Seed of Woman
When Adam & Eve sinned in disobedience to God—by eating the forbidden fruit—they not only lost their fellowship and relationship with God, but were brought under a new power and authority—the serpent. Their flesh went from pure to corrupt–their heart went from flawless to broken. Before they disobeyed, sin had no power over creation as seen in man’s uninterrupted fellowship with God. However, (as was pointed out in the previous installment) through man’s sinful action, they—because of God’s holy nature—were removed from his relationship with God, and were placed under the serpent’s authority as their new master. This new master—the serpent—is the source of the sin and evil, and is none other than Satan himself who holds his “new” goods in so-called peace…
It was into this context—man’s sin, his new corrupt nature, and his new master—that God spoke the ultimate promise of redemption for mankind. A promise that says that He would one day defeat the source of all evil, this new power, and authority of sin. It was a promise that was provided through the profound statement by God recorded in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” This is the first picture of God’s love and mercy for the pinnacle of His creation and the beginning place for watching the redemption of God unfold throughout the rest of the Bible. God’s plan was not that man would suffer death and separation from Him forever. Rather, God created man with a free will, and he chose to define right and wrong for himself. As such, God’s plan of redemption was enacted–the first moment man sinned–by God declaring the promise through a woman’s Seed. It is here that God gave hope to all of humanity—that one day the consequence of sin—death—would be dealt with through the defeat of the death–the source of sin…the serpent. The new sinful authority over man—because of man’s sin—was promised to be overcome through the Seed of Woman. Thus, in order for the defeat of sin to take place, the consequence of sin—death—would have to be overcome. God’s promise of the Seed of Woman states that while the serpent will bruise the Seed of Woman’s heel, the Seed of Woman will deliver the final death blow to the serpent’s head and defeat death and the authority and power of sin once and for all. However, this victory of the Seed of Woman over the serpent will not come at a small price. Quite the opposite. The price to be paid for God to deal the final blow to death and the authority and power of sin and death will come at the expense of the second person in the Triune Godhead—Jesus Christ.
The bruising of the Seed of Woman will be the death of Jesus Christ on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21). This act upon the Seed of Woman will appear to be his defeat, but it is the necessary action for God to take on in order to defeat death and sin once and for all. Jesus Christ must experience death—because this is the way of all men as a result of sin—but how does he conquer death? Jesus–the Seed of Woman–will conquer death through His eternal resurrection from the dead!
It is important to still keep in mind that God is holy, and He cannot wink at sin. Therefore, sin must be dealt with through a payment acceptable to God. While we all would want this sin problem to go away, it simply cannot. There must be a payment for sin, otherwise God would not be just as a holy God. And so, the only way for God to be both just (in dealing with the consequences of sin) and the justifier (in dealing with a sin-riddled humanity) is to become the payment of sin (acceptable to a holy God). Thus, the Seed of Woman’s–Jesus Christ’s–bruise upon His heal is His death for all of mankind’s sins, and it is God’s answer to redeem humanity from subjugation to the serpent and his authority. However, the crushing of the serpent’s head—and final defeat of sin and its authority—is Christ’s resurrection from the dead and the defeat of the consequence of sin. And so, the only way to defeat death is a resurrection from the dead. This is exactly what the Seed of Woman (Christ) did through His resurrection from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:50-57). The Seed of Woman—the 2nd person of the Triune Godhead—was sent into this world to conquer sin and its authority through His death (being bruised) and subsequent resurrection (crushing the source of sin’s—the serpent—head).
Sin Metastasizes…
God’s promise would not be immediately realized…sin continued to reign after Adam and Eve conceived their first child, and spiraled out of control until God sent a judgment upon the earth. The judgment was a complete decimation of His created order except for 7 people including Noah (and animals who fit on the ark). By this act, God stayed the spread of sin, and his judgement was not final. God allowed mankind to continue to fill and populate the earth through Noah, and subsequently promised Noah (and all of mankind) that He would never again enact such judgment upon the world (Genesis 9:8-17). At the same time, God gave to Noah the command that He gave to Adam, which was to populate and fill the earth—to rule and to be a conduit of the blessing of God to all the created order (Genesis 9:1-7). God’s provision was made for Noah through the offering of a sacrifice, but his heart was still riddled with corruption, and he was still under the power of sin and its authority. And so, just like Adam—and this time it is expected because of the inability to not sin—Noah sinned (Genesis 9:21). He did just like his forefather had done, and just like that sin continued to spread throughout this new family upon the earth. The rule of God through the pinnacle of His creation—mankind—once again revealed their true nature—a sinful heart. Man’s heart was corrupt, and his subjugation to the authority of sin and the serpent was ever present. Nevertheless, the promise remained that God would one day deal with sin through the Seed of Woman, and this gave hope to this sinful humanity. However, in the meantime, God allowed man to live out his life—his broken life—which resulted in more chaos. God’s judgment upon mankind fell again, but this time by scattering all of humanity through the creation of new languages at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11).
The Great Triumph amidst the Inexplicable Tragedy…
The great tragedy of man’s sin is that he took on a new master and severed his fellowship with God. However, it was in the midst of this tragedy that God made a promise of a greater triumph. God declared that He would deal with the root of this evil—the serpent—through the crushing of the serpent’s head (conquering death through resurrection from the dead). But before this happens, man will continue to grow upon the earth, and at a certain point in history God’s promises of restoration and hope of the Seed of Woman one day restoring mankind back to fellowship with God will be carried out through a chosen family. This man and his family were not chosen because of their righteousness (Joshua 24:2), but because God chose them. The next installment will pick up with this man and his family’s story. Really, it’s God’s story of how He will redeem humanity back to Himself.
— April 5, 2017