Christ in the Fall (3)

In our previous two posts we noted that Genesis 3 presents the Lord to our view in at least four aspects. He is:

1. The Contrast

2. The Caller

3. The Conqueror

4. The Covering

We have considered Him as the Contrast to Adam and Eve, and as the Caller of Adam and Eve already. Now we view Him as:

The Conqueror

The first direct prophecy of the coming of the Saviour is given in this passage. Sin has barely entered the world, and God in grace announces the Proto-evangelium*. During His judicial statement concerning the serpent, He declares: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (v15). 

This is a promise of victory for the "Seed" of the woman. The poetic justice of this is evident. The devil used a woman (Eve) to influence the first man, Adam, to bring sin into the world, and to gain a "victory" for himself.  God will use another woman (Mary) to bring into this world the "second Man, the Lord from heaven" to put away sin, and to gain the ultimate victory over the devil. 

Notice the promise of continual warfare and opposition between the Serpent and the Woman, and between their offspring. Notice also that it is the woman's seed. This is enlarged upon in the prophecy of Isaiah 7.14 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel". 

The eternal God became flesh, by means of the virgin birth, for the purpose of defeating the greatest foe of man and God. "Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (Heb 2.14-15 ESV).  

At Calvary the death-blow was struck. Just as David cut off the head of Goliath with his own sword, so the Lord Jesus destroyed satan with his own formidable weapon - death. 

"And now, the mighty deed is done

On the Cross!

The battle fought, the victory won

On the Cross!

To heaven He turns victorious eyes,

'Tis finished now, the Conqueror cries,

Then bows His sacred head and dies

On the Cross."

(Joseph Hoskins) 

We enjoy the benefits of a victory already won, we reap the spoils of a battle already fought. May God enable us to take sides with the Mighty Conqueror, and to sing His praises! 

*Proto-evangelium: i.e the first messianic prophecy in the Old Testament, the first glimmer of the divine purpose in respect of the Gospel

Christ in the Fall (2)

In our previous post we noted that Genesis 3 presents the Lord to our view in at least four aspects. He is:

1. The Contrast

2. The Caller

3. The Conqueror

4. The Covering

Having already considered Him as the great Contrast with Adam and Eve, we now see Him as:

The Caller 

After the temptation and fall of Adam and Eve, "they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the Garden in the cool of the day ... And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, "Where art thou?"." (v8-9)

Undoubtedly the "LORD God walking" is a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God. He made man for fellowship, and now He comes down to Eden. Between His Creation of Man in Ch 2, and His Call to Man in Ch 3, sin has "entered into the world" (Rom 5.12). 

He calls "Where are you?" (v9 ESV). It was not, of course, that He was unaware of Adam's sin. It was not that He was ignorant which tree Adam and Eve were cowering behind. His call to Adam was to expose Adam to Himself. It was a call of grace. Adam must face the fact that he was not where he was before, he was separated from God, shamed before God, and under sentence from God. Yet now, in wonderful grace, he was sought out by God.  

The Caller was the Son of God. He had stooped to the garden, He was seeking the guilty, He was showing grace! How this reminds us of His incarnation. He who was the Son of God stooped to become the Son of Mary. He who was Holy, and the object of angelic praise, "came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1.15). He who was the Lord of glory showed unfathomable grace: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8.9 ESV). He had come to "seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19.10), and this required His sacrificial death upon the Cross. 

May we who were guilty, condemned, separated, and hiding from God, never forget His grace in seeking for us:

"O the love that sought me,

O the blood that bought me,

O the grace that brought me to the fold!

Wondrous grace that brought me to the fold."