“‘And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.’” –Genesis 3:15
The prophet Isaiah is often credited with the first foretelling of Jesus, well known for his prophecies about Jesus’ coming and giving us such famous terms as Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace. But Jesus was actually promised long before then, from almost the beginning of time.
To find this first mention of Jesus, we have to go all the way back to Genesis. In the book of Genesis, God created the world and everything in it. Humans were particularly special to Him—they were made in His image, which meant they could have a personal relationship with Him.
But the first people, Adam and Eve, chose to go against God. They wanted to rule their own lives instead of listening to God, and they chose to follow their own wishes. When they did this, they broke their perfect relationship with God. They brought a host of horrible consequences into the world—things like sorrow, sickness, and death.
As soon as they did this, however, God was immediately there with a plan to restore the world. In Genesis 3:15, God spoke to the serpent who had tempted Adam and Eve into rebelling and gave him a warning. This serpent would do dreadful things in the world, but he would one day be defeated. This one who would reign victorious over him would be one of Eve’s own offspring.
So Jesus wasn’t just the last of many plans God had to fix the brokenness of the world. From the moment the world broke, God’s solution was Jesus. He would be the one to crush the serpent—the one we know now as Satan, the great enemy of God’s people. Jesus, the only descendant of Adam and Eve to not rebel against God, would be the one to save all of humanity. He would make a way for all people to come back into a relationship with God.
The world was made dark, but the light of hope was already shining.
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