Week 1 / Beginnings

Sin and the Promise of Jesus

Read: Genesis 3:1-21

SOAP: Genesis 3:15

"And I will put hostility between you and the woman

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.” (NET)

Into the Text

The first two chapters of Genesis show us what a perfect life looks like. But God gave Adam and Eve one directive. He said that they were not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It would be their downfall.

Through the serpent’s crafty words, he led Adam and Eve to question whether or not they believed in God’s goodness. Was He withholding something desirable from them? Wouldn’t it be better if they were like God? It was in this temptation that both Adam and Eve disobeyed God.

This act of rebellion, small as it seemed, led to catastrophic results. It brought sin, pain, and death into the world. It caused a wedge between humans and a chasm between God and man. Sin destroyed the harmony of peace of life.

It’s here that God could have easily walked away or destroyed creation, but He didn’t. God stepped in and provided a way to redeem and restore humanity and creation.

In Genesis 3:15, we see the first proclamation of the gospel, of the coming Rescuer. He will be an offspring of the woman and will be at war with Satan. Though Satan will strike His heel, which happened on the cross, the Rescuer, Jesus, will strike his head. In other translations, it says that Jesus will crush Satan’s head.

Though the entrance of sin seemed to have ruined God’s perfect plan, God was still in control. He would make everything right through Jesus Christ. The story of redemption was now on the move.

Prayer

God, thank you for being gracious and compassionate. Thank you for stepping in and promising to send a Rescuer to redeem a broken humanity. Amen.