Crushing the Adversary Genesis 3:8-15; 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35

Grace, mercy and peace to you, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who has crushed the enemy for us.

Last Sunday we talked about how in this life of following Christ we can be afflicted with trials and troubles, yet we’re not crushed or destroyed by them, because Jesus has crushed what would crush us.

Christ has crushed and destroyed the one who is behind our troubles and afflictions, and who delights in them, the one who masqueraded as a serpent in the Garden in order to deceive humanity.

Today we’ll talk more about how Jesus has crushed the adversary for us, as promised in our Old Testament, Genesis 3, especially verse 14 and 15: 

 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

In this fallen, conflicted world, it’s important for us to know and remember who the enemy is, and what the enemy is capable of, and how the enemy can be defeated.

How wonderful it would be if there were no enemy to identify, and resist, and overcome. We could live in total peace and harmony, letting our guard down, enjoying life completely, and letting peace and love rule the day.

But that’s not the reality of the world we live in. However, if we live in Christ, it will be the reality in our next and eternal life… but in this life, there’s always sin and evil to contend with… and so we must identify it, resist it, and overpower it.

In the beginning in the Garden, the adversary of God and His creation, the devil, tried to get Adam and Eve to identify God as the adversary, their enemy, the bad guy who wanted to control and oppress them.

God, who in love, created Adam and Eve in His own beautiful, holy imagine, wanted nothing but life and love and blessings for them. 

How insane for them to see Him as the enemy… but that’s what sin will do to the mind, it’ll turn and twist everything around, so that we see good as evil and evil as good, truth as lies, and lies as truth. 

We need the Word of God, the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, to turn our thinking back around, so that we see God and all His ways as they are: good, loving and true. 

And that we see all enemies of His Word and His ways, as the haters and deceivers they are.

The old Adam in us, our sinful nature, would deceive us to spurn the One who made and loves us, and who can truly help us in our fallen, troubled condition.

And the old Adam would deceive us to embrace the one who hates us, and as we said last Sunday, who wants to see us suffer, who rejoices in our afflictions.

He would never do anything to help us. The devil is way too selfish to ever want to do anything to help anyone; he’s way too full of hate to want love and blessings for anyone.

It’s clear that if anyone is going save us from this twisted mind and contorted condition that sin has put us in, He would save us has to be free of the control that sin and Satan have over us weak and fallen creatures.

And so God sent His Son, who is entirely free of sin, to rescue us from our dilemma.

Although He was terribly tempted, Jesus never allowed the devil’s lies to enter and twist and contort His mind… and change and ruin His holy relationship with His Father. 

Even found guilty of a crime He was innocent of, even tortured and flogged for no reason other than to appease His jealous enemies…

… even punished on the cross for the sins of the world, of which He committed none…

… still Jesus didn’t permit His heart to turn against His Father, even though His Father was allowing Him to be punished, and suffer, and die.

And Jesus refused to turn His heart against those He was suffering and dying to redeem. 

And that’s how God, through His Son, crushed the adversary, the great enemy of humanity who had led us into sin and death. Jesus crushed him redeeming us.

What the devil wanted most, our eternal demise, God took away from him through the work and doings of His Son, through His holy life, holy death, and mighty resurrection.

There’s a saying, don’t get mad, get even. 

I wouldn’t say that God got even with the devil for ruining His creation; He’s not petty like that. What God did was to make things right again.

After making the promise in Genesis 3:15, to crush the devil through the offspring of Adam and Eve, the Messiah, 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

After making that promise God bided His time, until the time was right, and then He sent His Son to do the work of crushing sin by His death, and destroying death by His resurrection.

But everything God did before was all leading up to it, that central event in history, the death and resurrection of God’s Son for the world.

The devil’s dream of a kingdom of death and suffering for all and forever, was shattered by the establishment, through His Son and His Spirit, of God’s Kingdom of Grace on earth, and His Kingdom of Glory in Heaven. 

God’s Kingdom of the Church on earth and in Heaven, crushes the kingdom of evil on earth and in Hell. As Jesus said about His Church, Matthew 16:18: the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. 

In today’s Gospel Jesus says that a Kingdom divided cannot stand, meaning the devil would never do anything to thwart or discourage evil… and conversely, would never do anything to inspire or encourage good. 

Let it be our goal in reverse of the devil’s goal: let us aspire to neither do nor encourage anything that delights the devil… and let us always aspire to do everything to the delight and the glory of God.

What glorifies Him most is that we repent, and believe, and receive the salvation, forgiveness and blessings His Son has won for us, and His Spirit delivers to us.

And then to share these extraordinary gifts from above through the Gospel. 

Like our first forefather, Adam, and foremother, Eve, we’ve been weakened by sin. Our aspirations and delights are sometimes corrupted by our selfish wants, and worldly temptations, and the devil’s deception.

But we have God’s Word to show and guide us in a better way than the way that the fallen world, and the culture corrupted by sin, would try to steer and coerce us. 

Instead of being guided by darkened thoughts and worldly desires, we have a light to guide us. No trickery or deceit, but the words of God, clearly written in Scripture for all the world to see, nothing hidden.

Deceit and deception are of the devil and the darkness; integrity and truth are of God and the Gospel. 

Thanks be to God, we have His commandments to correct us, His Gospel to forgive us, and His Spirit lift us up and put us back on a heavenly course.

Staying on that heavenly course, the evil plan the devil has for you and your demise, his dark dream for you is crushed, and the nightmare is over.

The bright plan God has for you, for your daily restoration and your eternal  celebration, it prevails, and we rejoice!

Sin, death and the devil crushed for you; life, love and eternity restored to you.

God is truly good! Let us thank Him with praise, and serve Him with joy.

And His peace, which passes understanding, will guard our hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus, who has crushed our adversary.  Amen.