The First Christmas Prophecy
(Message delivered by Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo at the True Life Church 10.30 am Service, Dec 17, 06)
Text: Genesis 3:15
In Luke 2:10-11, we find the angel telling the shepherds, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). Some may think that this was the first time the Good News of Christ was made known to the world. Actually, this Good News was already made known by God Himself in the very first book of the Bible which is the book of Genesis. God said in Genesis 3:15, “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.” What does this verse mean? Who is this “woman” and who is “her seed”?
Genesis 3:15 is called the First Gospel. The First Gospel was a prophecy as well as a promise. The prophecy concerns a Saviour, and the promise is salvation to all who will believe on Him. God was the First Evangelist. He preached the Gospel before anyone else did. The first hearers were the first couple God created, namely, Adam and Eve. Although God created them good and morally clean, they did not have eternal life yet. In order to gain eternal life they had to pass the test of obedience. God commanded them not to eat of the forbidden tree (Gen 2:17). But they succumbed to the serpent’s temptation, yielded to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, partook of the forbidden fruit, sinned against God, and died. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:23).
Virgin Birth
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). God loved Adam and Eve, and promised a Saviour who will come from “her seed.” “Her seed” is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. The first Adam failed in his obedience towards God, but the second Adam, the greater Adam, namely Christ, succeeded in obeying God perfectly and by so doing obtained eternal life for all who would trust in Him. “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Rom 5:19). “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:22).
Genesis 3:15 is the John 3:16 of the Old Testament. God promised a coming Saviour who would come from the seed of the woman. Take note that it is not “his seed” but “her seed,” not the man’s seed but the woman’s—a virgin conception and birth! When did this seed come? He came in the fullness of time, in God’s perfect time in 5 BC. Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” The seed of the woman was not conceived by man, but by the power of the Holy Spirit (Matt 1:20, Luke 1:35). By the supernatural and miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, the Son of God became a perfect and sinless human being by means of a virgin conception and birth so that He might be Immanuel—God with us (Isa 7:14, Matt 1:23).
Only One Saviour
The prophecy of Genesis 3:15 was fulfilled only by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is important to note that the word “seed” is written in the singular and not plural. Paul commented in Galatians 3:16, “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” From this we learn that God did not promise many saviours, but only one. “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21). Jesus means Saviour. There is no Saviour apart from Christ. Acts 4:12 says in no uncertain terms, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Paul says in 1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Jesus Himself said, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Only one Seed, only one Saviour.
Substitutionary Atonement
God said that the seed of the woman “shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” What does this mean? The bruising of the heel of the seed of the woman speaks of our Saviour’s crucifixion. This is ably described by David in Psalm 22:16, “For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.” The nails went through His hands and his feet on the cross. Thus, the First Gospel speaks not only of the virgin birth but also vicarious death of Christ. The bruising of the serpent’s head speaks of a lethal blow to Satan and his deadly hold on mankind. Christ stepped on the head of the serpent when He rose from the dead. Satan was instrumental in the death of mankind for he was the tempter. But Jesus Christ broke that power of death by His resurrection from the dead. That was why Paul could exclaim, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 15:55-57). Jesus said unto her, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).
Victory over Satan
Satan till today remains an enemy of Christ and His people for God had said, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.” There is war between Christ and the devil, but it is a one-sided war where the victory is already won by none other than Christ Himself. This is vividly described in Revelation 12:8-11, “And [Satan and his demons] prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”
In the days to come, a final battle will be fought. Satan knows “that he hath but a short time” (Rev 12:12). He will make a final attempt to thwart the plan of God by destroying Israel. Revelation 12:13-17 foretells about the last 3½ years of this present world’s history, “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
This persecution of Israel and God’s remnant will end at the battle of Armageddon when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to deliver Israel from the terror of Satan and his Antichrist. This battle and its results are already announced in Revelation 19:11-20:2. By divine fiat, the Lord will destroy all His enemies; the Antichrist and False Prophet will be cast into the lake of fire, and the old serpent will be thrown into the bottomless pit and bound for a thousand years.
Prophecy and Fulfilment
So, for us living in the 21st century, what does Genesis 3:15 tell us? It tells us that God is true to His Word. The prophecy of Genesis 3:15 was given about 4000 years before Christ came. Every bit of the prophecy was fulfilled in 5 BC when Christ came the first time. There are over 300 prophecies concerning the first coming of Christ, and every one of them was fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ to the jot and tittle (Matt 5:18). In light of the perfect fulfilment of every jot and tittle of the divine prophecies of Christ’s first coming, we can be very sure that every one of the 4200 prophecies of Christ’s second coming will also be perfectly fulfilled in the days to come. When we remember Christmas, let us also think of His Return. Are we ready for the Lord’s second coming?
How can we be ready for the second coming of Christ? We can only be ready if we are saved from our sins. We can only be ready when we believe in the words of God that salvation comes only from Christ who died for our sins, was buried, and on the third day rose from the dead. Adam and Eve was ready for the first coming of Christ because they believed in God’s promise of a Saviour in the First Gospel although in God’s perfect timing He came only 4000 years later. We know Adam believed in the Gospel of Life preached by God Himself because Adam named the woman Eve, meaning “life” (Gen 3:20). Adam should have named the woman “death,” but why “life?” Was it not because he believed in God’s promise of life from Genesis 3:15? Eve herself looked forward to the birth of this Saviour when she said, “I have gotten a man from the LORD” (Gen 4:1). Paul talked about this in 1Timothy 2:14-15, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” Eve was saved because she by faith believed in the promised birth (“through the childbearing,” dia tes teknogonias) of this holy child—the uniquely begotten Son of God. Mary had the same kind of faith as Adam and Eve for when told of the birth of Christ, she said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38). Elisabeth testified of Mary’s faith in God’s Word, “And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord” (Luke 1:45). Adam, Eve and Mary believed in the absolute perfection of God’s words and in the all-powerful God who is infinitely able to fulfil and perform all the infallible and inerrant words that He had prophesied and promised. They are in heaven. Will you be there too?
