MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
December 20, 2023
God’s Saving Enmity
(Last Part of this Series)
Here’s a summary of this series, “God’s Saving Enmity.”
God Creator decreed the first of all the promises and prophecies of the Bible immediately after Eve, followed by Adam fell by disobedience in the garden of Eden (prototype of all the homes, houses, and households to the close of time) God’s command and yielded to Satan’s first cunning and subtle deception by taking on the appearance of a serpent, the most beautiful animal before it was cursed, as the first of all forms and types of mediums thereafter, in the first of all the unnumbered schemes and temptations of “the father of lies and murderer from the beginning.
God Creator’s first promise and prophecy of hope to the now fallen, sinful, and guilt-laden First Couple was a revelation that God’s own ENMITY, verily divine hatred toward sin, the transgression of His law, was what He would PUT BETWEEN the deceiver and the deceived, the tempter and the tempted. Without the divine power of enmity imparted by God’s saving grace, there was absolutely nothing that could break the attraction, affinity, loyalty, and propensity for sin and disobedience that Adam and Eve now possessed. One seemingly little act of disobedience of the originally sinless, unfallen pair and instantly their natures now became fallen and sinful, their bodies subject to death, decay, and corruption. Such is the fearfully malignant power of the exceeding sinfulness of sin in the mystery of iniquity!
The divine solution to the SIN PROBLEM and the nature of the great controversy between good and evil that started in heaven and continued on earth beginning in Eden, is the comprehensive Plan of Redemption of the everlasting gospel, indeed “the good news of salvation! God Creator introduced it in Eden with these part of the plan of redemption in these momentous words: “I will put ENMITY between thee (Satan) and the woman and between your seed and her Seed; it (the Seed shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His [the Seed’s] heel.” Gen. 3:15, KJV.
And what or who is this “seed of the woman who would “bruise the head of the serpent,” that is, finally and eternally destroy Satan? Paul tells us with a clear and plain words:
“But when the fulness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law [the natural law of conception and birth], to redeem them that were under [the condemnation of the law for transgressing it], that we might receive the adoption of sons [through the true rebirth by the twin baptisms of water and the Spirit and transformation into the “new man in Christ Jesus” through the work of sanctification).” Gal. 4: 4, 5.Paul further clarifies who this “seed” is by comparing and contrasting Him with Abraham (emphasis mine):
“Now to Abraham and his seed [isaac, Jacob, etc.] were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy Seed, which is CHRIST.” Gal. 3:16. The only hope of the sinner is to cease from sin by enmity and hatred for sin that comes with the whole package of the comprehensive plan of redemption taught in detail by the wonderful sanctuary doctrine revealing the twin aspects of sacrifice and intercession, all through Christ as both the Sacrificial Lamb of God and the all-powerful yet merciful High Priest, Intercessor, Mediator, Advocate and now as righteous Judge of all the earth during this most solemn period of earth’s history in the ongoing pre-advent or investigative judgment.
In short, we cannot successfully overcome and triumph over sin and Satan until we hate sin as Christ hates it. Mark this scripture (emphasis mine):
“But unto the Son, He [the Father] saith, Thy throne O GOD, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast LOVEST righteousness and HATED INIQUITY [or sin; unrighteousness]; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.” Heb. 1: 8, 8. And lastly and solemnly:
“For it is IMPOSSIBLE for those who were ONCE enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come [by way of prophecy], IF they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they CRUCIFY TO THEMSELVES THE SON OF GOD AFRESH [the promised Seed of Gen. 3:15], AND PUT HIM TO AN OPEN SHAME.” Heb 6: 4-6, KJV.By God’s permission and grace, we will start a new series next MWM, but by no means can we ever exhaust the enlightening, testing truths of this subject!Bless all, NMF.