FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS, volume 8, number 34, August 20, 2009
I will put enmity between you and the woman, Genesis 3:15.
Do You See What You See?
Have you ever wondered why so many in our world champion the right for anyone to believe whatever they want, showing great respect and kindness to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, secularists, atheists, and agnostics; but who at the same time spew hatred for Christians? Why do so many of our intellectual elite speak glowingly and admiringly of the spirituality of the Native American while simultaneously mocking Christianity? How do you explain the persecution and genocide of Ugandan Anglicans under Idi Amin, the killing of millions of southern Sudanese at the hands of the Muslim government in Khartoum , the violence and church burnings of militant Muslim jihadists in Banda Aceh, and the militant Hindu attacks in Orissa ? Why is it that so many calmly speak of people who have converted to Hinduism, Paganism, or Islam but who become incensed when a friend becomes a follower of Jesus? I thought Post Modernism was all about believing what one wants to believe, that there is room for all kinds of belief systems. Why have more Christians been martyred for their faith in the last one hundred and fifty years than the first eighteen hundred years of Christianity combined?
After the serpent deceived Eve, coaxing her to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, and after Adam knowingly and willfully took the fruit and ate it, the whole world was plunged into sin, misery, and death. After a divine encounter in the Garden, God pronounces a covenant curse upon the serpent, saying that he would be more cursed than any other animal. He goes on to say that the serpent will be in perpetual humiliation, that it would crawl on its belly and eat dust. Apparently the serpent, prior to this encounter, walked upright and part of his judgment was to crawl in humiliation. We read in Psalm 72:9 of Solomon who predicts a King who will reign over the nomad, causing him to eat dust. In Isaiah 65:25, a prophesy about the new heaven and the new earth, we are told that in this state of utter perfection, instituted at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the wolf will graze with the lamb, the lion will eat straw like an ox, and the serpent will eat dust—a further depiction of his humiliation.
Then we are given a further pronouncement of judgment on the serpent, that which powerfully and simply answers my series of questions. “Enmity (in the Hebrew text, this word appears first for the sake of emphasis) I will put between you and the woman, and between her seed and your seed. You will bruise Him on the heel, but He will crush your head.” The serpent is the devil or dragon and it wages war against the woman. What does this mean? In Revelation 12:1ff we are told by the Apostle John that a woman, clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, groans in the agony of childbirth. The red dragon is waiting for the baby to be born so that he may devour it. Later (Revelation 12:13-17) we read that the dragon persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child, but two wings of a great eagle bore the woman to safety in the wilderness, where she was nourished. The serpent then poured out water like a river so that she may be swept away. The earth opened up its mouth to drink the water, further enraging the dragon, moving him to make war with the rest of the woman’s children, those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.1 In the Son of Man vision of Daniel 7, when the prophet predicts the rise and fall of the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman Empires he says that the beast will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One (Daniel 7:25).
So why such hatred toward Christians? The seed of the woman (true followers of Jesus) can expect to be at war with the seed of the serpent. Jesus (John 8:44) tells the self-righteous Pharisees that they are the sons of their father, the devil who was a liar and murderer from the beginning. There is a great, cosmic, behind-the-scenes war between the followers of Jesus and the followers of the devil. All those outside of union with Christ, especially the smug, self-righteous, and violent are sons of their father the devil. Perhaps they do not know what they are doing in mocking, killing, and persecuting Christians, but they continue to be instruments of wickedness in the hands of the one who hates the Christ and His followers.
What are we to do? How are we to live? You need not despair for the kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ and He will reign forever. The simple fact is that the kingdom of this world is losing ground. I know what you are thinking—“Are you kidding? Look at the evil that has so inundated our culture!” There will be enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman until Jesus returns in glory. Evil is growing while righteousness is also growing. The kingdom of Christ is progressing in power and authority. I say this for three reasons. The Old Testament prophets promise it (Isaiah 60-66), the Kingdom parables prophesy it (Matthew 13:24-33), and the Apostolic witness proclaims it (2 Thessalonians 2). See what you see. Don’t take network or cable news as the total truth. To be sure, Christianity is presently losing ground in the west, but it is flourishing in the southern world ( China , Philippines , Iran , India , Africa, and South America ). If Western Europe , for example, is to return to her Christian roots it will no doubt come at the hands of Africans who have moved there to work. Both the Archbishop of Uganda and Kenya have taken under their leadership countless American, predominantly white Anglican congregations who are fed up with theological and political liberalism of the mainline Episcopal Church.
Every time the seed
of the serpent kills Christians the church grows exponentially. The persecution
of the Chinese, Ugandan, Iranian, Venezuelan, and Indian churches are all vivid illustrations
of the old adage, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” So you
need to see what you see. Not only is the Kingdom of Christ increasing it will
also reign forever. There is the “now” (Matthew 12:28), the “not yet” (1
Corinthians 15:51ff), and the “then” (Revelation 21:22ff) of the Kingdom of Christ . Christ rules now, not the devil. His rule is incomplete but
progressing. At the consummation of the ages, when Christ comes on the clouds
in glory with all His angels, then every knee will bow, and every tongue will
confess that He is Lord. He will have the travail of His soul. He will make all
things new. So, begin to interpret the geo-political world with the eyes of
faith. See God in the news of the day. He is sovereign. He is building His
church. He is destroying the works of the devil. He is setting the nations
free. The nations that were dwelling in darkness are seeing a great light. Pray
for the persecuted church but realize God loves her and will sustain her no
matter what her plight, giving her the privilege of suffering and challenging
the rest of us to self-abandonment.
[1] Keep in mind that the book of Revelation is apocalyptic literature, much like the early chapters of Ezekiel, filled with symbolic language. Truth is proclaimed using this literary device.
FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS is a weekly devotional by Reverend Al Baker, pastor of Christ Community Presbyterian Church in West Hartford, Connecticut.
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