The Seed Of The Woman

we have been studying the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis this the last couple of months and today's lesson is going to come from Genesis chapter 3 verses 14 and 15. it falls right in the middle of the story from the Garden of Eden the time when Adam and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit when they had disobeyed God after Eve had been tempted and then we did a lesson previously about the consequences of that fall

and what happened what God instated because of that and I kind of glossed over these two verses because I wanted to come back to them at this time and so we're going to look at Genesis 3 verses 14 and 15. says this and the Lord God said unto the serpent because you have done this Thou Art cursed above all cattle above every beast of the field and upon your belly you're going to go and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life then verse

15 says this 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 there's no book like this book is there this this word of God we understand that it was pinned by men there were many many authors over many many centuries that wrote this book so it wasn't just someone sitting down and putting it all together but it's inspiration the Bible tells

us does come from God and not man the Bible says that God moved God literally breathed he spoke his word through men of God what is unique about the Bible is the Bible does not make predictions it tells us the future now there's a difference there does it make forecasts the forecast is a prediction and it's not the same as a word from the word of the Lord this Bible is a book of Prophecy a forecast will look at the available conditions

the current conditions data past events and and kind of look and say well this is what happened in this situation before so we predict this is what is going to happen today and so we get a news report so there's going to be a snowmageddon this weekend and everybody gets out and prepares for snow and we get a few flurries why because it's prediction it's not a prophecy prediction is best based on those extrapolations of facts or

just on one premonition well here's what I think is going to happen but prophecy is very different God declares the future before it even happens now none of us can do that right I mean we can guess we can say well I think this is what will happen we cannot say with certainty this is going to happen maybe tomorrow you say I'm going to go to the store at this such in time and hopefully you will be able to accomplish that and you

could say well I fulfilled that prophecy but you can't say what you're going to do on this day 16 years from now where you're going to be what's going to happen the events around you we just don't know and so when we look at this word of God Genesis 3 15 is generally referred to as the first prophecy concerning the Messiah and so as we approach the Christmas season I think it would be appropriate to look at some of the prophecies

that were fulfilled starting with this one not just to retell the story of Jesus but really to to Anchor our faith in this word of God to realize this book is true the Bible calls it is immutable it does not change it is a word that is as the Bible tells us it is forever settled in heaven and so as we approach this lesson and even Christmas there's an old song that kind of provides some of the inspiration for this lesson and it's

says this tell me the story of Jesus what a better time to do that than Christmas right right on my heart every word tell me this story most precious the sweetest That Ever Was Heard obviously we won't tell the whole story of Jesus but we want to look at some of those prophecies and what God was pointing toward way back in Genesis chapter 3. God didn't waste any time in proclaiming the future as he writes his book way back Genesis

chapter 3 we're not told how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden we don't know before the fall we don't know if God placed them there and three days later they ate of the fruit we don't know if it was many years later the Bible does not say doesn't really give us any indications at all but what we do know is this no sooner did man fall into sin that God responded right that evening the cool of the day they had just partaken

of the fruit sin had just entered in the world and here comes God and the garden looking for Adam saying Adam where are you of course he asked Adam Adam why did you do this and Adam points his finger and said it wasn't my fault it was hers and turns to Eve and says well Eve why did you do this and said it wasn't my fault it was a snake typical of human nature isn't it I didn't do it somebody else Point everywhere but here and so

God didn't really address Adam say well wait a minute you're not telling the truth or he didn't say to Eve wait you know sorry you're responsible he did not go there the first thing he did he begins to talk to the serpent notice he didn't ask the serpent what happened why he did it he just began to curse him the Lord God said unto the serpent because you've done this you are cursed above all cattle above every beast of the field

upon your belly you're going to go and you're going to eat dust all the days of thy life so he cursed him right there but it is a second verse where he turns and he is talking still to the serpent but he begins to talk about something that is going to happen far into the future and he says this I will put enmity or I'm going to put a hatred and a warring if you will between you and the woman there's going to be this constant battle

it's going to be between you and the woman and it's also going to be between thy seed and her seed and then he says it shall bruise thy head and you're going to bruise his heel and so there is a unique concept here there's several Concepts that we can see in this verse that is kind of unique to any other similar reference in the Bible first off he talks about this enmity that is going to be there now we like to see sometimes I think

uh as the world or the universe is in some Cosmic Battle of good against evil and I guess in some ways we can see that in this scripture there is always going to be a battle between the seed of the serpent the evil things and the seed of the woman the things that God created is good and there's always going to be this struggle between Mankind and between God and but the struggle is not and I'm going to make this clear it is not

between God and Satan at any point in fact he already knows when that point is going to be God is going to say enough's enough he's going to take the devil put him in it find him with a chain and cast him into the depths of of hell story over he just hasn't done that yet so this enmity or this struggle that we see maybe it's not so much Cosmic because it's not between God and Satan and God trying to struggle to win because he's

he he can do it at any point that he wants to but it is between us between good and evil and us being pulled between what God wants us to do and what Satan wants us to do and trying to follow what is right and so there is always this struggle this enmity that is going to be there at all times and so that is where we find ourselves in this life we find ourselves always in this struggle when I would do good and when I would do evil

and how to to balance that out and how to err on the side of good and to stay away from that which is evil but there is another concept here that is unique as we said to any other reference God promised a seed or an offspring that would bruise the head of the serpent now it's interesting when you look at this we read it from the King James version and it said it shall bruise thy head and that's how bruised his heel that word there

where it says it most translations the Hebrew word is who and that most translation that is translated to he so it's not talking about just some concept that's going to bruise your head it is more specific that in fact it follows up said Thou shalt bruise his so we could read that the Jewish Bible does and most other translations said he shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel so he is pointing forward this is a prophecy

looking forward to the coming Messiah that was going to bruise or literally the word can be translated crush the head of the serpent find this right here very early on and in fact probably to those reading the writings as Moses wrote them maybe did not quite make that connection what's he talking about here and they may not have have seen this as a Messianic prophecy but as early as 300 BC the Jews kind of realized you know this

is talking about something this is talking about the Messiah this is talking about the one that is going to come and so even though they didn't ever accept Jesus as that Messiah they were were looking for the king that was going to rule and the one that was going to come they got from other prophecies and and they put this one with it and realized there is going to be a messiah that is going to crush the head of Satan that is going to destroy the works of the devil and so the

Christians took that up and in fact very early on in the first couple hundred years of Christianity as when you get out past the New Testament the other writers of early Christian writing always looked at this verse and they saw it at this promise of the Messiah and of course they realized it's talking about Jesus Christ and so that's the first thing we notice that there is a promise of one that is going to come that is going to

destroy the works of the devil the other thing that is unique about this and and you have to look at the writing carefully he said I'm going to put this enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed Serpent and her seed that's interesting because if you look through the Bible the Bible never talks about the seed of The Woman except In this passage and then it talks about it again in Revelation where it's talking about the

seed of the woman it's talking about the one that was going to come and it talks about him taking the old serpent the devil and casting him into the bottom of this pit and so this idea of the seed of the woman is a unique Concept in fact to the Jews they always looked at the bloodline as it would run through genealogies and so much that is in the Bible but they would look at that and they would always talk about the seed of the

man because that is where as we learned a couple weeks ago as brother Cardin thought that is where life comes from and so this seed he said is not the seed of man it is not the seed of Adam he said it is the seed of the woman it's ideas they said is not found anywhere else in fact challenging Jesus the Jews said we're Abraham's seed Abraham is our father and so they would look back and they they said that's our father that's our

seed that's where we come from and that is always the way they looked at it in fact the Bible points out that since we are all descendants of Adam we are all considered Adam's seed and because of that we have inherited the Bible talks to us about it says we have it inherited Adam's sinful nature Romans 5 12 says wherefore by one man centered sin entered into the world because of Adam and because of that death comes by sin and death passed upon all men because we've all sinned and so we

all receive this nature if you will this carnal nature from Adam because that is the seed from which we spring that is where we come from but here is what is unique Jesus did not inherit Adam's sinful nature because he came from different seed in other words he wasn't conceived by the seed of a man what are we talking about we're talking about here the Virgin birth why is that such an important concept for Christianity why is it

why do we stress that and I know there's some that say well it really didn't mean virgin it really just meant a young woman and they try to go around that we have to hold on we have to understand this idea from scripture that this virgin birth is an important concept for Christianity because you see it is through a different bloodline that Jesus could be the sinless Son of God he did not inherit Adam's traits he came directly the Bible calls in fact Luke

of course this way he said he calls him the son of God and so does this different bloodline that he come Jesus was born not with Adams sinful nature and he was not born with that sin that leads to death he was born without sin he was born without sin there's some interesting verses when you look at this in Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews is talking about Jesus in verse 2 and chapter 2 and verse 7 he said you have made him talking about

Jesus a little lower than the angels and then you crowned him with glory and honor and did set him over the works of your hand now do we look at that and say so Jesus is less than the Angels Jesus isn't quite as good as they are he made him a little lower well let's look a little further he's not talking about the preeminence because in Jesus is preeminent over he is a firstborn he's the first thing of every creation so how was

he made lower than the Angels well he continues in verse 9 he said we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death so here's the difference Angels can't die they're created as Eternal beings Jesus was born for one reason and that was to die to give his life to shed his blood to be a ransom for many so he was made a little lower than the angels for or because of or or for the purpose of suffering

and dying and then he was crowned with Glory and Honor that he by the grace of God would taste dust for every man so Jesus was born without sin why did he die because the Bible says this our sin was placed on him he that knew no sin the Bible said became sin was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God so this seed of the woman breaks the bloodline between Adam sinful Adam that is passed on to a sinful race

that needs a redeemer but when Jesus is born the Bible said this that which is conceived in her is not of Adam or not of the seed of Adam that is conceived of her is of the Holy Ghost although Jesus was called a descendant of Adam he was called a descendant of Abraham he was called a descendant of Judah and of David yet as Paul described him he said this in Romans 1 3 and 4. Jesus Christ is our Lord which was made of the seed of

David according to the flesh brother Cardin talked a couple weeks ago about it he got his form he got his body he got this flesh from his mother who was of the seed of David he got that form from her but he got his life he got his power he got what he was what made him unique from the almighty God the power of the most high is going to overshadow you Mary and that which is conceived in you it's not a man it's of the Holy Ghost so

yes he may have been made of the seed of David according to the flesh but he was declared he said to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of Holiness by the resurrection of the dead now the Old Testament often speaks of this one that comes David prophesied about him a lot there were several others that did but I'm just going to point out a couple of them particularly David and Isaiah both said this Psalm 22 is a

Messianic Psalm talking about Jesus but in verse 9 he said this Thou Art he talking to talking to God he said you are the one that took me out of the womb he never mentions a father he said but he mentions God you took me out of the room Isaiah picks up the same theme in Isaiah 49 he said listen oh Isles unto me and hearken ye people from afar the Lord hath called me from the womb from the bowels of my mother he hath made mention

in my name and then in verse 5 he said and now saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord and my God shall be my strength never talks about a father never talks about an Earthly father never mentions Joseph never mentions it why because he was unique and it was the Lord that formed him he was conceived of the Holy Ghost now you may not catch all that from those passages

and say well how can you put that there until you look at Isaiah 7 14 where Isaiah prophesies and says this therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel a promise of a messiah the promise from Genesis 3 15 where there was talking about one that was going to crush the head and now we see that promise again it's going to be a virgin conceived that seed

of the woman is going to Bear a son and they're going to call his name Emmanuel it's interesting that David lives some 1400 years before Jesus and yet he sees in Prophecy this one that is called forth from the room Isaiah lived probably about six seven hundred years before Jesus and he talks about this one that is formed in the woman called forth to be the son of God now I have to ask is that a coincidence that they both look down

through history and saw this event is that just something that some man wrote up as they made up as they begin to write a book I don't think so they say hindsight's 2020 and it's with perfect vision Matthew looks back and he looks at those prophecies and in Matthew 1 18 the Christmas story that we're so familiar with he said the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise Mary as his mother was espoused to Joseph before they came together

so they had not yet had relationships and she was found with the child of the Holy Ghost and the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in the dream Saint Joseph if fear not to take thee Mary thy wife for that which is conceived of her is of the Holy Ghost and she shall bring forth a son you shall call his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins and then he says this now all this was done that it might be fulfilled

which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet looking back at Isaiah Behold a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son and they shall call his name Emmanuel which being interpreted is God With Us does anybody know about the love of Jesus Does anyone know about his power and his grace why is that it is because God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself God was sending forth his son into the world to redeem us we have said that Jesus and only the son of a woman but he

came through God's chosen line I want to look at some of those prophecies a little bit you know when we read the Bible if you've ever read it if you've ever read it through or maybe you started to or you're reading just different parts of it you will always come across these things that are called genealogies or we call them the begats the begots this person begat that person and this one be got that person and there's these long lists you go to Chronicles and it's over and over and you you read them and you know the

book of the generation of Jesus Christ Matthew says the son of David Abraham began Isaac Isaac Jacob Jacob Judas Judas Ferris and Zara and thamar and Pharaoh speak at East from an Eastern begin Abram you say why is all that recorded in there why do we need to know in fact Matthew starts with Abraham and Luke goes all the way back and starts with Adam so here's the whole history from from day one Adam you know and he works it backwards

though he starts with Joseph and works his way back down all the way and finally says and we get Seth was the son of Adam and Adam was the son of God and he takes it all the way back to the beginning but what they are showing and what their prophecies and what these genealogies do in Matthew and Luke is to show us that this Earthly line was prophesied throughout the Old Testament and they want to they want to point out and say we

want to show you how that it was prophesied and talked about that was going to happen and here's what happened well we already spoke of the seed of the woman that was promised in Genesis 3 15. in chapter 22 of Genesis in verse 18 God's talking to Abraham and he said in thee in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed now here's another interesting verse he talks to Abraham and he said in your seed and Paul explained

this singular word seed as referring to Jesus in one of the first lessons that we did in this series we talked about the fact that all the New Testament writers looked back at the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus Christ everywhere they looked they said how does this relate to Jesus how is it talking about Jesus and so Paul looks at this verse and he said and in thy seed and he looks at that and he said that's a singular word

but I see he's talking about Jesus he's saying in Jesus shall all the nations of the world be blessed Galatians 3 16 Paul writes it that way he said now to Abraham in his seed were not the promises made and then he goes on to explain he said he didn't say to seeds as of many but it's singular he said it to one and divine seed and then Paul said and that's Christ that's Jesus it's through Jesus that all the world you see there aren't

all different kinds of ways to get to God it's through Jesus John would write it and he'd say there is no other way he said I am the door no man enters you don't come to the father anyway but by Me Jesus said and so there was a looking forward even in Abraham's day there was going to be that seat there's going to be the one that is going to be able to bless the entire world that's why we talk about Jesus Through Jacob about 2000

BC the prophet becomes prophecy is a little more specific first off Abraham at some point there's going to be somebody coming from you a seed it's going to bless the world and Jacob Genesis 49 10 says the scepter or the rulership the kingship shall not depart from Judas and now he's looking at some of some of the sons of Jacob the Israelites if you will and he said it's going to come from this law Giver this one is going to come

from the tribe of Judah he said the supper shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh and that's a reference to the Messiah shall come and unto him shall the governing Gathering of the people be so now it becomes clear that the one who would be king was going to be a descendant of not just anybody but from the tribe of Judah in second Samuel chapter 7 God begins to narrow it down a little bit more

not just to the tribe of Judah but God covenants with King David and he said this and when thy days be fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers I will set up thy seed after thee which shall proceed out of thy bowels and I will establish his kingdom he will build a house for my name and I will establish the Throne of his kingdom for ever now in the short term that was probably talking about Solomon to those that were near

him but it's apparent that someone much greater than Solomon is in view here because it said his throne of his kingdom is going to be forever now we know Solomon's kingdom didn't last forever right in fact his throne was destroyed his Temple was destroyed his house was destroyed they knocked it all down great as he was it is no longer in existence and this says he will build a house and he will establish it forever Jesus looked

at the Pharisees one day and began to talk to them and he said you know if these things had happened back then you would have done this he said but I'm telling you today there's a greater than Solomon here he was talking about himself what he was saying is you know what I am that seed of David that is going to sit on the throne of My Father David Isaiah takes up the thought next in Isaiah 11 and 1 and 2. he said and there shall

come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse in other words there's going to be this ruler coming out of Jesse who was David's father he said a branch shall grow out of his roots and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him and the spirit of wisdom understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord yeah those genealogies are important because they declared centuries before that God always keeps his word God promised one was going to come he was going to be a king and that was promised many times in the Old Testament just look at a

few more of those here's a very unlikely Source there was a man by the name of Balaam who was a prophet and the Israelites were coming through the Wilderness when they after they had left Egypt and they were going and the nations of the round then begin to see this Mighty Army coming through the Israelites coming through and so balak one of the king's hires Balaam and he said can you come and curse the Israelites for me curse these

people and so Balaam said yeah how much you're going to pay so he gets the money and he said I'll do it for a price and he comes and he gets hired he stands there and he gets ready to curse and as he does Spirit of the Lord comes on and he pronounces a blessing Bala said I didn't pay you to bless the Israelites I paid you to curse them let's try again and so he makes a sacrifice and he gives them some more money and Balaam gets

ready to curse him and the power of God comes on and He blesses them again and Bay looks getting furious and so he does it a third time takes him to another place and shows them look at these people curse them and He blesses them King's finally getting pretty disgusted with me so I'm going to give you one more chance this is your last chance I'll pay you one more time we'll make the sacrifice you call on your God and then curse

these people Balaam looks up at the people he gets ready to curse and he Bible says he fell into a trance and his eyes were wide open like a glassy stare comes over and he begins to cry I shall see him but not now I Shall Behold Him but but not nigh there's going to come a star out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel there's a king coming and there's nothing you're going to do about it balak you can't change it it's

the word of God you can pay me all day long I see it not now but he's coming he's coming hundreds of years later the psalmist would sing of the Messiah and he said thy Throne o God is forever the scepter of your kingdom is a right acceptor you love righteousness that's Psalms 45 you hate wickedness therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows and again Isaiah and Isaiah 32 says Behold a king

shall reign in righteousness Isaiah 9 very familiar verses 6 and 7 For unto us a child is born unto us a son is given the government is going to be on his shoulder his name will be wonderful counselor the Mighty God the Everlasting father the Prince of Peace who's he talking about he's talking about Jesus and then he said and of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end upon the throne of David upon his kingdom

to order it and to establish it with judgment and with Justice for henceforth and even for ever and then a little-known prophet later on by the name of Micah he got a glimpse of this King Micah 5 2 and he looks around he said but thou Bethlehem Ephrata that little town south of Jerusalem just kind of off to itself he said though thou be little among the thousands of Judah not much to it just a little town Bethlehem yet out of thee

is going to come forth the one that is going to rule the ruler of Israel from whose goings forth he said have been from old from Everlasting it's going to happen one small verse that mentions it but where was Jesus born Bethlehem why because the word of God said it Matthew 2 and verses 1 through 6 Jesus was born in Bethlehem and Judea Herod the king in in the days of Herod the king and there were wise men that came and and they

were saying where is he that was born King of the Jews we've seen his star in the east We've Come To Worship Him and Herod heard that well I'm the king I don't want some other king where is this King and so he was troubled and Jerusalem was troubled and he gathered together the chief priests and the scribes and he demanded them so where is Christ supposed to be born where's this kid at what's going on they knew they said in Bethlehem

of Judea for thus it is written by the prophet in thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah or thou not the least among the princes yet out of there shall come of Governors that shall rule my people that old song we mentioned earlier tell how the angels in chorus sang as they welcome his birth glory to God in the highest peace and good tidings to Earth we could go on and on and on there are literally hundreds of prophecies about Jesus Christ I'll just point out just a couple not just about his life but of

his death Psalm 22 talks about the crucifixion I am poured out like water my bones are out of joint my heart is like Wax it is melted within me my strength is dried up like pieces of broken pottery and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth you lay me down in the dust of death dogs have surrounded me a mob is uncircumly they have pierced my hands and my feet and I can count all my bones people stare they gloat over me they divide my clothes among themselves and they throw dice so they

gamble for my clothing written 1400 years before Jesus Christ Psalm 34 he keeps all his bones not one of them is broken a prophecy that none of the bones of Jesus would be broken Isaiah 50 and 6. I gave my back to the smiders my cheeks to them that plucked out the hair I did not hide my face from shame and spitting and then Isaiah 53 very well known to most many of us he is despised and rejected of men a Man of Sorrows acquainted

with grief we hit as it were our faces from him he was despised and we esteemed him not he was wounded for our transgressions bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed once again the songwriter says tell of the years of his labor tell of the sorrow he bore he was despised and Afflicted homeless rejected and poor tell of the Cross where they nailed him writhing in anguish

in pain he was despised rejected murdered buried in a tomb all according to the scripture but here's what we know the end is not yet aren't you glad you know the rest of the story billion and a half before Jesus lived David wrote in Psalm 16 10 thou Wilt not leave my soul in Hell neither will thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption there was a promise of a resurrection Jesus looked at that and and we're running short on time here but I'll

just give you a couple of these there are several verses Matthew 12 40. as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the earth Matthew 16 21 from that time forth Jesus began to show his disciples how he must go to Jerusalem suffer things be killed and raised again on the third day he says it again in Mark 8 he says it in Luke 9 22 Matthew 17 22-23 Matthew

20 verses 18 and 19. every one of these saying he's going to die I'm going to die Jesus was telling him I'm going to be raised again on the third day Mark 10 24 they were going up to Jerusalem they were amazed they were afraid he looked at the twelve and he began to tell them things he said we're going up to Jerusalem I'm going to be delivered to the tree priests and the scribes I'm going to be condemned to death they're going to mock me Scourge spit on me and killed me you know the

third day I'm going to Rise Again Luke 18 31-33 John 2 19 and 21 over and over Jesus reminding them I'm going to die but I'm going to rise again you know what's interesting about all that the disciples failed to grasp what Jesus was saying did not understand it heard the word but it went in one ear and not the other as we might say tell of the Grave where they laid him the song says but then it says tell how he lives again we could

go on but I think the point is made God says it in his word and it comes to pass God speaks it and it is so I think if the Christmas message tells us anything it is that God is faithful to his word we've looked a lot of prophecies concerning Jesus first coming and as I said we don't have time to do this but there are many more concerning his second return and you know what if the book was right the first time you got to believe

it's going to be right again I think it's safe saying he's coming the promise we have is this but if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you he's going to raise you up he shall Quicken your mortal bodies make them alive by his spirit that dwells in you there's an interesting passage Peter writes in his his epistle in second Peter chapter one Peter experienced the life of Jesus like none of us have right

he got to see all the Miracles he's the guy that when you know the storm's going on and Jesus is walking on the water and Peter looks at Jesus if that's really you and we're all scared to death but if that's you bid me come and Jesus said yeah come on Peter and he jumps out and walks on the water and then he says what am I doing and he begins to sink because he took his eye off Jesus he saw the power of Jesus he saw the storms calmed

he saw the water turn to Wine Devils subdued cast out sickness healed death raised blind eyes open deaf ears opened the lame walk and the high point of all of this he saw when Jesus took him and took Peter and James and John up to a mountain and the Bible says they fell asleep and they awoken and Jesus countenance had been changed and he was like the Noonday son it was so bright they couldn't look at him and he said wow the power

of this man that we're been following they saw the power of God in Jesus Christ and yet Peter realized that his personal experience alone would never convince everybody else I can get up here all day and talk about miracles we've seen and we can talk about how God Has Changed life and you may never be conversed convinced but Peter found the thing that was convincing when he looked to the word of God he said this we haven't followed

cunningly devised fables in other words the things things talking about Jesus all these stories we tell you and the events we say that's just not something we made up when we talked to you about the power of the God and Jesus Christ that we were eyewitnesses there up there on the mountain we saw that happen when he received that he said we heard this voice from heaven we we saw all that he said that's not just some story whether you believe it or not but then

he turns our attention to something even greater and he says this we have a more sure word of Prophecy you've got the word of God look at it he said where unto you do well to take heed you do well to look into this if you have any doubts this morning look into the word of God and you will see Jesus Christ that is a sure word of Prophecy and as we go into this Christmas season why don't we let the Wonder of Christmas not just the

fact of Jesus coming in to the world but this Plan of Salvation let it guide your thoughts and actions let yet under let us understand that this was God's plan all the way from Genesis 3 15 when we first read about it all the way through this Old Testament and all the way into the new this was the plan for us Christmas can never become Xmas as you see on a sign it can never become just the holiday season it can never be just music

and parties and lights and Gathering of family and friends again those things are all good and fun and we love them the Christmas music and the things that it's all part of the season but it must always be the story of Jesus it must always be as the Angels declare to the Shepherds it's good tidings of great joy that will be to all people for unto you and to who to you to you to you to you to you unto you unto me is born in the city

of the David a savior which is Christ Our Lord that seed of the woman has come to redeem us just as God promised six thousand years earlier aren't you glad to know the love of Jesus the power of Jesus the grace of Jesus let's stand and we're going to go into morning Worship in about 10 minutes take a little break before that but why don't you just lift a hand and thank him for what this Christmas Means Lord we're so thankful to

know that you promised a redeemer you promised the one that is going to crush the head of the serpent and I'm thankful that it has came in Jesus Christ and I'm thankful that we can experience the power of that Resurrection in our lives today Lord that you will work I'm thankful for that joy and the Wonder this season the great joy to all people Lord that savior that is Born To Us We Praise You Jesus we praise you Jesus thank you Lord