Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

132 / CORNERSTONE CURRICULUM STUDENT WORKBOOK

the law”). Likewise, John makes it plain what the purpose of Jesus of Nazareth was in coming in to the world: 1 John 3.8 “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” Truly, Jesus of Nazareth is the fulfillment of the ancient promise of Yahweh to send through the line of humankind, the seed of the woman, a person who would both redeem humankind from its guilt, as well as finally destroy the works of the devil. This image of the serpent whose head is crushed by the victorious warrior of the Lord is dominant in the imagery and rhetoric of the apostles. Notice these themes in the following representative texts of the NT: Rom. 16.20 – The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Eph. 4.8 – Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” Col. 2.15 – He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Heb. 2.14-15 – Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, [15] and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. 1 John 3.8 – Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 5.5 – Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? These and other texts lay out for us the power of the promise of the Lord to “crush the head of the serpent” in his own self-chosen, anointed “seed of the woman.” God has determined to connect the entirety of human history to the fulfillment of a single promise that he made in regard to the restoration and redemption of his creation through Jesus of Nazareth. We now know that this promise has in part already been fulfilled in the coming and work of Jesus of Nazareth, and soon he will consummate his work that he began on the cross at his Second Coming. Is it not amazing that all of the history of the entire world and universe can be boiled down to a single promise and our sovereign and faithful God’s

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