With the exception of John 3:16, perhaps no other verse in the Bible is more crucial and definitive than Genesis 3:15, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” As Alec Motyer wrote, “All of Scripture cannot be packed into each verse, but we can read with the confidence that each verse will help make sense of the Bible as a whole. This is what happens in Genesis 3:15” (Look to the Rock, IVP, p. 34). Several important elements emerge at the same time:
First, it establishes a principle that we see throughout the Old Testament, creating the expectation of the Redeemer, who was to come from the offspring (a “seed”) of Adam and Eve. That is why Eve prematurely and terribly mistakenly thought that promise would be fulfilled in her firstborn Cain (Gen. 4:1). Similarly, deliberately echoing this thought, when God makes the covenant with the patriarch Abraham, He strikes the note of a “seed” that rings out like a church bell (Gen. 12:7; 13:15-16; 15 : 3, 13, 18; 17: 7-10, 12, 19; 21: 12; 22: 17-18; etc.). No one who is reading the Bible misses this connecting thread: God is doing something in the history of Israel, which has its roots in the promise given in Eden. When Mary discovers that she is expecting a baby, Gabriel announces to her about her future son: “This one will be great” (Lk. 1:32), clearly capturing a phrase already said to Abraham and David (Gen. 12:2; 2 Sam 7:9). “This” refers to Jesus, of course. The Latin Vulgate interpreted it as “this,” implying that it was Mary, but that was vested exegesis of dogma. She is not the woman who overcomes, but her seed.
The revelation of the covenant of grace
Second, the parameters are established by which God would redeem his people from their sin. From the earliest times, Genesis 3:15 has been called the pre-gospel, because it is the first sign of God’s redemptive plan after the fall in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve failed to obey the terms of the covenant of works (Gen. 3:6), God did not destroy them (which would have done justice), but revealed his covenant of grace by promising them a Savior (Gen. 3:15), who would restore the kingdom, which was then to be destroyed. The method of God’s grace is costly: the Savior’s heel was to be bruised. Of course, this is a metaphor that, in context, contrasts with the blow that the serpent would receive (the crushing of its head), but it also immediately becomes clear what this implies: the bloodshed of a substitute. That seems to be what is behind the provision of animal skins as clothing for Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:21. Blood must be shed so that sins can be forgiven, which explains why Abel’s offering (of the firstborn of his sheep) is accepted, but Cain’s (of the produce of the ground) is not (Gen. 4:3-5). The form is already clear: “without bloodshed there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22).
Third, this verse establishes a cosmic explanation for the chaos in this world: Satan is at work, even though his name is not mentioned here, only a serpent. Adam and Eve are responsible for his actions and are punished accordingly, but his actions are intrinsically entwined with the serpent’s malevolence. There are other explanations beyond “free will.” The serpent is part of what the “Lord God had made” (Gen. 3:1), but it is no longer in the condition that God made it. Genesis veils the origins and nature of this rebellion (sin existed before the fall in Eden), and even when it is discovered elsewhere, it is only partially (1 Chron. 21:1; Jb. 1-2). ; Zech. 3:1-2; and, especially in 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 6). Genesis 3:1 seems to say that Eve’s sin is more than something internal; that comes from outside Did the snake really talk? Why not? But look how in the Bible he manages to grow like the great dragon of Revelation 12! The serpent is a murderous and lying animal (Jn. 8:44), as well as a deceiver (2 Cor. 11:14; Eph. 6:11).
A battle that has already been won
Fourth, the foundation of the victory of the kingdom of God over the kingdom of darkness is laid from the beginning. Jesus echoed this at Caesarea Philippi: “the gates of Hades” are firmly set against the church of Jesus Christ, but Jesus assures his disciples that the church will be victorious (Matt. 16:18). The redemptive work unfolds in enemy territory, occupied by the deadly and tireless opposition of Satan and his minions. That enmity is of unimaginable meanness and cruelty, which we ignore at our peril. The story of redemption is not in a sense a suspense to the end, a tale whose outcome is uncertain until the last page is turned. Although it is true that the lake of fire, as the final destination of the serpent is not revealed until the end (Rev. 20:10), from the beginning, his doom had already been sealed. Christian discipleship is to be carried out in the context of absolute assurance of victory, rather than the prospect of defeat. We are called to be equipped and ready for battle, but with the certainty that the decisive battle against the enemy has already taken place and has been won.
Originally posted on . Translated by Luis Magín Álvarez.