Prophecy Fulfilled

“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.” - Genesis 3:15

God never leaves a problem unsolved. He doesn’t need to wait on test results or to seek anyone else’s advice. Once the problem of sin entered the world, God immediately gave a solution. This solution is wrapped up in a single verse that carries in it the hope of the entire world. Genesis 3:15 says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and he offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” This is the first prophecy that we find in the Bible. Even more, it is the first time the Gospel is shared. This verse is the story not just of Christmas, but also of Jesus Christ. It is both a promise that someone will come to rescue us from sin, and a prophecy that this someone is Jesus Christ.

This one verse is what the entire Bible is about, because from this point on the Bible is about how God keeps and fulfills this promise is Genesis 3:15. The word for “offspring” in Hebrew is literally the word, “seed.” For centuries, this baffled Jewish Rabbis because biologically the woman has the egg and the man has the seed. The word “seed” is used over 300 times in scripture and all except this one time it is used to describe the seed of the man.

God promises that this One who will rescue us from sin and defeat Satan would be born from a woman. In all the rest of Scripture, we read that children are born from their father, but no father is mentioned here, with the implication that this person will not have a biological father…an earthly father. Furthermore, every time the word “seed” is used in Scripture it means “children.” When the word is singular, as it is here, it describes a specific descendant and when it is an individual the pronoun is always masculine.

“Why does all of this language stuff matter?” you might be asking. Because it tells us that a male is going to be born from a woman, without an earthly father, and be capable of undoing what has been done. Centuries later, the prophet Isaiah put it this way in Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the LORD Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.”

From the moment that Adam and Eve rebelled against God, the greatest need the world has had is a Savior. That Savior was promised and was prophesied in Genesis 3:15. Jesus is the fulfillment of that prophecy. He is the keeping of God’s promise.

Father, Thank You for making a way to redeem me from my sin. And thank You for keeping the promise You made all those years ago when sin first entered Your perfect world. It is only by Your grace that I am saved.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.