The First Great Promise of the Bible
The FIRST great promise of the Bible is found in Genesis 3:15: “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.” In the words of the famous Anglican clergy Charles Simeon, this promise can be described as the “sum and summary of the whole Bible.” What he is saying, I think, is that every promise of the Bible can be traced back to this text. It sets the tone and direction of the rest of the Bible. It is the beginning point for the rest of the story of the Bible. The promise is centred on the “offspring of the woman.” The offspring of the woman would receive a wound that would mark Him at some point in a battle with the offspring of the serpent.
Do you see it? God began preparing the world for Christmas on the dark day of man’s fall from grace. This promise always makes my mind race toward Christmas, and especially Galatians 4, verses 4 and 5, which read, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” It’s a perfect fulfillment of the promise made years before at the dawn of human history, on the heels of man’s disobedience. Man’s disobedience was met by God’s generous and forgiving grace.
I can’t help but wonder if someone may be objecting to my reading so much into that first promise. But the precedence for doing so was established by Jesus Himself. Luke 24:27 explains an important interpretive principle taught by Jesus. As He interacted with the disciples on the Emmaus Highway, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets. With Moses? The first book of Moses is Genesis. Genesis 3 is no doubt Jesus’ beginning point. God promised a Deliverer from the seed of a woman, and then His very next act of grace was to provide a covering for Adam and Eve’s nakedness.
The promises of the Bible in the Old Testament are the root system for the life of faith that is on full display in the New Testament. Colossians chapter 2 reads: “So then, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in him, being rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with gratitude.” “Being rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith” means, in part, that we learn the main plot of the Bible. The main plot of the Bible is that Jesus Christ is the long-awaited Saviour of the world who came to give His life as a ransom for all.
Another way to frame the main plot of the Bible is to simply point to the amazing grace of God displayed to Adam and Eve when they sinned. God’s response to man’s sin was grace. Grace is what motivated Him to provide the judgment for our sin in the death of Jesus Christ. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). He took our place as convicted criminals and suffered our punishment so that we could receive the riches of His righteousness.
GRACE was understood and tracked by the Old Testament prophets. While it’s probably fair to say that they didn’t understand God’s plan in its entirety, they did, in fact, know that God was weaving a greater plan for those who came after them. That’s why the Apostle Peter said: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated. They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when He testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—angels long to catch a glimpse of these things” (1 Peter 1:10–12).
The good news of Christmas is the GREAT news of God’s grace being fulfilled in Jesus, who came as a baby in Bethlehem’s manger “to redeem” all who come to God by faith through Jesus.
Stand firm on that promise, church family!
Pastor Deric