The Warrior Seed and the Way We Live
Scripture: Genesis 3:8–15, especially verse 15
I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel (NLT).
Introduction: Do you ever feel like life is a battlefield? Scripture tells us something about the inevitability of struggles in this present world and how to face them with strength and hope. It’s Scripture that enables us understand what is going on in our world, what we need to do because of it, and where our true hope is found in the midst of it. Let’s turn to Genesis 3 to learn how to face the battlefield of life:
1. We Must Be Prepared to Face Life’s Struggles (vv. 14–19). Adam and Eve had turned away from God. They didn’t trust His goodness or obey His commandment. They immediately experienced a spiritual death. When God came, He came with both grace and judgment.
A. The Judgment on the Serpent Is Both Symbolic and Real (v. 14). When God cursed the serpent, He said it will eat dust. Satan was literally cursed as he appeared in the serpent form. At the same time, the snake is a symbol of the real Serpent’s ultimate defeat. That’s what it means to “eat dust” (cf. Ps. 72:9).
B. The Judgment on the Woman Affects Her Most Important Relationships (v. 16). Even the greatest blessings will be accompanied by pain, and the most intimate relationship will be wounded by power struggles.
C. The Judgment on the Man Affects His Most Basic Responsibilities (vv. 17–19). There was meaningful work to do before the Fall, but now there would be painful toil and a perennial battle with thorns and thistles until life is over.
2. God Will Create a People to Stand with Him (v. 15). Notice that God says to the serpent. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed.” “Enmity” is opposition. God is saying He is going create a people who will stand with Him against Satan. God was announcing that from this point on there would be two streams of humanity.
A. The Offspring of Satan. I know this may sound disturbing, and it should. Consider what Jesus teaches: “Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do …” (John 8:43–44). Those who do not yield to the Word of Christ are ultimately the offspring of the evil one.
B. The Offspring of God’s Promise. Colossians 1:13–14 puts it this way: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” God will always have and sustain a people who will stand with Him. Are you one of those people?
3. God Will Send a Savior to Crush the Serpent (v. 15). “I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (NLT). Not only would there be enmity in a broad sense, but God speaks specifically about a single male individual: “He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (NLT).
4. The One Who Crushes the Head of the Serpent Is Jesus Christ (1 John 3:8). “The Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil” (NLT). The passage from Genesis also foreshadows that:
A. In Crushing the Head of the Serpent, the Savior Will Be Wounded (Gen. 3:15). “You will strike his heel” (NLT). Peter later explains that Jesus bore our sins in His body and that His wounds were for our healing (1 Pet. 2:24). In redeeming us, Jesus defeated Satan.
B. Despite Being Wounded, the Savior Will Win the Battle (v. 15). “… He will crush your head …” (NIV). The Bible tells us the decisive battle between God and Satan has already been won in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: We stand at the other end of history from Adam and Eve. And yet, we still have a lot in common with them. The most important thing we have in common is this: the presence of sin has turned our world into a battlefield in which our only salvation is to receive God’s grace and stand with Him.
Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook . Thomas Nelson Publishers.
