Scripture: Genesis 3:15 (AMP) — “And I will put enmity (open hostility) between you and the woman, and between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, and you shall [only] bruise His heel.”

Devotional

Advent doesn’t begin with shepherds, stars, or angels.

It begins in a garden shattered by sin.

Before humanity had taken its first full breath outside Eden, before a single human tradition of Christmas had ever been imagined, God Himself initiated the first Advent message. Not in comfort, but in crisis. Not in celebration, but in heartbreak. Not with singing, but with a declaration of war.

Genesis 3:15 is known as the Protoevangelium, the “first Gospel.” It is the very first promise of a coming Savior. And it appears not after humanity repents, not after Adam and Eve cry out for mercy, not after anyone asks for forgiveness, but right in the middle of humanity’s rebellion. This is the breathtaking goodness of God: Mercy rushes in before mankind even thinks to ask for it.

1. The Promise Given in Brokenness

Adam and Eve have just fallen. Sin has entered the world, corrupting everything, relationships, identity, purpose, and even creation itself. Shame now clothes them, fear drives them into hiding, and guilt separates them from the God Who once walked with them face to face.

If there was ever a moment where God could have washed His hands of humanity, this was it. But instead, the first words God speaks into the darkness are not:

“You ruined everything.”

“I’m done with you.”

“Figure your own way out.”

The first words are a promise of salvation.

This reveals a truth central to Advent:

God always moves toward us when we least deserve it.

He speaks hope before judgment, redemption before wrath, restoration before consequences. Advent begins not because people pursued God, but because God pursued people.

This is still true today.

Your story, no matter how broken, does not start at your failure. It starts at God’s promise spoken over your life.

2. The Battle Declared

God declares that a battle is coming:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman…”

This isn’t merely the ongoing conflict between humanity and evil; it is a prophetic announcement that heaven and hell are now on a collision course. Advent is not sentimental nostalgia, it is the declaration that God has entered the battlefield of human history to reclaim what was lost.

The promise of the coming Messiah is wrapped in conflict. Christmas is not cute or tame. The manger sits in the shadow of a cosmic war. Christ came to:

destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8),

bring captives out of darkness (Isaiah 42:7),

break the chains of sin (John 8:34–36),

and crush the serpent’s head forever.

When you celebrate Advent, you are celebrating the arrival of Heaven’s Warrior King, who came not to negotiate with darkness but to conquer it.

3. The Seed of the Woman

God promises that a Seed will come, not the seed of Adam, but the seed of the woman. This is unusual language, pointing centuries ahead to the virgin birth. In other words:

God is promising a Redeemer who will be fully human… yet not born through the ordinary line of fallen humanity.

Even in Genesis 3, God is already pointing toward Mary, the manger, and the miracle of Emmanuel. This Seed would enter our world as a baby, but He would be unlike any other child ever born.

This reminds us:

Redemption is always God initiated, God-powered, and God accomplished.

You and I cannot save ourselves.

We needed One who would be like us, yet sinless.

Human enough to represent us… but divine enough to redeem us.

Jesus is that promised Seed.

4. The Crushing Victory

“He shall crush your head…”

This is one of the most triumphant statements in all Scripture.

The serpent, the deceiver, the accuser, the enemy of your soul, would one day be crushed under the heel of the Messiah. The cross would look like defeat, but it would be the serpent’s destruction.

Christ’s heel would be bruised, but Satan’s head would be shattered.

This is the gospel hidden inside the very first Christmas promise:

Jesus would suffer.

But Satan would fall.

Jesus would be pierced.

But the enemy would be rendered powerless.

Advent reminds us that no darkness gets the final say.

Not in Eden.

Not in Bethlehem.

Not in your life.

If God fulfilled His earliest promise, He will fulfill the rest.

5. Your Advent Begins in Hope

Before God ever gave the Law, the covenants, or the commandments, He gave a Promise:

“Help is coming. Hope is coming. Redemption is coming. Christ is coming.”

Advent is the season where we remember:

God keeps every promise.

God is never late.

God shines brightest in human darkness.

God’s rescue plan was in motion long before we took our first breath.

Where does your Advent begin?

It begins where Genesis begins, in hope.

Prayer

Father, thank You that even in the moments of deepest failure, Your first response is mercy. Thank You for the promise of Jesus spoken from the very beginning. Help me to start this Advent season with eyes fixed on Your faithfulness, Your victory, and Your unfailing love for me. Let hope rise again in my heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Reflection Questions

1. Where in your life do you need God to speak hope into a broken place?

2. Do you believe that God pursues you even when you fall short?

3. What part of God’s first promise in Genesis 3:15 speaks to you most today?