January 1

The Bible's First Promise

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel. — Gen 3:15 BSB

This is the first promise given to humanity after the fall. It contains the entire gospel and the essence of God's covenant of grace. Much of it has already been fulfilled. The seed of the woman—our Lord Jesus—was wounded in His heel, and what a terrible wounding it was. But how much more terrible will be the final crushing of the serpent’s head! This crushing was essentially accomplished when Jesus took away sin, conquered death, and broke Satan’s power; but the complete fulfillment awaits His second coming and the Day of Judgment.

For us, this promise is a prophecy that we will be afflicted by the forces of evil in our human nature, and thus, we will be wounded in our heel. But we will triumph in Christ, who crushes the serpent’s head. Throughout this year, we may experience the first part of this promise through the temptations of the devil and the cruelty of the ungodly, who are his offspring. They may bruise us so badly that we limp from our sore heel, but let’s hold tightly to the second part of the promise and not be discouraged. By faith, let’s rejoice that we will still reign in Christ Jesus, the woman’s seed.