Most everyone recognizes Genesis 3:15 as the first promise of the Gospel where the seed of the woman will have victory over 
the serpent. An interesting aspect of this passage is that the first Gospel presentation was made to Satan. It was in God’s address to Satan that we find this verse. We have it as a promise however as did Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve would not be able to save themselves from the serpent but God promised them a deliverer who would in the future accomplish that task for them. Most translations say that the promised one will “bruise” the serpents head while the serpent will simply bruise the promised one’s heel. Some translations say they will “strike” each other. Satan will strike the promised one’s heel and the promised one will strike the serpents head. But I like the stronger language of other translations which say the promised one will “crush” the serpents head. The NET Bible says He will “attack” the serpents head. I actually would prefer it to say “cut his head off.” It seems to carry the idea of a more thorough victory which the Hebrew word seems to imply. Cutting off the head of one’s enemy was a common practice among the ancient people’s of the Mideast.
To rightfully understand the story of King David, one must understand him as a “promised” one. He was a prefigure of the one and last promised one. Most people point to David as an example for us to follow as we face the giants in our own lives, but this is to miss the point completely. David was the one chosen by God to deliver his people from slavery to the Philistines. The people could not save themselves from their enemy. They needed a savior and God sent them one. Just as God addressed the serpent in Genesis 3:15, David addresses the giant in 1 Samuel 17:46. He said “This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head.” That is exactly what happened!
Please notice what followed David’s victory. After taking Goliath’s own sword and cutting off the giant’s head, David took the head to Jerusalem. It doesn’t tell us where exactly, but I’m inclined to think that it was to a place that became known throughout Israeli history as the “place of the skull.” Someone was crucified at that place a thousand years later! At that execution, Satan inspired Judas, the religious leaders, and the Roman authorities together to nail Jesus to a cross part of which included driving a spike through his heels to secure him to the cross. But what looked like a victory for Satan ended up being a non-fatal blow according to the will of God. Christ was placed in a tomb but then rose again on the third day declaring final victory over the serpent! We are now heirs to that victory! In 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 Paul writes, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
secured them with hopeful expectation under our trees. All that remains is the anticipation of how our gifts will be received. Do we really know our loved ones? Do we know them well enough to predict what they would like or not like? Will our selections bring them delight or disappointment? Will they illicit joy and excitement or will they be tossed aside to make room for the next one? It’s no wonder Christmas is so stressful!
sentence; “God.” Then follows the predicate which goes on to tell us what the subject did: “created the heavens and the earth.” We can learn a lot about God by studying what He created. Everything in the world shouts out the greatness of God. It’s obvious that if God is the cause of everything that exists, He’s greater than what He created and everything just “declares” His glory as the Psalmist says. Although we can see the glory and majesty of God in the creation we can only learn about his character, his nature, his interests and his dealings with both the created order and mankind from the Bible. The Bible was written to teach us about God. God is not only the subject of the first sentence of the Bible, He’s the subject of the whole Bible.
the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.” What was it that made Cain’s sacrifice unacceptable? It seems that we see grain offerings and first fruit offerings pleasing to God in the Bible so what caused God to disregard Cain’s offering?
nations, God said to Abraham “I will make you into a great nation.” When men were conquering and possessing vast territories, God said to Abraham “I will give you all your territory.” God chose to make for Himself this nation and give them their land to demonstrate to the whole world His majesty and sovereignty over all our affairs.
the Christmas spirit and you can see it all over their houses. I haven’t gone by a house quite like the one Chevy Chase decorated in the “Christmas Vacation” movie, but we have some good ones! The lights really seem to bring our city to life. The lights seem to bring each house to life as well. Isn’t that what Christmas is all about? 
of His disciples. He signified the inevitability of this prediction by quoting the prophecy from Psalm 41 which reads “the one who shared my food has turned against me.” In fact, John 6:64 makes it very clear that Christ knew all along who would betray Him. Even the price of His betrayal, 30 pieces of silver, was prophesied centuries earlier in Zechariah 11:12.