Category Archives: General

I’ll often ask members of our congregation this question: “How many extra Christians has God made?” How would you answer? The answer, of course, is NONE! Every Christian is both needed and valuable in order for the body of Christ to become all God is calling it to be. In other words, every member matters . . . and that includes you!

Is the name Edward Kimball familiar to you? Don’t feel badly; not many people do. Edward taught Sunday school at Boston’s Mount Vernon Congregational Church in the mid-1800’s. One day an 18-year-old boy entered Edward’s Sunday school class; this is what Edward Kimball recalled about that first meeting:

I can truly say, and in saying it I magnify the infinite grace of God as bestowed upon him, that I have seen few persons whose minds were spiritually darker than was this boy’s when he came into my Sunday school class, and I think that the committee of Mount Vernon Church seldom met an applicant for membership more unlikely ever to become a Christian of clear and decided views of Gospel truth, still less to fill any extended sphere of public usefulness.

Not long after this encounter, Edward went to this young man’s workplace, a shoe store. He hesitated outside; Edward later admitted that he almost passed by the store altogether. But he went in, determined to share Christ’s love, and found the young man in the back wrapping shoes. Edward Kimball put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and asked, “Will you not give your heart to Jesus?” Moments later, the young man gave his life to Christ. His name was Dwight L. Moody, and he went on to become one of the greatest evangelists of that century, a man who led thousands to Christ.

Moody befriended F.B. Meyer and is often credited with encouraging Meyer to fully commit himself to evangelistic ministry. Meyer, in turn, had a profound influence on the Presbyterian evangelist John Wilbur Chapman. Chapman declared that F. B. Meyer’s teaching changed his entire ministry, saying, “I shall never be able to express in words my appreciation of what this man of God . . . did for me by personal influence.”

Chapman hired a former baseball player named Billy Sunday to work in his evangelistic outreach. In 1924 Billy Sunday conducted a series of revival meetings in Charlotte, North Carolina. A group of citizens, inspired by Sunday’s impassioned oratory, formed the Billy Sunday Layman’s Evangelistic Club, later renamed the Christian Men’s Evangelistic Club. Ten years later, this group was instrumental in inviting another evangelist, Mordecai Ham, to conduct a series of meetings in Charlotte in November of 1934. A sixteen-year-old boy was persuaded to attend one of those meetings, and that boy went forward to give his life to Jesus Christ. His name was Billy Graham.

You probably never heard of Edward Kimball . . . but you very likely heard of D.L. Moody, and who hasn’t heard of Billy Graham? And it all began with the faithfulness of one man: Edward Kimball.

So . . . what about you? You name may not be known by many, but God wants to use you, right where you are, to expand the cause of His kingdom. God has called, equipped, and empowered you to do His work in this world. But He won’t force you to do it. Perhaps God is calling you to lead a Bible study . . . a prayer group . . . a service project . . . or to speak the love of God into the life of someone who does not know this truth today.

Remember, there are no extra Christians! God has put you in the perfect place to do His work right now. Perhaps years from now, someone will tell the story of their conversion . . . the day you shined the light of Christ into their darkness. I cannot imagine anything better than that!

One last thought: years later after that day in the shoe store, as Dwight L. Moody was concluding one of his evangelistic outreaches, a young man came up to Mr. Moody and introduced himself as the son of Edward Kimball, Moody’s old Sunday school teacher. Moody inquired as to the young man’s spiritual condition, and finding no evidence of faith in Christ, led him to the throne of grace, where God converted his soul.

You just never know what God can do with a heart yielded to His will. If not you . . . who? If not now . . . when?

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

As a pastor, I spend a great deal of time reading through the Bible over and over again, yet it never ceases to amaze me just how much God cares for us. You are likely familiar with the oft-quoted text that God even knows the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30), which reveals that He cares about even the most infinitesimal details of our lives!

I’d like to offer you another word of incredible comfort today from the one of David’s psalms:

You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book? (Psalm 56:8 NKJV)

David knew how intimately God cared for him. Before David was crowned king of Israel, he spent years on the run from King Saul, who wanted to kill David because he burned with jealousy over David’s success and popularity. David was comforted in the knowledge that God had kept a detailed list of his years of wanderings. In other words, God kept track of David’s tracks! But that’s not all . . . God tracked David’s tears as well.

The Holy Spirit moved David to offer this lovely image of God collecting his tears in His bottle, a reference to an ancient custom among the Greeks and Romans, who would collect their tears shed for the death of a loved one in a bottle or container of remembrance and then place the bottle in the tomb of the deceased. Clearly, David was greatly encouraged by the knowledge that God cares so much for us that He keeps track of our tears. Christian, if that doesn’t light the fire of your faith, your wood is wet!

You and I have shed our share of tears in this lifetime, have we not?

• Tears of sorrow
• Tears of pain
• Tears of grief
• Tears of frustration
• Tears of joy
• Tears of laughter
• Tears of loneliness

God is not some distant, disconnected deity who is indifferent to the trials and tears of His people. God cares for every one of us, and that includes you! God cares about even the smallest details of your life, and He is with you every step of the way.

I know there are times when it seems like God is distant, heaven is silent, and the weight of the world is pressing down on your shoulders. But remember this: Jesus came into this world and God the Father collected His tears in His bottle also . . . tears that Jesus shed for you.

Regardless of where this finds you today, whether you are shedding tears of joy or tears of pain, God is tracking your tears. He cares so much for you that He took your place on a cruel cross and paid the penalty for your every sin . . . past, present, and still to come. Christ’s cry of unimaginable anguish from the cross—“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”—is your cry of cosmic comfort. You can be utterly and eternally assured that because Jesus was forsaken, you never will be!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Those of us who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ’s atoning work on our behalf must be careful and not think that this amazing, gracious salvation is all about “me.” To be sure, we were saved individually . . . BUT we were saved to community. Every Christian believer is part of one body with many members, in which each person is needed and valuable. And as members of this one body, you and I have received instructions for how we are to treat one another.

Here are just a few examples:

• We are to love one another                           (John 13:34)
• We are to honor one another                         (Romans 12:10)
• We are to serve one another                         (Galatians 5:13)
• We are to bear one another’s burdens          (Galatians 6:2)
• We are to forgive one another                       (Ephesians 4:32)
• We are to encourage one another                 (1 Thessalonians 5:11)
• We are to pray for one another                     (James 5:16)

One of the distinguishing marks of the early church that caught the eye of the watching world was the way the Christians “one anothered” each other. They continually devoted themselves to meeting others in their place of need. The Gospel truths helped them rise above the natural sinful human tendencies for avarice and self-protection. Instead, they lived lives marked by self-sacrifice, regardless of the cost or circumstance.

Can the same be said about you and me? What would those closest to us say about the visible evidences of self-sacrifice in our lives right now? Here is what we must keep in view. We love because He first loved us. We forgive because He first forgave us. And we “one another” because He first one anothered us!

Are there people in your life you find hard to love? Love them anyway! Are there people in your life you simply cannot bring yourself to forgive? Forgive them anyway! Are there people in your life you find difficult to “one another”? One another them anyway!

You see, the key to “one anothering” is to fix our hearts on the One who, in spite of our sin, one anothered us. When we keep God’s mercy in our hearts and His love in our lives, how can we not be merciful and loving in the lives of others? Jesus took our place on the cross and paid the penalty for our sins . . . all our sins—past, present, and still to come. And don’t forget this: while He hung, bleeding and dying on that cruel cross, Jesus cried out to His Father in heaven, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34 KJV).

That truth—that amazing love and grace—should set us free to put others first and lay our lives down for others. These are the marks of the Christian. This is the foundation upon which a life of “one anothering” is to be built.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

David, the man after God’s own heart, laid out two foundational truths for building a godly life; don’t miss just how personal he made them with his use of the word “my.”

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. (Psalm 28:7)

David said the Lord is MY strength and MY shield and MY heart trusts in Him and MY heart leaps for joy. God was no theological proposition for David. He was personal and He was present in David’s life through the good, the bad, and even the ugly seasons of David’s life.

So . . . how is it with you? Is it “MY . . . MY . . . MY” for you in your walk with Jesus?

First, we must know that God is our strength and trust in that truth. Omnipotence has servants everywhere; God is at work on our behalf, even when we can’t trace His hand. The Holy Spirit has taken up residency in the heart of every believer and provides the strength we need to live out our lives in service to our God. But that’s not all!

Not only is God our Almighty strength, He is our Almighty shield. Our Savior Shield protects us from every flaming arrow of attack and accusation from the evil one. Our first two parents disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden and bequeathed an inheritance of death to all mankind. But those who place their trust in Christ’s atoning death receive a new inheritance: the rich robes of Christ’s righteousness, which provide us with both strength and a shield.

David trusted in this truth. Can the same be said of you? Where in your life right now are you dealing with the flaming arrows of the evil one?

• Difficulties in your marriage?
• Troubles at the office?
• Friendship failures?
• Financial shortfalls?
• Stress in your singleness?
• Conflict in the classroom?

Your Strength and your Shield is with you every step of the way in every challenge you are currently facing. David knew he was helped because he knew His Helper. Do you know this truth today? Can you say with David, “MY . . . MY . . . MY”?

Jesus has invited you into an intimate personal relationship, not with some theological proposition, but with the promise of His person. He goes before you, beside you, behind you, and most importantly within you. He is the Friend who sticks closer than a brother. The Lord is MY strength and MY shield. He is MY Jesus, MY Savior, and there is no one else in the entire universe like Him. May that be the joyful declaration of all our lives!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

If you are a regular reader, you know I frequently use athletic and fight-training references in teaching biblical truth, having spent most of my life in these arenas. A calendar year is divided into 12-month increments; if you were to think of those increments as a 12-round fight, today begins this year’s 12^th and final round. Today, on December 1^st, the bell has rung and you step out into the middle of the ring to begin the final round.

There are two vital questions to ask yourself at this point:

1.  In looking back over the first 11 rounds, what lessons can I learn?

2. How does God want me to finish the fight in this 12^th and final round of 2014?

We should regard the past as a school; we learn valuable lessons from the past, but we are never to live there. Scripture repeatedly commands us to examine ourselves, which means we are to “review the tapes.” If you and I could sit in front of your computer screen and watch the first 11 months of 2014 in one long replay, what would we learn from the review? And then, having gleaned what we could from those previous 11 rounds, we could take those lessons and, if God is so pleased to give to us the final month of this year, launch into the 12^th and final round. Is there anything you’d like to do differently this month?

I cannot think of a better goal for finishing out this year than to be able to echo the words of the apostle Paul:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  (2 Timothy 4:7)

Christian believer, know this: fighting the good fight does not mean fighting it perfectly. Only Jesus did that. You and I fight imperfectly in every arena of life because we are imperfect people. As I often tell our congregation, the Christian life is not about attaining perfection on this side of the grave, it’s about a new direction. We are heading in a new direction because God has placed us on a new path, to run a new race, and to fight the good fight of faith. And we do all of this, not in our own strength, but in God’s strength, “for it is God who works in [us] to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).

So . . . as you look back at the first 11 rounds of this year, what do you see? What have you learned? What lessons can you take into this final round? There was a time when people focused on finishing well. It wasn’t enough to simply start something; they wanted to bring it to a fruitful close. Well, I hope you’ll allow this message to be an encouragement to you throughout the entire month of December: No matter how this final round goes, “He who began the good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6). You may feel like Rocky, coming out for this last round beaten and bloodied, just hoping you can “go the distance.” You need not “hope,” because God, who does not lie or change His mind, has promised that He will carry you through to the end.

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:29-31)

I pray this promise will help you focus on the good fight before you, knowing that God will fill you with His strength to complete what you started. If you get knocked down along the way, and you view it as your own failure, know that you are already forgiven!

And for those of you bounded out into the middle of the ring for this 12^th round, feeling strong because you are running well right now, give glory to God! And then turn and look behind you . . . there is a brother or sister who is tired and weary; they have stumbled and fallen. They need your love and encouragement!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

rrurunningrwellright now, give glory to God! And then turn and look behind you . . . there is a brother or sister who is tired and weary; they have stumbled and fallen. They need your love and encouragement!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Today I’m presenting the final installment of a three-part message on “Thanks-living.” We’ve looked at what we think and what we do—or, more accurately, why we do what we do. Today let’s give thought to what we say. There is power in what we say and every word we sow into the lives of others results in some kind of harvest being left behind.

As with the previous two messages, I’m only going to present one verse of Scripture. I encourage you to find others that will strengthen your Thanks-living for God’s glory and for the good of others.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)

Experience has taught me that this command is much easier to say than to actually do. Perhaps it is the same for you. Unwholesome talk seems to roll so easily off the tongue and leave a wasteland of hurting hearts in its wake. We say things without thinking that we ought not to say and prove that the old childhood saying—“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me”— is so very wrong.

To be sure, sticks and stones may break some bones but those wounds eventually heal. However, the harsh, unwholesome speech we direct at others can and often does scar for a lifetime. Is there anyone reading these words who does not know this truth by way of personal experience? We have all been scarred and we have all scarred others. I’ve been involved in athletics as a coach and trainer for decades, and I have seen young people driven out of a life of sports because of insensitive coaches who could not control their tongues.

But this is not for you! Thanks-living is marked by language that builds others up and encourages them. I like to call it being a “good-finder” (rather than a fault-finder) and broadcasting the good we see in others. One of my best friends is quite gifted in this area. It is as if God has given him a mission to build others up according to their needs. He does this with me every weekend after the services at Cross Community Church, and I hear him doing it with everyone he comes in contact with as well.

The word encourage literally means “to give heart.” Those who are marked by Thanks-living look for every opportunity to speak words of life into others and strengthen their hearts. What they say is intended to help the hurting, bless the broken, strengthen the weak, lift up the downcast and always to encourage their brothers and sisters to continue to run the good race.

The only people who can lift others up are those who are secure in themselves. Insecure people tend to put others down, for fear that the spotlight may not shine their way. Some Christians have become so comfortable with this practice that they even weave their discouragement into their prayers, saying things such as “Oh, bless his (or her) heart” . . . right before lowering the boom of criticism or gossip.

As children of the Most High God, we have so much to be thankful for . . . and one of the greatest blessings is that God has called and equipped us for Thanks-living. I am often asked about the best techniques for evangelism; I reply that they are as many and as varied as the people who share the Gospel. But I always add that the way we live our lives will either make the Gospel attractive or unattractive to those around us. The best evangelists in the world are those whose lives are marked by Thanks-living through what they THINK . . . DO . . . and SAY.

And please remember this, beloved: Thanks-living shines the brightest light on the One to whom we should offer joyful thanks. That is a life worth living!

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Throughout this Thanksgiving week I am unpacking a concept that I call “Thanks-living.” I’ll explain what this kind of life entails for every child of God in three primary areas of living out our Christian faith: what we think, what we do, and what we say. I am only going to focus on one verse of Scripture for each topic; I encourage you to find others that will strengthen your Thanks-living for God’s glory and for the good of others.

The previous blog discussed our thought-life; today we will explore how to live in Thanks-living by what we do. Remember that it has been well said, “What you do speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you say!”

Here is today’s Scripture:

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Everything we do should be ultimately motivated by one purpose: giving glory to God. Now, that is living a life of Thanks-living that springs from the Spirit and not from our own sinful hearts! You see, there are always two reasons that a Christian believer does anything. We can do something for the glory of God . . . or we can do something for our own glory. When we are doing something—anything—for our glory, we are doing it for what we hope to get. We are trying to broker God’s favor and blessing in our lives. We want control, and we try to get it by making God our debtor. When we operate from this mindset, even when we are doing “good” things, they turn out to be bad things because we were doing them for the wrong reason.

You will recall that the Pharisees did a lot of really good stuff: they spent lots of time in the Synagogue, they tithed, they served, they prayed, they fasted, they studied. But they did all these “good” things for all the wrong reasons! Their actions did not flow out of a heart of love for the Lord and gratitude for His grace. Their hearts were beating only for themselves. Jesus exposed this truth when He said, “Their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8).

I can’t imagine anything worse being said about anyone; could it possibly be said of you or me?

When we do whatever we do for the glory of God, our lives are truly marked by Thanks-living in every way. We are to eat for the glory of God; we are to drink for the glory of God; we are to love for the glory of God; we are to serve for the glory of God. We are to live for nothing smaller than the glory of God in every area of our lives.

So . . . what have you been doing lately? More importantly, why have you been doing it? When what we are doing flows out of a heart of thanksgiving for what Jesus has already given us—and not for what we hope to get—then we live lives marked by Thanks-living and a desire to showcase the goodness and glory of God. We put the Gospel on display and make our God attractive to all those who are watching us. And make no mistake; the world is watching to see if our practice matches our profession.

So remember that the key to the “Do” part of Thanks-living is found in the why we do what we do. This why is far more important than what we do, and the why is determined by what our hearts are ultimately beating for. God knows our thoughts; before a word is on our tongue, He knows it completely. I’m sure that there are those in the church today who, just like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, do all sorts of great things . . . but our Lord would say to them, “Your hearts are far from me.” May that not be true of you or me!

I pray that you and your loved ones enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving Day tomorrow; eat and drink and fellowship for the glory of God! I’m looking forward to our presenting the final message in this Thanks-living series to you on Friday.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Throughout this Thanksgiving week I will briefly unpack a concept that I like to call “Thanks-living.” We’ll see what this kind of life entails for every child of God in three primary areas of living out our Christian faith: what we think, what we do, and what we say. I am only going to focus on one verse of Scripture for each topic; I encourage you to find others that will strengthen your Thanks-living for God’s glory and for the good of others.

Today we’ll look at the thought life of Thanks-living:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

You won’t find any of what I call “stinking-thinking” in that command from God! Notice that I said command. This is as much a command from God as any of the ten that were inscribed by the finger of God on the tablets of stone and given to Moses on Mount Sinai. Here the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, described the thought life of those who are committed to Thanks-living . . . regardless of the cost or circumstance.

I say “regardless of the cost or circumstance” because Paul did not qualify this divine imperative with words like, “Think such thoughts when all is going well in your life—when the sky is blue and the clouds are fleecy and the sun is shining brightly.” He simply said that we are to think about such things as a way of Thanks-living before the face of God.

Paul explained that the only way that this Thanks-living will be a mark in the life of the Christian is to keep our thoughts focused on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. And what will stimulate such thoughts? Where will we be exposed to these qualities? Not in the newspaper . . . not in magazines . . . not in movies or music . . . certainly not on television or the Internet! This kind of thinking will only be found and forged by being immersed in the Word of God. The only way we will think God’s thoughts after Him is to know God’s thoughts; and the only way to know God’s thoughts is to read, study, and marinate in His true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable Word.

So . . . how are you doing in the area of thinking? How much time are you spending in God’s Word each day? Each week? Each month? Remember, the book you don’t read won’t help you, and that truism most definitely includes the Bible. God’s Word is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating our very soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12), but it will not have that effect in the lives of those who do not read it!

I can tell you that one of the best things we have done as a new church is to read through the Bible in one year as a church family. My beloved friend, brother, and Greek professor, Dr. Sam Lamerson, has been walking us through the Bible since the beginning of this year during Sunday school class. The comments from everyone have been so encouraging! This has been just the “push” they needed to stay grounded in the Word of God.

Perhaps this message today is that gentle and providential “push” for you too. Make no mistake; Thanks-living thinking will only happen when we are very intentional about what we put in to our minds.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

As a pastor, one of the saddest things I hear is the words of those who believe they can “blow it” so badly that God will turn His back on them. Some have told me this with tears in their eyes and explained how they learned this growing up in church. And every time I tell them the same thing: Nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus said:

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (John 6:37)

Did you get that last part? “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” Now if that doesn’t light the fire of your faith, your wood is wet! In my admittedly simplistic way of explaining biblical truth, I say that there is NO BOOT FOR THE BELIEVER . . . EVER! Jesus meant what He said. And He had a great deal to say about this subject!

I give [my sheep] eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”  (John 10:28-30)

Christian, do you see the power in that promise? Never has God made a promise and turned His back on it. “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind” (1 Samuel 15:29). Not one lost soul will ever charge Jesus with turning him or her away. They simply refused to respond to God’s gracious invitation to be saved by His grace, through faith alone.

The religious leaders of Christ’s day were furious with Him . . . but not for turning sinners away, but rather for receiving them! Jesus receives sinners—all types of sinners. Think of some of the scandalous sinners in the Bible that Jesus welcomed into His company: prostitutes . . . tax collectors (who were perhaps the most despised of all people in Jewish society) . . . He received liars . . . cheaters . . . murderers . . . deceivers . . . deniers . . . those who were weak in the faith . . . . He even received the religious leaders who came to Him, and they were sinning scoundrels of the highest order!

So have you messed things up a bit? Perhaps you’ve messed it up terribly? Jesus receives those who have messed it up, but He will never drive them away. “This is the will of [my Father] who sent me,” our Lord explained, “that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day” (John 6:39). He will lose none of those whom God the Father has appointed for eternal life. No one and nothing can snatch you out of His sovereign, nail-scarred hand!

Yes, friends and family may turn away from us. But Jesus simply cannot do such a thing. He paid too high a price for us to get in to ever drive us out. He has exalted His promise to us as highly as He exalts His own name (Psalm 138:2), and He will never abandon or revoke that promise. “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29)

So come to Jesus today, and come with the confident assurance that He is waiting to receive you with open arms and nail scarred hands. Come in your weakness and your worry. Come in your sin and your shame. Come in your fear and your faithlessness. Come just as you are—beaten, bloodied, and bruised. But come, because all that the Father gives to His Son He will never drive away.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!

Paradise! Everything was good and going well in the Garden of Eden until that fateful day. Adam and Eve were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) . . . but they weren’t satisfied with that most noble status, above and beyond all other created things (Psalm 8:4-8). Our first parents grasped for more; they wanted to be God! Their rebellion plunged all of creation into groaning cosmic corruption.

But God did not leave them there! He made a promise to reverse the curse:

“I will put enmity between [Satan] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  (Genesis 3:15)

Here we find the Gospel proclaimed in Genesis, God’s first promise to send a Savior for sinners. But notice that this is a two-part promise. God said He will put enmity between the devil and the woman. Why? Because they had become good friends! Adam and Eve had rejected God’s Word and accepted the evil insinuations of Satan as truth; they were now on the run from God and in relationship with the devil.

But God, in His infinite grace and mercy, refused to let the story end there. He promised to separate Adam and Eve from the serpent and to drive a wedge between them . . . and His name is Jesus Christ. The promised Messiah was on the way, and He would ultimately crush the head of the serpent on the hill Golgotha.

God would cause the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent to do battle. And along the way to glory, the promise given to the Messiah about the striking of His heel is to be received by us too. The powers of evil attack us and strike our “heel” often. But what we must remember that only our heel is struck, not our head. The serpent’s strike will hurt, but it will not kill us, because Jesus took our death on the Cross.

How often we learn this second part of the Gospel promise by way of painful providence! We are tempted. We are tried. We are tested. And we fail those tests all too frequently! The waves of challenge seem to wash over us day and night. But through it all, we have a power in us that is far greater than any power that comes up against us. “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 NASB). You and I shall be bruised . . . but never beaten.

To be sure, every time the devil strikes our heel we cry out and we limp a bit. But in those times of pain and defeat, let us never forget the Bible’s first Gospel promise: victory is assured through our conquering King, Jesus Christ, the young Prince whose final, triumphant victory cry from the Cross caused the earth to shake and the rocks to split open!

Are you limping today? Then limp all the way into glory, knowing the whole truth of God’s promise to fallen man. Our Lord was victorious in conquering every last one of our enemies, including Satan and even the ultimate enemy: death itself. Let that truth strengthen your walk with Christ this day.

This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!