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It may surprise you to discover that the first gospel sermon of the Bible appears in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. It appears soon after the sin of Adam and Eve.

When they sinned, they hid themselves from God. But God sought them out and gave the wonderful promise of a Savior.

God's intervention into their lives came entirely of His free choice. The original covenant that God had made with Adam and Eve permitted them to eat of every tree of the Garden of Eden except one, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Obedience to the covenant would bring life; disobedience would produce death. If they disobeyed God's command, they had no recourse back to Him.

The covenant contained no provision for them in case of their failure to obey it. It only promised life for obedience and death for disobedience.

Therefore, when God promised a Savior, it came from His own free choice. He was under no obligation to make a provision for them in their sin. This promise,  then, displays His love, grace, and mercy, for which He deserves to receive glory, honor, and praise .

God's promise of a Savior appears in Genesis 3.15: “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” This pledge promises a victorious Captain that only Jesus Christ fulfills.

A victorious Captain

The promise describes a person, specifically a man. The personal pronouns “he” (the more literal translation of the pronoun “it”) and “him” in the verse clearly confirm it.

Then, the promise describes this Man’s victory over the seed of the serpent. The victorious Captain shall bruise, overwhelm, and break the serpent’s head.

The Scriptures depict the devil or satan as a serpent (see Revelation 12.9; 20.2). Therefore, this promised One would defeat the devil or satan.

After Adam and Eve’s sin, they had no hope before a just God. They died spiritually immediately upon their sin. Eventually, they would die physically, as well.

As evidence of His love, grace, and mercy, God would send a Man to intervene, Who would provide the means of victory for mankind over the evil one.

Fulfillment in Jesus Christ

In due time, God fulfilled His promise in Jesus Christ. Scripture provides confirmation that He became the victorious Captain.

For example, the same original word translated “it/he” in the promise appears elsewhere in the Bible as a name of God (Psalm 102.27; Isaiah 48.12). The promise, therefore, suggests deity as the Captain.

Second, the promise stated that this man would come as the seed or offspring of the woman, not the man and the woman. Only one Man fulfills this feature, Jesus Christ. Again, the Bible provides abundant evidence for His virgin birth (Matthew 1.18-25; Luke 1.26-37; Galatians 4.4).

Third, Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecy concerning the Captain’s victory over satan. In His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus overcame all the powers of satan: his principalities, powers, schemes, works, empire, authority, and tyranny. (Colossians 2.15).

In fact, the Scriptures declare that Jesus Christ came for that very purpose (Hebrews 2.14-16; 1 John 3.8).

Without question, Jesus Christ fits in all respects the victorious Captain that God promised in Genesis 3.15. He alone deserves praise, honor, and glory for the wondrous evidence of His love, grace, mercy, and power as displayed in Jesus Christ.

What can the Holy Spirit accomplish in your life today with these truths? First, He can clarify them for you. They reveal the promise and provision of God for sinners in Jesus Christ.

Second, He can comfort you with these truths. When He applies them in you life, He turns despair to joy, hopelessness to hope, and fear to faith.

Third, He can show you God's nature. He will demonstrate God's love, grace, and mercy to you.

You can respond to these truths in one of two ways. You can reject them as false, or affirm them as true by relying upon the Holy Spirit to apply them in your life.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will come to you today and apply these truths in your life, to God's praise and glory.