Promises of the Messiah / Genesis 3:15 / Hebrews 1:1-3

From Darkness to Hope

If you have your Bibles, we are going to be back doing some continual work in Genesis. To those joining us live and those with us this weekend via video, I am so thankful you are back. Not the least of which is because it was a wee bit of a discouraging message last week. If you came looking for a make-me-feel-better message, you picked the wrong week, because we talked about total depravity and the reality that even our best deeds, when presented to a holy God, are like filthy rags.

We talked about the good news of Christ juxtaposed against the profound bad news of the fallenness of humanity. But on a scale of the good news and the bad news, it felt like all bad news last week. We left you with a little nugget at the back end—almost like, “We’ll see you next week, I hope”—and didn’t really get to finish the story. We struggled as a teaching team with that, honestly, because our preference every week is to get to the good news with a clear presentation of who Christ is. But we really felt that for a message starting this Advent series on the need for a Messiah, it seemed fitting to let the darkness be dark. But do not worry; hope is coming.

Our journey running into Christmas covers three phases: the need for the Messiah—that was last week; if you missed it, go listen to the podcast, but maybe listen with a warm cup of hot chocolate to balance things out. This week, we are talking about the promise of the Messiah. We are going to look at passages throughout the Bible that hint at what is to come. Next week, we will look at the person of the Messiah, followed by the Messiah who has come on Christmas Eve, and ultimately His promised return.

Years ago, I took a class at Dallas Theological Seminary taught by Dr. Ron Allen. Professor Allen was brilliant. I remember sitting in the front row because I was that ADD kid who would never learn anything from the back row. As I sat there, I realized his Bible and mine looked a little different. He was teaching Ruth, Psalms, and the Old Testament wisdom literature, and he was literally reading and teaching straight from the Hebrew text. I respected him immensely, not just for his scholarship, but because he had a view of the Bible that was truly fascinating.

He described God’s plan of redemption as an unfolding rose. He explained that the plan of God begins in Scripture like a tightly closed rosebud. As the pages of Scripture turn, that rosebud begins to open. It is beautiful as a bud, but its beauty becomes even more spectacular as the petals separate. As you continue to work through the Scriptures, that blossoming bud opens into full bloom. When you see that rose in full bloom, it is glorious. All three phases of that rose developing are beautiful, but the progression of beauty gets better and better. From Genesis to Revelation, you have that unfolding rose. In the very beginning of the Bible, God’s plan centers on Jesus, unfolding chapter by chapter across human history, revealing His glory with increasing clarity.

The First Glimmer of Hope in the Garden

Back in Genesis chapter 1, God said, “Let Us make man in Our image.” Husband and wife were created as image bearers.

Genesis 1:26-27 (NASB)

Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

By Genesis 3, that image of God in humanity is fallen. Let me make an important clarifying statement: the image of God in us is defaced, but it is not erased. Even in our fallen state, we are still image bearers. It is not as if we fell and God decided donkeys were the new crown of creation. We remain the precious possession of God, evidenced by the grace shown in the opening pages of Genesis where God actively pursues us for redemption. We are defaced, not erased.

In Genesis 3:14–19, the curses fall. The serpent is cursed above all livestock, condemned to crawl on his belly and eat dust. To the woman, God declares that pain in childbirth will be greatly multiplied, and there will be conflict in the relational dynamic with her husband. To Adam, the ground is cursed; his labor will be painful and laborious, producing thorns and thistles. He will be pulling crabgrass for the rest of his days.

Genesis 3:14-19 (NASB)

The LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.’ To the woman He said, ‘I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.’ Then to Adam He said, ’Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. ‘Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.’

Tucked right in the middle of these curses is what scholars call the protoevangelium—the first gospel, the very first glimmer of hope. It may not give us the full-blown, crystal-clear picture of the cross of Jesus, but looking at that early rosebud, we see a powerful glimpse of hope amidst the darkness.

Genesis 3:15 (NASB)

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.’

God says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Look closely at that verse. Tucked within it is a singular male pronoun: He. If you want to know where the first mention of the Redeemer is in the Bible, you have to go all the way back to Genesis 3:15.

Some Bible translations say, “He will crush your head.” That captures the nuance of the Hebrew word, which carries the idea of crushing or compressing, whereas striking the heel means to strike or wound. Whoever this “He” is in verse 15, He will crush the serpent’s head. Either He crushes Satan so completely that His own heel is bruised in the act, or through the agony of the cross He receives a bruising strike while dealing a mortal, crushing blow to Satan, sin, and death.

As the Apostle Paul writes, death loses its victory and its sting through the triumph of the cross.

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (NASB)

‘O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The author of Hebrews explains that through His death, Jesus rendered powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil.

Hebrews 2:14 (NASB)

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

Did Adam understand all of that? No. All Adam knew in that moment was that a singular male descendant was coming one day to curb-stomp the serpent. You and I, blessed with the full scope of progressive revelation, look back over human history and ask: Is there any man who had the power to crush Satan, render sin and death powerless, and take the wound upon Himself to set us free? We read that and say, “That is Jesus!” Adam saw the tight rosebud; we see it in full bloom.

In fact, Adam seemed to think this rescue was going to happen immediately. In verse 20, he names his wife Eve, meaning “the mother of all living.”

Genesis 3:20 (NASB)

Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all [the] living.

It is as if Adam thought, “Death just entered the world, but God promised a ‘He.’ Eve, you are going to give birth to ‘He’ right now!” In chapter 4, when Eve gives birth to Cain, she says, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.”

Genesis 4:1 (NASB)

Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, ‘I have gotten a manchild with [the help of] the LORD.’

They thought, “Maybe this first son is the one who will crush the serpent!” What they did not realize was that centuries of divine heavy lifting had to take place first. God is not slow as some count slowness, but He is patient, executing His plan for His glory with absolute perfection.

Patterns of Grace and Atonement

Notice the pattern God establishes in Genesis 3:21. When Adam and Eve first sinned in verse 7, they recognized their nakedness and tried to cover themselves with fig leaves—the very first act of human religion. The instinct of fallen man is: “I am sinful, so I must hide it and make my own covering.” We are cut from that same cloth. But God rejects their human-made covering.

Genesis 3:21 (NASB)

The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them. Sin brings spiritual and physical death, exactly as God warned in Genesis 2:16–17. Fellowship with God cannot be restored through our own religious efforts. God rejects human self-righteousness and instead clothes them in the skin of an innocent animal that had to die. By the death of an innocent substitute, their shame is covered. God sacrifices another to clothe you.

Then God performs another profound act of mercy by driving man out of the garden and placing cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the tree of life.

Genesis 3:24 (NASB)

So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

When you see cherubim in Scripture, do not picture a cute, chubby Hallmark baby with wings. Angels in the Bible are terrifying, overwhelming beings that cause people to fall flat on their faces. God did not post a lightweight at the gate; He stationed a mighty warrior with a flaming sword that turns every direction.

Why was ejecting humanity from the Garden of Eden an act of supreme grace? Because if fallen man had eaten from the tree of life in that corrupted state, humanity would have been locked into an eternal existence of sin without any remedy. By driving them out, God preserved the opportunity for the redemption promised in Genesis 3:15 to unfold. It was one of the greatest acts of mercy God could have ever given us.

Shadows and Types: Christ Across the Scriptures

This promised “He” unfolds across all sixty-six books of the Bible. The volume of witness is staggering. Scripture reveals Him through Old Testament types—shadows pointing forward to New Testament realities.

When you read about Aaron the high priest, you cannot help but think of Jesus as our ultimate High Priest in Hebrews.

Hebrews 5:1-10 (NASB)

For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer [sacrifices] for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. And no one takes the honor to himself, but [receives it] when he is called by God, even as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, ‘YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU’; just as He says also in another [passage], ‘YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK.’ In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

When you read in Romans 5 about the one transgression that came through Adam, you see the contrast in the free gift of righteousness that comes through Christ.

Romans 5:12-19 (NASB)

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned– for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like [that which came] through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment [arose] from one [transgression] resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift [arose] from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

When you read of King David, you often find yourself asking whether the psalm is describing David or pointing directly to Jesus. When Jesus speaks of Jonah being three days and three nights in the belly of the fish, He identifies Jonah’s experience as a type of His own burial and resurrection.

Matthew 12:40 (NASB)

for just as JONAH WAS THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE BELLY OF THE SEA MONSTER, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Consider Melchizedek in Genesis 14, to whom Abraham gave tithes, prefiguring the eternal priesthood of Jesus.

Genesis 14:18-20 (NASB)

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High. He blessed him and said, ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.’ He gave him a tenth of all.

Consider Moses, who delivered God’s people from physical slavery with an outstretched arm, pointing forward to Jesus, our Passover Lamb, who delivers us from the bondage of sin.

Jesus is also revealed through prophetic objects. In Numbers 21, when fiery serpents bit the people, God instructed Moses to fashion a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole so that whoever looked upon it would live. Jesus declared in John 3 that just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.

John 3:14-15 (NASB)

’As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.

When Israel wandered in the wilderness, God gave them manna from heaven; Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger.” When Moses struck the rock in Exodus 17 to bring forth water, Paul reveals in 1 Corinthians 10 that the spiritual rock following them was Christ.

1 Corinthians 10:4 (NASB)

and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.

When the thick veil in the temple separated sinful man from the Holy of Holies, the author of Hebrews shows that Christ tore open the veil through His flesh to give us direct access to the Father.

You see Him in Old Testament figures like Abel, Elijah, Elisha, Joshua, and Boaz the kinsman-redeemer. You see Him in the three Old Testament offices—Prophet, Priest, and King—all fulfilled perfectly in Christ. You see Him in the Exodus, the Flood, the Tabernacle, and the Temple.

The Covenant and the Unfolding Prophecies

By the time we arrive at the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, that rosebud is in near-full bloom. The prophets foretold that the Messiah would be fully human, born of a woman.

Galatians 4:4 (NASB)

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,

Yet He would also be God incarnate, as Isaiah boldly proclaimed.

Isaiah 9:6 (NASB)

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Consider the foundational promise given to Abraham in Genesis 12.

Genesis 12:1-3 (NASB)

Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’

God called Abram out of pagan idolatry and promised that through his family line, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Abraham himself did not save the nations, but from his lineage came Jesus the Christ, the Savior of the world. In Genesis 49, Jacob blesses his son Judah, declaring that the scepter of rule would not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes—the One to whom it truly belongs.

Genesis 49:10 (NASB)

’The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him [shall be] the obedience of the peoples.

There are over three hundred specific Old Testament prophecies concerning the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is not counting the types, parallels, or symbols. Every page of the Bible whispers His name. Even the precise timing was foretold.

In Daniel 9, the prophet records that from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there would be seventy weeks of years—specifically, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, totaling 483 prophetic years, or 173,880 days.

Daniel 9:25-26 (NASB)

’So you are to know and discern [that] from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince [there will be] seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. ’Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end [will come] with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

The decree was given by Artaxerxes in the month of Nisan in Nehemiah 2. If you count 173,880 days from that decree, it lands precisely on the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, after which He was cut off on the cross. The mathematical probability of any single person fulfilling just sixteen of these prophecies by chance is equal to covering the entire state of Texas two feet deep in silver dollars, marking one red, blindfolding a person, and having them pick that exact coin on the very first try. Jesus fulfilled over three hundred. It is an absolute impossibility for any human being to orchestrate such fulfillment—unless He is God.

Jesus is preexistent. He did not begin in Bethlehem. John 1 and Colossians 1 tell us He was the active agent of creation, and Ephesians reveals we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. God was never caught off guard in the garden. When humanity chose rebellion, God had already purposed to send “He.”

“Behold, the Lamb of God”

When the Old Testament closes in the book of Malachi, the story feels incomplete. Malachi promises a forerunner who will prepare the way, and then four hundred years of prophetic silence settle over Israel. Generations waited, asking: Where is He?

Then, on the banks of the Jordan River, John the Baptist looks up, points to Jesus of Nazareth, and makes an earth-shattering declaration.

John 1:29 (NASB)

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, ’Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” For centuries, animals had been sacrificed to atone for—to temporarily cover—sin, echoing Genesis 3:21. But animal blood could only cover sin; it could never remove it. When John announced the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, everyone took notice. Could this be the “He” of Genesis 3:15? The seed of Abraham from Genesis 12? The Shiloh of Genesis 49? The prophet like Moses from Deuteronomy 18? The Davidic King from 2 Samuel 7?

Jesus fulfilled prophecies that no human could deliberately manipulate. Isaiah foretold His crucifixion centuries before crucifixion was even invented as a method of execution. The Psalms prophesied that soldiers would gamble for His clothing and that not one of His bones would be broken. Zechariah foretold the exact price of His betrayal—thirty pieces of silver—and how that blood money would buy a potter’s field. You cannot control those details unless you are the sovereign God orchestrating redemption.

After His resurrection, Jesus walked alongside two discouraged disciples on the road to Emmaus, opening their eyes to the grand narrative of Scripture.

Luke 24:25-27 (NASB)

And He said to them, ’O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ‘Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

What an incredible Bible study that must have been! Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus showed them how every Scripture pointed straight to Him. As Jesus told the religious leaders in John 5, the Scriptures testify of Him.

John 5:39 (NASB)

’You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me;

John wrote his entire gospel with this singular focus.

John 20:31 (NASB)

but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

The Radiance of God’s Glory

The message of the entire book of Hebrews can be summarized in three words: Jesus is better. He is better than the angels, better than Moses, better than the Aaronic priesthood, and better than the old covenant.

Hebrews 1:1-3 (NASB)

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

God, who spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets in many portions and in many ways, has in these last days spoken to us in His Son. Jesus is the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by the word of His power. Having made purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

When Adam looked at Genesis 3:15, he saw a distant, mysterious promise of a “He.” When you and I look back at Genesis 3:15, we see King Jesus. He is the radiance of God’s glory. He is the promised Messiah.

As we celebrate this Advent season, let us marvel that before the foundation of the world, God set in motion a redemptive plan that began as a rosebud in Genesis and blossomed into full, radiant bloom at the cross and empty tomb of Jesus Christ. Jesus is He.

Let us pray.

Father, we thank You for sending this Savior who did not leave us in our sin or abandon us to despair, but provided the only way by which we can be saved. We praise You for Jesus, who died for us, who rose for us, and who calls us to Himself by grace alone, through faith alone. Thank You for every promise spoken of old and fulfilled perfectly in Christ. We embrace Him as our King, our Savior, and our Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen.