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Volume 13 - Page 158 of 159 Index | Zoom | |
that our other studies on the Kinsman Redeemer will come to our aid here. Redemption
includes the destruction of the enemy, and Christ took upon Himself flesh and blood,
becoming in due time THE seed of the woman, that as Kinsman-Redeemer He might
redeem the seed of the woman that had become involved in sin and death. Let us suspend
judgment while we gather further evidence. Gen. 4: 1 says:--
"And Adam knew his wife; and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a
man from the Lord."
The story of Cain and Abel is the record of the two seeds, true of the two brothers as
individuals and yet more true of the destiny of the two seeds which at this moment of
time began to divide the earth. But some say, surely Gen. 4: 1 is written in order that
we may see that Cain was a true child of Adam and Eve! It would appear so, yet we must
allow equal weight to the inspired words of I John 3: 12 which say that "Cain was OF
THAT WICKED ONE". That this is a case in point the earlier part of the chapter proves.
Christ was manifested for a dual purpose:--
1. To take away our sins (3: 5).
2. To destroy the works of the devil (3: 8).
There is another manifestation, and that is the manifestation of the two seeds.
"In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil" (I John 3: 10).
By all the rules of true interpretation, these parallel statements must stand or fall
together. The child of God is "begotten of God" (verse 9), and God's "seed" remains in
him. Parity of reasoning then demands that the child of the devil is begotten of the devil,
and his seed also remains. The origin of sin is most definitely attributed to Satan:--
"He who is a doer of sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning"
(I John 3: 8).
Is the expression "begotten of the devil" too strong? John the Baptist could say to the
Pharisees and Sadducees who came to his baptism, "O generation of Vipers"! The word
"generation" is cognate with "born" and "begotten". In John 8: 37 the Lord said to the
Jews, "I know that ye are Abraham's seed", and we might say, therefore they could not
be the seed of the Serpent, but the Lord stated that the fact that they sought to kill Him
evidence two things:-
1. The Lord's Word had no place in them (verse 37).
2. They were doing what they had seen with their FATHER (verse 38).
But, protested these Jews, "Abraham is our father"! (verse 39). The Lord replied:--
"Ye are of your FATHER THE DEVIL, and the lusts of your father you are willing to
do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar and the
father of it" (verse 44).