Most people know that the messiah is promised in the Old Testament. They are familiar with the words of Isaiah which are echoed in Luke: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.” Fewer realize that the promise of the Messiah who will correct the curse brought on humanity and the world is promised in Genesis. In Genesis 3:15 we see that first promise of a Messiah who would conquer sin and death. It is spoken in a garden that had just been ruined by disobedience. Spoken not to Adam and Eve first, but to the serpent.
“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).
This single verse is often called the protoevangelium, the first gospel. It is a promise wrapped in judgment. It is mercy rising in the middle of a curse.
Take a few minutes to read Genesis 3:1-24. Then we can dive in to learn more about this pivotal verse in the Bible, and why the message is so important.
The Story So Far
God made a world that was truly good. He formed Adam from the dust and made the woman from his side. He placed them in a garden that lacked nothing. They enjoyed fellowship with God. No shame. No fear. Just trust.
This single verse is often called the protoevangelium, the first gospel.
Then a serpent spoke. Scripture treats the serpent as a real creature and also as the mouthpiece of Satan. The woman did not find a voice coming from a snake strange. Speaking to the woman the serpent questioned God’s goodness. He denied God’s warning. “You will not surely die.” Yet Paul in times later affirmed: the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The fruit looked desirable and the serpent promised wisdom – so the woman ate. Adam, with eyes open, ate as well – choosing his companion over the God Himself.
When God confronted them, Adam blamed the woman. The woman blamed the serpent. No one took ownership. Yet God’s judgment was measured and just. He cursed the serpent. He pronounced painful consequences on the man and the woman. But He did not curse humanity itself. Right there, in the middle of loss, God spoke a promise.
Enmity as Mercy
“I will put enmity between you and the woman.”
That line is startling. Adam and the woman had sided with the serpent. They believed his lie. They had aligned themselves with the enemy. The natural direction of their hearts had turned away from God. What would we expect next? Immediate destruction. Final separation.
Instead, God intervened. He disrupted the alliance. He planted hostility between the serpent and the woman. That hostility is not a flaw in the system. It is grace. It is God stepping in to keep fallen people from sinking forever into the devil’s arms.
You feel that war inside if you belong to Christ. Paul describes it in Romans 7. He wants to do what is right yet he finds another law at work within him, waging war. “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19). The battle is not only internal. It is cosmic. “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). The conflict is real. And it started in the garden. As a result of the love of God and His mercy He puts enmity between man and Satan.
Two Seeds
“Between your seed and her Seed.”
Seed in Scripture commonly refers to offspring. So, who is Satan’s seed? Not literal demon babies. Scripture describes his seed as those who share his character and lies. Jesus said to hostile religious leaders, “You are of your father the devil… there is no truth in him… he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). Those who reject God’s truth and mercy choosing their own will over His show whose family likeness they bear – that of Satan.
What about the woman’s Seed? In one sense, Eve is the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20). Humanity comes from her. Yet the grammar of Genesis 3:15 points to a particular person. The NKJV capitalizes Seed because the verse moves from the collective to the singular. Not seeds. Seed. Paul makes the same point when he explains the promise to Abraham: “He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16).
There is something unusual here. Scripture usually traces offspring through the man. Genesis 3:15 quietly breaks that pattern. The woman will have a Seed. That hints at a birth not rooted in a man. We see the fullness later in the virgin birth. Christ born of Mary. Fully human. Fully God. The Word made flesh.
How the War Ends
“He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
The Hebrew verb used here can mean bruise, crush, strike, or attack. The NIV captures the sense of outcome: “He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Head wounds kill. Heel wounds hurt. Satan would deal a painful blow to Christ. Christ would deliver a fatal blow to Satan.
Satan would deal a painful blow to Christ. Christ would deliver a fatal blow to Satan.
Where did that happen? At the cross and the empty tomb. Satan struck the heel when Jesus suffered and died. He thought he had won. Darkness settled at noon. The Son of God breathed His last. Yet on the third day Jesus rose. In that moment He crushed the serpent’s head as He predicted just hours before His crucifixion: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31). The verdict was issued at Calvary and confirmed at the garden tomb.
Satan still rages. His doom is certain. He is living on borrowed time. Paul encourages the church with a future promise that flows from Genesis 3:15: “The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly” (Romans 16:20). John records the end in stark clarity in the final book of the New Testament: “The devil… was cast into the lake of fire… and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10). The heel was bruised at the cross. The head will never rise again.
The Gospel Announced in a Curse
It is perhaps surprising that God chose to deliver this first gospel message to Satan’s face. Not to invite repentance. Angels and demons are not offered redemption. Rather to declare, from the very beginning, that the devil’s defeat was certain. He had already lost.
What does that mean for us? It means the gospel did not begin as an afterthought in Matthew. It did not appear as a Plan B when Israel stumbled. God preached the gospel in seed form in Genesis 3:15. It was known to Him even before the earth was established. He already planned for a Savior who would restore fellowship with Him. The Son would come in the fullness of time. Born of a woman. Born under the law. To redeem those under the law.
Our Need and Christ’s Work
Scripture is honest about our problem. Through one man sin entered the world and death through sin. Death spread to all because all sinned (Romans 5:12). We suppress the truth in unrighteousness. What can be known about God is plain, yet people refuse to honor Him (Romans 1:18–21). This is not just a problem out there. It is in me. In you. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Into that need, God gave His Son. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried. He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). This is the victory promised in Genesis 3:15, now unveiled in full.
How do we receive it? Not by works. Never by works. “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Grace given. Faith granted. Christ trusted. Sins forgiven. New life begun.
Living in the Tension
Until Christ returns, the enmity continues. The church walks forward in a world that lies in the power of the evil one; yet the evil one cannot finally touch those who are in Christ. The battle within is real; the Spirit wars against the flesh. The battle around us is real; we stand in the armor of God. None of this is aimless. God Himself placed the enmity. He keeps His people. He will finish what He started.
This is why evangelism matters. God has chosen to save. Christ’s death is sufficient for all and effective for His people. The call of the gospel goes out to every creature. We preach Christ crucified and risen. And we rest in the promise that the Seed of the woman has already secured the victory.
A Quiet Note of Hope
I love that Eve’s first recorded words after the promise were hopeful. “I have acquired a man from the Lord” (Genesis 4:1). Most think she wondered if the child in her arms might be the promised Seed. She was wrong about the timing. She was right to expect a Savior.
So should we. Genesis 3:15 tells us God did not abandon His world. He spoke mercy into a garden filled with guilt. He promised a Deliverer. He kept His word.
If you feel the pull of that old alliance with the serpent, do not despair. The enmity God planted is grace to you. Turn to Christ. Trust His cross. Rest in His resurrection. And walk forward with confidence. The heel was bruised. The head has been crushed. And soon, very soon, the God of peace will make it plain to the whole universe.
Editors Note: The featured image on this Article is the famous Michelangelo titled “The Fall and Expulsion from Garden of Eden”. I have taken some liberties to make this image G-Rated. By saying this I am not in anyway suggesting that Michelangelo intended this painting to be appreciated in any other way – the fact is that paintings of this time often portrayed heroes of the Bible in the nude. There was nothing wrong with this. Today this is still acceptable in these cases understanding the context. I have chosen to obscure the nudity in the image above in an effort to make this site more approachable to audiences of any age as well as families. I hope you will forgive me. – Brad
