The Gospel in the Garden
It is commonly assumed that the gospel, the good news of Jesus’s death and resurrection for the saving of sinners, begins in the first book of the New Testament: the Gospel of Matthew. There are some today who view the Old Testament and the New Testament as being at odds with one another. Some go even further, claiming that the New Testament has made the Old Testament unnecessary. However, these views are not only wrong but also dangerous. Without the Old Testament, the New Testament would be nonsensical. Without the Old Testament setting the stage, the New Testament loses its proper context, and the content of the New Testament loses its force.
The gospel is at the center of the Scriptures. All of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, testifies to the Son of God taking on flesh to live the perfect life, die as the substitute for sinners, and rise from the grave conquering sin, death, and hell once for all. To demonstrate this, let's briefly consider the Fall of Man in Genesis 3.
In the Fall, Eve succumbs to Satan’s temptation. Desiring to be like God, and not to be under His authority, Eve takes of the fruit and eats, disobeying God. After this, she gives some to her husband, Adam, who does likewise. Immediately, the effects are made evident, as their eyes are opened, they see their nakedness, and they cover themselves in shame (v. 7). Even more than covering themselves, they attempt to hide from God in their sin and shame (v. 8).
But God comes to them (v. 9). This is the first act of grace post-fall. God pursues Adam and Eve in their sin and shame, foreshadowing how He would do so in the person of Jesus Christ who pursued His people, coming to the earth He created for their redemption. Then, we read, in Genesis 3:15, the protoevangelium. This word might seem foreign, and that is ok, because it is! In Greek, “proto-” means “first” or “beginning,” and “evangelium” means “good news” or “gospel.” So the protoevangelium is the “first gospel.”
In this verse, God pronounces judgement over the Serpent, who is Satan (Revelation 12:9). Within this judgement is a proclamation: the Seed of the Woman will crush the head of the Serpent. “Seed” referring to the woman’s offspring is of great importance. Without going into too much detail, “seed” is biblically and biologically attributed to men, but here the attribution is to a woman. This is fulfilled in the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus who, biologically speaking, had no father. And when this chosen Seed appears, He will destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
But there’s even more! In Genesis 3:21, God covers man’s sin and shame, making clothes for Adam and Eve from the skins of an animal. This demonstrates two things. First, man’s prior attempt to cover his own sin was insufficient. Adam tried to cover his own sin with fig leaves, but God was the One who would provide adequate covering of sin. In the same way, man today cannot make atonement, or appeasement, for sin. We, being fallen sinners, need to be covered with the perfect righteousness of another. Second, sin’s covering requires the death of the innocent. We see this unfold through the rest of the Old Testament, most evidently in the passover lamb of Exodus 12, and the Old Testament sacrificial laws, seen most clearly in Leviticus. Yet as the writer of Hebrews states, “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). This again points to the innocent, perfect Son of God, whose blood is infinitely better, whose sacrifice provided complete, total, once-for-all atonement for the sins of those who would turn to Him in faith and repentance (Hebrews 10:10).
Genesis 3 is chock-full of the gospel of grace, as we see in it the God who pursues, the promise of the virgin-born Serpent Crusher, and a foreshadowing of how this victory would be accomplished - through sacrifice. There is good news to be found on every page of the Word of God which testifies first and foremost to Jesus, the Son.
To learn more about the gospel and God’s grace for sinners, join us as we study God’s Word this Sunday.