God in justice dealt out curses because of Man’s disobedience. And within the curse of God towards the serpent we see HOPE. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel” (Gen 3:15). God promised that there would be war between the serpent and the One that would come from Eve, but that seed of the woman would “bruise” the head of the serpent, though He Himself would be bruised. Death came because of sin, but God promised to destroy the devil and his work through the One to come.

I try to write short, concise pieces for my blog, but I would like to share something longer today. Can you handle it? Can you focus in for a few minutes longer to see something glorious from the book of Genesis? God, from the very beginning, has been revealing the gospel to His people, and I want to give you a glimpse into a tiny fraction of the glorious riches of Christ found in the very first book of the Bible.

Pre-Genesis

But before I do that, did you know that the gospel message was before the beginning? Before God ever spoke anything into creation, He had perfect Trinitarian unity with Himself, and He had all glory (John 17:5). He eternally existed as God over all things (Psalm 90:2). In this state, the Triune God waited to enact the gospel plan to save sinners through the death and resurrection of the Son, to the praise of His glory (1 Peter 1:20, Eph 1:4, John 17:24). So it should come as no surprise, that even “in the beginning” the gospel plan begins to be spelled out.

Genesis

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

God is the Creator of all things who existed before the beginning. He created light, the heavens, water, land, plants, sun, moon, stars, sea creatures, flying creatures, land creatures… “Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness… So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Gen 1:26-27). In the next chapter we get a zoomed in picture of how God did this: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed” (Gen 2:7-8). God gave mankind LIFE and FELLOWSHIP with Himself. God also gave a command to keep.

Gracious Command and Grievous Sin

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat…”

Genesis 2:16-17

God gave a very generous command. What gracious words: “freely eat”! But of one tree they were not allowed to eat. They were not allowed to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:17). Despite the gracious words of God, we know the tragic story. The serpent deceived Eve, and Adam walked headlong into sin. “So when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make [one] wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Gen 3:1-6). They broke God’s gracious commandment.

According to God, “the day that you eat of it you shall surely die;” but you might say, “I thought they hid themselves and were thrown out of the garden?” True, man and woman did not physically die in that day, though sin would surely bring about physical pain and death. There was a more serious death that occurred in their act of disobedience. “And you [He made alive], who were dead in trespasses and sin” (Eph 2:1). “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). Man became spiritually dead. They were air-breathing, heart-beating dead men. God had breathed into man, making him a living being and giving him fellowship with God. But now, because of man’s rebellion against his Creator, man was dead in sin and separated from God. Just as Adam and Eve hide themselves from God’s presence, so all sin separates us from God’s favorable presence. “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isa 59:2).

Hopeful Curses

God in justice dealt out curses because of Man’s disobedience. And within the curse of God towards the serpent we see HOPE. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel” (Gen 3:15). God promised that there would be war between the serpent and the One that would come from Eve, but that seed of the woman would “bruise” the head of the serpent, though He Himself would be bruised. Death came because of sin, but God promised to destroy the devil and his work through the One to come.

Adam and Eve were separated from God because of sin, and they lost access to the tree of life and the presence of God (Gen 3:23-24). Yet the promised hope remained that One would come and to save. For now, Adam and Eve would live, work, and have children under the curse. And those children to be born would inherit something from their father: “And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth” (Gen 5:3). Adam was created with life in the likeness of God. After his sin and spiritual death, Adam had children in HIS own likeness, without life. And this progression continues on throughout the ages. Men have children in their likeness, with spiritual deadness inherited from their father Adam. “For as in Adam all die” (1 Cor 15:22).

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