Introduction

–         Just as a tiny seed contains the blueprint for a fully developed tree, Genesis 3:15 is the ‘seed’ of God’s redemptive plan that progressively unfolds from Genesis to Revelation

–         Genesis 3:15 promises and foreshadows the grace of God in three ways:  1) The Regeneration of God’s People;  2) The Redemption of God’s People;  3) The Ruin of our Enemy

I. God’s Grace Foreshadowed in Regeneration

1. Adam and Eve’s Relationship with God
   1. Before sin, Adam and Eve enjoyed incredible friendship and intimacy with God and with one another
   2. After sin, Adam and Eve hid from their Creator
   3. As a consequence of original sin, we humans have been hiding from God and covering ourselves with fig leaves!

    

2. Eve’s Relationship with the Serpent
   1. Eve traded her friendship with God for friendship with the serpent/ Satan
   2. Adam, Eve and their descendents became enslaved to the serpent and his kingdom

• We are born into this world as God’s enemies
• We are by nature “dead in trespasses and sins”

3. God’s promise of Regeneration
   1. “I will put enmity between you and the woman”
   2. Regeneration =  spiritual re-birth (John 3);  Before we can turn to God, He must radically transform our desires and overcome the terrible effects of original sin!
   3. Adam and Eve were the first human beings regenerated by the Holy Spirit as an act of God’s sovereign grace

II. God’s Grace Foreshadowed in Redemption

1. Genesis 3:15 contains the first prophecy of Jesus Christ
   1. One of Eve’s physical descendents will go to war against the serpent and his kingdom
   2. Jesus is the ‘second Adam’ who succeeds where the first Adam failed!  (cf. Romans 5; 1 Corinthians 15)

    

2. The Redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross is graphically pictured by the first Animal Sacrifice (v. 21)
   1. Death reminds us of the horror of sin  (Romans 6:23)
   2. Animal sacrifices in the Old Testament point to our desperate need for a sin- substitute.
   3. Divine justice was ultimately satisfied in the death of Jesus Christ

III. Grace Foreshadowed in the Ruin of our Enemy

1. Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb struck a fatal blow to the serpent
   1. “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
   2. Jesus has gloriously triumphed over the kingdom of Satan (cf. Colossians 2:15)
   3. Because of Jesus’s victory, Satan will soon be crushed under the feet of believers (cf. Romans 16:20)

    

2. God’s activity in defeating Satan demands a response!
   1. Adam expressed his faith in God’s covenant promises by naming his wife “Eve” (means “life-giver”) before she had given birth to any physical descendent!
   2. Adam and Eve were justified by faith!
   3. We too must respond to God’s initiative in our lives by trusting in Christ and repenting of sin.