Over the years, I’ve pointed out that the first mention of the gospel occurs in Genesis 3:15, right after sin enters creation. As God is judging the serpent, he gives the serpent a prophecy—and what hope it must have given to Adam and Eve—that the Seed (offspring) of the woman was coming to crush (bruise) the serpent’s head: “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.”
But the promise of the Messiah isn’t just found at the beginning of Genesis—it continues throughout the book. Actually, it continues throughout the entire Old Testament, as the overarching theme is “Humanity is sinful, but a Savior is coming.”
But returning to Genesis, fast-forward past the flood and Babel and consider God’s promise to Abraham, as God selects him to be the one from whose family line the Messiah will come: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2).
This promise is then continued to Abraham’s promised son, Isaac: “Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him” (Genesis 17:19).
And to Isaac’s younger son, Jacob: “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Genesis 28:13–15)
And Jacob’s son Judah: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet” (Genesis 49:10).
Now, you’ll notice as you read Genesis that none of these men were perfect. They all sinned grievously, and within the accounts of these four generations, we see instances where one or another of them lied, took concubines or extra wives, solicited a “prostitute,” deceived others, sold a brother into slavery, and more. God certainly doesn’t whitewash the sins of his people!
Clearly, none of them could be the “Seed of the woman” who would crush the serpent’s head. They were all flawed and sinful, failing to live up to God’s standard. It’s all a reminder that we can’t save ourselves! It’s God who, in his mercy, makes and keeps the promise of a Savior. Eventually, that promise was fulfilled (as we will celebrate tomorrow) in Jesus Christ, the God-man, through his life, death, and resurrection.
As you celebrate Christmas tomorrow, take time to reflect on the sinfulness, not just of mankind as a whole but of yourself, and to thank God that he did what you and I cannot—he sent the perfect Savior to “save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
