In His ImageSample

Day 12: The Curse

Discover: The second half of Genesis 3 mainly highlights curses because Adam and Eve ate. The first is to punish the deceiving serpent by cursing him above all other animals. The serpent will forever be involved in a battle with the eventual offspring of Eve. The curse of the serpent then transitions to the judgments and consequences of Adam and Eve’s actions. Eve keeps the blessing of being the mother of humanity but will now experience pain and sorrow in childbirth. Adam’s consequence is different because the ground is now cursed and resists the rule of man. His dominion and care of creation involves painstaking work until the day he dies. Following the distribution of these judgments, the couple is expelled from the garden.

Learn: These judgments seem straightforward. For instance, it is the serpent who deceives Eve and puts biblical events in motion, but the descendent of Eve will defeat the serpent in the end. The whole Bible is designed to tell the story of how Genesis 3:15 becomes the redemptive reality of Jesus rescuing humanity from the grasp of sin. Satan will eventually be crushed by Jesus, the Son of Man.

Apply: We currently live in the times foreshadowed in these verses. Sin devours our world because of the harmful decisions of every human since Adam and Eve. But our reality is that, unlike Adam and Eve, we have knowledge of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection. We live in a time where we can experience the redeeming forgiveness of Jesus. Yet we also await His final act of conquered sin once and for all. What would it look like for you to live in anticipation of the promise made in Genesis 3:15? In what ways did Jesus conquer sin, and how will that come to completion?