Read it: Genesis 3:15; Romans 5:12-21
Live it:
Yesterday was all about failure and loss. We lost our relationship with God, each other, and our world. But, in the midst of this loss, God gives a promise. Genesis 3:15, known as the Proto-Evangelium (first good news), is God’s promise to us that the Serpent will be crushed with all his poison, but it will cost the life of the Seed. But who is that Seed?
Eve thought that Cain, her firstborn son after the Fall, was this seed. If you read the text carefully, you will see the joy that came to Eve with the child. She seems a little too excited. Could it be that she imagined that she was having the Seed right then? The text could be translated as “God has given me the man!” instead of “a man.” What an opportunity she thought! God has kept his promise and given me “The Seed”! She now has the man who will bring them back into the garden!
Imagine her disappointment when the one who is supposed to return them to the Garden becomes the one who kills his brother out of jealousy. This seed is not the one. I often wonder how I have derailed God’s plans. However, it is impossible for me to derail God. He knew about the breaking of the First Covenant. His plan was and is in place and will work out all things for our good.
If you feel like you are living in the First Covenant under Adam’s failure and under the weight of sin and death, remember God knows what He is doing. God’s plan is not derailed by Cain’s sin or anyone else’s sin in all of history. God’s plan is that the Seed will die, but through that death, humanity will live eternally in God’s presence. We know that Jesus is the Promised Seed!
Carl
