The First Promise
READ
If you've ever felt like your mistakes are too big for redemption, Genesis 3 is where you need to camp out. We're in the garden, right after the worst decision in human history. Adam and Eve have just broken the one rule, introduced sin into God's perfect world, and are hiding among the trees, probably wishing they could disappear entirely.
Let’s take a moment to read Genesis 3:14-15:
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And 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.”
REFLECT
This is the moment where everything falls apart. Relationships fracture. Shame enters the story. Death becomes reality. If this were a movie, it would be the scene where everything goes dark and the audience wonders if there's any hope left.
But, God doesn't leave them in the wreckage. Right there, in the middle of pronouncing consequences, He drops a promise. It's cryptic—something about a future offspring who will crush the serpent's head—but it's a promise nonetheless. Before humanity has even fully processed what they've done, God is already planning redemption.
Think about the timing of this. God doesn't wait until they've proven they're sorry enough or gotten their act together. He doesn't make them earn their way back into His good graces. In their worst moment, at their lowest point, God speaks hope. That's love expressed when it's least expected and most desperately needed.
This first promise is like a thread that runs through the entire story of Scripture, from Genesis to Bethlehem to the cross. It's God saying, "I'm not done with you. This isn't how your story ends." Every prophecy about the coming Messiah, every whisper of hope in the Old Testament, traces back to this moment when God refused to give up on broken humanity.
We need this reminder during Advent because we all carry around our own versions of hiding in the garden. We've all got moments we wish we could take back, decisions that left wreckage, relationships that fractured under the weight of our selfishness or pride. And in those moments, we're tempted to believe that we've gone too far, messed up too badly, disappointed God one time too many.
But the first promise in Genesis 3:15 tells a different story. It tells us that God's plan for redemption wasn't Plan B—it was always part of the story. From the very beginning, even as He spoke consequences, He was speaking rescue. The Incarnation wasn't a last-ditch effort to salvage humanity; it was the fulfillment of a promise made in our darkest hour.
This Advent, as we journey toward Bethlehem, we're following a path God started clearing thousands of years ago. Every longing for redemption we feel, every ache for things to be made right, echoes back to this moment when God promised that love would find a way.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
How does knowing that God had a plan for redemption from the very beginning change your perspective on difficult seasons?
What "hiding places" in your life need to hear God's promise of redemption?
Where do you see God's patient, persistent love pursuing you even in your mistakes?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
Father, thank you that your first response to our brokenness was a promise, not abandonment. Help me trust that you're still in the redemption business, still working out your plan even in my mess. Give me eyes to see how the story of Jesus connects to my story today. Amen.