Genesis 3:14-15

15 “…he shall bruise your head,
you shall bruise his heel.”

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It was the worst day in the history of humanity — the day that Eve listened to the serpent, took the bite, and led her husband to listen to his wife instead of to his Father.  On that day, everything changed. Openness was replaced with hiding, honesty with shame.  Relationship between husband and wife was damaged, and fellowship between humanity and God was breached.  It was a terrible, awful day.

On that day, God stepped into the breach and spoke to everyone involved.  He told Eve that she would suffer pain for what she had done.  He told Adam that the blissfully easy life he had enjoyed was over, replaced with the struggle of hard work.  He reserved His harshest words, though, for the one who was the prime cause of the damage.  Adam and Eve had been innocent;  their knowledge was limited and all they had known was what they had seen around them.  The serpent, however, knew better;  he had seen God in His heaven as an angel of light, had left that all behind to go his own way, and now had taken Adam and Eve with him.

God had specific words of condemnation for the serpent.  “You are cursed.”  “Your power is limited.”  “You will be hated.”  God did concede that the serpent would continue to cause damage;  “you will bruise his heel.”  But He also pronounced victory;  “he will bruise your head.”  People can live with a sore heel, but it’s much harder to survive a crushed head.

I’m so grateful that God stepped into this terrible, awful day and spoke mercy into the judgment.  He pointed ahead to the best days in human history — when His Son would take his human flesh to the cross, carry all the sin of humanity to the grave, and snatch the victory away, once for all time, from the adversary.

On your terrible, awful days, remember this story.  Remember that God always comes alongside us and proclaims mercy into the judgment.  Times of difficulty still come;  we still bear the pain and struggle that comes with being the kin of Adam and Eve.  But, that’s never the end of the story.  We may hobble on bruised heels from time to time, but our adversary’s head has been crushed.  Jesus has known the victory, and we get to share in that victory because of God’s mercy.

– Rev. Dale S. Cain