The First Announcement

The first Biblical promise of a Messiah is somewhat veiled in mystery, and has sparked much debate and controversy. But the fact that it occurs in the book of Genesis, shortly after the Creation account and during the lives of Adam and Eve, shows that God’s plan of redemption was in place even at the time of the fall of man.

After the Serpent tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God came to them in the Garden of Eden and pronounced curses upon all three. The Serpent was the first. God said he would be more cursed than any other beast, and that he would crawl on his belly and eat dust all his days. Furthermore, God vowed to engender a permanent enmity between the Serpent and Eve, and between the Serpent’s “seed” and the woman’s “Seed.” The Bible later makes clear that the Serpent was actually Satan, the supreme enemy of God, so his “seed” must be understood as those who follow him in opposition to God’s rule. But the woman’s “Seed” is not to be understood as all those human beings descended from Eve, that is, the entire human race. Neither is it to be seen as the believing portion of humanity. The Hebrew grammar indicates that one specific descendant of Eve is in view—the Redeemer who was to come. God’s subsequent words confirmed this, for He said, “He shall bruise [or “crush” ] your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” God was saying that this one who was to come would defeat the Serpent, but that He Himself would be wounded in the process.

It is ironic that these words occurred in the context of a curse. God was speaking to the Serpent, and for him, this was very bad news indeed. But for Adam and Eve, overhearing God’s words, this was very good news. For this reason, this prophecy is sometimes called the protoeuangelion,—”the first good news” or “the first Gospel.” It is the first announcement of the coming of the Messiah.

Of course, much of this messianic announcement was (and is) cryptic. Adam and Eve never knew precisely how God intended to work out this plan. But the general outline was there. By God’s grace, we live on the opposite side of the Cross, and with the advantage of fuller revelation we can see how these words spoken so long ago pointed ahead to events that would occur centuries later.