August 9: The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
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. –Genesis 3:15
God is promising in this passage that one of the descendants of Adam and the Woman shall crush the head of the serpent, but he will be bitten and die in the process. Someone, a human being, will be born who will come and destroy sin and death, and in the process lose his life. You ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he, the Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle with sin and death, with the serpent. He shall crush its head.
This verse is often called the “protogospel” because the outcome is set in place at the very beginning, and God wins. That’s the gospel: God wins. One of the promises of the Gospel is that he will defeat all of his and our enemies.
The culmination of this struggle is the cross of Christ. In all of Jesus’ sufferings and temptations and being nailed to the cross, when he was bruised, and whipped, and spat upon, the seed of the serpent was striking his heel. And on Friday afternoon when Jesus was laid in the grave, it looked as if the evil one had won. But then on Sunday, he rose from the dead. It was obvious that he had crushed the serpent’s head. He won. God won.
That’s the gospel! Come hear it preached and enacted in the Supper with Jesus this Sunday.
The related hymns we’ll sing are:
Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder
Breathe on Me, Breath of God
In Christ Alone
This Sunday is our community lunch, and August 22 is the Redeemer Ladies’ Fellowship and Prayer. Use the contact page for more information on either of these events.
Sunday school for children (in Genesis) and adults (on Reformed Treasures) is up and running! Coffee and other treats are served at 9:15, teaching begins at 9:30, and we break to get ready for worship at 10:15.
Visitors are always welcome!