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Well, you can turn with me in 
your Bibles to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 
3, we're going to consider the promise of the Messiah, the first 
promise, what men have called the proto or first evangel, the 
promise of God's blessing in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
That's specifically in verse 15. We'll look at the latter 
half in its entirety, but I do want to read beginning in chapter 
3 at verse 1, just so we get the flow of the narrative. So 
beginning in Genesis 3 at verse 1. Now the serpent was more cunning 
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he 
said to the woman, Has God indeed said, You shall not eat of every 
tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, 
We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit 
of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 
You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. Then 
the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die, for 
God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be 
opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when 
the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant 
to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of 
its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband 
with her and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them 
were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed 
fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they 
heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the 
cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from 
the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 
Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, where are you? 
So he said, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid 
because I was naked and I hid myself. And he said, Who told 
you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree 
of which I commanded you that you should not eat? Then the 
man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave 
me of the tree, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the 
woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, the serpent 
deceived me and I ate. So the Lord God said to the serpent, 
because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle 
and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you 
shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And 
I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your 
seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and 
you shall bruise his heel. To the woman he said, I will 
greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. In pain 
you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your 
husband and he shall rule over you. Then to Adam he said, because 
you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from 
the tree of which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat 
of it, curse it as the ground for your sake. In toil you shall 
eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles 
it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of 
the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till 
you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken, 
for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.' And Adam called 
his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 
Also for Adam and his wife, the Lord God made tunics of skin 
and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, behold, 
the man has become like one of us to know good and evil. And 
now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of 
life and eat and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent 
him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which 
he was taken. So he drove out the man and he placed cherubim 
at the east of the garden of Eden and a flaming sword, which 
turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our gracious 
God and Holy Father, we thank you for the scriptures of both 
the Old and the New Testaments. We see the relationship, the 
Old Testament promises, the coming of the Messiah, and we see that 
revelation in the New Covenant, and the fullness of the time 
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman and born under the 
law, to redeem those under the law. We see all those New Covenant 
promises of God, or all those Old Covenant promises of God 
are are yea and amen in our Lord Jesus Christ, even down to Genesis 
chapter 3 and verse 15. We thank you that you've undertaken 
to save us from our sins. We thank you that the way that 
it happened was in a most glorious way. The Word became flesh and 
dwelt among us. May this encourage us, and may 
it build us up, and may it be the case today that sinners would 
hear of Christ, who's altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand, 
and by grace they would believe on him and have everlasting life. Do forgive us now, guide us by 
your Holy Spirit, and we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, as I said, our focus will 
be on verses 14 to 24, but prior to that, you know the account, 
you've probably heard it on many occasions, both preached and 
you've read it, you've read it privately, you've read it hopefully 
in family worship, and there are wonderful things in the latter 
half. And the wonderful things speak 
to the issues concerning the former half. So essentially what 
you have in verses one to five, you have the temptation to sin. 
You have the devil under the power of the devil himself, or 
the serpent rather, under the power of the devil himself, come 
and tempt Eve. Eve obviously takes the fruit. 
She hands it to Adam and thus in Adam all die. After that, 
you see the fall into sin in verses 6 to 7, and then the reckoning 
with God in verses 8 to 13. When God asks questions, it's 
not as if He's on a search for knowledge. God is, as it were, 
putting them on the hot seat. It is the case that He wants 
to interrogate them and wants to show the fact that they have 
rebelled against Him, they have sinned against Him, and there 
must indeed be a reckoning. Well, it's a reckoning that they 
themselves cannot fix. It is a problem that they themselves 
cannot repair. It is a situation of enmity now. At one time, they communed with 
God in the cool of the garden. And now they're running from 
God. They are fearful. They are afraid. They don't want 
to face Him. They don't want to face the consequences 
of their rebellion. So if the narrative stopped there, 
it would be all bad news. Man sinned against God. We in 
Adam died. And as a result, there's no hope 
for any of us. But see, God is able, God undertakes, 
God initiates, and God puts into place this plan of redemption. And it focuses upon that seed 
of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, which the later redemptive 
history will underscore for us is our Lord Jesus Christ. So 
that's the main emphasis that I want to draw out this morning. 
But as we consider the remainder of the passage, verses 14 to 
24, we'll do so under two concerns. First, the consequences of the 
fall in verses 14 to 19, and then secondly, the hope beyond 
the fall in verses 20 to 24. I will argue that Adam and Eve, 
though they sinned against God and rebelled against God, they 
were saved by God. We see that specifically in the 
latter part of this particular chapter. But let's pick up first 
with the consequences of the fall. And there's consequences 
for the serpent, there's consequences for the woman, and there's consequences 
for the man. So first of all, notice the consequences 
for the serpent in verses 14 and 15. So the Lord God said 
to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed more 
than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. On 
your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of 
your life. Again, there is a lack of interrogation 
now. He's not asking questions. He's 
not investigating. He's not wanting Adam and Eve 
to come clean. He is now condemning. He is now 
cursing. But in the goodness and in the 
wisdom and in the glory of God, in the midst of the curse, there 
is promise of blessing. In the midst of this condemnation, 
there is the promise of redemption. But in terms of the particular 
snake or the serpent that is utilized with reference to this, 
notice the curse specifically. You are cursed more than all 
cattle. And then the nature of that curse 
is drawn out there in verse 14. And more than every beast of 
the field, on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust 
all the days of your life. Some suggest that prior to this, 
serpents or snakes may have had legs. And it's in this instance 
that God takes their legs away. I don't think that's what's happening. 
I'll quote a man by the name of Michael Reitlnick. He says, 
when God proclaimed that the serpent would crawl on its belly, 
it does not mean that serpents previously had legs. Rather, 
and this is very important to get, crawling would now forever 
be understood as a sign of defeat. In other words, it's the lowliest 
one. It's the most hated one. It's 
the most despised one. Now, I know there are odd people 
out there that like to keep snakes as pets, but you need to remember, 
in light of Genesis 3, 14, that might not necessarily be the 
best idea. Just kidding. You can keep your 
snakes. But God's point is simply this. When He comes to bring 
judgment upon this vessel, this vehicle that brought the temptation, 
it is a total devastation. The later prophets pick up on 
this language. For instance, in Micah chapter 
7, at verse 16, it says, "...the nations shall see and be ashamed 
of all their might. They shall put their hand over 
their mouth, Their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the 
dust like a serpent. They shall crawl from their holes 
like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord 
our God and shall fear because of you. Who is a God like you, 
pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the 
remnant of his heritage? He does not retain his anger 
forever because he delights in mercy. That God who delights 
in mercy nevertheless doles out consequences for sin, rebellion, 
and transgression. But then notice as we move on, 
he goes to the power behind the serpent. It's not just the snake. 
It's not just the serpent. That's not ultimately the issue. 
It's the devil that animates the serpent. It's the devil that 
utilizes the snake to engage in this temptation. So he addresses 
the devil specifically here in verse 15. This is something common. You see this in the New Testament, 
specifically in the book of Revelation. We often talk about the beasts 
of Revelation in Revelation chapter 13. There's a beast from the 
sea and a beast from the land. Well, we need to understand that 
it's not this political or religious power that has authority in and 
of themselves. It's the dragon who's spoken 
of in Revelation chapter 12. And there in Revelation chapter 
12, what the apostle is highlighting is that when Herod wanted to 
destroy the innocents, When Athaliah wanted to destroy the heir to 
the throne, when the devil himself wanted to stop the ascension 
of our blessed Savior to the right hand of God Most High, 
it was the devil. It was that dragon. It was that 
serpent of old. And so now we see God's word 
to the devil, and in this is the proto-evangel. In this is 
the first announcement of the gospel. So the Lord's curse moves 
from the serpent to the evil power that animated it. That's 
what verse 15 indicates. Notice what it says, and I will 
put enmity between you and the woman. There's going to be a 
God-wrought enmity between the righteous and the wicked. That's 
essentially what that means. You look around at the world 
today and you can see that. It's pretty clear, pretty marked, 
it's pretty obvious there's righteous people and there's unrighteous 
people. Now, the righteous people aren't 
righteous in and of themselves. It's because God, in His grace, 
has imputed to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which we receive 
by faith alone. And on the heels of that, we 
seek or pursue to do those things that are pleasing to God. Those 
who do not have that righteousness, those who are still dead in their 
trespasses and sins, live like that. They engage in wretchedness, 
they engage in lawlessness and transgression and iniquity. So 
God understands, God imposed this particular enmity that obtains 
between the righteous and the wicked. Notice that this is going 
to continue. I will put enmity between you 
and the woman and between your seed and her seed. It's going 
to run parallel. It's always going to be the righteous and 
the wicked on this side of the Day of Judgment. Now, that's 
the beauty of the eternal state. When God ushers in that eternal 
state, when we're in the presence of the Lamb, there'll be no more 
unrighteousness. You see that in Revelation 21, 
verse 8. All the godless, all the wicked, 
all the lawless and rebel sinners are cast out into the lake of 
fire with the beast and the false prophet. But until that time, 
brethren, we're not going to see paradise on earth. Until 
that time, we're not going to have a utopia. Until that time, 
we still preach the gospel, we have great optimism in the effect 
of the gospel, we believe that Jesus Christ is building a wheat 
field, and that there are terrors present to be sure, but there 
will be terrors to the very end. So we're not gonna be able to 
see some sort of a glorified state on this side of heaven. 
There's going to be this enmity. There's going to be these two 
camps. There's gonna be the seed of the woman and there's gonna 
be these wretches that despise the seed and they despise the 
people of God. And that brings us to consider 
the corporate identification of the seed and then the individual 
identification. Notice again, verse 15, I will 
put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and 
her seed. Now, seed typically has two meanings. One, collective. There's a whole 
bunch of people under that identification of seed. But in scripture as 
well, we have a singular or a particular application. Now, in terms of 
the collective, you'll see right on the heels of this event in 
Genesis chapter 4, this take place. In Genesis chapter 4, 
what do you have? You have a clear demarcation 
between Cain and Abel. As you go further in the narrative, 
you have the godly line of Seth and the wretched line of the 
Cainites. You go throughout redemptive 
history, and you have the covenant people of God, and then all of 
the ites on the outside that are not the covenant people of 
God. You move into the New Covenant, what do you have? You have the 
Lord Jesus Christ build His church, but you have unbelieving Israel, 
and you have the Roman Empire trying to exterminate that. So 
there is the collective element with reference to the seed. So 
when it says there's enmity, that enmity affects us, that 
enmity will be real, that enmity does help us to understand statements 
like Paul in 2 Timothy 3.12, all who desire to live godly 
in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Notice what Jesus says in John's 
Gospel in chapter 15, if the world hates you, just know they 
hated me first. The servant isn't greater than 
the master. If they despise the master, they're certainly going 
to despise the servants. There is this separation. There 
is this distinction. It is God-wrought. There's the 
collective element. But I think the emphasis here 
falls upon the seed as an individual, the seed as a particular, the 
seed of the woman. Notice again in verse 15, I will 
put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and 
her seed. He, the seed, shall bruise your 
head and you shall bruise his heel. So the individual identification 
of the seed is made clear by Paul in Galatians 3. Now, it's 
again, very important that you kind of keep this mindset as 
you read subsequent to Genesis chapter 3. Because when you get 
to say the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, what's God's 
promise to those men? God's promise is that in your 
seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. In your 
seed, there will be great benefit to people from every tribe, tongue, 
people, and nation. Have you ever reflected or pondered 
on that? Well, who's that seed? It's not 
Abraham that we owe our salvation to. It's not Isaac. It's not 
Jacob. No, it's the seed of Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob. Well, listen to Paul's interpretation 
of that idea or concept of seed in its individual sense. Galatians 
3.16, not to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. 
He does not say, and to seeds, as of many, but as of one, and 
to your seed, who is Christ. So he highlights, or he underscores, 
or he gives us that reality that it's the seed of Abraham that 
is the Redeemer. Now, as we look at this verse, 
verse 15, there's four observations concerning the seed here that 
I want to bring out. First, and we'll just call the 
seed here the Redeemer, because we know this is Jesus. Hopefully 
we're already tracking at that point. First, the Redeemer would 
be a man born of a woman. Right? Very obvious. I will put 
enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and notice 
her seed. Now, this hints at least, it's 
not a full engagement of the doctrine of the virgin birth, 
but the fact that it only mentions the woman helps us to better 
understand the virgin birth when we arrive in Matthew and Luke's 
gospel. But with reference to that, the 
redeemer or deliverer that man was taught to expect would be 
a man, would be one like himself, would have all of his essential 
properties, would have all of his common infirmities. And yet 
without Sid, he would be a man, a champion, the one that would 
indeed save his people from their sins. A second observation is 
that the Redeemer would accomplish victory through suffering. There's 
a bit of a comparativeness going on. Notice, and between your 
seed and her seed, he, the seed, shall bruise your head. That's 
a death blow, right? If I were, I'm not gonna say 
that, take my foot and crush it onto your head, it wouldn't 
be a sign of love and affection. It wouldn't be a token of my 
kindness. The fact that we have this foot 
of the Redeemer crushing the head of the serpent or of the 
devil indicates that it's a death blow. It indicates that he is 
delegitimizing him. It is an evidence that he is 
crushing him, and that is the particular emphasis. But then 
notice comparatively, and you, devil, shall bruise his heel. In other words, when he goes 
about this particular task of crushing the head of the devil, 
he will receive some sort of a wound, and it will be on his 
heel. So there is suffering involved 
in the Proto-Evangel with reference to the man that would be born 
of a woman. But I would suggest, thirdly, 
that death is envisaged in this particular passage. So this bruising 
of the heel not only means that he suffers, he's a man of sorrows 
and he's acquainted with grief, it not only means he suffers 
when they flog him or scourge him, or when they bury a crown 
of thorns into his head, but I think it also involves death. 
And again, Michael Reitlnick makes the observation, since 
in the context the tempter has taken the form of a serpent, 
it is likely that the tempter's blow would be equated with a 
serpent's bite. Right? Makes sense. And in the 
case of this animal, the Hebrew generally uses it to speak of 
a venomous and lethal snake. Most likely, therefore, the text 
is speaking of two comparable death blows. The future Redeemer 
will strike the head of the tempter and thereby kill it. And at the 
same time, the tempter will strike the heel of the Redeemer and 
kill him. So the man born of woman will 
accomplish total victory through his own suffering and through 
his own death. You see why people have called 
this the Proto-Evangel, the first announcement of the gospel, because 
that's essentially what the gospel is. Christ, the Son of God, comes 
into this world, takes on our humanity, lives a life of perfect 
obedience to his Father's law, suffers, dies, is buried, and 
is raised again the third day. He does that for us men and for 
our salvation. And he does that to destroy the 
works of the devil. And that brings us to the fourth 
observation, with reference to this skull-crushing seed of the 
woman, the Redeemer would accomplish total victory. Absolutely, positively 
total victory. You can turn to John's Gospel, 
a passage that we have seen not too long ago. John's Gospel, 
where he highlights the work relative to the devil and his 
accomplishment as the seed of the woman in crushing that serpent. Notice in John 12, specifically 
at verse 30, this voice did not come because of me, but for your 
sake, now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of 
this world will be cast out. Notice that Jesus connects this 
to his first coming. He connects it to his death on 
the cross. Verse 32, and I, if I am lifted 
up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. Turn over 
to the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter 1, just to see Christ's 
total victory, His triumph over the devil. And the reason why 
I bring this out is, one, for the encouragement of the people 
of God. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the 
world. Romans 8, if God is for us, who can be against us? Even 
the devil himself is excluded from the opposition of the believer 
in that particular statement. But for the unbeliever, we're 
not going to mince words here, you walk according to the prince 
of the power of the air who now works in the sons of disobedience. 
And you may fear, well, I can't ever be vindicated. I can't ever 
be saved. I can't ever be redeemed. I can't 
ever be helped. I'm consigned to live a life 
of sin and misery and drudgery all the rest of my life. No, 
Christ the Lord has crushed the head of the devil. Christ the 
Lord has dealt definitively with man's sin. Christ the Lord empowers 
his people to overcome the world. In other words, casting faith 
upon the Savior means total victory. Not total victory in the sense 
that you're gonna get a better job, a better life, better cars, 
and better houses, but total victory in that what Paul says 
in Romans 5.1 will be true of you. Therefore, having been justified 
by faith, we have peace with God. Or Romans 8, chapter 8, 
verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who 
are in Christ Jesus. So don't think for a moment, 
well, I just can't, I will not be saved. He's not powerful enough 
to defeat the devil in my life. Oh, he's absolutely most positively 
powerful enough to defeat the devil in your life. Look at Colossians 
1 at verse 13. 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. Notice the instrumentality 
here, through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. See, Christ's 
life, death, resurrection are absolutely crucial to not only 
vanquish the devil, but to save us from our sins. Look at Colossians 
2 at verse 15. Having disarmed principalities 
and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing 
over them in it. And then turn over to 1 John. 
John gives the purpose, or one of the purposes, for which Jesus 
came into the world. 1 John 3 specifically. Notice in verse 8, he who sins 
is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. 
For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might 
destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God 
does not sin, for his seed remains in him. And he cannot sin because 
he has been born of God. And then drop down just a couple 
of verses. I like to think that John, thinking 
in terms of creation, thinking in terms of Cain and Abel, thinking 
in terms of the animating power of the devil, says what he says 
in verse 8 as a result of that. Notice the appeal to the Genesis 
narrative. Look at verse 11. So Genesis is in the mind of 
the apostle. We see it evidently there. But 
we also see it evidently in verse 8. Why does the seed of the woman 
come? So that through his own suffering 
and through his own death, he might take that foot of glory 
and crush the head of the devil. And then notice in Hebrews chapter 
2, one more passage. Hebrews chapter 2, I usually 
like to go in canonical order, or at least the chronological 
order that we find in our New Testament, I jump ship there. Notice in Hebrews chapter 2, 
specifically at verse 14, inasmuch then as the children have partaken 
of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same. 
You see what undergirds the entirety of the New Covenant teaching 
on our Lord Jesus? He would be a man born of a woman. In the beginning was the Word, 
the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became 
flesh and dwelt among us. Notice, in as much then as the 
children had partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise 
shared in the same, flesh and blood, that through death he 
might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil. and release those who through 
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 
For indeed, he does not give aid to angels, but he does give 
aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things, he 
had to be made like his brethren, that he might be a merciful and 
faithful high priest. Let's not forget that. I've stressed 
his triumph, I've stressed his victory, I've stressed that foot 
crushing the head of the devil, but let us stress his mercy, 
his kindness, his willingness, His joy at this, he doesn't save 
like a miserable leftist. He saves to the uttermost all 
who draw nigh unto him or all who draw nigh to God through 
him. This is what he's about. Do you want to know what it is 
for the Savior to save a sinner? Well, it's like a shepherd who 
had, you know, a bunch of sheep and one of them runs off and 
he leaves the mass and he goes after the one. And when he finds 
the one, he puts it on his shoulders and goes home rejoicing. The 
Savior saves like a woman who loses one coin out of the ten, 
and she moves all of her furniture, and she sweeps the floor, and 
she looks for it, and she finds it. What does she do when she 
finds that coin? She rejoices. And how about that prodigal son, 
that man who says to his father, in essence, you're better off 
to me dead than alive. I mean, he's asking for his share 
of the inheritance while the father's alive. I mean, imagine 
that. Kids, or not kids, adults, your 
kids come to you and go, I want my share of the inheritance. 
What does that say? You're better off to be dead than alive. So 
the father gives him that share of the inheritance. What happens 
to him? Does he go out and traffic in righteousness and godliness 
and holiness? No, no, no. He plunges himself 
into the depths of depravity. He gets to the point where he's 
sitting around pigs, coveting their food. Now, brethren, if 
you've seen pig slop, that's not a happy picture. So what 
happens to the kid? He doesn't get saved there. He 
comes to himself in a mercenary sense. I know what I'll do. I'll 
go back and I'll cast myself upon the mercy of my father, 
and perhaps he'll hire me as a day laborer. I'll get three 
hots and a cot. That's all I'm after. But it 
was when he was a long way off that the father runs to him. 
The father falls on him. The father kisses him. The father 
orders the slaying of the fatted calf for him. The father puts 
a robe on him. The father puts a ring on him. 
It's the father who saves him. He doesn't save himself in the 
pig pen and then come back to God. No, it's God who seeks and 
saves that which was lost. So when it comes to this reality 
that you're a sinner and God is angry with the wicked every 
day, understand that God has provided atonement in His Son, 
the Lord Jesus. That there is forgiveness with 
thee that thou mayest be feared. So notice again in verse 17, So going back to Genesis chapter 
3, four observations on Genesis 3.15. The Redeemer would be a 
man born of a woman. The Redeemer would accomplish 
victory through suffering. The Redeemer would accomplish 
victory through death. The Redeemer would accomplish 
total victory. Now, before we move on, I always 
feel it's necessary to sort of underscore this point as we move 
through the rest of the Old Testament. Have you ever noticed how many 
of the enemies of God and his people suffer crushing head wounds? It just happens. No, it happens 
typically. It happens as a prefigurement. What the Old Testament authors 
are doing and what the Old Covenant people are doing is furthering 
the ball down the field. We've got this Genesis 3.15 promise, 
and for you people living at the time of the judges, don't 
forget it. Remember, during the time of the judges, how does 
jail dispatch Sisera? With a tent peg to the head. 
How are those godless Oreb and Zeb dealt with? Same, head wounds. The woman and Abibolak, who throws 
that stone off of the tower. Boy, that was fortunate, it found 
its way into his godless head. No! This is the people of God 
being reminded of the promise of God in typical fashion, such 
that when we get to the New Covenant and Jesus goes to the place of 
a skull, Golgotha, to render judgment upon the devil, we see 
all the promises of God are yea and amen and in. And what about 
David at the Valley of Elah as he takes on that Goliath? Again, a fatal head wound. Now, 
I know the godless would say, well, the Bible seems obsessed 
with these bloody, gory details. No, the Bible's obsessed with 
the glory of Jesus Christ, the skull-crushing seed of the woman 
who would do what Adam and Eve could not do, who would do what 
you and I could not do. Notice in the passage, the first 
part, we didn't have a lot of time to unpack the first half 
of the chapter, but notice, what's instinctive in man? I just preached 
this recently from Proverbs 28, 13. What's instinctive in man? Well, let's even bring it more 
close to home. What's instinctive to children? 
They do something wrong. Is it their first instinct to 
come to you? Mommy, daddy, please forgive 
me, for I have sinned. No. Now, you might be out there, 
child, I'm not picking on you, but usually it's flight. Usually it's fleeing. Usually 
it's hiding. Usually it's covering. Little brother, take the heat 
for the cookies that are missing in the jar. Little brother, tell 
mom you haven't seen me all morning. So Adam and Eve try to cover 
their sin, don't they? They make the loincloths. When 
we get to the text on atonement, they don't just need a girdle. 
They need a tunic. They don't just need a partial 
covering. The entirety of man is in sin. The entirety of man is redeemed. Again, necessitates that the 
man born of a woman must assume our humanity or he doesn't redeem 
us. The instinct, the temptation, the tendency, the prevalency 
of man in sin is to try to cover their sin. So they do that very 
thing. Now God will come and cover their 
sin again in a typical fashion to prefigure and point forward 
to the blood of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the 
world. See, when we come to passages like these, we see that it's 
not the case that there's some celebratory aspect among the 
people of God that revels in gory head wounds. No, the Bible's 
about the glory of the one who wounded by death the devil and 
his minions. Now, drop down to the consequences 
for the woman. We're not going to spend a lot 
of time here or on the man just because there's a lot of things 
going on here. I don't want to keep you through 
your lunch. But notice, as far as the narrative up to this point, 
there have been two benefits conferred upon womanhood. One 
of those is marriage, and the other is procreation. Procreation 
is spoken to in Genesis 1, 26-28. Isn't it amazing, this push to 
engage in depopulation? Everything you see here, you've 
got God's intended order. He made man. He made man to govern 
or lead his household. He made Eve to help him do that, 
and made them both to exercise dominion over the creatures. 
That's the first part, or what we find in Genesis 2. We get 
to Genesis 3, and it's completely inverted. You've got now the 
serpent talking to the woman, who then gives the fruit to her 
man. In other words, there's an inversion, right? God made 
cosmos, and ever since, sinners have been trying to institute 
chaos. That's what makes sinners happy, chaos. And so this inversion 
is seen even in the cultural mandate of Genesis 1, verses 
26 to 28. Is it a curse to have children? 
Is it a blight on humanity to spawn? No, it's a blessing. It's a good thing. It is celebratory. It is a gift from God Most High. So in Genesis 1, verses 26 to 
28, Eve learns one of her purposes. Well, she didn't. Adam instructed 
her that she was going to have children. Genesis 2, 18 to 24, 
we have the benefit of marriage. Again, the world continually 
tries to invert that. Marriage is a good thing. So 
what do we have now? High divorce rates. What do we 
have now? Sexual perversion. What do we 
have now? Adultery. What do we have now? Fornication. 
What do we have now? The whole craze with sodomy and 
homosexuality. It's like God made something 
for good and we take it and we invert it. God gives us cosmos 
and we manufacture chaos. It is an indictment upon us, 
brethren. We haven't arrived. We're not, 
you know, in some sort of a liberated state now when we mutilate little 
children in the name of gender transition. That is not God's 
intention for creation. So there is this inversion. So 
the benefits of marriage and motherhood. Notice, however, 
that in a post-fall world, it's not going to be without its challenges. 
In a post-fall world, there are going to be difficulties, and 
this is why he addresses the woman in verse 16. To the woman, 
he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. 
In pain, you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be 
for your husband, and he shall rule over you. One man says the 
sentences on the man and woman take the form of a disruption 
of their appointed roles. I'd argue that when it says there, 
your desires shall be for your husband, I don't think that's 
a positive comment. You're going to want to make 
him waffles, you're going to want to rub his feet, you're 
going to want to get him his favorite bevy, you're going to 
want to do all... I don't think that's what it 
means. You're going to want to dethrone him. You're going to 
want to say, I am woman, hear me roar. You're going to want 
to usurp God's created order. Not that the created order, not 
that the institution of male headship comes post fall. Adam 
was the head at creation. Adam didn't stop being the head 
post fall. What there is in the language 
of Wenham there is a disruption of their appointed falls. Those 
who connect male headship to the fall error. They fall from biblical exegesis. 
This is the way God intended it. The husband is the head of 
the wife. If you doubt that, may I encourage 
you to come back tonight in Ephesians chapter five as we work our way 
through husbands loving your wives. The apostle appeals to 
redemptive category, just as Christ also loved the church, 
and then he appeals to creational category. The man is one flesh 
with the woman. So it's not that there's this, 
you know, after the fall, now you are subjugated under his 
feet. No, no. It's a disruption of the issue. So relative to 
childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children. Relative 
to marriage, your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall 
rule over you. John Sailhammer says, what the 
woman once was to do as a blessing, be a marriage partner and have 
children, had become tainted by the curse. In those moments 
of life's greatest blessing, marriage and children, the woman 
would sense most clearly the painful consequences of her rebellion 
from God. He's right! It's not that the 
categories of headship and submission are instituted post-fall. That's 
bad theology, that's bad exegesis, and it reflects humanism and 
all the sorts of confusion that we see out in the world today. 
The Bible says that the husband is the head of the wife. That 
shouldn't make anybody blush. That shouldn't make us as Christians 
say, well, I'm sorry to have to suggest this. No, the husband 
is the head of the wife. And the wife is to be submissive 
to her own husband as to the Lord. That's biblical. That's theological. That's accurate. Now notice the consequences for 
the man. God specifies a reason here. Notice, then he said to Adam, 
or then to Adam he said, because you have heeded the voice of 
your wife. Now, brethren, if your wife is telling you to turn 
left because where you're going is left, don't say, well, you 
know, Adam got in trouble because he heated the voice of his wife. 
I'm going to turn right. That's not what's in view here. 
They were prohibited from eating from the tree of the knowledge 
of good and evil. That's the focus. That's the 
target. That's the issue. Because you 
have heated the voice of your wife, in opening this can of 
rebellion against the majesty on high, because you have listened 
to the voice of your wife and did what she commanded." What 
does that underscore to us? There's not supposed to be anything 
between God's Word and us when it comes to obedience. Well, 
you know, my husband doesn't like that. My wife does. Does 
God say it? Has God commanded? And may I 
extend that to the civil state? They don't have the right to 
usurp the authority of God Most High and command us contrary 
to the Word of God. We must obey God rather than 
men. Apply it in an ecclesiastical 
setting. The imposition of feast days, 
the imposition of man-made religion. What is the people of God supposed 
to do? They're supposed to resist that kind of tyranny, and they're 
supposed to understand that it's the voice of God that they respond 
to. That's a good lesson for all 
of us practically. So notice the nature of the curse, 
because you have heeded the voice of your wife and have eaten from 
the tree of which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat 
of it. Notice the specific consequences in verses 18 and 19. The perpetual 
difficulty for labor. You know, I've wondered this, 
was it not hard to labor prior to the fall? Did you not sweat 
prior to the fall? I can't answer all those questions. 
I think about that with a woman. Prior to the fall, childbirth 
just seems by definition that it would be a tough go. But again, 
God says there are consequences affecting these situations in 
a post-fall world. And so as far as Adam is concerned, 
he is supposed to tend the garden prior to the fall. He's not supposed 
to do so first and foremost as a farmer. He's supposed to do 
so first and foremost as a priest. He's supposed to extend the garden 
sanctuary, multiply image bearers to encompass the entirety of 
the earth so that God would be glorified in that. But with reference 
to the post-fall ramifications, it's gonna be hard. It's going 
to be a struggle. You're not going to want to get 
up early. You're not going to want to stay late. You're not 
going to want to do the difficult jobs. You're not going to want 
to engage in these things because it's punctuated by difficulty, 
by hardship. Notice the perpetual difficulty 
of labor. Cursed is the ground for your 
sake. In toil you shall eat of it all 
the days of your life. Now, don't get the zany idea, 
well, if that's the case, I'm not going to work. No, you must 
work. Don't conclude that, well, you know, it's going to be so 
hard, so I'm not going to work. There's a line in the road, I'm not going 
to go to work. No, no, you need to work. You just need to embrace 
the fact that there's going to be difficulty. Robert Alter said, 
the vista of thorn and thistle is diametrically opposed to the 
luscious vegetation of the garden and already intimates the verdict 
of banishment that will be carried out in verses 23 and 24. But 
then notice, verse 18, "...both thorns and thistles it shall 
bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. 
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return 
to the ground." The narrative is emphasized several times up 
to this point that Adam was taken from the ground. Had you obeyed, 
had you been confirmed in righteousness, you'd have been ushered into 
everlasting life in a positive sense. But because not, you're 
going to return to the ground. That doesn't mean there's no 
soul, no spirit that lives beyond the grave, but it means that 
the physical is going to be buried. It's going to return to the ground. I think this does set the stage, 
though, this whole idea of returning to the ground, for out of it 
you were taken, for dust you are, and to dust you shall return. 
I think that's the good backdrop one should keep in mind with 
reference to the man born of a woman, who would deliver his 
people through his own suffering and death, and he would triumph 
over the devil decisively. Paul picks up this theme in Philippians 
chapter three, and what he says at verses 20 and 21, I think, 
are fed by an understanding of what happens in the first Adam, 
or in this man. He says, our citizenship is in 
heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, who will do what? He will transform our lowly body. In Adam the first, our lowly 
body gets cast into the dirt. When Adam the second comes or 
Adam the last, he transforms that lowly body and fits it and 
makes it ready for eternal communion with God most high. The Lord 
Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body that it may be 
conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which 
he is able even to subdue all things to himself. And that brings 
us finally to the hope beyond the fall in verses 20 to 24. This is the second time that 
Eve has been named. Adam called his wife's name Eve 
because she was the mother of all living. Again, Sailhammer 
says, this was the second time Adam named his wife. You see 
it in 2.23. Her first name pointed to her origin out of man, whereas 
her second name pointed to her destiny, the mother of all living. See, in other words, when this 
happens, God doesn't say, that's it, you're gone, you're done. 
No, God institutes on the heels of this fall into sin his great 
and glorious plan to save a great multitude that no man could number 
from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation by the deliverer that 
he sent, by the man born of a woman who would accomplish victory 
through suffering and death. And then notice, in terms of 
the significance, Adam called his wife's name Eve because she 
was the mother of all living. Adam had heard God's words to 
the serpent in verse 15 and knew that from the woman the Redeemer 
would come. It's not just her, Eve, personally 
and particularly, you've weathered these storms with me, baby. I'm 
going to give you this wonderful name. No, this wonderful name 
signifies what's going to happen as a result of God's promise 
in verse 15. Adam expresses faith in the promise 
of God, verse 15, by naming her the mother of all living. So 
in other words, it's not just significant for her as Mrs. Adam, but it's significant for 
us, because all of us, by God's grace, who are believers in Jesus 
Christ, have that vehicle in our history that communicates 
to us the blessed Savior for sinners. Notice the coverings 
of sin, verse 21. Brethren, there's a lot more 
that could be said on each of these points. I'm trying to make 
sure that you don't miss your lunch. But this is a, you know, 
people would say, well, you know, talking snakes and this, that, 
and the other. You know that this world and all things in 
it were made by God, by the word of his power in the space of 
six days and all very good. You know, there's people out 
there that, you know, I really struggle with the miraculous 
and all the stuff going on in the Bible. Why? I think MacArthur 
said it, if God is, then everything else follows. I used to work 
at the B-2 factory. It was a manufacturer for the 
B-2 bomber. And the idea of evolution would 
be like building a big aircraft hangar, opening both big doors, 
letting the wind blow through, and having several B-2s built 
and ready to go. We're accused of fairy tales 
with Genesis 3? Have you pondered evolution? 
Have you thought through that? Have you ever thought about an 
adult fairy tale? It's the theory of evolution, 
brethren. If God is who the Bible says 
he is, then axe heads can float. If God says who the Bible says 
he is, then snakes can talk. So can Balaam's ass. If God is 
who the Bible says He is, then Christ can be raised again the 
third day. See, I don't think it's the mythology 
of chapter 3 in Genesis that offends the godless. I think 
it's what they conclude is mythology in the empty tomb. It's not talking 
snakes so much. It's the Redeemer King at the 
right hand of God Most High who must reign till all of his enemies 
are made his footstool. And I actually think that's one 
of the emphases driving evolution. What happens when you get God 
out of the beginning? You effectively remove him from 
the middle in the end, right? We're like pagans. We just have 
cycles of history. We're just in the big circle 
of life. There's no significance, there's 
no effect, there's no impact. You know, Paul says, for of him, 
through him, to him are all things. Christianity is a linear view 
of history, not a cyclical, not a circular. So we get God out 
of the beginning when we get him out of the judgment. You 
know, is it talking snakes they have an axe to grind with? No, 
I wouldn't think so. It's the one who crushes the 
head of the serpent. It's the one who brings redemption 
to his people. But in Genesis chapter 3, you 
should learn it. Boffink makes the good statement. 
In principle, Genesis 3 contains the entire history of humankind. 
All the ways of God for the salvation of the lost and the victory over 
sin. In substance, the whole gospel, the entire covenant of 
grace is present here. All that follows, Genesis 4 to 
Revelation 22, is the development of what has been germinally planted 
here. It is programmatic. What you 
find in Genesis chapter three, the rest of the Bible is just 
explaining. It's just amplifying. It's just, as I said earlier, 
moving the ball further down the field. So then notice this 
coverings of skin in verse 21. So also for Adam and his wife, 
the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed them. Again, not 
girdles. Girdles just cover your private 
area. These were tunics. This covered the entirety. What's 
God saying? Your sin didn't just affect you 
there. You're trying to cover your sin just by covering your 
private parts. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't 
cover your private parts. I'm suggesting that man, when 
he comes to deal with sin, he does it about that deep. God 
says, no, you must be covered. He who covers his transgression, 
he'll not prosper. Whoever confesses it and forsakes 
it, that one finds mercy. As well, notice that the coverings 
were not made of plant life. Isn't that where Adam and Eve 
went? They went to fig leaves. Well, certainly that must be 
able to hide us from God. We'll hide among the trees that 
he made and we'll cover ourselves with these fig leaves. They gravitate 
toward plant life. No, God kills animals. God underscores in Genesis 3.21 
what the apostle rehearses in Hebrews 9.22. Without the shedding 
of blood, there is no forgiveness. Without the shedding of blood, 
there is no remission. You see that connection very 
often in the New Testament documents through his blood. Atonement, 
wrath must be appeased. God must be satisfied. His justice must be satisfied. So God kills these animals and 
he takes the skin off of these animals and he covers Adam and 
Eve. So that when you roll along through 
Genesis and Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy, 
and you see the institution of a priesthood, you see the institution 
of a tabernacle and then a temple, and you see the institution of 
sacrifice, Does it surprise you that it's the blood of bulls 
and goats, that it's animals? Because there needs to be life 
for life. There needs to be substitution. 
There needs to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of 
the world. So God shows them this. God does this for them. And as 
well, the Lord underscores, as I've said, the necessity of atonement 
as the basis for fellowship between God and men. One man makes the 
observation, I don't know his theological pedigree, so I'll 
just tell you I quoted him from Waltke, but it's a good statement. He says, with the sentence given, 
God does in chapter 3, verse 21, for the couple, what they cannot do for themselves. Chapter 3, verse 7. They cannot 
deal with their shame, but God can, will, and does. God can, will, and does. Hear that, because that's important. God can, will, and does. There is forgiveness with thee 
that thou mayest be feared. Come to me, Jesus says in Matthew 
11, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest. But I don't understand everything. 
Come to him. But I don't know everything. 
Come to Him. All you need to know is that 
you're a guilty, vile, helpless sinner that stands liable to 
God's just judgment and punishment in this life and that which is 
to come. It's a happy topic, isn't it? but know that God in 
his kindness and in his grace and in his mercy sent the son 
of his love, the one announced here in Genesis 3.15, the man 
born of a woman that would accomplish total victory through his own 
suffering and death. All those who come to him in 
faith will have everlasting life. You say, but that sounds so easy. 
It is easy on the one hand. On the other hand, it's a check 
to your rebellion and your transgression and your sin. See, let's not 
kind of beat around the bush here. People do what they want 
to do usually, right? Nobody's putting a gun to your 
head to go out and sin today. Nobody's got your arm behind 
your back. Yeah, you do this and you do that. What does Jesus 
say in John 3? The darkness doesn't come to 
the light. Why? Because it doesn't want its deeds exposed. It doesn't 
want to be found out. You got to understand that in 
your own heart, you've got resistance. In your own heart, you have enmity. 
In your own heart, you have this rebel tendency and spirit. May 
I just suggest as lovingly and as graciously and encouragingly 
as I can, wave the white flag. Stop. Learn from others in the 
building here, the church here. What were you like before you 
were a Christian? Well, you don't even want to 
know. I already hear certain people, well, you don't even 
want to know. You know, it's like we come into a church and 
everybody, you know, dresses up a little bit or dresses up 
a lot. You know, we brushed our teeth 
this morning, our hair's in place. You know, we look polished, right? 
And it's easy to assume it's always been that way. No, it hasn't always been that 
way. The man born of a woman who accomplished 
total victory through his suffering and death saved us from our sins. Was he able to save me too? Absolutely, 
positively. He saved the chief of sinners, 
the apostle Paul. He saved his underlings, us. 
Certainly there is mercy to be had with our Lord Jesus when 
we come to him in faith. Well, brethren, I will just quickly 
run through the rest. Notice the Lord's comment in 
verse 22, the us there refers to the triune God. Behold, the 
man has become like one of us. It's not a divine council, a 
divine Sanhedrin. This is the triune God, the same 
as we see in Genesis 1.26. And then notice, I'm going to just give you what 
I believe is going on here because there's some difficulties to 
sort of work out. We don't have much time. Behold, the man has 
become like one of us to know good and evil. And now lest he 
put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and 
live forever. The particular issue was that this was a knowledge 
that he sought so that he could operate autonomously. If you look back to the temptation, 
Look back to the temptation at verse six in chapter three. So 
when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, remember they're 
in a garden filled with trees that are good for food, right? What does God say? It's a lavish 
promise. You may freely eat whatever, 
beautiful. But continue, that it was pleasant 
to the eyes, Again, just like all the other trees, they were 
pleasant to the eyes as well, I surmise. Trees today are pleasant 
to the eyes. Why wouldn't they be in a pre-fall 
world? Look at this last bit, though. And a tree desirable 
to make one wise. Therein lies the nature of the 
rebellion. Ye shall be as God. So the knowledge that they've 
now entered into was a knowledge that was forbidden to them. It 
was prohibited to them. Their exclusion from the tree 
of life, while a curse, was a blessing. What God does in banishing them 
from the garden that he planted them in, is, in the long run, 
redemptive. He doesn't want them in that 
state of sin and misery, in that state of fallenness, to grasp 
now the tree of life, because they'll be confirmed in a state 
of unrighteousness. So he banishes them, he excludes 
them, he forbids their approach to the tree of life. Why? Because the man born of woman, 
the man who would accomplish victory through his suffering 
and death, he will confirm us in righteousness and fit us for 
that glorious age to come. So in this curse of banishment, 
there is blessing. Adam doesn't want to be confirmed 
in life if it's this kind of life. In conclusion, two things 
and then we go. First, the subtle devices of 
Satan. I know we didn't look at the 
temptation much. I know we didn't look at his 
craftiness a lot. But I want to suggest that this 
is the one that Peter describes in 1 Peter chapter 5, the devil 
roams about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. What 
does that suggest? A lion, doesn't it? or the modern 
or popular conception of the devil. He's a guy in a red suit 
or that's just the way he looks and he's got horns and he's got 
a pitchfork and he's probably very easy to see, isn't it? I 
mean, a roaring lion or a guy with a pitchfork. I think I'd 
notice that in my day. Don't usually see guys with pitchforks 
unless I'm on a farm. It just doesn't happen at Walmart. 
So unless he's buying a pitchfork, I guess that could be the case 
too. But it's almost like we expect to see the devil and his 
machinations, to use a good old Puritan word. He works with cunning, 
cunning. One of the best victories or 
best helps to victory he ever got was when men started denying 
him. He works through deception. And interestingly, what he promises 
them has a vein of truth in it. It's not absolutely completely 
contrary, The Lord knows that in the day that you eat, you 
shall be as gods. The man has become like one of 
us. See, this is the thing that you 
need to understand. He doesn't come and whisper in 
your ear and tell you, or shout in your ear with his pitchfork 
saying, go out and sin, go rob banks, go sell drugs, go corrupt 
yourself. He doesn't do it that way. It's 
cunning, it's deception, and it's with a knowledge of man's 
susceptibility. Why does the serpent come to 
Eve? She's susceptible to this. She 
has got a predilection. I don't want to say that because 
it sounds like God made her that way. She has genuine free will 
in this pre-fall situation. There is in her a lack of immutability. She's mutable. She can change. 
She can take that which is forbidden. And the devil works through a 
character assassination upon God. Again, look at verse five. Well, verse four, then the serpent 
said to the woman, you will not surely die for God knows that 
the day you eat of it, your eyes will be open and you will be 
like God, knowing good and evil. You will not surely die. That's 
an exact opposite statement to what God had promised. So just 
understand the nature of your enemy. It is the world. It's 
a cursed, messed up place out there. It is your own remaining 
corruption or your reigning sin. But there's a real devil who 
has a vested interest, like the birds of the air, when gospel 
seeds are planted, to come and devour them. Only the birds of 
the air don't really care about creating misery in your home 
if you're a farmer, but the devil's purpose is that you don't hear 
the gospel, that you don't believe the gospel, and that you're not 
saved by God's grace. And then finally, we need to 
make the connections biblically. The seed of the woman is Abraham's 
seed. The seed of the woman is Isaiah's servant of the Lord. 
The seed of the woman is David's anointed in Psalm 132. The seed 
of the woman is Christ, the Son of God, sent by the Father for 
us men and for our salvation. Genesis 3.15 is the proto-gospel. It is the reality that God made 
him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become 
the righteousness of God in him. I'll end where I hopefully began, 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Well, 
let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for your Word. We thank you for all roads leading 
us to the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that the Bible sets forth 
the scope of Scripture being our beloved Savior. This one 
announced in Genesis 3, this one amplified throughout the 
prophets and the Psalms and the historical books, and come to 
full fruition and realization in the gospel records and in 
the apostles' commentary on those. We thank you. for your grace. We thank you for your mercy. 
We thank you that you've not left us in our sin. God, be pleased 
to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh to you today through 
Christ. We pray that you would grant 
those graces of faith and repentance, and we pray in the name of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, amen. We may stand