by Daniel Flores
Who hasn’t longed for a relationship — in marriage, at work, or at church — where there is no pain or emotional distress? Who hasn’t longed for a life free from guilt, from the fear of failure, and from that gnawing sense of disapproval for past sins?
For a time, Adam and Eve enjoyed a life free from the weight of sin and its consequences. Genesis 2:25 reveals a scene of their profound innocence: “The man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” In Eden, before the Fall, there was no guilt, no hiding from God, no hiding from each other. Nakedness in Eden was transparency, trust, and perfect communion. Being unashamed was relationship without fear, judgment, and hurt.
But after the Fall, humans needed a reconciled life where shame no longer has the final say.
What can you say when you realize, like Adam and Eve, that you have failed — when temptation proves stronger than your resolve? How do you speak to the God who gave you life and filled creation with gifts for your joy? Perhaps you’d ask for forgiveness, promise to do better, and plead for another chance. But deep down, you know even your best promise is fragile, flawed, and broken. God knows too. He sees beyond words to the heart. And still, He offers grace.
That’s why there in Eden, after the serpent’s deception, God took the initiative. At that moment in the presence of Adam and his wife, the Creator made a promise that would bring hope in a time of chaos and pain:
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 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” (3:14, 15).
Genesis 3:15 is called the protoevangelion, or “first gospel” — the promise of redemption. It is just the first in a long line of messianic prophecies that dot the Hebrew Bible. Christ is the promised seed. The serpent deceived humanity, but God vowed that one day Eve’s offspring would deliver a mortal wound to the serpent’s head. Though God would expel Adam and Eve from His presence, He did not want them to live without hope, without the assurance of victory over serpent, sin, and death.
Are you paying the consequences for sin? Did you think that nothing would happen if you disobeyed God, that no one would notice? Have you promised God that you would do better and change your ways? We all have, and we know that we can fail again. God knows this too. The answer to this problem is not in you or me but in the promise God made in the garden and fulfilled in the life, death, resurrection, and coming of Christ the Lord. Repent and believe in the gospel of the kingdom of God. Don’t believe the serpent’s false promises. Decide today to believe in the promise of abundant life that is in Christ Jesus (John 10:10).
