The Victor over Sin and Death

The Promised Seed

God said. “And I will put enmity between you (the Serpent) and the woman, and between your offspring [also translated seed] and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” Genesis 3:15

An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel which means ‘God with us'” Matthew 1:18-23

The Easter story is first presented in the Bible as a promise in the middle of a curse. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, God cursed the Serpent who had deceived and enticed them. “You will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life,” God said (Genesis 3:14).

While we’re glad to see the Serpent crawling and eating dust, we’re not glad to see the enmity—war—between the Serpent and us. Yes, us. The war begun that day will continue until the end of time (Revelation 12:17).

In Genesis, God says the war will be waged between the two offspring. Beginning with Cain’s murder of his brother, Abel, Satan has tried to destroy Adam and Eve’s godly descendants (seed); however, God preserved the line from Eve to Mary’s son, Jesus (Luke 3:38).

When Jesus Christ was crucified, Satan thought he had won the war. But as Jesus predicted, “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds (John 12:24).

Jesus Christ not only arose from the dead, but his sacrifice for our sins broke the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). He now sits at God’s right hand, ruling over his enemies until they become a footstool beneath his scarred feet (Psalm 110:1-2).

Some day there will be no more sin and death: The Serpent will be thrown into the lake of fire to be tormented forever (Revelation 20:10). We’ll eat of the tree of life (Revelation 22:3). There will be no more curse. In fact, John sees the godly seed of Eve in a vision at the end of time, and they are too numerous to count (Revelation 7:9-10).

Lord Jesus, we eagerly await your coming again to make all things right!

Dig Deeper

Read Genesis 3:17-20, Genesis 4:1. Based on Adam’s words and actions after he received the news about the curse of toiling, sweating and returning to the dust from which he came, how do you know he still had hope? What does Eve’s name mean?

Read 1 John 3:7-12. Is it possible to know the difference between the two sides in the war? How are the ones born of God distinguished from the children of the devil? Which of these characteristics do you see in your life?

You probably know about the new heaven and new earth as described in Revelation 21, but what’s going to happen to the earth and to us according to Romans 8:18-23? Are you expecting? Groaning?

Nancy J. Baker

This devotion is part of our series: Lent and Easter book, Restore the Hope.