The First Gospel

Genesis 3:15

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Have you ever heard of the protoevangelium? A big word, right? What does it mean? Well, it means the first gospel. Maybe wonder, well, what’s that? Well, that phrase or that word really refers to the verse recorded in Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, following the fall into sin. Where God says this as he’s addressing Satan, but in Adam and Eve’s hearing he says,

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will crush his heel. (Genesis 3:15)

Now skeptics have said, well, basically all God is doing is he’s foretelling, in the immortal words of Indiana Jones, “Snakes? I hate snakes.” He’s foretelling that human beings are forever going to hate snakes because of the fallen to sin. Doesn’t seem very profound, especially when we know that Adam and Eve broke the world by their sin and brought upon themselves death and destruction. Really? That’s all God’s saying now you’re going to hate snakes? No, there has to be something more.

So what does that passage mean? I will put enmity between you and the woman. God is talking about hatred and hostility between Satan and Eve. But then, as he goes on to talk about those that are Satan’s seed, or his offspring and Eve’s offspring, those that are children of darkness, as Satan is of darkness, and those that are children of light as Eve, trusting in God as their Savior, that there’s going to be conflict, there’s going to be hostility, animosity between these two. But God goes on. And what does he say? He talks about not just a collection of seeds, but he talks about a singular seed of the woman who will crush Satan’s head and Satan will crush his heel.

What’s that talking about? Now, if you’ve ever walked in the woods, maybe you can imagine yourself doing so and all of a sudden being bit by a snake in the ankle. And let’s say you’ve discovered the poisonous snake. Are you going to die? Well, you very well could if you do nothing about it, but you probably have some options. Maybe you can try to suck out the poison. Maybe you can try to find an antidote, quick. And if need be, you could cut off your leg, I guess if you had to.

But imagine if you’re walking in the woods in a tree branch, a tree limb, fell on your head and crushed it. I mean, you’re done. There is no coming back from that, right?

Well, God is foretelling here is he’s talking about something so great in which a singular seed of the woman, and that’s an interesting way to refer to this woman’s progeny, her seed, her singular seed is going to crush Satan’s head. He’s going to crush his power once and for all. We would say this really refers to Jesus’ death on the cross. You see, when Jesus died on the cross, it was as if Satan had crushed or had struck his heel. It seemed as if he had delivered a death blow to Jesus. But Jesus willingly went to the cross because he knew what actually was taking place. He knew by offering his innocent life on the cross for sinners like you and me, offering his life the life of God as a sacrifice, he could do away with Satan’s power once and for all.

You see, the only thing that Satan really can hold over our head is our sin. And Satan says, you deserve wrath. You deserve judgment for the things that you have done. What did Christ do? He said, I will pay. He suffered your hell, your punishment for your sin on the cross. To take away Satan’s power once and for all. And if that wasn’t enough, he [Jesus] didn’t stay dead. He also rose again to life from the dead, showing his power even over death itself.

You know, this protoevangelium, the first preaching of the gospel in the Bible, really sets the stage for the entire book. That, in fact, is what the Bible is all about. It’s a story about God carrying out his plan of salvation, in which he sends the seed of the woman who comes to crush the serpent’s power and head once and for all. We see it ultimately fulfilled in the one referred to as the Messiah in the Old Testament, fulfilled in the New Testament, in the person of Jesus Christ, as we see clearly, that’s who the Messiah is. He is the anointed One, Christ who has come to crush Satan’s power once and for all, so we can have hope of life forever. Amen.