June 13th, 2011 by Kristi Stephens

Throughout this summer we will be doing a fast-paced overview of the “Big Story” of the Bible – the underlying plot that ties the smaller stories of Scripture together. If you’ve missed anything, you can find all the posts indexed here! Today, we’re picking up in Genesis 3!

If God had left us in Eden – spiritually dead, physically dying, limping through life in a world that fights against us at every turn – if this was the end we would truly have no hope.

God does not leave them hopeless in their brokenness. The Gospel, the Good News, begins to unfold to us in Eden, not just in Matthew.

[God speaking to the serpent] “And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis 3:15

In this one short statement, God reveals a glimpse of a battle that will rage for thousands of years to come. Eden is all Adam and the woman know, but it is not the end of the story. We discover later in Scripture [Isaiah 14:12-15] that Satan’s initial fall from heaven was over one particular issue: he resented and ultimately rejected God’s worthiness to reign over His creation; he wanted God’s glory as his own. And so, he had hissed in the woman’s ears that God was not good, He was not seeking her best, He was not truthful, He was withholding something from them. As man and woman succumbed to the same pride and sense of entitlement that had poisoned the enemy, surely he had laughed in delight.

In this one verse, however, we find that while Satan may have one this initial victory, he was already destined to lose the war. The battle would be long, much longer than Adam and his wife could ever have dreamed – it would be ongoing for generation after generation as Satan fights to lead humanity further from God, and as he fights against those who walk with God and seek to make His name great on the earth. But his days are numbered.

Eventually there would be one of woman’s offspring who would have the ultimate victory. Satan would fight against Him, too – he would strike and do his worst, and he would indeed leave a wound. But it would be a flesh wound – and the offspring of the woman would crush his head, dealing him a fatal blow.

It is fascinating to me that after hearing so much bad news – news of spiritual death, physical death, of lives filled with pain and toil and frustration and conflict, Adam chooses that moment to immediately turn and name his wife Eve.

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food
until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken;
for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

Genesis 3:19-20

Weird timing? It might seem that way at first, but his timing is perfect.

God had just told them the worst news contained in the Bible – our sin has broken us. And not just us, but our entire world, our entire existence. Nothing will be as it should have been. We were designed to walk in communion with our Creator, but because of our sin we are banished from His holy presence. We were designed to have dominion over the earth, but even the very ground will rebel against us. We were designed for relationships, to glorify Him in harmonious family relationships, but our relationships are now broken and filled with angst and rebellion and pain.

But there is One who is coming – One who would fix this whole mess. One who was worthy to reign, One who would crush the serpent, redeem us, redeem this broken world. He would come – and He would come as an offspring of the woman.

And so, as Adam turns to his wife and names her, “Eve,” naming her as the mother of all the living, he is proclaiming out loud his faith in God’s promise.

This world is broken. On our own we are hopeless. We are badly broken, friends – and there is only One who can mend us.

Would you help spread the Story on twitter?  “Broken but not abandoned – the Gospel begins unfolding in Eden! Join us for #1Summer1Story with @KristiStephens! http://is.gd/8niXTb”