The First Gospel Promise: Gospel in the Garden

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” ~Genesis 3:15

Last week, I talked about how we are co-heirs with Christ in His Kingdom, an incredible, almost unbelievable prospect. There are many who will tell you this amazing reality is not true – it’s fantasy. One of the worst peddlers of lies is Lucifer himself – who from the very beginning – was trying to undermine God’s Kingdom. Not long after the dawn of humanity, Lucifer received a warning that would foreshadow his ultimate demise and the Savior’s victory.

The First Gospel Promise in the Garden

Spoken to the serpent in Eden, Genesis 3:15 is the first gospel promise in Scripture.

After the serpent got Adam and Eve to disobey God’s commands, God told the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” This is the first time in Scripture, the Gospel is preached, or what is called, the “proto-evangelium” meaning “first good news” in Greek. The seed of the woman is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and secondly His Church. He would not come into the world for thousands of years, yet His victory was immediately foretold!

Jesus told his disciples, “No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from My Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15). Jesus “shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,” (Hebrews 2:14) “…because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8).

Our Victory Is Eternal

Jesus’s victory over death always belonged to Him – He was never in danger of defeat. We are friends of Jesus, co-heirs in His Kingdom, who can firmly say the devil has no control in our life, the power of death has been destroyed. Our victory is eternal because His Kingdom shall have no end!

 Always improve the present moment.