The Antithesis of History

The battle or antithesis of all history is between God's agents and His enemies. In the beginning God said there would be enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. He also promised that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head, while the serpent would merely bruise His heel. (Sure the body of Christ limps through history, but she limps victoriously).

In Acts, we see God's agents battling God's enemies. God's agents are never violent, never engaging in carnal threats, they do not return evil for evil, and are overcoming evil with good. The enemies of Christ are usually Jewish leaders, and later the Roman government. These are frequently violent, resorting to scourging, stoning, killing with the sword, throwing into prison, beating, laying hands on, etc. The apostles tell the truth, but their enemies bring false charges, hire false witnesses, and lie if it suits their purpose to do so.

The apostles are examples so we want to pay attention to these things as we read through the book.

The gospel message is victory. "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." (2 Cor. 2:14) Confidence comes from a couple of Greek words, 'con' and 'fide,' meaning "with faith." Are we confident in our position that our God is all powerful, that He loves us, that He is working with us, has promised never to leave us or forsake us, etc. etc.? All non-Christian positions are hopelessly foolish, inconsistent, irrational, arbitrary, immoral, etc. Just think for a minute, no a second, about the foolishness of believing that reptile skin changed to bird feathers and hundreds of millions of other absurd miraculous myths, which are contrary to all observation and common sense. Is it ok to laugh? God holds them in derision.

Jesus says the meek shall inherit the earth. To be meek is not to be weak. Hasn't it been better called "controlled strength?"

Our message, the glorious Gospel of Christ, is the hopeful good news for the world. This gospel continues to spread quietly around the world, waxing and waning in various locations, but always waxing worldwide. The acts of God's agents throughout history have similarly repeated the acts of the apostles in conquering the world for Christ with His good news of love, forgiveness, sacrifice, peace, truth, and did I mention love, etc? These actions of His disciples continue today, here and even to the remotest part of the world. God's agents are everywhere around the globe, even here.

The promise of God that the seed of woman would crush the serpent's head prompts me to ask; where was Christ crucified? At Calvary in Greek, or Golgotha in Hebrew, the place of the skull. Fitting symbolism for the fulfillment of God's promise to the serpent, his head crushed. Just as he deceived at a tree in the very beginning, so was he deceived at a tree at the end of Old Covenant history.

DR