The Purpose of Gods Promised Seed
Posted: Friday, March 25, 2005
by M Randall
http://www.christiantruths.us
After the fall of man, God promised a seed, a seed that would "bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Genesis 3:15 ). God was speaking to Satan just after the fall, so it is Satan's head that will be bruised but Satan shall bruise the seed's heel. The question then is who or what is this seed. What is the purpose of this promised seed?
God commanded man to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. After the creation God placed man in the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it. In the Garden of Eden man was supplied with his every need. " And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so (Genesis 1:29 -30).
We all remember the story of Adam and Eve and their fall. God had commanded Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16 -17). Then only one chapter later we see Adam and Eve violating this command. Eve was deceived by the serpent but Adam disobeyed God intentionally. Because of this disobedience, God drove them out of the Garden and protected the tree of life so they could not eat of it and live forever in their disobedience.
Violation of God's law is sin and all sin has consequences even though the sin itself can be forgiven. The consequence of Adam's sin was that he would die spiritually, that the spirit of God within man would die and that man would eventually die physically. There were, of course, other consequences, but this particular consequence of death relates to the purpose of the promised seed. This physical condition of spiritual and physical death was passed on to Adam's descendants. Today, man is born spiritually dead and destined to die physically.
There is some good news in all of this. God promised a seed, Jesus Christ, who would not only pay the price of sin so that man could again be in fellowship with God, but would provide a new spirit for man and eternal life in fellowship with God. This promised seed will destroy the works of the devil and provide a way for man to have fellowship with God by giving man a new spirit which we call being born again (spiritually). This seed will also provide a way for man to receive eternal life with a new incorruptible body.
As we proceed through the Old Testament we can see God protecting the line of the promised seed. Even the devil can be seen working to destroy this promised seed. Why? Because the seed was to bruise his head, " 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 ).
We can follow the line of the promised seed all throughout the Old Testament from Genesis through Malachi. The Old Testament gives many details of the seed that was to come and who he is. In following this line of the seed we should not be confused or led away with all the battles, activities and adventures of such characters as David and Joseph.
In the Old Testament we can also see the nation of Israel was used by God to teach us many lessons, to preserve His word for us today, and to prepare the way for the promised seed. We are told of the nation of Israel and the covenants of God. For example, the new covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the Abrahamic covenant where we have the land, the seed and a blessing.
After the fall we see Cain killing Abel and God providing another son, Seth, for Adam and Eve. One can see the works of the devil in his attempt to prevent the coming promised seed. However, God provided another son, Seth, preserving the line of the promised seed. This line of the seed can be followed down to the flood of Noah's day and even then we see God preserving a line for the promised seed.
After the flood we remember the story of Abraham and Sarah and the seed was to come through this line. This was the beginning of the nation of Israel . God said to Abraham, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3)."
God preserved His promised seed through Abraham and Sarah by allowing them to give birth to a child in their later years. The promised seed is clearly from God and could only be preserved by God. The line of the promised seed continued through Abraham's son, Isaac in Genesis 26, through Jacob in Genesis 28, and through Judah in Genesis 49.
Throughout all this preservation of the line of the seed that was promised we see many details about the coming seed. Here are a few:
The promised seed will not only be human but divine. Thus a supernatural birth is required and we see this fulfilled in the virgin birth by way of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.
The promised seed will be of human birth of the lineage of David, "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever (2 Samuel 7:16 ).
The promised seed would be born of a virgin, "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14 ).
The promised seed must be divine to fulfill Old Testament prophecy because this promised seed was referred to as "the mighty God," "The everlasting Father," "The Prince of Peace, whose goings forth have been from of old, everlasting ."
Isaiah tells us in 9:6, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Then we are told in Micah 5:2, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
The promised seed was to be born in Bethlehem can also be seen in the reference above from Micah 5:2.
The promised seed is identified as Israel 's King who will sit on His father David's throne. See Psalms 2 and 2 Samuel 7:12-16.
The promised seed will be a suffering servant. This can be seen in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 and in Psalms 22.
One should remember that the promised seed will not only be a suffering seed but Jeremiah explains in 23:5 that He will also be a triumphant King . "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth."
We can see these details fulfilled in the New Testament and it is here that the promised seed is manifested in the flesh. The book of Galatians says that the seed is singular, not plural and that the promised seed is Jesus Christ. Galatians 3:13-16 says, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Brethren, I speak after the manner of men Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."
Not only is this promised seed identified as Jesus Christ, we can see Him fulfilling the Old Testament details of the promised seed.
First, we can see in Matthew 1:18 that the promised seed was born of a virgin as promised in the Old Testament. We seen in the Old Testament that this birth was to be of a human and divine nature and we see this in the virgin birth when Mary was found of child with the Holy Ghost. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."
The promised seed in Genesis 3:15 became flesh and dwelt among us as was foretold and His death, burial, and resurrection paid the penalty of sin to bring man back into fellowship with God. John tells us in 1:1-2, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." Then again John says in 1:10-14, "He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
Peter also reinforces the fact that Jesus Christ, who was just - without sin, suffered for the unjust that He might bring us back to God. The new covenant was instituted through His blood. The book of Hebrews explains this covenant in relation to the old. So, the seed has been manifested. 1 Peter 3:18 , "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:"
After the manifestation of the promised seed we see that this good news of promised seed is to be proclaimed. The news that His death, burial and resurrection accomplished mans reconciliation to God and life eternal with an incorruptible body .
God wants all men to know that salvation has been provided He gave believers what is known as the Great Commission. In this Great Commission it can be seen that those who respond to this good news are to be taught and trained. Only in this way can one know how to live in fellowship with and serve God. When one responds to this good news they are restored back into the blessing that adam and eve first enjoyed.
The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 states, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
The promised seed of Genesis 3:15, Jesus Christ was crucified and this seed of the woman will return to earth at the close of the Church age to judge and put away all sin and evil. This was prophesied in the book of Matthew in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:1-25:46).
There will be a kingdom established so that man will again be ruling over the earth with the promised seed as the King. This can be seen in the book of Revelation. Evil will be judged and sent to the lake of fire, the fallen angels or demons, the devil, all unbelievers, the beast and the false prophet.
The ultimate consummation of God's plan is for man to be restored back into fellowship with Himself and ruling over the earth. This is the primary purpose of the promised seed. When God created man he said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. Let them rule over the fish in the sea, over the birds in the sky, over the cattle, and over all the earth and every creeping thing on the earth." Through the fall of Adam mankind lost all of this but here in the consummation of God's plan we see this being restored .
The promised seed is Jesus Christ and the good news of the gospel is that God has provided His promised seed. Those of the Old Testament who had faith in the promised seed were saved. Those today who have faith in the promised seed, Jesus Christ, are also saved and receive a new spirit and one day will receive an incorruptible body.
Paul said in the book of Galatians 3:26-29, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek , there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Scripture says, first comes death and then judgment. Christians will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ by the promised seed, Jesus Christ. Unbelievers will be judged at the Great White Throne judgment mentioned in Revelation by the promised seed. Then there will be the creation of a new heaven and a new earth.
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