The first promise of a Redeemer

September 22, 2024 • Series: The Story of Redemption

Genesis 3:15 shows the gospel in its most embryonic form. It’s a mere seed planted in the soil of a broken world. God’s grace is already on the move.

In the wreckage of humanity’s fall, when the weight of sin and its consequences begin to settle like a dark cloud over Eden, God speaks a word that cuts through the gloom. It’s a curse directed at the serpent, but a promise is hidden within it—a beacon of hope that flickers in the distance.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Ge 3:15).

This is the Protoevangelium, the first gospel. Though it’s spoken in the context of judgment, it’s more than a sentence against the serpent. It’s the declaration of war against sin, death, and those evil forces that now have their grip over the world. In one sense, the curse on the serpent foreshadows the long and bitter conflict that will stretch across history—a battle between the forces of darkness and the children of God. In a much deeper sense, however, it’s the promise of ultimate victory.

God says that one day, a descendant of the woman, her offspring, will deliver a fatal blow to the serpent. The imagery is vivid—a bruised heel and a crushed head. The serpent will strike, wounding the Redeemer, but that strike will only graze the heel. In contrast, the Redeemer will crush the serpent’s head with a definitive, mortal blow. This isn’t just a minor skirmish. This is the promise of complete and final victory over evil.

Though Adam and Eve don’t know it yet, this promise points to Christ, the Messiah who will come to reverse the curse and undo the devastation wrought by sin. Jesus, the second Adam, will face the full force of the serpent’s bite on the cross, but in rising from the dead, he will crush Satan under his feet and the power of death once and for all (Ro 16:20; Heb 2:14).

In Genesis 3:15, we see the gospel in its most embryonic form. It’s a mere seed planted in the soil of a broken world. The rest of Scripture will water this promise, nurturing it until it becomes the complete revelation of Christ’s work on the cross. Even in the immediate aftermath of the fall, when humanity is reeling from the consequences of sin, God’s grace is already on the move. His redemptive plan isn’t a backup strategy. It is the story from the beginning.

What could have been a moment of utter despair becomes the first glimmer of hope. God, in his mercy, refuses to let the story end with rebellion and death. Instead, he sets in motion a plan for redemption that will unfold across the ages, culminating in the crushing of the serpent’s head and the restoration of all things through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son.

It’s a small verse, almost easy to overlook in the gravity of Genesis 3, but it carries the weight of eternity. God promises that one day, evil will not win.

The first promise of a Redeemer

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