The First Gospel

He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom you gave me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." The the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 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." Genesis 3:11-15

Adam is caught in his sin, as is Eve and the serpent. So, the game of blame begins. It is interesting to note that a quick glance appears to have Adam blaming Eve for his failure. But that is not really the case. At best, Eve is only a secondary source of blame. In fact, Adam focuses his blame shot at God for giving him the woman in the first place. It's almost as if Adam says to God, "If you hadn't made this woman for me, I would still be alright." Eve points her blame for her actions directly toward the serpent. The serpent doesn't even get a chance to reply to God, and he would not have an effective target for blame anyway. As we shall see next time, God doesn't buy these excuses and blaming games. He holds each person responsible. As far as the serpent is concerned, it is here where something unique happens.

Along with the punishment pronounced for the serpent himself, God proceeds to make His first prophetic statement, as well as the first clue about His provision for salvation from sin and sin's consequences. Genesis 3:15 is known as the protoevangelium, or first gospel. The "offspring" the the LORD mentions represent two others. The offspring of the woman (notice that it is not the offspring of the man and the woman, only the woman) is the Lord Jesus Christ, born of the virgin with no human father. The offspring of the serpent represents those who end up putting Jesus to death. In a larger sense, the offspring of the serpent represent all of humankind apart from Christ. The "bruising of the heel" of the offspring of the woman is referring to the crucifixion of Jesus. The "bruising of the head" of the serpent's offspring refers to the defeat of Satan's plans to keep humanity away from God's forgiveness. Even then, God had you and I in mind. He was preparing in His heart the sacrifice of Jesus for the sin which entered the world on this most terrible of days! God the Son, the Christ, Lord of all creation and with the Father even here was ready for the sacrifice of His life for ours! We were not yet fully prepared, for we needed the covenant of the Law to come first. But this day set in motion the history of salvation from the heart of our loving God.

Your joyfully loquacious believer,
LEE