"I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and you shall bruise his heel."
Genesis 3:15
Adam
and Eve, having sinned due to the enticement and temptation of the serpent, are
about to receive their punishments. But first, the Lord details the punishment
of the serpent, through which Satan used to work out his evil treachery against
the Lord and against humanity. After telling the serpent that his seed will
crawl on their bellies and eat dirt for the rest of their time on earth, the
Lord then offers up a glimmer of hope for mankind, as well as a symbol of doom
for Satan.
God
said that there would always be a struggle between man and Satan. Satan will
continually tempt mankind, causing humans to fall into sin and utter destruction,
making them enemies of God. Humans needed a savior.
But
then, God told the serpent, a human offspring of the woman would be born to
destroy the death grip that Satan has on humanity. While Satan would bruise the
heel of this savior, inflicting a devastating and mortal wound, humanity’s
savior would rise up to crush the head of Satan, bringing reconciliation
between God and man. The Creator God pledged to crush the head of the serpent
under the feet of the seed of the woman. This Messiah would be the solution to
man’s fallen, sinful condition.
While
this prophecy may have been confusing initially, in hindsight, we understand this
prophecy to refer to the coming of Christ. Christ, a human being born of a
virgin, lived a sinless life in humble submission to His Father’s will in order
to save the human race from the devastating effects of sin. While Christ
suffered and died, he fulfilled this first Messianic prophecy by rising from
death, proving His authority as Savior and Son of God.
