He will crush your head

The first sin had just entered the world. Adam and Eve were hiding among the trees, ashamed and afraid, and the relationship between God and humanity lay broken. Then God spoke to the serpent, and in the middle of the curses came something no one expected: a 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."

Christians have long called this the first gospel. Before Adam and Eve were even sent out of the garden, God declared that evil would not have the last word.

There would be a long and painful struggle. The serpent would strike the heel of the woman's offspring, a real and costly wound. But the offspring would crush the serpent's head, a fatal blow.

At the cross, Jesus was wounded. Yet through that very wound, he defeated sin, death and the devil. The heel was struck; the head was crushed.

From the very beginning, before we had done anything to deserve it, God already had a plan to put things right.

Reflect

• What does it tell me about God's heart that he promised rescue in the very moment humanity first turned away from him?
• Where in my life, or in the world around me, do I need to remember that evil will not have the final word?

Prayer: Lord, thank you that from the very beginning you planned our rescue, and that Jesus has crushed the power of evil at the cross. When darkness seems strong, remind me that the victory is already won, and help me live today in the hope of that promise. In Jesus' Name, Amen.