“Protevangelium”

: a messianic interpretation of a text (as Gen 3:15 RSV) presaging man's ultimate triumph over sin through a coming Savior —used as the first anticipation of the gospel.

Mirriam-Webster.com, accessed 14 Feb. 2013

(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/protevangelium)

“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” (Gen. 3:15, KJV).

Is this verse really the “Protevangelium”? 

        In his book, Theology for Today, Elmer Towns weighs in on this question in the affirmative. He discusses Messianic prophesies recorded in the Old Testament and claims that all of these prophesies were literally fulfilled in His first coming; therefore, we can know that those prophesies concerning His second coming will also be literally fulfilled.[1] He says, “Some of these are recorded in obscure or figurative language (cf. Gen. 49:10; Isa. 11:1). Even though predictive in nature, these prophesies were normally written in the past tense. Because prophesies are written horizontal and not vertical in nature, often they may include aspects of Christ’s first and second advent (cf. Isa. 61:1-2).”[2] Towns says that when we interpret messianic prophesies, we have to remember two principals. He states, “One prediction may be fulfilled in two intervals. When Christ read from Isaiah 61:1-2, He stopped in the middle of verse 2 because the next part referred to His second advent.”[3] Towns states that the second principle is double fulfillment, meaning a prophecy may be fulfilled more than once. He then lists two pages of such prophesies and Genesis 3:15 is first on the list.[4]     

        John MacArthur agrees that this passage refers to Christ. In The MacArthur Bible Handbook, he states, ”Jesus’ entrance into humanity was planned from before the beginning of time. God softened the punishment of the curse that resulted from the sin of Adam and Eve by offering a promise that someday a Seed would rise up to crush the serpent (3:15).”[5] He tells that while death came through Adam, Christ, in His coming, brought life to mankind. He goes on to describe how Genesis traces God’s blueprint for Jesus’ birth. God chose Abraham to father a nation and God protected that nation all the way down to Jesus.[6]  

        Another advocate for the protevangelium is John Davis. He describes this verse as Satan’s ultimate defeat and says God’s attention was directed more towards Satan than the serpent because he was the one behind it all. Davis writes, “Interestingly enough, the ultimate victory of Messiah is given not as a promise to man but as a judgment upon Satan.”[7] He says that not all commentators believe this to be a Messianic prophecy but that the traditional Christian interpretation accepts it as the first direct expression of the gospel. It recognizes the ongoing conflict between Satan and God, which also involves the followers of Satan and the children of God.[8] Davis continues, “The seed of the woman is a clear reference to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus (cf. Rev. 12:1-5; Gal. 3:16, 19), who came ‘to destroy the works of the devil’(Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8). The protevangelium prophesied that Christ would deliver a death blow to Satan, but in so doing would suffer death Himself.”[9]    

        If this verse were not Messianic in nature, it really has little significance. It might be construed to mean simply that man will kill snakes and snakes will bite men when given the opportunity. If this is the case, how does this curse differ from man’s plight with wolves, tigers or bears? It is better to see it for what it is, a prophetic response to Satan’s deception of mankind and rebellion against a holy God. When we study the whole of Scripture, we not only see multiple prophesies concerning Christ, we see a loving God that had already made provision to reconcile fallen man back to Himself. We also see references to Satan’s impending demise. We can trace God’s grace from the beginning (Genesis) to the end (Revelation). When Christ died and rose from the grave, conquering death, He defeated Satan judiciously; when He casts Satan into hell, He will have carried out the sentence, thus, crushing his head.      

 

Bibliography

Davis, John J.  Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis. Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1998.

MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Bible Handbook: A Book – by – Book Exploration of   God’s Word. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003.   

Mirriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Mirriam-Webster.com.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/protevangelium. (accessed 14 Feb. 2013).

Towns, Elmer. Theology for Today. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008.

---

        [1]. Elmer Towns, Theology for Today, (Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008), 175.

        [2]. Ibid., 175-6.

        [3]. Ibid., 176.

        [4]. Ibid., 176.

        [5]. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Handbook: A Book – by – Book Exploration of God’s Word, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 10.   

        [6]. Ibid., 10.

        [7].  John J. Davis,  Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis, (Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1998), 93.

        [8]. Ibid., 93.

        [9]. Ibid., 93.

“What is the 'image' of God in mankind?”

The Bible says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,” and further states, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:26-27, NIV).

There may be some confusion as to what the word image means in this passage. At first glance, some would assume it to mean physical appearance; however, after careful consideration, this might not be the case.

In Theology for Today, Elmer Towns writes, “If man is to understand to some extent what is the image of God, he must of necessity stand firmly and solely upon Scripture. The teaching of the imago Dei is strictly a biblical concept.”[1] He explains that this image is not physical. He quotes Stevens to support this position, “True, the Second Person of the Trinity ‘became flesh and dwelt among us’ (Jn. 1:14). And the Father sent Him forth ‘in the likeness of sinful flesh’ (Rom. 8:3), and as our Redeemer, He took to Himself our nature of flesh and blood and was made ‘in all points like to His brethren’”(Heb. 2:14-18). He concludes by saying, “Yet in all these references to the incarnation it is Christ who takes our likeness. Never is there a suggestion in the Scripture that our physical nature is in any way an aspect of the image of God in us.”[2] Towns also writes, “It is not merely man’s rational or moral abilities,” that make us in the image of God.[3] Strong concludes, “The image of God must be, not simply to be like God, but actual likeness.”[4]  

According to John J. Davis, “It is this image and likeness that completely distinguishes man from the animal kingdom. He alone has the capacity for self-consciousness, speech, and moral discernment. Even though man has fallen and the image of God is marred, man retains this image (cf. Gen. 9:6; James 3: 9).”[5]

Towns claims that there appears to be four separate aspects of God and, without any one of them, the image ceases to be the image of God. They are: 1. “The image of God includes a rational aspect, though not limited to rationality; 2. The image of God in man includes a moral aspect, though not exclusively; 3. The image of God has a spiritual aspect, though not exclusively; and 4. The image of God includes immortality, though not exclusively.”[6]

One would not say that a monkey is in the image of God, hopefully, but yet a monkey shares many physical likenesses to man who is in the image of God. Based on Scripture and reason, I have to agree with Davis and Towns.

 

Bibliography

Davis, John J.  Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis. Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1998.

Towns, Elmer. Theology for Today. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008.

---

        [1]. Elmer Towns, Theology for Today, (Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008), 570-1.

        [2]. Ibid., 573.

        [3]. Ibid., 573.

 

        [4]. Ibid., 574.

        [5]. John J. Davis,  Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis, (Salem: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1998), 21.

        [6].  Elmer Towns, Theology for Today, (Mason: Cengage Learning, 2008), 575-7.

“I AM”

     In the Old Testament book of Exodus, the Lord instructed Moses to go back to Egypt and demand that Pharaoh free the Israelite slaves. Moses inquired of the Lord, “ Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Ex. 3:13-14, NKJV). The Apostle John recounts seven “I AM” statements made by Jesus in the gospel which bears his name and he writes to show that Jesus is making an emphatic statement as to His deity by using this verbiage.

        In John, chapter fourteen, Jesus states, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6, NKJV). This particular passage sums up all of His “I AM” statements. They are as follows: “I AM the bread of life” (John 6:35, NKJV), “I AM the Light of the world” (John 8:12), “I AM the door of the sheep” (John 10:7, NKJV), “I AM the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11, NKJV), “I AM the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25, NKJV) and “I AM the true Vine” (John 15:1, NKJV). Much like Jesus summed up the Ten Commandments by saying to love the Lord with your whole being and love your neighbor as much as yourself (Mat. 22:37-40, Mark 12:30-31,  NKJV), so here, all of His “I AM” statements can be covered by this one. 

        In reference to Jesus’ “I AM” statements, John MacArthur writes, “In one breath, Jesus proclaimed that He existed for all eternity and that He is God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, unlike any human, never had a beginning. He is the eternal God. Jesus clearly states His deity by using the words ‘I AM’ to refer to Himself. In Exodus 3:14, God reveals His identity as ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ Thus, Jesus claimed before His judges to be the ever-existing, self-existent God.”[1]

        As recorded in the fourteenth chapter of John, Jesus has told the disciples that He must go away but that they will follow later (John 14:2-4). Thomas asks Jesus how they can know the way if they do not even know where He is going (John 14:5). In this context, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6, NKJV). Jesus knows that He will soon die on the cross and His disciples will be scattered. They will question everything they believe and they will be vulnerable. Although Jesus knows they can not and will not fully understand His words, He is planting the seed in their mind that He is God. There is something tremendously powerful in the very words of God, whether we understand them or not.

        Elmer Towns writes, “Jesus responded, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life’ (14:6). Any one of these three claims would have been staggering.”[2] He goes on to say, “Jesus had earlier identified Himself with both truth and life, which are divine attributes. Since Christ is the source of life and truth, He must also be the way to God Himself. He is so closely identified with the Father that we need not look away from Jesus to see the Father. His divine words and works are a token of this fact” (14:7-11).[3]

        According to John, the Father and Son are inseparable. The Encarta World English Dictionary defines inseparable as: “always together: sharing a close friendship and always seen or found together” and, “unable to be separated: so closely linked as to be impossible to consider separately.”[4] Leon Morris addresses this kind of inseparability when he says, “in reference to his ‘works,’ combining the miraculous with the nonmiraculous, Jesus said, ’If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me; but if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may come to know and keep on knowing that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father’ (10:37-38).” He continues, “Running through such sayings is the thought that the Father is at work in and through the Son. He has sent the Son on a mission to this world, and the works the Son does are evidence that the Father is accomplishing his purpose.”[5]

            Jesus said He was the way; this implies that He is the only way. According to The Pulpit Commentary, in regards to the Way, it is stated, “There is a way which we must take – the way along which time takes our bodies; the way of physical development, maturity, decay. But side by side with the way which cannot be chosen, and in striking contrast with it, is the way which must be chosen. For that way we are responsible; none can compel us to take even one step in it.”[6] It further states, “And what that way shall be depends on where we want to get. Those who want to be with Jesus hereafter must be with him here. And those who want to be with the Father hereafter, having knowledge of him, and receiving of his fullness, can only gain this through Jesus.”[7]

        Regarding Truth, The Pulpit Commentary says, “In Jesus only do we find the real, the abiding, and that which can never be shaken. How simplified our inquiries become the moment we can rest in the all sufficiency of Jesus! ‘Where is Jesus?’ not ’What is true?’ becomes the main question then. All that lies outside of his intent and his support is seen to be but as a passing dream.”[8]   

        On Life, it is stated, “Jesus becomes the Existence of the believer. In him he lives and moves and has his being. Through Jesus we are born again into newness of life, and being born again, we find in Jesus the atmosphere, the nourishment, and all the ministering associations of our new life. We need all the energy and perennial freshness of his own vitality; and if we truly have Jesus, whatever we may lack, we shall not lack life.”[9]

        While the disciples did not fully understand these things when Jesus spoke them, after the filling of the Holy Spirit, they understood. Today, we have the writings, not only of Jesus’ words but also of the revealed meaning as given to the apostles by the Holy Spirit. The disciples did not have the Bible as it is written today, they had the books of the Old Testament. When the Spirit came upon them at Pentecost, they remembered Jesus’ words and then were able to understand His words and see how He fulfilled the writings of the Old Testament.    

        Matthew Henry addresses this lack of understanding when he writes, “Thomas had inquired both whither he went and what was the way, and Christ answers both these inquiries and makes good what he had said, that they would have needed no answer if they had understood themselves aright; for they knew him, and he was the way; they knew the Father, and he was the end; and therefore, whither I go you know, and the way you know.”[10] 

        To the hearer of Jesus’ words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6, NKJV), there would be no question as to His claim that He was God, equal to the Father. Through His many miracles, prophetic words and fulfillment of prophecy, He proved it. His death, burial and resurrection solidified it and gives the believer the assurance that they can find salvation in Him, the great, “I AM” (John 14:6, NKJV). 

         

Bibliography

Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. (accessed October 6, 2012).

Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry Commentary, vol. 5. Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1977.

MacArthur, John. The MacArthur Bible Handbook: A Book – by – Book Exploration of        God’s Word. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003.   

Morris, Leon. Jesus Is The Christ: Studies in the Theology of John. Grand Rapids:    William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989.

Spence, H. D. M., Joseph S. Exell, eds. The Pulpit Commentary, vol. 17. McLean: MacDonald Publishing Company, 1980.

Towns, Elmer. The Gospel of John: Believe and Live. Twenty-First Century Biblical Commentary Series. Nashville: AMG, 2002.

---

        [1]. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Handbook: A Book – by – Book Exploration of   God’s Word, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 342.   

        [2]. Elmer Towns, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live, (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2002), 141.

        [3]. Elmer Towns, The Gospel of John: Believe and Live, (Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2002), 141.

        [4]. Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation (accessed October 6, 2012).

        [5]. Leon Morris, Studies in the Theology of John, (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), 174.

        [6]. H. D. M. Spence, Joseph S. Exell, The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 17, (McLean:

MacDonald Publishing Company, 1980), 260-1.

        [7]. Ibid., 261.

        [8]. Ibid., 261.

        [9]. Ibid., 261. 

        [10].  Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry Commentary, vol. 5, (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell Company), 1110.