Read Genesis 3:15, Genesis 3:21. What hope can be found in these passages for all humanity?
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Genesis chapter 3 describes the dreadful tragedy that took over the world after the Fall. Everything changed, and Adam and Eve could see the contrast between what the world used to be and what it had become.
But in the midst of their frustration and despair, God gave them assurance for the present and a hope for the future. First, He cursed the serpent with a word of Messianic hope. He declared, “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).
The word “enmity” (Heb. ’eybah) implies not only a long-lasting cosmic controversy between good and evil, but also a personal repulsion to sin, which has been implanted by God’s grace in the human mind. By nature, we are completely fallen (Ephesians 2:1, Ephesians 2:5) and “slaves of sin” (Romans 6:20, NKJV). However, the grace that Christ implants in every human life creates in us enmity against Satan. And it is this “enmity,” a divine gift from Eden, that allows us to accept His saving grace. Without this converting grace and renewing power, humanity would continue to be the captive of Satan, a servant ever ready to do his bidding.
The Lord next used an animal sacrifice to illustrate this Messianic promise (see Genesis 3:21). “When Adam, according to God’s special directions, made an offering for sin, it was to him a most painful ceremony. His hand must be raised to take life, which God alone could give, and make an offering for sin. It was the first time he had witnessed death. As he looked upon the bleeding victim, writhing in the agonies of death, he was to look forward by faith to the Son of God, whom the victim prefigured, who was to die man’s sacrifice.” — Ellen G. White, The Story of Redemption, p. 50.
Read 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Hebrews 9:28. What do these texts teach about what was first revealed in Eden?
Knowing that they would eventually die (Genesis 3:19, Genesis 3:22-24), Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden. But they did not leave naked or with their own fig-leaf coverings (Genesis 3:7). God Himself “made tunics of skin” for them, and He even clothed them (Genesis 3:21, NKJV), a symbol of His covering righteousness (see Zechariah 3:1-5, Luke 15:22). Hence, even back then, right from the start, in Eden, the gospel had been revealed to humanity.
(0)The post Thursday: The First Gospel Promise first appeared on Sabbath School Net.
The post Thursday: The First Gospel Promise appeared first on Sabbath School Net.
Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/thursday-first-gospel-promise/
