He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
Genesis 3, 15.
Owing to the fall through sin much was altered in the life of the human race. The saddest change concerned man’s previously untroubled relationship with God. Now Adam and Eve hid from Him. They knew that they must die, as God had predicted, should they disobey Him. Ought they not admit their guilt before God? “We are guilty of death; we have transgressed your commandment. We are sorry!”
What actually happened? God was the first to act. He did not leave them to themselves. He sought out the fallen couple, established their disobedience with its consequence: death. Then He revealed His solution for their immense problem.
God spoke to Satan of the seed of the woman, who would bruise his head, an indication of the Redeemer, God’s Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. His atoning death on the cross is God’s loving answer to man’s tragic fall. That is God’s nature. He foresaw the helplessness of our situation and had His solution ready.
God’s objective is to make mankind happy – in complete contrast to the intention of the devil, who wishes to plunge people into misery and deprive them of fellowship with God. So everyone needs to be brought back to God. There is only one way: via Calvary, where Christ bore the just punishment for all who believes in Him.
By faith in Christ we receive not only salvation from eternal punishment but also a share in the riches of God in the glory of heaven. That is far more than our forefathers lost in the earthly paradise.