Page 81 - The Faith I Live By (1958)

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First Promise of Redemption, March 10
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel.
Genesis 3:15
.
To man the first intimation of redemption was communicated in the
sentence pronounced upon Satan in the garden. The Lord declared, “I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed
and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
This sentence, uttered in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a
promise. While it foretold war between man and Satan, it declared that
the power of the great adversary would finally be broken.... Adam and
his companion were assured that notwithstanding their great sin, they
were not to be abandoned to the control of Satan. The Son of God had
offered to atone, with His own life, for their transgression. A period of
probation would be granted them, and through repentance, and faith in
Christ, they might again become the children of God.
The instant man accepted the temptations of Satan, and did the very
things God had said he should not do, Christ, the Son of God, stood
between the living and the dead, saying, “Let the punishment fall on
Me. I will stand in man’s place. He shall have another chance.”
As soon as there was sin, there was a Saviour. Christ knew that He
would have to suffer, yet He became man’s substitute. As soon as Adam
sinned, the Son of God presented Himself as surety for the human race,
with just as much power to avert the doom pronounced upon the guilty
as when He died upon the cross of Calvary.
Although gloom and darkness hung, like the pall of death, over the
future, yet in the promise of the Redeemer, the Star of hope lighted up
the dark future. The gospel was first preached to Adam by Christ. Adam
and Eve felt sincere sorrow and repentance for their guilt. They believed
the precious promise of God, and were saved from utter ruin.
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