He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 ESV)
Surprises and Hope
Adam and Eve had a lot of surprises that day. The plans to be like God did not quite work out the way they had figured. We are surprised when that happens to us, too.
They got caught in their disobedience. We are surprised when we are caught, too.
They found out who they now were. Their rebellion was revealed. Their physical nakedness no longer symbolized their innocence. It now symbolized their shame. We are surprised when our true selves are displayed, too.
Those surprises could have combined to cause permanent shame, fear, and despair. But God does not leave Adam and Eve in their hopeless estate.
Before He even pronounces His righteous judgment, God gives Adam and Eve hope.
Hope, here, is not reasonable. Adam and Eve had broken the one rule of the garden. They could expect that God would destroy everything and start over.
The resulting effects of their rebellion (which Adam and Eve had not yet heard) show how serious the situation was. Everything is broken now. Adam’s future work would be hard. Horribly hard. The future of the human race, as we see through God’s declaration of the danger of childbirth, was not rosy.
But God gives the gift of hope to Adam and Eve. God tells them that the serpent’s head would be crushed. A time would come, after creation, civilization, and individuals would suffer, when evil would lose. Or said better, good would triumph.
How? Adam and Eve did not know. When? Adam and Eve did not know. Why? Adam and Eve did not really even know that.
But God gives them hope. Hope that was fulfilled when Adam and Eve’s descendant crushed the serpent’s head from the height of the cross.
Our rebellion, sin, and sin’s effects give us shame, fear, and despair, too.
And in Christ Jesus, God offers us that same hope. No matter how bad today is.
Take the Hope God offers.