A Curse and a Promise

On the heels of our first parents' terrible rebellion and fall into sin, God speaks as the sovereign judge of all the earth, delivering sobering words of judgment upon the serpent, the woman, and the man. What was once "very good" is now subjected to pain, toil, futility, disorder, decay, and (ultimately) death. Yet, in the midst of these covenant curses, God makes a promise to send one who will crush the head of the serpent and restore what was lost. This coming one will endure the curse himself, thereby bringing redemption to the guilty and the heavy laden, as he makes a way for God and man to dwell together again in peace. All who live by faith in this promise find life and are free from bondage to Satan, sin, and death.