Adam and Eve had just been caught by God red-handed—maybe even with some telltale juice still dripping from the corners of their mouths. They experienced new emotions of shame and fear as they tried in vain to hide because their eyes were opened to their nakedness. Panicked, they immediately turned on each other and on the other party present, Satan, during this takedown of mankind. Moments before, the couple and the serpent had been best buds! Now Adam and Eve were waiting for the proverbial hammer to drop, knowing full well that there were severe consequences coming.

Was there some amount of relief when the Lord’s attention turned to their new nemesis? The first words of prophecy in Genesis 3:15 are spoken directly to Satan but have everything to do with the man and woman standing there. There would be severe consequences, but not what they expected.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman . . .” Enmity isn’t a word we commonly use in our vocabulary, but we recognize its meaning of “hostility” or “division.” Just moments before, in their sinfulness, Adam and Eve began to experience a misplaced enmity between themselves and God. They made friends with and trusted Satan. They chose to align themselves with evil. There was no changing their minds and jumping back to God’s side now. It was impossible. They were sinners. An insurmountable wall of hostility now existed between God and his creation as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin.

God loved his newly created world too much to allow this wall of hostility to stand. So he promised to put the enmity back where it belonged—not between himself and humankind, but between the devil and God’s people. As bad as things were for Adam and Eve, God began to act!

“. . . and between your offspring and hers . . .” Sisters, here’s where it gets personal for us too. God’s plan to put the enmity back where it belonged extended far beyond Eve—to her offspring, her descendants, her spiritual children, believers—us! As for Satan’s offspring, this refers to the fallen angels and those people yet to come who would cozy up to evil and align themselves with the father of lies. These two groups, believers and unbelievers, will be at odds, on different sides of a spiritual war until judgment day.

“. . . he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” was a death sentence declared to Satan and the first promise of hope for Adam, Eve, and their offspring! While at the time this promise must have been a cryptic message shrouded in mystery, Adam and Eve also must have repeated these words over and over through their minds in the years to come. The Lord wasted no time in sharing this plan with the three of them: judgment for Satan, rescue for Adam and Eve. While we might want to distance ourselves from the curse, the promise is equally ours!

God’s remedy for sin came in the form of a promise that humanity would have to trust in and wait for. We have the benefit of hindsight, but God’s plan had yet to unfold for Adam and Eve. Although they would experience physical death before seeing the fulfillment of God’s promise, they still clung to the first gospel promise of a Savior. What a joyful blessing—not only for Adam and Eve but also for you and me! When we’re mired in the darkness of sin and guilt, we too cling to this precious gospel promise. We too trust in the One who saved us from our sin and broke down the wall of hostility between us and God. We are forgiven, dear sisters!