"Looking unto Jesus" (part 2) - Origins

One of the important aspects of the superhero narrative is what is called the origin story.  This is the telling of the events that led to their transformation into a superhero.  For example, there were great origin stories told in films like “Superman: the Movie” (1978) and “Captain America: the First Avenger” (2011); and many, many more examples could be named.  The book of Genesis is the Bible’s account of origins.  You might even call it the origin story, but it is not a fictional story; this is the historical record.

The opening chapters of the book of Genesis present lots of important events.  But for purposes of today’s blog, I want to look at Genesis 3.  This is a sad chapter; one might even call it the saddest chapter in the Bible.  At the start, mankind enjoyed a harmonious, intimate, delightful fellowship with God, until the events of Genesis 3.  The first human beings listened to the lies of the satanic enemy, in the form of a snake; they disobeyed God’s prohibition, and thus sin entered the picture.

In verses 14 and 15 of Genesis 3, God is giving His judgments to the snake.  Verse 15 is an amazing verse.  In fact, this is the verse that I want to examine and unpack in the coming days.  It reads, “And 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” (New King James Version).  For today, note with me just how incredible it is that even in the midst of the intense, somber event, God gave an announcement of a Coming Savior.

Dr. William Varner writes, “The gospel is not something God hid until Jesus came in the flesh.  After Adam’s Fall, God shared the seeds of a plan He had already worked out before time began.”  He goes on to say that many theologians actually refer to Genesis 3:15 as “the first announcement of the good news of the gospel.” (Source: https://answersingenesis.org/gospel/seed-promise-genesis-315/)

Let me conclude on this note.  The TV series “The Dick Van Dyke show” is still regarded very highly to this day, even though the program was on in the 1960’s.  I am a big fan of the show myself.  Arguably, one of the best episodes of their entire run was “Never Name a Duck” from season 2.

In the episode, Rob Petrie (Dick Van Dyke) brings home two baby ducks from his work.  Soon, his young son, Ritchie names them and wants to keep them as pets; which he does.  But three months later, after one of the ducks dies, and the other one subsequently gets sick as well, Rob has to take the ill duck to a lake.  He faces the unenviable task of telling his boy.  The normally calm and well-adjusted Ritchie doesn’t take the news very well, and runs to his bedroom.

In a poignant scene, Rob tells Ritchie that just like he couldn’t take his goldfish out of the bowl, the duck needed to be out in the lake, and he would be happier there.  At one point in the discussion, the subject of love is mentioned; Ritchie asks what love is.  Rob’s answer is invaluable: “Love is…you think more about what’s good for the one you love, than you think about what’s good for yourself.”

This illustration helps us to stop and think about the fact that this is how God loves us.  The first man and woman had blown it in Genesis 3.  He could have left them to flounder in their sin, and lost innocence, but He didn’t.  God revealed that there was hope; there was a plan already set in motion for the price of mankind’s sin to be paid.  Centuries later, this would be done by Jesus Christ, the spotless Lamb of God.  The Bible says, “By this we know love, because He [Jesus] laid down His life for us” (1 John 3:16). 

Kevin