In Genesis 3:15, we have a great promise from God. He won't let Satan have the victory over us. He will sent His Son, Jesus ("the seed of the woman". Through His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus will triumph over Satan - for us. Satan will bruise Jesus' heel. We see this in Jesus' suffering on the Cross. Jesus will bruise Satan's head. We see this in Jesus' mighty resurrection from the dead. When Jesus was crucified, it seemed that Satan had the upper hand. That's the way it seemed, but it's not the way really was. That was only the bruising of Jesus' heel. Soon, it would be made clear that it was Jesus who had the upper hand. His triumph was revealed in his glorious resurrection - the bruising of Satan's head. When we read these words, we may say, "Satan is still alive and kicking." Yes. That's true, but his head has been bruised - and this is the beginning of the end for him. Satan's end will come when he is "cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:10). Then, there will be the ultimate triumph of the Lord - "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Revelation 21:4). We have seen the beginning of the fulfilment of God's great promise. We shall see the complete fulfilment of His promise. This is the work of His amazing grace, and we give all the glory to Him.
A response to a comment by G. R. Osborne on Berkouwer’s understanding of the doctrine of final perseverance
In his contribution to Clark Pinnock (editor), Grace Unlimited (1975), G. R. Osborne states that Berkouwer, in Faith and Perseverance, pp. 9-10, “speaks of the time less ness of the doctrine of final perseverance, founded on ‘the richness and abidingness of salvation” (p. 188, emphasis mine). This single-sentence comment on Berkouwer’s view hardly gives a fair indication of the type of thinking found in Chapter 1 of Berkouwer’s Faith and Perseverance - “Time li ness and Relevance” (pp. 9-14, emphasis mine). Berkouwer insists that “the living preaching of the Scriptures, which offer no metaphysical and theoretical views about … ‘permanency’ as an independent theme in itself, does nothing to encourage ‘a continuity which is … opposed in any way to the living nature of faith” (p. 13). Berkouwer stresses that “The perseverance of the saints is not primarily a theoretical problem but a confession of faith” (p. 14) and that “The perseverance of the saints is unbreakably connected wi...
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