In April 1970, astronaut Jim Lovell radioed back to earth with words that would become famous: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” An oxygen tank had exploded and the spacecraft was crippled. Three men were drifting toward what looked like certain death and the world was gripped as they fought for survival.
Wonderfully, Lovell was a man of faith. Two years earlier, on Christmas Eve 1968, he’d orbited the moon on Apollo 8 and read from Genesis 1 to a billion watching people, reminding the world that behind the creation stands a Great Creator. Two chapters later in that same book, humanity has a far greater problem. And it is entirely self-inflicted.
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve stand before the Creator of the heavens and earth having sinned against him. They’ve said yes to the devil and no to God. Death enters the world. Shame floods in. The curse descends. And they are driven from the garden, with cherubim and a flaming sword barring their return. Through one man’s sin, as Romans 5 tells us, death spread to all people. To every person, in every time and place.
Do we feel the weight of that? The desperate, desperate situation humanity finds itself in, lost, without Jesus. Filled with shame, living under a curse and cut off from the God who made us?
And yet.
Right there, in the darkest chapter of human history, God speaks, and what he says is astonishing. In Genesis 3:15, addressing the serpent directly, God makes a promise: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Matthew Henry called this the dawning of the gospel day and with it a battle has begun. On one side, Satan and his offspring. On the other, the woman and hers. One descendant of Eve will be so significant in this battle that God singles him out. He will crush the serpent’s head. The serpent will strike his heel. Both blows will land, but they will not be equal. A crushed head. A bruised heel. We know which one is fatal.
Satan knew what was coming (Rev 12:4) and he spent centuries trying to stop it. Yet in his every attempt to stamp out the line of Eve, God intervened.
Cain killed Abel, yet God provided Seth. Sarah’s barren womb? God gave Isaac. Pharaoh’s decree to drown the Hebrew sons? God raised up Moses. Exile, famine, genocide. Yet every time the dragon struck, God preserved his people and his promise. Until, at last, the promised seed arrived, Jesus. Born of a woman, the Son who would crush the offspring of Satan.
And so Satan threw everything at him. Herod’s sword, the wilderness temptations, betrayal and the cross. It must have looked like the dragon had won. The seed of Eve, nailed to the cross, forsaken by his Father, mocked by the crowds, abandoned by his friends.
But what looked like defeat was in fact decisive victory. Through his death, Jesus was destroying the one who holds the power of death (Hebrews 2:14). Through the cross, he was disarming the powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them (Colossians 2:15). He was making it possible for you and me, by repentance and faith, to be forgiven, restored, and made new.
The child was caught up to God and his throne. Satan couldn’t stop him. The head, crushed. The victory, won.
This, friends, is the gospel! This is the news, the wonderfully good news, that all of us need.
It is the reason UFM mission partners continue to be sent by their churches, to cross cultures, learn languages, and give their lives in hard places. Because Genesis 3:15 is still true. And the world still desperately needs to hear it.
I hope you’re encouraged by the reports shared of gospel progress in the midst of the battle.
Michael Prest, Director, UFM Worldwide
Photos: (Banner) A satellite orbiting Earth with a view of the planet from space (Top) Illustration generated by AI Revid.ai – prompt: ‘Create an illustration based on the Bible verse Genesis 3:15’