The First Gospel Promise
Read Genesis 3:15, 21. What hope can be found in these verses for all
of humanity?
Genesis 3 describes the dreadful tragedy that took over the world
after the Fall. Everything changed, and Adam and Eve could see the
contrast between what the world used to be and what it had become.
But in the midst of their frustration and despair, God gave them assur-
ance for the present and hope for the future. First, He cursed the serpent
with a word of Messianic hope. He declared, “ ‘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, NKJV).
The word “enmity” (Hebrew ’eybah) implies not only a long-lasting
cosmic controversy between good and evil, but also a personal repulsion
to sin, which has been implanted by God’s grace in the human mind. By
nature, we are completely fallen (Eph. 2:1, 5) and “slaves of sin” (Rom.
6:20, NKJV). However, the grace that Christ implants in every human
life creates in us enmity against Satan. And it is this “enmity,” a divine
gift from Eden, that allows us to accept His saving grace. Without this
converting grace and renewing power, humanity would continue to be
the captive of Satan, a servant ever ready to do his bidding.
The Lord next used an animal sacrifice to illustrate this Messianic
promise (see Gen. 3:21). “When Adam, according to God’s special direc-
tions, made an offering for sin, it was to him a most painful ceremony. His
hand must be raised to take life, which God alone could give, and make an
offering for sin. It was the first time he had witnessed death. As he looked
upon the bleeding victim, writhing in the agonies of death, he was to look
forward by faith to the Son of God, whom the victim prefigured, who was
to die man’s sacrifice.”—Ellen G. White, The Story of Redemption, p. 50.
Read 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Hebrews 9:28. What do these texts teach
about what was first revealed in Eden?
Knowing that they would eventually die (Gen. 3:19, 22–24), Adam and
Eve left the Garden of Eden. But they did not leave naked or with their own
fig-leaf coverings (Gen. 3:7). God Himself “made tunics of skin” for them,
and He even clothed them (Gen. 3:21, NKJV), a symbol of His covering
righteousness (see Zech. 3:1–5, Luke 15:22). Hence, even back then, right
from the start, in Eden, the gospel had been revealed to humanity.
