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Lesson 3 of 15 · Genesis 3

The Fall and the First Gospel

How temptation works, what sin does, and how God answers the fall with judgment, a covering, and the first promise of the Redeemer.

“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.”

Genesis 3:15 (NKJV)

Genesis 3 explains why the world we know is not the world God made very good. The serpent, “more cunning than any beast of the field,” comes to the woman with a question: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” He twists God's generous word into a stingy one. God had said they could freely eat of every tree but one; the serpent makes God sound like He is holding everything back.

Eve's answer adds to God's word — “nor shall you touch it” — and then the serpent openly contradicts God: “You will not surely die.” He accuses God of hiding something good: “your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.” This is the pattern of temptation still today: doubt God's word, deny God's warning, and distrust God's goodness.

Verse 6 shows how desire grows: 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. John later describes the same three doors: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” She took and ate, and gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Adam was not deceived, Paul says; he stood by and chose.

Sin immediately brings shame — they sewed fig leaves together — and fear — they hid from the presence of the LORD God among the trees. Then the LORD God calls, “Where are you?” He asks questions not because He lacks knowledge but to bring them to confession. Instead, Adam blames the woman and even God — “The woman whom You gave to be with me” — and the woman blames the serpent. Sin breaks our relationship with God, with one another, and with creation.

God pronounces judgment on the serpent, the woman and the man, and death enters the world. Yet before He speaks one word of judgment to Adam and Eve, He speaks a promise in the curse on the serpent: the Seed of the woman will bruise the serpent's head. Then “for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.” An animal died so that their shame could be covered. They are sent out of Eden, but they go out clothed by God and holding a promise.

Going deeper

The first gospel

Genesis 3:15 is often called the protoevangelium, which means the first gospel. The serpent would bruise the heel of the woman's Seed — a painful wound — but the Seed would bruise the serpent's head — a fatal blow. Paul writes, “when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.” At the cross Satan struck Christ's heel, but through the cross and the empty tomb Christ crushed the enemy's head.

Two Adams

Romans 5:12 says, “through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” Paul goes on to show that Jesus is the last Adam. Where the first Adam disobeyed in a garden of plenty, Jesus obeyed in the garden of Gethsemane and in the wilderness, and His obedience brings life to all who believe.

Key points

  • Temptation questions God's word, denies His warning, and doubts His goodness.
  • Sin brought shame, fear, hiding and blame.
  • God came seeking: “Where are you?”
  • Genesis 3:15 is the first promise of the Redeemer.
  • God covered Adam and Eve with tunics of skin.

Reflect

  • Which part of the serpent's strategy do you find yourself most vulnerable to?
  • When you fail, do you tend to hide, to blame, or to confess?
  • How does the covering God gave Adam and Eve point you to the cross?

Prayer

Father, I confess that I have listened to the wrong voice and doubted Your goodness. Thank You for seeking me when I hid. Thank You for Jesus, the promised Seed, who crushed the enemy's head. Clothe me with His righteousness, and help me to trust Your word. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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