We are looking for sermon transcribers/transcript reviewers.
Email [email protected] to serve or to report transcription errors.


Last week after the Sunday worship service, I had great response. Not because of the sermon, but because of the fish soup I introduced to the church. And when I had my “Meet the Pastor Q&A Session”, the first question that came up is, “Pastor, where is that fish soup from?” And throughout the week, I have brethren text me, WhatsApp me, friends asked me. And even this morning, people would ask me, “Where do you get the fish soup from?”

You guys really helped me to understand what it means to be a pastor, to remember the words of Jesus, “Feed my sheep.” Well, last week was about fish soup, something easy to eat, something easy to digest. But this morning we are going to switch, we're going to change gears to something that is hard to digest. We're going to strong meat today.

Genesis chapter 6 verses 1-8 presents us with a difficult text. That has been struggled on, debated upon by commentators, preachers, pastors throughout the centuries. And essentially, it just revolves around the identity of this name, ‘Nephilim’. “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who are of old, the men of renown.” [Gen 6:4]

So what in the world is Nephilim? Many people struggle with this. They are not sure the exact identity nor the origin, how they came about. But this is what we are going to grapple with. So like I said, “It's not fish soup, easy to digest. This is going to be steak, well done steak, hard to digest kind of a meat.” But I hope it will be helpful to you just to explore how we should approach the Bible together.

I know some of you are new with us. You're not a Christian, this is maybe the first time you're listening to God's Word. I know it'll be tough on you, but hang in there. I don't think I'm going to take long. I hope this will be still interesting and at the end, something encouraging and helpful for your soul.

So the title for today's sermon is an interesting one. I think, “Nephilim. Mutants. Aliens, Titans or What?” What are Nephilim? Now, we live in a world where we are fascinated by powerful beings isn't it? I think in our pop culture today, people are enthralled and excited about powerful beings. That's why the Marvel comic or the Marvel character, ‘The Incredible Hulk’ has such a place in many hearts. People know about ‘The Incredible Hulk’, how this simple guy can become a massive, indestructible being – ‘The Incredible Hulk’.

And maybe today, more and more people are familiar with another Titan - The Mad Titan, Thanos and how he single handedly could handle the Avengers. And people love movies like this, they are the best sellers, the comics, the toys, the movies. Everybody loves it! But do you know that the Bible also has its own version? The Bible's version of these giants, of these powerful beings are found in Genesis, chapter 6, they are called the Nephilim.

What are Nephilim? What are they really? Well, the Bible does give us some clues as to what they are.

Number one, I suggest you that Nephilim are big giant beings. I'm not sure how big. Maybe Incredible Hulk size. Maybe Thanos size. Maybe even bigger than that. I'm not sure, but they are big. Now, the reason why we think they're big is for several reasons - Number one, if you read your King James Bible, some of you are …. this is the English Standard Version, ESV, some of you use other Bible versions like the King James. I grew up reading King James, and if you remember your King James, it will not be translated as ‘Nephilim’, but it's translated as ‘giants’. “There were giants in the earth.” [Gen 6:4]

The reason why it is translated giants, is because of ‘The Septuagint’. Now okay, I know this is where you get lost, but hang in there alright. I … I really … the Septuagint … what in the world is Septuagint? Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament.

You know in those days, during the times of Jesus, when people want to understand the Old Testament, when people want to understand the faith of the Hebrews, and they can't read Hebrew, there are people who translate the Hebrew Old Testament into the Greek version. That's called, ‘The Septuagint’.
It's done by 70 or 72 scholars, Jewish scholars. That's why it's called the 70 – ‘The Septuagint’.

So ‘The Septuagint’, which is the Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, uses the word, ‘gigantes’ in Genesis 6:4. Now of course, ‘gigantes’ is that, which you get the word, ‘giants’. So the King James Version, translate Genesis 6:4 as “The giants were on the earth.”

So it's probably true that these Nephilim were big, huge. I think don't think about Shaquille O'Neal or Yao Ming, alright, they are extraordinarily big kind of beings. Now, this is not just from ‘The Septuagint’, but if you look at Numbers 13:33, we also see that there, “And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim, and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

So it appears here as well, that the Nephilim were giants, and we are like grasshoppers. Now I go to the outdoors quite a bit with my kids. And they love to see insects and creatures and animals and when we see grasshoppers, they are really small. Sometimes you see a big one like this. It irks you. It eats you out. But okay, they're big ones.

But imagine, this we are just like a grasshopper to the Nephilim. So these guys are probably huge, giant beings. Now being huge and giant, it will not be surprising that the Bible also tells us that, “They were mighty. “ [Gen 6:4] They were strong. They were powerful. They were mighty men of old, the men of renown, the men of great fame and name and monument. That's the meaning.

So they were well known to everyone probably on planet earth in those days. Just super human beings, super beings, giants, mighty. Besides that, I suggest to you that they were also wicked, violent, tyrannical. They were like bullies. Now of course if you have that size, you tend to throw your weight around quite literally, right? So they are probably violent, wicked, tyrannical bullies. Because the word, ‘Nephilim’ comes from the word, nef-eel, which according to lexicon can mean either the fallen ones or they fall upon others. And when they fall upon others, that's where you get the idea of a bully, a tyrant there.

Now again, in Genesis 6:11, and 13, we are told that, “The world then was filled with violence, the earth is again filled with violence.” I think there is a connection with what we read in verses 1-4. This is I know, verse 11, or 13, but you can go back and read it. There is possibly a link to these creatures, resulting in a particularly violent world in those days.

So let's bring it all back, what are Nephilim? Nephilim are big, mighty, wicked, violent, tyrannical bullies or beings on earth in those days. So far okay? You can digest this piece of meat? Alright, let me throw you another piece. Now, this one bigger piece. The question next is, now that we know that there are big, mighty wicked tyrants, where do they come from? How did they come about?

Well, the Bible here says, “They came about when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man.” [Gen 6:4] Now the first part is not hard for you to understand - big, mighty, wicked, okay, you can get it. “Thanos lah! Pastor, you're talking about him?” No! No! No! I'm not talking about Thanos, because here, the Bible tells us of Nephilim origins.

“When the sons of God came in …” that is have relationships with the daughters of man. Now, this is where the difficulty lies. Nobody argues about how these Nephilim are big, strong, violent. They don't have a problem. But everybody has a different view as to who are the sons of God, and who are the daughters of man. It makes all the difference.

So traditionally, there may be one or two exoteric views. But traditionally, there are two views that may explain the origins. This first view is what we would call – ‘The Sethite View’. ‘The Sethite View’ of course, you know, this Sethite word is derived from name, Seth. Remember, we studied about Abel and Cain and then when they both died, Adam and Eve had a third one, whom they thought would be the one through whom the Messiah, the Savior will come and he's named Seth.

Seth is a good man. Seth is a man who worship God. Seth is a man whose … some of the children began to gather together to call upon the Name of the Lord. So Seth is the good guy. So they believe that there is a reference to Seth in Genesis 6 and so they call this – ‘The Sethite View’. So they understand that the sons of God here refer to the descendants of Seth. That's why they call this ‘The Sethite View’, that the identity of the sons of God equal the descendants of Seth but the daughters of man will be the descendants of Cain.

So this is ‘The Sethite View’, when the sons of God, Seth's descendants had relationships with the daughters of man, Cain's descendants, their offspring were the Nephilim. So far okay? So just to put it in words for you to read: Nephilim are the offspring from the union between Seth’s and Cain's descendants. Theory number one. Okay?

Now, this view seems to follow the context of Genesis 4-5 rather well, because Genesis 4, you will remember is a genealogy of Cain. What happened to his people, how they were advanced in arts and music and technology and metal works, but ultimately, they were wicked people. We looked at that - Cain's line. And in Genesis 5 was about Seth's line, how they were a people who called upon the Name of the Lord, and there was a good descendant like Enoch who worshipped God. So, good guys.

So this view seems to follow the context of saying, “Hah! It is the ungodly union between the godly Seth and the wicked Cain's descendants that resulted in this monstrous race of titans, giants, monsters.” So it seems to follow the context and it's the most natural explanation. There's nothing bizarre. There's nothing weird about this. Okay lah! Two groups of men marry together, somehow their genes work out in such a way that you pop up this kind of, whoa, giant beings.

A lot of people will take this view. And I suppose there's nothing difficult for you to grasp so far. However, if you sit down and think about it a little bit more, there are some issues, some challenges here.

Number one, the Bible doesn't say that it is the union between the sons of Seth and the daughters of Cain. The Bible says, “Is the sons of God, and the daughters of man.” So we are trying to put our own interpretation into it when we change, ‘the sons of God’ to ‘the sons of Seth’, and the sons of man to the daughter, er … ‘the daughters of man’ to ‘the daughters of Cain’. It's … it's something that you impose upon the text.

Number two, it begs the question, why would a union between a godly man, if you assume him to be godly and an ungodly woman, if you assume that she's ungodly, result in a particularly big people? Why? I mean imagine this, If you are a Christian, and you marry someone who is not a Christian, are you going to tell your gynae, “Doc, I think my son is going to be huge! You better operate on me right away.”

You're not going to do that, because for many, many, many centuries, the size of our children, pretty much standard. It doesn't quite explain why the union between men even though one is maybe of God, and the other who is not of God, in their faith, their spiritual faith will result in a physically different people. And it doesn't quite explain why they are particularly violent. Doesn't explain that.

But most of all, if you assume that it is the union between a godly line of people from Seth, with the ungodly people from Cain, you have a problem because not all of Seth's line are godly. Obviously! You know why? Because soon enough, God is going to destroy all of humanity except for eight people.

So if you say, “All of Seth's line are godly, they should all get into the ark. They should believe the Word of God. They should believe the preaching of Noah.” But obviously many of them, even from Seth’s line, do not believe God anymore.

So if you say, “The sons of God, are godly people along Seth's line.” I say, “They're not godly. Most of them are not! They all drowned in the flood.” So that's why there is an understanding that maybe there is another view. And actually, this other view is a more ancient view. A view held by those, that the Jews who believed in Judaism and the early Christians, the early church fathers. And this is a view that I will call – ‘The Angel View’.

“Hah! What do you mean by the angel view?” It means that the Nephilim were the offspring from the union between, now this is bizarre, I know I said, this is difficult already. But this is the offspring, the result of the union between the fallen angels and the daughters of man.

Now, I … I've preached for many years, I think, 20 over years. This is one of the most bizarre texts in our human understanding. But this is the other view that the Nephilim were the result of this really unusual union and event.

Now it means that if you take the angel view, you're understanding that ‘the sons of God’ here are not Seth's line, but ‘the sons of God’ here refers to angels, and of course, they must be the fallen disobedient angels. And ‘the daughters of man’ are just women, general women. Women who are born from humans.

Now, let me bring you to … to John Calvin. He said this, “The ancient figment, ….” in other words, this has been known for a long time, “… concerning the intercourse of angels with women, is abundantly refuted by its own absurdity; and it is surprising that learned man should formally have been fascinated by raving so gross and prodigious.” I felt like John Calvin.

When we were going through Genesis 6, and someone was reading from a John MacArthur commentary, and says, “No, the sons of God are angels and this is the union between fallen angels and men.” I said, “What? Ridiculous! How can it be so bizarre? I don't read of anything like this anywhere else in the Bible. It cannot be true.” I had the same reaction as Calvin.

But let me move on and show you some more. Go back to Genesis 6, it says, “When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them …” Now I don't think any one of us would assume that this man here refers to Cain. Men in general, when men in general began to multiply, and they were fruitful. They brought in more children, daughters were born to them, that we read, “ … The sons of God saw that the daughters of man.”

Now if the first man was general, the second man, the daughters of man should also be general, right? In other words, it's not the daughters of Cain, it's … you can't say the man multiplied and then you narrow it to the daughters of Cain. It's man, and the daughters that were born to man, women.

And then you have this category of beings called the, ‘sons of God’. Now the sons of God here, is a unique term that is found several times in the Old Testament - sons of Elohim, or sons of El. And every time this is … this is significant, every time sons of God appears in the Old Testament, it always refers to angels.

Job 1, verse 6, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.” Job might be one of the oldest books of the Bible, if not the oldest, records for us how the sons of God presented themselves. And they are angels, Satan is one of them.

And then in Job 2, verse 1, similarly again, “There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.” Second time this happens! And again the same description about the angels, they are called, the sons of God. They are the direct creation of God.

And then Job 38 verse 7, “When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God …” all the angels “… shouted for joy.” We read also in Daniel, chapter 3:25, when Daniel's three friends were in a fiery furnace, they saw a fourth being and, “The appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods,” like an angel. You read in Psalms 29, verse 1, now it's translated, ‘heavenly beings’ in our English here. But if you go back to the Hebrew, it's actually ‘the son of El, the son of God’. Same thing.

That that's why when you read your English Bible, it's not always 100%, so zhun [“accurate” in Hokkien dialect]. Good to check the original at times. And then Psalm 89 verse 6, same thing, ‘heavenly beings’ is the son of God. And in every instance, the term ‘son of God’ really refers to angels.

So when you go back to the text, we are saying that, “the angel view is saying, the Nephilim are the offspring between fallen angels and daughters of man. And it is actually the most natural reading of the text.” Bizarre as it may seem, is the most natural reading - that man began to multiply and there were daughters born unto them. And now the sons of God, the angels, came in to the daughters of man. And they produced a monstrous class of beings called, the Nephilim - big, mighty, wicked.

And that explains an entirely new hybrid race of beings. That's why they're so big! It's a … it's a bizarre, monstrous union, and this view does not assume that all of Seth's line are godly. Now, this is the view and actually, it's the … is the most ancient view and the most widely received view. ‘The Sethite View’ is a relatively new view that came about because Augustine popularized it in the fifth century. So it's very interesting to look into the history.

Now I know some of you must be thinking right now, “Hah Pastor! You're just violating Scriptures, because this cannot be true. I noticed something you say. I remember what Jesus said in Matthew 22, verse 30, that says, “It's impossible for angels to have any relationships, sexual relationships whatsoever.” Because Jesus said in Matthew 22:30, “For in the resurrection, they neither married nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”’

So they say, “Angels in heaven, they do not marry, they do not have sexual relationships.” That's the refutation. However, I want you to be clear that what Jesus is saying here is simply this, “Angels in heaven do not marry.” Right? Correct? I mean, I'm not trying to be a lawyer or what, but that's what it says. And anything else may be more implied or extrapolated, but not exactly stated.

All we can say in Matthew 22:30, regarding angels, is that they who are in heaven, in the future, or even right now they do not marry. But it has no mention of whether they can have sexual relations. Neither does it really account for the fallen angels, who were before this time that Jesus is talking about. So it is not exactly a good clear refutation whatsoever.

Now ‘This Fallen Angel View’, is also the view that would help you perhaps understand some New Testament passages that may be a diff, may be difficult otherwise. I'm going to skip one, 1st Peter 3 because it's plus minus in my opinion. You can take it that way, you can not take it away, that's fine.

But let me just show you two New Testament passages, 2nd Peter, chapter 2 and verse 4 and 5. I said today is strong meat and I know you're a bit indigestion “ai lau sai” [diarrhea in Hokkien dialect] or whatever it is. But bear with me, it's coming to an end.

2nd Peter 2:4-5, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell, and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgement; if He did not spare the ancient world but preserve Noah …” So there is a reference to a time probably during the time of Noah, Genesis 6 probably.

And we are all familiar with the fact that there are demons running around on Earth. Right? But there is a class of demons that are not running around on Earth. They are now chained. Where are they chained? “They are cast into hell.” Now again, this is unfortunate because the original Greek here is not ‘gehenna’, which is the Greek word for hell, is not hades as well, but it's a very unique word, ‘tartarus’. You go check the Greek, “they were cast into tartarus.”

Now, some of you watch movies and you are familiar of Greek mythology. You have hades and you have tartarus, this is the only time it happens in the Bible. So there are angels right now who are not roaming around Planet Earth, wreaking havoc, tempting people to sin, but they are now chained. They are locked there in tartarus, which is a word that means somewhere deep, deep down there. It's a dark deep pit. You say, “Where is it?” I do not know but I certainly don't want to be there.

But that's where some angels are. Why? Probably because they did something that is really, really forbidden by God. Maybe that's how we can understand 2nd Peter, chapter 2, the incident that we read of in Genesis, chapter 6.

Now another text is Jude, oh sorry, about that, dark deep place, remember the demons who were cast out by Jesus or about to be cast out by Jesus, “they begged Him not to command them to depart into the abyss”, the deep, dark pit. [Luke 8:31] So there is a place like this for fallen angels before the final judgement to come. And they are begging Jesus, “Don't let us go there. We want to hang around here some more.” Because they know that they are already angels who are there for some terrible thing that they have done.

Now, Jude it's the book before Revelation, just 1 chapter, verse 6, and 7, it says, “And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day - just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire.”

They pursued strange flesh. They went after foreign flesh. So there may be a parallel here about the acts of the people in Sodom and Gomorrah, and the angels who went after strange flesh, in Genesis, chapter 6.

Now, I know these things are a little bit too much, too deep. But I just want to share with you that ‘The Angel View’ is not without its merit. And I think hermeneutically or based on the principles of how you read the Bible, bizarre and strange and unique as it sounds, I think it is the most likely scenario that the Nephilim were the unusual, strange offspring from the union between fallen angels and the daughters of man. Alright?

Now you say, “Why? Why would the angels do that?” Maybe you say, “They lusted.” Maybe, I … I think so. But it also perhaps, could be and many commentators say this, it's of course, I think something that you extrapolate, it's not explicit, but it might be - that this is one of Satan's ploy to nullify the first promise of the Gospel in Genesis 3:15.

Remember, God said that, “From her, from Eve's offspring, I'll bring forth a Messiah.” But supposedly, if the angels, the fallen angels could contaminate all of the offspring of man by having relationships with them, there will be no way, there will be a pure human being who can bring forth the Messiah.

Now the devil has always tried different things to nullify this promise, this Proto Evangelion. Proto means the first. Evangelion is the first, oh, Evangelion means the Good News. So the first pronouncement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the devil has always tried to destroy or to block that. From Herod trying to kill, from a pharaoh trying to kill the babies in Moses’ time. The devil has always tried different means. This is one of the means perhaps for him to do so.

Alright, I've spent the bulk of my time dealing with a difficult text. What are Nephilims and Nephilim? No plural there. No ‘s’ there. What are Nephilim? Big, mighty, tyrannical beings, who are the result of the union between fallen angels and women, meant perhaps by the devil to not allow the Messiah to be brought into this world.

If you think this is all the fallen angels’ fault, think again. Because I think man has a part to do with it as well. Because in Genesis 6:5, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great.” So yes, I think the fallen angels are then thrown into Tartarus to be punished, but the culpability is also upon man. Man is equally guilty, “That God saw that the wickedness of man was great.”

So this was a terrible time, a particularly sinful time that, “Every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” And the Lord is said in verse 6, that, “He regretted that He had made men on the earth and it grieved Him to His heart.”

One of the FAQs for Christians, reading Genesis 6 is, “Oh Pastor! Are you saying … is God saying that, “He regrets in the sense He should have known better? God regretted, He wished He had never created men? He wished all these things did not come about? He wished He could have stepped in earlier to do something about it?”

Is that what it means? No! God is all knowing, He's eternal and He doesn't regret, in a sense that we do. The regret here is not that He should have done better. The regret here is to communicate that sorrow. So this is what the commentators again say, “The anthropomorphic description of God.” God is describing Himself in a way that we can understand. It's not that He should have known better. He knows all things from the beginning. He plans and executes all things from the beginning. But this is to convey the grief in His heart, when man has fallen so deeply into sin.

“And so the Lord said, I'll blot out man whom I've created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I'm sorry that I've made them.” [Gen 6:7] Again, not that He regretted in a sense, He should have known better. But He is grieved, He's sorrowful, for all that has happened because of sin.

Now even though He says He's going to do that, He's not going to do, He's not going to do that immediately, in a sense. We read earlier, in Genesis 6:3, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever. For his flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”

Some people say, “Oh! God is limiting the longevity, the lifespan of men to 120 years.” I don't think that's the case. Because after this, you read about Abraham, how old did he live to? Anybody knows? 175. There are many other people who lived beyond 120. So this is not I think, God saying, “My punishment is that man will live to 120.” But God is saying, “I'm going to give them a 120 years to repent. Beyond that, the flood is going to come.” So that's the view most would take.

But in the midst of the sinfulness of man and in the impending judgment to come, the Bible writer here gives us a glimpse of hope, “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” [Gen 6:8] So this is what it is. We are still following the narrative that God made man to enjoy Him, to glorify Him. Man chose to sin and rebel against God. He is now evicted from Eden. He is filled with guilt and shame and fear. And the sin principle in man has manifested in a sad and tragic way. So bad that every thought, and every intention is only wicked continually.

The world is now polluted by a hybrid race of beings when the fallen angels are with these women knowingly somehow. It is so bad, and God is going to wipe up this whole world, but God's promise is going to hold true. God's commitment to the Proto Evangelion is unwavering. Because God would … would select, would find a man named Noah, and through him the promise of the Messiah would still go on.

And of course, we read the rest of the Bible, we come to the point when Jesus would be born some 2000 years ago. And He will be the One who will go to the cross, sacrifice Himself, die and pay for the sins of those who would believe upon Him. So this is why I think the Genesis author puts it here, just to show us how deep and dark sin was in those days, but God's promise still holds true.

And my friends, the tremendous encouragement to us, is that no angels, no principalities, no power could separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. If you're here today, and you do not know the Lord as your Savior, I want to encourage you, this is what the whole Bible is about.

The whole Bible is not about how great you are, how capable you are, how righteous you are, how able you are to do good things to save yourself. The Bible is telling you … we are absolutely hopeless, but God is so gracious and generous, that when man is so steeped in sin, He has kept His promise. He has sent His Son, Jesus Christ.

And Jesus has risen from the dead. It is finished! The debt of sin is fully paid. And He calls out to you, He commands you to repent and to believe in His Son, that you may receive everlasting life. God has done it! And all glory is to Him.

So if you are here today, and you have been sleeping for the whole Nephilim part, that's fine, that's quite alright, as long as you are awake, for the Jesus’ part. Jesus is why Noah is preserved, is why Abraham is preserved, is why Isaac is preserved. Because God in the fullness of time, would bring forth the Savior from this line. He's always faithful.

And if you today are a follower of Jesus Christ, you can trust in this faithful God. He's sovereign. He's powerful. He's faithful. He's love. And this is our hope and joy. No matter how dark the world is, God's promise will come forth true.

I know this has been difficult to digest food. Maybe you have to go home and lie there and sleep there for a while and think about all that has been said. But like I said, “This has been debated for centuries, I hope this simple treatment will be helpful to you, even as you study yourself and investigate this subject further in your own time.” Most of all, let's remember, the Bible is about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And may we trust Him more. Alright, let's bow for a word of prayer together.

I want to thank all of you for listening in intently. I can see that for many of you here on site, I hope you are online. I know this has been difficult, bizarre, strange. But you see that's what Satan wants to do, that's what sin is all about. It's always messing things up, trying to keep us away from knowing the True and Living God.

But let's remember the very last statement we read today, “Noah found grace in God's sight.” Not because Noah is a great guy, not because Noah is our savior, but because God is going to do His work of salvation, regardless. No matter how dark and how difficult and how desperate it seems, the light of the Gospel always shines, or be it through just one family. The promise that Eve's offspring, one of Eve's descendants will bring forth the Messiah cannot be denied.

What a joy it is that we are reading the Bible today, not some thousands of years ago, but where we are today. We can look back, and what has been written in Genesis actually came true in the days of Matthew and Mark and Luke and John. And what Jesus did during the days of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are beautifully explained by Paul and Peter and the apostles.

So we today who have this complete canon, complete collection of God's Word, we could look back and say, “Wow! God has indeed fulfilled His words. And so it is such a waste and shame and travesty that if you should hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Bible and still say, “I will not believe.”’ There is no excuse for you, if you've heard God's Word and seen and understood Christmas represents that … that the fulfillment is near.

To say, “I do not want to believe,” there is no excuse. And what a day of fear and trembling it will be when you stand before God on the Day of Judgment. But it does not need to be like this for you. If you hear His voice, if you see your sin, and you recognize that you are absolutely impotent to save yourself, then cast yourself unto Jesus. Look to Him. Repent and believe in Him, because He is the only One who has and will crush the serpent's head.

He has defeated sin, death and hell for us on the cross. He has become a curse for us that we will no more be cursed. He has become sin for us, so that you will no more be seen as a sinner but as righteous before God. If you look to Him to be saved, you can be saved. That's the Good News! Jesus paid it all!

Father, we thank You this morning that we can hear Your Word. Very difficult text, but yet we know that Your will is for us to see how sinful we are as a race, and how wicked the fallen angels are to try to thwart Your plan.

But more than that, we see Your sovereign good hand moving the Good News forward in its fruition. And how we rejoice today, in this year, we can look back at all that You have done. So we look forward as well to great joy and hope and anticipation to the return of Jesus Christ for us. Till then, may Your church be faithful, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. And may You today touch hearts, save souls, change lives. We thank You. We pray all this in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

We are looking for sermon transcribers/transcript reviewers.
Email [email protected] to serve or to report transcription errors.