2017年アドベン、ニューイングランドの母校からメッセージ その17 日目 2017 Gordon-Conwell Advent Devotional Day 18 | The Hope of Advent Genesis 3:15 創世記３：１５ 「わたしは、おまえと女の間に、 また、おまえの子孫と女の子孫との間に、 敵意を置く。 彼は、おまえの頭を踏み砕き、 おまえは、彼のかかとにかみつく。」

2017年アドベン、ニューイングランドの母校からメッセージ　その17
日目

2017 Gordon-Conwell Advent Devotional
Day 18 | The Hope of Advent
Genesis 3:15
創世記３：１５
「わたしは、おまえと女の間に、
　また、おまえの子孫と女の子孫との間に、　
　敵意を置く。
　彼は、おまえの頭を踏み砕き、
　おまえは、彼のかかとにかみつく。」

“…He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

The earliest Protestants referred to Genesis 3:15 as the “first” Gospel. This verse tells us God’s decree after Adam and Eve have sinned, having believed the lies of Satan. The Fall plunged humanity into sin, and we were now covenant breakers.

Most Christians are aware of the curses God gives to Adam and Eve. The pain of labor and work is just the beginning of the destruction sin brought into God’s world. The rest of Genesis, in fact, shows us the heavy toll of sin—as we witness murder, envy, greed and all manner of evils once humans are enslaved to sin.

But what early Protestants noticed is that here in Genesis 3, God already stated his purposes to restore humanity. The verdict comes to Satan, that the seed of humanity will eventually crush his head—though he will strike his heel. Strong words, but a wonderful summary of the coming of Christ. As Paul tells us in Romans, sinful humans are incapable of saving themselves. We break God’s law, not by accident, but by choice. We cannot by our own strength keep the commandments of the covenant. The hope of Adam’s seed was not in ourselves, but in the One who could finally destroy the wages of sin.

The hope of this Advent season is the hope of all sinners—that the One who came to crush Satan and all his works is Jesus Christ.

Dr. Ryan Reeves
Assistant Dean of the Jacksonville Campus;
Associate Professor of Historical Theology