Creation Falls - John 1:26-38

Summary Thought: Luke 1:26-38

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. - Matthew 1:30-31

It is with these words that the promise made in Genesis 3:15 finally begins to be fulfilled. The Seed of the woman is about to come into the world in the womb of a virgin named Mary. Curiously enough, the first Gospel message was actually preached to Satan. Gospel to us, at least, not so much for the snake.

The promise of the Seed is given in various ways to various people over the course of the human history. It probably took a lot longer than Eve thought it would. In the very next chapter of Genesis she appears to believe Cain is the promised Seed. That hope is dashed, though, when Cain kills his brother.

The promise is later passed on to Abraham: “through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” (Genesis 22:18). It then passes to Abraham’s son Isaac (Genesis 26:4) and to his son Jacob (28:14) and to his son Judah (Genesis 49:10). Later it’s reaffirmed with David (2 Samuel 7) and mentioned by several prophets, Isaiah 52-53 perhaps being the most well known.
 
This all culminates in an angel appearing to a poor virgin named Mary. This kicks off the events of the New Testament: Jesus birth, his ministry, and ultimately his death. It is there on the cross that the Seed’s heel is bruised, but the snake’s head is crushed. A promise given a few thousand years before is fulfilled in a way that no one would have even thought, through the blood of Jesus. The good news, the Gospel, is no longer that a promised Seed will come, but that he has come and has done what he promised to do.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” - John 3:16-17