11 MAY
Seeds of perpetual warfare
‘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.’ Genesis 3:15
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 1 Peter 1:3–12
The name of Christ includes both head and members in one mystical body (1 Corinthians 12:12). As all who believed in Christ are in him denominated as the seed of the woman and the seed of the promise, so the seed of the serpent includes all the wicked, according to John 8:44 and 1 John 3:8. There is an opposition, a war between these respective seeds—an irreconcilable war in which each party is supported and strengthened by its proper head. The carnal mind is enmity against God, his Christ, his truth and his people. And though the Lord’s seed do not hate the persons of wicked men, yet his grace enables them to set their ways, practices and spirit at defiance, so that they will by no means make peace and league with them. In the course of this warfare they are made conformable to their Head. The serpent and his seed occasion them much trouble, sorrow and suffering and thus bruise their heel—but can do no more than wound them in their present concerns in this mortal state. And they, by his strength, finally bruise his head, overcome all assaults by his blood and the word of his testimony, and are made more than conquerors through him who has loved them.
FOR MEDITATION: And I greatly need a blessing for myself, for though the Lord mercifully supports me in public, I am far from having attained those privileges in my retired walk, which he has given me an idea of as belonging to my profession. I still find a warfare. The foundation of my peace and hope stands firm, but I mourn under a languor and distance of spirit, which I am sometimes ready to think peculiar to myself. I trust he will continue to support me, and that when he has tried me I shall come forth like gold. Though my conscious feelings are faint, I trust Jesus is precious to my soul. I account his favour better than life, and see nothing truly worth living for, but to seek his face and to be employed in his service.
John Newton to John Thornton, 18 May 1775
SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 10 [3/4], GENESIS 3:15
Milo 