I Will – God’s Promise

Then the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." Then he said to the woman, "I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you." And to the man he said, "Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return." Genesis 3:14-19

I will…that was God’s promise. Adam and Eve disobeyed and God declared their punishment…and the punishment for that cursed snake. He warned them…at least He warned Adam not to eat of the tree in the middle of the Garden. Yum. That fruit tasted good to Eve after the wiley snake enticed her to eat it. She shared it with Adam, who was right there with her. Why didn’t he stop her? The great question of the ages. He knew what God had said, yet he too must have been duped by the snake. He didn’t reach out and take that fruit from Eve before she took a bite. Then it was all over—so Adam ate some, too. God had to declare His judgement, His punishment, His promise. I will…. If God had not followed through with His chastisement of the snake, Eve and Adam, then He would have been a weak and powerless God. He is omnipotent. He knows everything. He knew before He even made the world that He would have to send His Son as a sacrifice for the sin of mankind. That antagonism that existed between Satan and Christ is what we read about in verse 15… And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.

So we live with the result of God’s promise to Adam and Eve. We still have thorns and thistles growing in our gardens and fields that cause workers exhausting efforts. There are plenty of tumbleweeds here in the Columbia Basin to attest to that. Gardening is a challenge. Farmers have retaliated against the weeds with herbicides that may compromise the integrity of the food they produce. Would Adam have done that? Childbirth is still painful. Ask any woman who has given birth in the last forty years about that. It is a pain that happens—more intense and longer for some than others…but it is the same agony that Eve—and Mary—experienced. Even modern medical practices and cesarean procedures don’t remove the pain of Eve’s curse.  

Interpretation of the passage from that event at the tree about the enmity between the serpent and the woman—and their offspring—deals with the promise that Jesus was to be the sacrifice for mankind.  That is a promise we can hang onto. Satan bruised Jesus’ heal and Jesus wounded Satan—on the cross.  God had a plan and it was fulfilled. The best promise for all—exhausting work or pain don’t matter in comparison to the sacrificial gift of God—giving up His own Son for our eternal inheritance. 

God had a plan. It was fulfilled…and continues in eternity.

Prayer ~ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16. That began with Adam and Eve and God's love continues now and into eternity. What a great promise.

Bible Reading: January 9 – Job 21-23

© 2017 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted

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