Protoevangelium - Genesis 3:1-24

Video

Well let’s turn in our Bibles to the Book of Genesis, chapter 3. And let me start off with a question that I often answer about the OT: “Why read and why read the OT”? We’ve got the NT. Why not out with the old and in the new?” Well one of the ways I answer that question is with a question. Not to be argumentative, but just to tease out the answer a bit. Here’s the question I ask in response, “What important information would we miss out on if we didn’t have the OT?”

Or let me ask it this way, “What would we be ignorant about if we didn’t have the OT?” The truth is we’d be ignorant about a lot of stuff. Because the OT tells us a lot about humanity, God, creation, the world, our sin and our need for a savior. You might say, “Well the NT tells us about the coming of Jesus, our Savior!” And I would respond to that by saying, “Yes, but the OT tells us why we needed Jesus to come and save us?”

And you know what the OT tells us about too? It tells us about “sin.” Where it came from. And why it’s such a prominent and dominating reality in our world. And I know talk about sin sounds really primitive in some settings. People don’t like to talk about sin or admit to sin in their lives. But the reality is every human being has a category for this. Every human being on this planet knows that sin is real and sin exists. And some people might want to diminish the reality of sin in their sexual lives. But they will talk about the sin in the area of racism or of injustice. As human beings, we all have moral categories, and we want to take note where other people fall short and our world falls short. That’s part our identity as people made in God’s image. We are moral creatures by nature.

So we need to ask the question: Where did sin come from? And why is it part of our world? And is there any way to escape it or overcome it? Believe it or not, the answers to those question are all found in one opening chapter in the Book of Genesis. Genesis 3. And what I want to do today is talk about three things: 1) The Root of Sin, 2) The Results of Sin, and 3) The Remedy for Sin.
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Let me address those in turn. First of all. 
1) The root of sin (3:1-6)

Where did sin come from? Well in the first few pages of the OT, God created everything in our world out of nothing (Gen 1-2). He created the sun, the moon, the star, the galaxies, etc.. He created fish, birds, animals, and vegetation. He created wind and water and skies. And it was all good, good, good, good, good! And then God created man and woman, and that was really good. In fact the only thing that wasn’t good was man alone before God created woman. God created woman as a helpmate to man. God put them in a garden of perfection called Eden. He gave the work to do. He gave them an edict from on high, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28). He walked with them in the cool of the day. Everything was good, good, good, good! God gave them absolute freedom to enjoy his creation and eat from any tree of the Garden.

But he did give the one prohibition. He said, “You see that tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Don’t eat from that tree. You can eat from any tree. You can eat from every tree. But you can’t eat from that one, Adam and Eve.” That was God’s one proscription.

Well here’s what happened. Look at Genesis 3. This is the part of the Children’s Bible that your kids want to skip. But you can’t skip it. Your kids need to know about this.

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

“Who’s the serpent?” You might ask. Well we know from other passages of Scripture that this is Satan, the great enemy of God (e.g. Rev 12:9; 20:2). But he is not God’s equal. He is God’s enemy, but he is also God’s creation. He was an archangel created by God to worship God, but he desired to be worshipped like God (Ezek 28:11-19; Rev 12:3-9). And God judged him, he flung him out of his presence, and he became God’s enemy.

You might ask, “When did all this happen?” I don’t know and Moses doesn’t tell us. All we can say for sure is that this happened sometime before Genesis 3. And not only is Satan the enemy of God, he is also the enemy of mankind. Because look what he does in verse one.

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

Not only is he questioning God’s integrity here, but he’s trying to get the woman, Eve, to question God’s integrity too. And look how Eve responds…

2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

Now notice a few things here. First of all, notice that Eve recites the truth about what God told her. She does well, at first. She trusts God, and she distrusts Satan. That’s exactly what you have to do in moments of temptation in your life. Focus on God. Focus on his Word. And correct the lies of Satan. Good job, Eve! If she had maintained this course, she would have done well.

Notice a second thing. Notice that in this Garden of Perfection, God allows his enemy, Satan, to talk and to persuade Eve. God allowed that. However you put your theology together, you’ve got to reckon with that. Put that in your theological pipe and smoke it. God allowed Satan to talk to and tempt Eve. He was testing her. He was testing her resolve. He didn’t just rush in and protect her from Satan or from herself. Let’s keep reading.

4 But the [shrewd (v.1)] serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

That’s the great technique of the evil one, isn’t it? That’s his grift. He gets you to doubt God. He gets you to forget God. He wants you to question God’s goodness and God’s Word and God’s commands of you. And you know what the sad thing is? It works. We are a forgetful species, aren’t we? 

Let me give you three things that Satan does here. And you just decide for yourself if Satan is still doing these things today. I’m calling these “Three Things Satan does in the Midst of Temptation.” Here’s the first:

1) He marginalizes God’s goodness – “God is holding out on you!” That’s what Satan is trying to convince Eve of. Is Satan still working that angle? You better believe he is! “God is holding you back. God is just a mean, unmerciful bully in the sky, and if he really loved you he would let you do X, Y, and Z.” Forget the fact that God has blessed you and loved you and given you every good thing. Forget the fact that God has not deprived you of any good thing. When Satan tempts you, he tries to marginalize God’s goodness.

2) He minimizes sin’s consequences – “You won’t die!” Satan says to Eve. “It’s not that big a deal! God won’t really punish you!” R. Kent Hughes says this about Genesis 3: “The doctrine of divine judgment is the very first doctrine [that people deny.] Satan has been attacking it from the beginning.” “There’s no such thing as hell! There’s no such thing as judgment! God is just some big teddy-bear in the sky; he’s not going to punish sin. We can do whatever we want!”

3) He maximizes sin’s appeal – Satan says, “You will be like God.” Satan tells her “A whole new world will be opened up to you.” But what does Satan neglect to tell them? They’re already “like God.” They were made in the image of God. But that’s not enough. They will become (according to Satan) deified beings.

By the way, this is the sin that Satan committed. We know this from Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 and the book of Revelation. Satan’s pride and his vanity were his undoing. He wanted to be like God. And he got a third of the angels to go along with him. And now he’s trying to get Eve to go along with him. And he does that by appealing to her pride, “You will be like God.”

C.S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, called pride (or self-conceit) the essential vice and the utmost evil in humanity. He believed (like many Christians before him) that all other sins stem from this sin. He writes, “Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

And the other sneaky part of this temptation is that there’s a half-measure of truth in it. That’s why Moses said he was “crafty” in the first verse. The reality is that their eyes would be opened if they ate that fruit. They would have a deeper knowledge of good and evil. But that half-truth denies what is already true about them. They are already like God. They are made in the image of God. And they are innocent like God. These actions aren’t going to make them any more “like God” than they already are. In fact, this will make them less like God, because then they will be sin-stained and guilty. God does not sin and has no sin in him.

If you do read this with your kids at night, make sure you emphasize the sadness of what follows next. Don’t rush past this. Look at verse 6.

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate,

In the words of OT scholar, Derek Kidner, “She took … and ate: so simple the act, so hard its undoing.”

and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

My assumption in light of verse 6 is that Adam just stood by and let his wife be persuaded by this creature, the snake. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t stop her. He didn’t chase that stupid snake out of the Garden like he should have. Instead he just succumbed to the temptation. He disobeyed God. And by the way, when Paul in the Book of Romans talks about this original sin, he holds the man, Adam, responsible for this whole episode (cf. 5:12-21).

This is that great event in human history that changed everything. This is that great sin of our forefather and foremother that brought down an avalanche of consequences on us. If you want to know why our world is so messed up and why sin is so prevalent in this world and why death is ubiquitous, look no further than Genesis 3. This is where it all began.
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And let’s talk about the results of sin.
2) The results of sin (3:7-14, 16-24)

I’ve preached multiple messages on this chapter in the past going into all the details. But I don’t have time to do that this morning. So let me just touch on a few of these results. First of all look at verse 22.

22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Adam and Eve were flung out of the Garden of Eden because of their sin. They can’t live in Paradise anymore. They can’t eat of the Tree of Life anymore, because who wants to live forever in a sinful state?

Look at some of the other consequences of sin. Look at verse 16. God instituted pain in childbirth for the woman as a result of her sin. She usurped the authority of her husband, and so now he will rule over her. Also God instituted pain in breadwinning for the husband. Adam failed in his leadership role in the Garden, so God is going to afflict his work. Before Genesis 3 work was fun and enjoyable and easy and rewarding. Now work is going to be burdensome and hard with thorns and thistles. 

19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

And look at the immediate effects of sin on this couple. I want to focus on this now. Look at verse 7. This is immediately after they disobeyed God and ate forbidden fruit.

7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

In other words, they lost their innocence. They became aware of their own mortality, and they opened the door to greater opportunities for sin and for tragedy. 

Here’s another consequence. Look at verse 8. They lost their tightknit relationship with God.

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

They used to walk with God in the cool of the day! Now they are hiding! They’re ashamed. They’re afraid.

9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 [God] said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Now pay attention here, because this is where the wheels fall off completely. This is where sin starts to multiply. This is where divisiveness in the relationship starts. Listen to Adam’s response. Listen to what he tells God.

12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Did you hear that? Did you catch what he’s saying? “It’s your fault, God. You did this to me! I was perfectly happy on my own before you sent this ‘Jezebel’ to me to destroy everything.” Forget the fact that Adam was over the moon when he first saw Eve. Forget the fact that God created her as a helpmate and a perfect complement to him. She was the greatest gift that man could ever receive. Remember when he first saw Eve? He was quoting poetry when he first saw it. Men are known to do that when they find the woman of their dreams. “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She will be called woman, because she came from man” (Gen 2:23).

But now what’s Adam saying? “It’s your fault, God. You gave me this woman.” You know how people oftentimes deal with their sin? You know how we assuage our guilty consciences? We blameshift! It’s as old as Genesis 3. “It’s not my fault. I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s because of that person. They did this to me!”

And notice what Eve does. She does the same thing…

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

“It’s not my fault, God. The devil made me do it!” And implicitly what she’s saying here is “It’s your fault, God. You made the serpent. You let him wander around here in the Garden of Eden. You didn’t withhold him or protect me.” She’s saying, “It’s your fault, God.”

And that’s when God starts dishing out the punishments. And he starts with the serpent. And I want to spend the rest of our time here, because tucked into this punishment for the serpent is a promise that God will ultimately rescue these sinners and also their sinful offspring. Do you know that? 

14 The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.

I assume from this verse that the serpent originally had legs like the other livestock. I kind of imagine the serpent in the Garden of Eden like that gecko from the G.E.I.C.O. commercial. A lizard-y creature that walks on it two hind legs and speaks with a British accent. Whenever I think about Satan talking, I always imagine him with a British accent. I don’t know why.

Well, God is not only going to punish Satan here, but he is also going to punish the creature, the serpent, that Satan embodied in order to deceive Eve. God does this in order to remind us about what took place in that Garden. And God says to the serpent, “You shall eat dust all the days of your life. You will slither on your belly! And you will be an embarrassment to the animal kingdom.”  And snakes are an embarrassment to the animal kingdom. They bite and they stick out their tongues and they have fangs. Indiana Jones was right to hate snakes. That was the most accurate thing in those movies!

And then God turns his attention away from the physical creature, the snake, to the metaphysical creature, the devil, and here’s what he says.   

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

“You deceived the woman. You made her fall. Well, this is not the end of that. You guys will hate each other from now on…”

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he …

Not “she,” but “he”… that’s fascinating…

he … shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
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Go ahead and write this down as #3 in your notes. This is…
3) The remedy for sin (3:15)

Scholars refer to Genesis 3:15 as the Protoevangelium. I’ve entitled this message today “Protoevangelium.” Proto means “first.” Evangelium means “gospel.” This is the first mention of the gospel in the Bible. This is the shadowy prophetic foreshadowing of Christ that becomes reality for us in the NT. Let’s talk about this Protoevangelium. 

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

If you’re like me, you have a number of questions for this text. The first question is this: “Who is the offspring of Satan? Who is the offspring of Satan?” You might say, “Satan has offspring? I didn’t even know he was married. How can he have offspring?” Well, this seed of Satan isn’t Satan’s literal children. The offspring of Satan is anyone who, along with Satan, sets themselves up against God. That would include fallen angels that followed Satan after his rebellion. That would include pagan kingdoms of the ancient world that were controlled by Satan and worshipped false gods. That would include anyone who rejects the free gift of salvation and dies an unregenerate unbeliever. They are also, according to Scripture, the offspring of Satan.

Jesus made this very clear during his ministry. He called the Jewish leaders a “brood of vipers” (Matt 12:34). Jesus said in John 8:44 to the Jewish leaders who opposed him, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.” The reality is that anyone and everyone who opposes God and his Son, Jesus Christ, is a child of the devil, and those who belong to the devil will suffer the same fate as the devil. They will be cast into the Lake of Fire forever in judgment for their sin (Rev 19:20; 20:8-15; 21:8).

So if that’s the offspring of Satan, than who is the offspring of the woman? God says in verse 15, 

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring;

Who’s “her offspring”? Well the answer to that question is found in the prophecy concerning Satan’s demise. Because in the middle of verse 15, God says, 

he shall bruise [or “crush”] your head, and you shall bruise [or “crush”] his heel.”

So who is the “he” in verse 15? Who’s the “he”? And why isn’t it “she”… the woman? Well it’s the offspring. Okay, so why not “they” … the collective offspring of the woman? “[They] will bruise your head.” It doesn’t say that. It says “he.” Who’s the “he”?

Who’s the “he”? Who’s the “he,” church? Do you know? I had a professor at Moody who used to tell this story. He said in Sunday School that whenever he asked a question of the kids, he would always get “Jesus” as the answer. They were conditioned to always answer “Jesus.” So he decided to trick them with this question. He said, “What’s small and furry and lives in trees and eats nuts.” And one of the kids in his class said, “Well, teacher, it sounds like a squirrel, but I know the answer has to be ‘Jesus.’” 

Genesis 3:15. The Protoevangelium (the “first gospel”). “He shall crush your head.” Who’s the ‘he’? “He shall crush your head and you shall crush his heel.” Who’s the ‘his’ at the end of vs. 15? It’s Jesus, right? Could it be anyone else? 

Now obviously the answer is Jesus. Paul tells us in Romans 16:20, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” And the symbolism makes sense. Jesus was struck by the serpent and took a mortal wound, but he was able to survive. And Christ gives back a mortal blow to the serpent and crushes his head. The “he” in vs. 15 is Christ, and the “seed of the woman” is Christ… and let me add to that… all of his followers who are at war with the “seed of Satan.” 

In fact, God sees the world very simply, much more simply than we do with all the geo-political alliances and squabbles that we hear about in the newspaper. When God looks out on our world, he sees two ethnic identities in the world. Did you know that? There are the children of God and there are the children of Satan. That’s it! There are the saved and the unsaved. The believers and the unbelievers. The sheep and goats. The wheat and the weeds. There are the sons and daughters of God, and there are the sons and daughters of the devil. And that’s it. The only question for you this morning church is whose team are you on? Who do you belong to? The serpent? Or the serpent-crusher? I don’t know about you, but I’m on the side of the serpent-crusher. That’s who I belong to!

And all the way back in Genesis 3, thousands of years before Jesus was incarnated as a human being, God prophesied the demise of the devil and all of those who reject Christ. All the way back in the Garden of Eden, when humanity was at its lowest ebb, God promised victory. God promised that the head of the serpent would be squashed. “He shall squash your head, and you shall strike his heel,” God said to Satan. So who do you belong to? Who do you belong to?
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I’ll close with this. Do you guys remember after Jesus was resurrected, and he was on the road to Emmaus with two of his disciples? And they didn’t recognize him at first. And Luke writes that Jesus started to show them some stuff from Scriptures. And Jesus said, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27). You know I’ve often fantasized about walking with Jesus in that moment and listening to him talk about how he fulfilled the OT Scriptures. I would have loved to have been there for that. That would have been amazing!

Well Jesus walked with these two random disciples on the Road to Emmaus. And he walked them through the OT Scriptures and told them all the things concerning himself. And later after Jesus disappeared, the disciples said, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures (Luke 25:32)?” Wouldn’t you love to have been there to have your hearts burn with you while Jesus opened the Scriptures to you? I don’t know for sure where Jesus started that conversation. Luke doesn’t tell us. But I bet he started in Genesis 3:15! I bet He told them, “Don’t you guys remember what God prophesied to Satan in Genesis?” “He shall crush your head, and you shall crush his heel.” I bet Jesus told them, “I’m the ‘he.’ I’m that ‘he.’” Who you gonna follow, church? The Serpent or the Serpent-crusher? PRAY WITH ME!






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