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.
Genesis 3:15

In recent years, it’s been common in our neighborhood to see people decorate their front yards with banners, signs, and large wooden storks to announce the birth of a son or daughter. Social media posts have become the preferred method for new parents to share pictures and details once their long-expected baby has been born.

The birth of Jesus was announced first to a group of shepherds on a Judean hillside by a host of angels who filled the sky as they declared, “Glory to God in the highest.” But centuries before that announcement was made, the birth of Jesus had been hinted at many times. The Jewish people had waited for years for God to send a promised Deliverer, the One who would rescue His people from their bondage to sin.

In fact, the first announcement that God would come to rescue those who had rebelled against Him came on the same day as the rebellion itself. In Genesis 3, when the first man and first woman fell to temptation and rejected God’s instructions for them, there were consequences. The garden would now produce weeds and thorns. Women would now experience pain in childbirth. And the man and his wife would experience, for the first time, strife and discord in their relationship.

But in that same moment, as God was explaining to the man and the woman the consequences of their rebellion, He also offered a word of hope. He announced that a child would be born who would crush the head of the serpent and free the man and woman from their oppression. That declaration, found in Genesis 3, is the first announcement of the coming birth of Jesus.

Genesis 3:15 is known as the “Protoevangelium” – the first announcement of the Good News. It’s what J. Hampton Keathley III called “the first flicker of the Gospel.” The verse does not provide a lot of detail about the coming Son. In fact, it is ambiguous enough that when Eve gave birth to her first-born son, Cain, it seems she expected he would be the one who would fulfill the prophecy and crush the serpent’s head.

It’s interesting to note that the person being spoken to in Genesis 3:15 is not Eve. It’s not Adam. God speaks directly to the serpent. We see this verse as good news, but for the one being addressed, it is a declaration of destruction. Bible teacher Derek Kidner says that Genesis 3:15 is “about God’s rule as much as about man’s need.”

Genesis 3:15 also makes it clear that destruction of evil and the deliverance of humankind will come with a cost. The ultimate Victor, God declares, will Himself be bruised in the battle.

One of the often-overlooked verses from Charles Wesley’s majestic Christmas hymn, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” takes us all the way back to Genesis 3:15:
Come, Desire of nations, come!
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head;
Adam’s likeness now efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Final Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
Glory to the newborn King!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me today to know the joy that comes from walking closely with You. Thank you for coming into the world to crush the head of the serpent and to bring me victory over sin and death.