The First Promise of the Messiah Fulfilled

During Christmas time, many will read the Old Testament concerning the coming of Christ. Many will read mostly the prophetic books, such as Isaiah and Daniel. What many Christians do not know is that the first promise of the Messiah came much earlier than the times of the prophets. The promise came right after the fall of Man.

After Satan deceived our first parents God said to the serpent:

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 (Genesis 3:15).

The ESV Study Bible says, "The offspring of the woman who inflicts decisive defeat on the serpent is Christ (Heb. 2:14). But earlier in time, within the OT, there are partial defeats through people who prefigure Christ and foreshadow the final conflict."

John Piper said:

In verse 15, God speaks to the serpent and pronounces judgment on him: “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.” Notice that at first it looks like the warfare will be between two offsprings: “between your offspring and her offspring.” But in the next words something different is said: “He shall bruise your head.” Who is “he”? Answer: the woman’s offspring. Who is “your” (“he shall bruise your head”)? Answer: the serpent himself, not his offspring.

The day is coming, God says, when you (not just your offspring) will be defeated and removed from the earth. The offspring of this woman will crush you (see Romans 16:20 and Hebrews 2:14). That decisive blow was struck by the perfect offspring of the woman, Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross. This is one of the reasons why the eternal Son of God had to become a man—because it was the offspring of the woman who would crush Satan.

Colossians 2:14-15 describes what God did for those who trust his Son, when he died on the cross: “[The record of debt that stood against us] he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” When Christ died for our sins, Satan was disarmed and defeated. The one eternally destructive weapon that he had was stripped from his hand—namely, his accusation before God that we are guilty and should perish with him. When Christ died that accusation was nullified. All those who entrust themselves to Christ will never perish. Satan cannot separate them from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:37-39).

This Christmas reflect on Genesis 3:15 and how God promised to crush Satan through the finished work of Christ on the cross.