Genesis 3:15 – “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.”
In yesterday’s devo, we started looking at the entrance of the Serpent, that is Satan, in Genesis 3 and humanity’s first deception and separation from God. Today, we continue the story and how the circumstances and happenings of Genesis 3 changed the rest of humanity for all time.
After Eve ate the fruit, God then came looking for the man, holding him responsible for the sinful condition of his family as its head. Rather than repenting of his sin, Adam essentially argued with God by blaming Eve for his sin and blaming God for making Eve. Eve, too, failed to repent of her sin and blamed the Serpent for deceiving her.
God then cursed the parties involved as penalty for their sin. The serpent was cursed for what he had done and told he would be defeated one day by the “seed” of the woman, who is Jesus, according to Galatians 3:16. Theologians have long called the promise of Jesus in Genesis 3:15 at the protoevangelion (first gospel), as God preaches the gospel for the first time, whereas His angel will the last time (Revelation 14:6).
The woman was given increased pain in childbirth and God notes that she would struggle with the tendency to rule over her husband rather than help him grow as a loving and godly head as God intended (note that the language here for Eve’s desire to rule over Adam sinfully is the same as sin’s desire to rule over Cain in Genesis 4:7). The man’s work became toil for him because God cursed the ground. This means that, as men seek to work their jobs and pay their bills, they will continually be as frustrated with that which is supposed to be under their dominion as God is with the rebellious man who is likewise supposed to be under His dominion. Adam was then given the privilege of naming his wife as he did the animals, calling her Eve which means “life-giver.”
God then dealt graciously and kindly with the man and woman, though they had sinned. God lovingly clothed Adam and Eve to protect them. God also banished the couple from the tree of life, or they would have lived forever in sin with no hope of redemption to instead live together as fallen and lost sinners.
The storyline of the Bible is wedding then war. Satan did not show up until a man and woman were married with a ministry call on their lives. The enemy’s deceptive subversion of their trust relationship with God was also an attack on marriage, separating the husband and wife so he could then wreck their family and legacy. Spiritual warfare on earth starts by attacking the relationship of a married couple.
Today, though we still bear the image of God, it is marred and twisted by our pride and sin, which accounts for the tragedies and evils in the world that proceed from us. Our only hope is redemption through Jesus, who was God that became a man to live without sin in our place, die in our place, and rise as the pattern for our future. One day, the seed of rebellion in us from Adam will be forever removed as we re-enter the second Eden in the new creation that will exceed that place in which Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect communion with God.
Why is it important that we understand the origins and remedy for sin from Genesis 3?
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