Regi Addictissimus
Completely sold out to the King
Greetings, beloved. As we are at the genesis of a new year, I am meditating on the first promise of Scripture, Genesis 3:15. This verse is rightly called the Protevangelium, the First Gospel. No sooner does man rebel against God, than He comes preaching the Gospel. Dear brothers and sisters, may these words of Gospel peace permeate our lives and drive us to our knees in adoration of our God! I pray you will slowly and prayerfully read the meditations below. May we pray every day for the return of our blessed Savior and praise Him for so great a salvation.
Feel free to comment with other historical meditations on Genesis 3:15. This thread could serve as a devotional resource for those studying this passage in the future.
Norton, David, ed. The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible with the Apocrypha: King James Version. Revised edition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print.
THE MESSIAH PROMISED. JAMES USSHER: Thus was the Messias promised to Adam 4000 Years before he was Born, Gen. 3:15 and to Abraham 1917 Years before the accomplishment,
Usher, James. A Body of Divinity: Or, the Sum and Substance of Christian Religion. Eighth Edition. London: R. J.; Jonathan Robinson; A. and J. Churchill; J. Taylor; J. Wyatt, 1702. Print.
THE FIRST SERMON OF THE GOSPEL OF Christ. JOHANNES BRENZ: This verse is the first sermon about the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.… The heel of the virgin’s son, whom the serpent bites, is the Son of God’s human nature, which he was going to receive from the virgin.… “His heel” has this meaning: that the son of the virgin, who is our Lord Jesus Christ, was going to blast with venom—that is, depose and destroy—all of Satan’s power, majesty and dominion; but in turn, Satan was going to infect with venom—that is, afflict—Christ with every kind of adversity in his humanity, as much in his own person as in his members who are believers in him.… This is the first sermon, and the first gospel in all the world about the Christian religion and our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, therefore, how after sin Adam and his wife were justified and saved, and were the first Christians. COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 3:15.19
Thompson, John L., Timothy George, and Scott M. Manetsch, eds. Genesis 1–11: Old Testament. Vol. 1. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012. Print. Reformation Commentary on Scripture.
THE SERPENT IS FITTINGLY OVERTHROWN BY THE WOMAN’S SEED. HULDRYCH ZWINGLI: The serpent’s head was not crushed by the woman but rather by her seed, namely, Christ.… The mystery here lies deeply hidden. For what was so great if there was hostility or treachery between the woman and the serpent? Here, already from the beginning, deliverance is promised, as well as that blessed seed through whom all the nations would be blessed. The sense of God’s word is, “through a woman you seduced, through a woman you will succumb. Indeed, since you saw woman (speaking by extension of the whole sex) as a suitable means for carrying out your tricks and plotting, however weak she may be, however foolish and susceptible to your tricks, she will nonetheless bring forth the seed that will crush your head.” … For the devil is the prince of this world, under whose tyranny and power we were all taken captive, until that blessed seed should be born from the woman, Christ Jesus our Lord. ANNOTATIONS ON GENESIS 3:15.21
Thompson, John L., Timothy George, and Scott M. Manetsch, eds. Genesis 1–11: Old Testament. Vol. 1. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012. Print. Reformation Commentary on Scripture.
THE CURSES AGAINST THE SERPENT ARE THE BLESSINGS OF MAN. Herman Witsius: The evils which God pronounces against the serpent, are so many benefits or blessings to man; and they are four. The first is, the curse of the serpent, “because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field.” All beasts are subject to destruction: natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, 2 Pet. 2:12. And it is for man’s sin that beasts, as the property of man, are made more miserable: for they cannot be excluded from being a part of this world, which is not willingly subject to vanity, Rom. 8:20, and among them there are those called evil beasts. But the curse threatened against the serpent is such, as renders him inferior to, viler and more miserable than all beasts: importing, 1st. An invincible folly and malice; so that he can neither be wise nor good; worse than a horse or mule, which have no understanding, Ps. 32:9. 2dly, The very worst degree of vileness, whereby he who impiously attempted to be equal to God, and seemed to have acquired a dominion over man, the noblest of God’s creatures, is depressed below the beasts of burden. 3dly, A state of never ending misery. The beast die and perish, and never come into judgment. But the serpent, accursed above the beasts, cannot escape judgment; “everlasting fire is prepared for the devil and his angels,” Matt. 25:41. It could not but be acceptable to man to hear that sentence pronounced, by which that enemy who had made him obnoxious, is himself doomed to be accursed.
Witsius, Herman. The Economy of the Covenants between God and Man: Comprehending a Complete Body of Divinity. Trans. William Crookshank. Vol. 2. London: T. Tegg & Son, 1837. Print.
HERE GOD ANNOUNCES A NEW COVENANT. WILLIAM PERKINS: Now we come to the covenant of grace, which is nothing else than a compact made between God and humankind touching reconciliation and life everlasting by Christ. This covenant was first of all revealed and delivered to our first parents in the garden of Eden, immediately after their fall, by God himself in these words: “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head,” and afterward it was continued and renewed with a part of Adam’s posterity, as with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, but it was most fully revealed and accomplished at the coming of Christ. EXPOSITION OF THE APOSTLES’ CREED.22
Thompson, John L., Timothy George, and Scott M. Manetsch, eds. Genesis 1–11: Old Testament. Vol. 1. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012. Print. Reformation Commentary on Scripture.
GOD COMES WITH WORDS OF PEACE TO GUILTY MAN. William Gurnall:
How then must our thoughts be quite swallowed up into an admiration of this stupendous act of mercy which the great God expressed to fallen man, wherein he did all this for his rebel creature! for no sooner had man broke the peace, and taken up rebellious arms against his Maker, but the Lord’s heart relented towards him, and could not let the sun go down in his wrath against him, but must in the very same day that he sinned let him hear of a Saviour, by preaching peace to him ‘in the seed of the woman,’ Gen. 3:15. Little did Adam think God had such a message in his mouth for him when he first heard him coming towards him, and for fear ran his head into a bush, meditating a flight from him, if he had known whither to have gone. O, that ‘Adam, where art thou?’ sounded, no doubt, in his guilty ears like the voice of an avenging God, calling him, a malefactor, to execution; but it proved the voice of a gracious God coming, not to meet man in his way returning to him, but to seek him out who had lost all thoughts of him, that he might give some ease to his own gracious heart, now full of mercy to his poor creature, by disclosing to him the purposes of grace which he had there conceived towards him.
Gurnall, William, and John Campbell. The Christian in Complete Armour. London: Thomas Tegg, 1845. Print.
AND ALL PROMISES AND PROPHECIES HAVE THEIR 'YEA' IN Christ. Richard Sibbes: The first promise, what was it but Christ? ‘The seed of the woman shall break the serpent’s head,’ Gen. 3:15. It was nothing but Christ, it was ‘yea’ when he was born; and when he died he crushed the serpent’s head. ‘By death he overcame him that had the power of death, that is, the devil,’ Heb. 2:14. So the promise that was renewed to Abraham, ‘In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed,’ Gen. 12:3, that is, in Christ. And so to David, that he should come out of his family. And that particular promise of Isaiah, ‘that a virgin should conceive,’ Isa. 7:14. And the Baptist points him out, ‘Behold the Lamb of God,’ John 1:29. All the particular things that befell Christ in time, they were prophesied of before, and Christ was the ‘yea’ of all, that is, all had their determinate truth in Christ when he came. This is one reason why St Paul saith, ‘All the promises in Christ are yea.’ Whatsoever was promised concerning Christ, or foretold, it was ‘yea’ in him, concerning his birth, and the place of it; concerning his death, and the manner of it; concerning his resurrection and ascension; concerning his offices, all was foretold. As we see in Scripture, in the New Testament, it is the foot of divers verses, that ‘it might be fulfilled;’ so this that was foretold in the Old, it was fulfilled in the New. So Christ is the first promise, and whatsoever was said of him is ‘yea and amen.’ Whatsoever was spoken of Christ, it was ‘yea’ in the Old Testament and ‘amen’ in the New; it was made to them in the Old Testament and performed in the New.
Sibbes, Richard, and Alexander Balloch Grosart. The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes. Vol. 3. Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1862. Print.
Feel free to comment with other historical meditations on Genesis 3:15. This thread could serve as a devotional resource for those studying this passage in the future.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.Norton, David, ed. The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible with the Apocrypha: King James Version. Revised edition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print.
THE MESSIAH PROMISED. JAMES USSHER: Thus was the Messias promised to Adam 4000 Years before he was Born, Gen. 3:15 and to Abraham 1917 Years before the accomplishment,
Usher, James. A Body of Divinity: Or, the Sum and Substance of Christian Religion. Eighth Edition. London: R. J.; Jonathan Robinson; A. and J. Churchill; J. Taylor; J. Wyatt, 1702. Print.
THE FIRST SERMON OF THE GOSPEL OF Christ. JOHANNES BRENZ: This verse is the first sermon about the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.… The heel of the virgin’s son, whom the serpent bites, is the Son of God’s human nature, which he was going to receive from the virgin.… “His heel” has this meaning: that the son of the virgin, who is our Lord Jesus Christ, was going to blast with venom—that is, depose and destroy—all of Satan’s power, majesty and dominion; but in turn, Satan was going to infect with venom—that is, afflict—Christ with every kind of adversity in his humanity, as much in his own person as in his members who are believers in him.… This is the first sermon, and the first gospel in all the world about the Christian religion and our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, therefore, how after sin Adam and his wife were justified and saved, and were the first Christians. COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 3:15.19
Thompson, John L., Timothy George, and Scott M. Manetsch, eds. Genesis 1–11: Old Testament. Vol. 1. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012. Print. Reformation Commentary on Scripture.
THE SERPENT IS FITTINGLY OVERTHROWN BY THE WOMAN’S SEED. HULDRYCH ZWINGLI: The serpent’s head was not crushed by the woman but rather by her seed, namely, Christ.… The mystery here lies deeply hidden. For what was so great if there was hostility or treachery between the woman and the serpent? Here, already from the beginning, deliverance is promised, as well as that blessed seed through whom all the nations would be blessed. The sense of God’s word is, “through a woman you seduced, through a woman you will succumb. Indeed, since you saw woman (speaking by extension of the whole sex) as a suitable means for carrying out your tricks and plotting, however weak she may be, however foolish and susceptible to your tricks, she will nonetheless bring forth the seed that will crush your head.” … For the devil is the prince of this world, under whose tyranny and power we were all taken captive, until that blessed seed should be born from the woman, Christ Jesus our Lord. ANNOTATIONS ON GENESIS 3:15.21
Thompson, John L., Timothy George, and Scott M. Manetsch, eds. Genesis 1–11: Old Testament. Vol. 1. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012. Print. Reformation Commentary on Scripture.
THE CURSES AGAINST THE SERPENT ARE THE BLESSINGS OF MAN. Herman Witsius: The evils which God pronounces against the serpent, are so many benefits or blessings to man; and they are four. The first is, the curse of the serpent, “because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field.” All beasts are subject to destruction: natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, 2 Pet. 2:12. And it is for man’s sin that beasts, as the property of man, are made more miserable: for they cannot be excluded from being a part of this world, which is not willingly subject to vanity, Rom. 8:20, and among them there are those called evil beasts. But the curse threatened against the serpent is such, as renders him inferior to, viler and more miserable than all beasts: importing, 1st. An invincible folly and malice; so that he can neither be wise nor good; worse than a horse or mule, which have no understanding, Ps. 32:9. 2dly, The very worst degree of vileness, whereby he who impiously attempted to be equal to God, and seemed to have acquired a dominion over man, the noblest of God’s creatures, is depressed below the beasts of burden. 3dly, A state of never ending misery. The beast die and perish, and never come into judgment. But the serpent, accursed above the beasts, cannot escape judgment; “everlasting fire is prepared for the devil and his angels,” Matt. 25:41. It could not but be acceptable to man to hear that sentence pronounced, by which that enemy who had made him obnoxious, is himself doomed to be accursed.
Witsius, Herman. The Economy of the Covenants between God and Man: Comprehending a Complete Body of Divinity. Trans. William Crookshank. Vol. 2. London: T. Tegg & Son, 1837. Print.
HERE GOD ANNOUNCES A NEW COVENANT. WILLIAM PERKINS: Now we come to the covenant of grace, which is nothing else than a compact made between God and humankind touching reconciliation and life everlasting by Christ. This covenant was first of all revealed and delivered to our first parents in the garden of Eden, immediately after their fall, by God himself in these words: “The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head,” and afterward it was continued and renewed with a part of Adam’s posterity, as with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, but it was most fully revealed and accomplished at the coming of Christ. EXPOSITION OF THE APOSTLES’ CREED.22
Thompson, John L., Timothy George, and Scott M. Manetsch, eds. Genesis 1–11: Old Testament. Vol. 1. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2012. Print. Reformation Commentary on Scripture.
GOD COMES WITH WORDS OF PEACE TO GUILTY MAN. William Gurnall:
How then must our thoughts be quite swallowed up into an admiration of this stupendous act of mercy which the great God expressed to fallen man, wherein he did all this for his rebel creature! for no sooner had man broke the peace, and taken up rebellious arms against his Maker, but the Lord’s heart relented towards him, and could not let the sun go down in his wrath against him, but must in the very same day that he sinned let him hear of a Saviour, by preaching peace to him ‘in the seed of the woman,’ Gen. 3:15. Little did Adam think God had such a message in his mouth for him when he first heard him coming towards him, and for fear ran his head into a bush, meditating a flight from him, if he had known whither to have gone. O, that ‘Adam, where art thou?’ sounded, no doubt, in his guilty ears like the voice of an avenging God, calling him, a malefactor, to execution; but it proved the voice of a gracious God coming, not to meet man in his way returning to him, but to seek him out who had lost all thoughts of him, that he might give some ease to his own gracious heart, now full of mercy to his poor creature, by disclosing to him the purposes of grace which he had there conceived towards him.
Gurnall, William, and John Campbell. The Christian in Complete Armour. London: Thomas Tegg, 1845. Print.
AND ALL PROMISES AND PROPHECIES HAVE THEIR 'YEA' IN Christ. Richard Sibbes: The first promise, what was it but Christ? ‘The seed of the woman shall break the serpent’s head,’ Gen. 3:15. It was nothing but Christ, it was ‘yea’ when he was born; and when he died he crushed the serpent’s head. ‘By death he overcame him that had the power of death, that is, the devil,’ Heb. 2:14. So the promise that was renewed to Abraham, ‘In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed,’ Gen. 12:3, that is, in Christ. And so to David, that he should come out of his family. And that particular promise of Isaiah, ‘that a virgin should conceive,’ Isa. 7:14. And the Baptist points him out, ‘Behold the Lamb of God,’ John 1:29. All the particular things that befell Christ in time, they were prophesied of before, and Christ was the ‘yea’ of all, that is, all had their determinate truth in Christ when he came. This is one reason why St Paul saith, ‘All the promises in Christ are yea.’ Whatsoever was promised concerning Christ, or foretold, it was ‘yea’ in him, concerning his birth, and the place of it; concerning his death, and the manner of it; concerning his resurrection and ascension; concerning his offices, all was foretold. As we see in Scripture, in the New Testament, it is the foot of divers verses, that ‘it might be fulfilled;’ so this that was foretold in the Old, it was fulfilled in the New. So Christ is the first promise, and whatsoever was said of him is ‘yea and amen.’ Whatsoever was spoken of Christ, it was ‘yea’ in the Old Testament and ‘amen’ in the New; it was made to them in the Old Testament and performed in the New.
Sibbes, Richard, and Alexander Balloch Grosart. The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes. Vol. 3. Edinburgh; London; Dublin: James Nichol; James Nisbet and Co.; W. Robertson, 1862. Print.
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