“Bible promises: the first promise”
Genesis 3:15
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus.
Promises promises. Just think of all the different kinds of promises!
Marriage vows are a promise. We say, “I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness, and in health, to love and to cherish, for as long as we both shall live.”
Men and women in the military make promises too. They say, “I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
If you sign a contract, that’s a promise too. As one author put it, “We’re exposed to contracts in all areas of our life--agreeing to terms when downloading a new computer program, hiring a contractor to repair a leaking roof, and even ordering a meal at a restaurant. Knowing the principles of contracts is not just a skill needed by lawyers, it illuminates for everyone a crucial institution that we use all the time and generally take for granted.”
Ever heard of a pinky promise? Ever wonder why it’s called a “pinky promise”?
By definition, it’s “the act of sealing a promise usually followed by linking our pinkies around each other.”
But why pinky fingers? And why is such an “unbreakable promise” secured with our pinkies and not our first finger, our second finger, our ring finger, or our thumb? Why the pinky?
Supposedly, the term goes all the way back to the early 1600s, to Japan, where they said that if you were to ever break a pinky promise, you’d have to cut off your pinky finger in return. (I don’t know about you, but I’d rather sign a contract most any day!)
The Bible is full of promises too! Look hard enough and you’ll find a little over eight thousand, eight hundred promises from God to man, from man to man, and from man to God.
Think of Isaiah chapter 41. It’s where the Lord said, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
That’s a promise!
Think of Deuteronomy chapter 31: “The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8).
That’s a promise!
And Jesus said in the book of John chapter 16: “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
That’s a promise too!
And of all the Bible’s promises from beginning to its end, the very first one is found in the very first book of the Bible, in the words of Genesis chapter 3. I’ll start at verse 1: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden”?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:1-7).
Poor Eve had absolutely no idea what was about to happen. After all, she was, quite literally, living in paradise. But while she wasn’t looking for the serpent that day, the serpent was most certainly looking for her.
Can you see her walking along the banks of the river that ran through the Garden of Eden? The sun warmed her shoulders, as the fragrance of a thousand flowers and the chorus of a thousand birds filled the air. It was the sort of day that we all dream about--a perfect day in paradise!
And that’s when she spotted the serpent. She wasn’t afraid. Why would she be? She was, after all, living in paradise, and there was no fear in paradise. Besides, the creature before her was a stunningly beautiful creature. When he spoke, his voice seemed so captivating and alluring. And she wondered, in her innocence, who or what was he and what did he mean to say?
And that’s when he spoke: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” (Genesis 3:1).
It was a brilliant move, really. In essence, Satan challenged Eve to a game of “Bible Trivia,” a three-part conversation in which he speaks, Eve responds, then he speaks again. It could have all been over in less than a minute.
But it was in that moment, that earth-shaking, heart-breaking moment, that the downward spiral began. Eve listened when she shouldn’t have listened. She talked when she shouldn’t have talked. And she wanted what she never, ever should have wanted.
Then just as soon as Adam and Eve took that fruit, the Bible says, “The eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths” (Genesis 3:7).
Law broken. Paradise lost. Innocence gone. It was the absolute worst moment in all of human history.
But the story’s not over, not at all, for God Himself would come to intervene.
Verse 8: “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself’” (Genesis 3:8-10).
The Bible says, “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking.” Not running. Not storming. Walking. Just like He had done before. Just like He had always done before.
“In the cool of the day.” Or as the original puts it, “In the breeze of the day.” Just as the sun was beginning to set and the shadows were starting to fall.
Then came the voice--the voice of their creator, the voice of their God: “Adam, Eve, where are you?”
It’s both sad and pitiful all at the very same time. That very morning, just hours before, they would have gladly run to meet Him, to walk with Him, and to talk with Him, about the birds and the plants and the flowers and the trees. How they had loved Him and how He had loved them!
But now in the place of joy and gladness, there’s terror and sadness. As one commentator wrote, “So there they were, wrapped in fig leaves, trembling in the trees, the juice of the forbidden fruit still smeared on their face. Sinners are a pitiful sight.
“And God finds them. And they know it; here it comes.”
Do you remember how it was when you were a child, when you broke a window or a glass, and you knew that your mom heard the crash? You hear the footsteps and, uh oh, here it comes: mother’s wrath.
And you know, Adam and Eve didn’t just break a window. They broke creation! They broke everything! And when they heard those footsteps, they knew--uh oh, here it comes. It’s what their sin and their disobedience deserved.
And sure enough, a curse would come. To Eve He’ll say, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing,” (Genesis 3:16), and to Adam, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19).
But before God even spoke one word of judgment, He first spoke a word of promise. Verse 15: “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.”
It’s amazing if you think about it. While Genesis chapter 1 and 2 are so full of good news, chapter 3 is full of bad news. All of sudden, because of what they did, everything changed. Instead of marital harmony, there was strife. Instead of good soil, there were thorns. And instead of life and communion with God, there was death and separation.
Yet even in the midst of their sin and separation, Genesis chapter 3, verse 15 shines like a star in the blackest of night. For in spite of what man had done, God would intervene. To put it another way, before punishment was placed on their backs, hope was placed in their hearts.
As He promised the serpent: “He shall crush your head, and you shall strike His heel.”
Who is “He”? He’s a child of Eve, a long-distant son, One whom Satan will bruise, but who will, in the process, crush Satan’s head.
It’s Jesus! For as Isaiah wrote, “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds, we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
In the words of Phillips Brooks: “He was wounded sorely; a life all torn and bleeding He dragged out to the end; but when the end came, it was victorious. Look at Him on the cross! Sin has taken the Savior and fastened Him there. It was driven in the nails and crowded down the crown of thorns upon His forehead. It has seemed to have its own way with Him, and all the while, with those hands closing in agony over the nails. Sin is tormenting Him, but He is vanquishing sin.”
And in the words of Charles Spurgeon: “Look at your Master and your King upon the cross, all stained with blood and dust! There was His heel most cruelly bruised. When they take down that precious body and wrap it in fair white linen and in spices, and lay it in Joseph’s tomb, they weep as they handle the casket in which the Deity had dwelt, for there Satan had bruised His heel. But it is only His heel, and not His head. For lo, the Champion rises again!”
One more thing. At Christmastime, we sing one of the best loved Christmas hymns of all, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.
But while you know the song, you probably don’t know all the verses of the song. In fact, while most hymnals include only three verses, there are actually two more. The first one goes like this: “Come, Desire of nations, come, fix in us Thy humble home; Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed, bruise in us the serpent’s head. Now display Thy saving power, ruined nature now restore; now in mystic union join Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.”
And the second one is this: “Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface, stamp Thine image in its place: Second Adam from above, reinstate us in Thy love. Let us Thee, though lost, regain, Thee, the Life, the inner man: O, to all Thyself impart, formed in each believing heart.”
And that’s the good news for each and every one of us. In spite of our great sin and constant disobedience, we have not only a curse, but also a promise of a Savior who comes to take our sin away.
And so we give thanks to God.
We thank You, Father, that in the place of the curse we deserved, just like Adam and Eve, You bring grace and every blessing. To You alone be all honor and praise and glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen