a losing war. Repeatedly they spend all their strength in spiritual struggle only to discover that on account of themselves they are sliding down the perishing slope of sin and, if God prevent not, destruction.

At such times, spiritual poverty and weakness seem to overcome them. The tempter is following them, bruising and running hard upon their heels. David’s cry ascends with groans and pleadings, “I shall one day perish at the hand of Saul.” The hand of God is hidden; the brink of hell is visible. Voices within urge the abandoning of all pursuit of God and His grace. Other voices condemn them—justly. Satan is a liar, but much of what he speaks to their condemnation is all too sadly true. Conscience condemns. The law demands and curses. Divine justice is unsatisfied. They are bitten by the seed of the serpent—by Satan, the world, and their sinful nature. They cannot walk without heels. They must fall, must say farewell to self-help. They must die to self. They must sign their own death sentence that God is righteous and just to cast them away forever. In that signing, not Satan, but self, becomes the greatest culprit. It becomes real: / have fallen. I am polluted throughout. I have chosen death above life, hell above heaven, Satan above God. I have bitten myself.

All seems fatally bruised—all my righteousness, repentance, prayer, humility, worthiness, yes, even my unworthiness. Death is written across all of self.

Victory Assured in Christ

Within the self-condemned, room is made for the woman’s Seed—for the victorious, advent Christ: “It [the Seed, Christ] shall bruise thy head.”

Satan’s heel-nibbling is burdensome, but not fatal. God overrules it for the good of His people. Through surrender lies victory—victory in Christ. For Christ gathers the self-condemned in His shepherding arms. To them, He opens His gospel victory. He says, as it were: “Dear sheep, Satan bruises your heels, but I have bruised his head for you—in death, in resurrection, and in judgment.”

Christ’s death. While Christ’s heel, that is, the “lower part” which is symbolic of His human nature, was being bruised on Calvary, He was crushing the head of Satan. The same heel Satan was bruising on Calvary was simultaneously crushing Satan fatally, for Christ was making full payment for all the sins of His elect. “Through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb. 2:14b).

Christ’s resurrection. Satan could not keep the Victor buried. His body could not see corruption. Christ arose from the grave. He showed Himself alive for forty days and ascended in triumph to His Father, leading captivity captive (Ps. 68:18). He is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father beyond the reach of all the nibbling powers of hell. He is in His state of exaltation. He has the keys of death, hell, and grave in His hand. The church is safe in Christ. His resurrection is a pledge of their blessed resurrection.

Christ’s judgment. On the day of judgment, Satan and his seed shall be cast out forever. Never again shall Satan trouble the seed of the woman. The Victor will come upon the clouds, seize the old serpent, and cast him eternally into the bottomless pit. The bruising of Satan’s head shall then be complete and final. The accuser of the brethren shall accuse no more. All heel-nibblings shall be done away. The militant church shall become the church triumphant. All Egyptians shall be drowned (Ex. 14:13-14).

Blessed day when corruption shall inherit incorruption (1 Cor. 15:50)! That day shall usher all the elect into everlasting Advent, everlasting Elim. All good shall be walled in; all evil, walled out. The satanic seed shall be left buried in the grave.

Keep courage, dear child of God. Christ’s seed shall not perish. Your Victor cannot fail. His cause is sure. His Second Advent is near. He will not forsake the work of His own hands.

On the other hand, dear unconverted friend, Satan’s seed must perish with him. Hell means to be without God forever, and to be with Satan forever. No relief from his nibblings, from the agonizing worm that dies not, from the evil devices of the wicked one! Terrible shall it be in that day to fall into the hands of the living God! “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Heb. 2:3a).

To which seed do you belong? There is no third, “in-between” seed. You belong to Christ or Satan.

“Make haste for your life’s sake.” You are still in the time of grace. The Seed of the woman is still presented to you. Pray that the authentic, Spirit-worked advent cry may become real in your heart, “Give me Jesus, else I die!”

Dr. J.R. Beeke is pastor of the First Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Crand Rapids, Michigan.

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