The Cross: God’s Answer to Adam’s Failure
The Curse
Genesis 3 is one of the most foundational chapters in Scripture. It explains not only how sin entered the world, but how brokenness, pain, and power struggles became part of the human story. Yet hidden within this chapter is also the first promise of redemption, a prophetic glimpse of Jesus.
Let’s walk through Genesis 3 and uncover what was lost, what was promised, and how Jesus ultimately reversed the curse.
The First Agreement: Seeing Before Believing
Genesis 3:4–6
When the serpent speaks to Eve, the real battle isn’t intellectual, it’s relational and perceptual.
“She saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes…” (Gen. 3:6)
Eve comes into agreement with what she sees, not with what God said. The serpent doesn’t force her, he persuades her. She aligns her perception with his voice. Then Adam follows her lead.
This is the first human failure:
Eve agrees with Satan.
Adam agrees with Eve.
Both reject God’s word.
Sin begins with misplaced agreement.
The First Gospel: A Prophecy in the Middle of the Fall
Genesis 3:15
This verse is often called the Protoevangelium, the first announcement of the Gospel.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed…”(Gen. 3:15)
The Seed of the Woman
This points directly to Jesus, born of a virgin, not of human seed. This is a prophetic reference to the Messiah long before Mary ever existed.
The Seed of the Serpent
Not biological, but spiritual: those who reject truth, embrace lies, oppose the Gospel, and cling to self-righteousness instead of God’s grace.
“He shall bruise your head”
This speaks of Jesus’ victory over Satan. Jesus dies at Golgotha (the place of the skull). Symbolically, Satan aimed at humanity’s conscience through deception, and Jesus died to redeem that very conscience.
“You shall bruise His heel”
This refers to Christ’s brutal suffering, real pain, real wounds, real death. The enemy struck Him, but not fatally.
The serpent wounded Him.
Jesus crushed the serpent.
The Fracture of Human Relationships
Genesis 3:16
This verse is often misunderstood, especially in discussions about marriage.
“Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
The word desire here does not mean romance, it means the urge to control or master.
The word rule reflects domination, not leadership.
This was not God’s original design. This was the result of sin.
The Original Design:
• Mutual authority
• Shared dominion
• No hierarchy
• No shame
After the Fall:
• Pain
• Power struggles
• Control
• Broken intimacy
In other words, sin didn’t create leadership, it created imbalance.
The Curse of Survival
Genesis 3:17–19
The curse affects both man and woman differently:
Woman: Pain in bringing life
Man: Pain in sustaining life
Childbirth becomes painful. Work becomes exhausting. The ground resists. Life becomes toil.
Humanity moves from fruitful partnership to painful survival.
Let’s walk through Genesis 3 and uncover what was lost, what was promised, and how Jesus ultimately reversed the curse.
The First Agreement: Seeing Before Believing
Genesis 3:4–6
When the serpent speaks to Eve, the real battle isn’t intellectual, it’s relational and perceptual.
“She saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes…” (Gen. 3:6)
Eve comes into agreement with what she sees, not with what God said. The serpent doesn’t force her, he persuades her. She aligns her perception with his voice. Then Adam follows her lead.
This is the first human failure:
Eve agrees with Satan.
Adam agrees with Eve.
Both reject God’s word.
Sin begins with misplaced agreement.
The First Gospel: A Prophecy in the Middle of the Fall
Genesis 3:15
This verse is often called the Protoevangelium, the first announcement of the Gospel.
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed…”(Gen. 3:15)
The Seed of the Woman
This points directly to Jesus, born of a virgin, not of human seed. This is a prophetic reference to the Messiah long before Mary ever existed.
The Seed of the Serpent
Not biological, but spiritual: those who reject truth, embrace lies, oppose the Gospel, and cling to self-righteousness instead of God’s grace.
“He shall bruise your head”
This speaks of Jesus’ victory over Satan. Jesus dies at Golgotha (the place of the skull). Symbolically, Satan aimed at humanity’s conscience through deception, and Jesus died to redeem that very conscience.
“You shall bruise His heel”
This refers to Christ’s brutal suffering, real pain, real wounds, real death. The enemy struck Him, but not fatally.
The serpent wounded Him.
Jesus crushed the serpent.
The Fracture of Human Relationships
Genesis 3:16
This verse is often misunderstood, especially in discussions about marriage.
“Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”
The word desire here does not mean romance, it means the urge to control or master.
The word rule reflects domination, not leadership.
This was not God’s original design. This was the result of sin.
The Original Design:
• Mutual authority
• Shared dominion
• No hierarchy
• No shame
After the Fall:
• Pain
• Power struggles
• Control
• Broken intimacy
In other words, sin didn’t create leadership, it created imbalance.
The Curse of Survival
Genesis 3:17–19
The curse affects both man and woman differently:
Woman: Pain in bringing life
Man: Pain in sustaining life
Childbirth becomes painful. Work becomes exhausting. The ground resists. Life becomes toil.
Humanity moves from fruitful partnership to painful survival.
Jesus and the Reversal of the Curse
Jesus doesn’t ignore the curse, He steps directly into it.
He Reverses the Curse:
• He honors women
• He restores dignity
• He redefines leadership as servanthood
Paul later echoes this in:
“There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
Jesus doesn’t reinforce the hierarchy created by sin, He heals it.
Jesus Literally Carries Adam’s Curse
The details of Jesus’ suffering mirror Genesis with prophetic precision:
• Crown of thorns → “Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth”
• Sweats blood in Gethsemane → “By the sweat of your face”
• Buried in a tomb → “You will return to the ground”
• Rose again → He reverses the curse completely
Jesus didn’t symbolically fix the curse.
He absorbed it into His own body.
Redeemed From the Curse
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.”(Galatians 3:13)
Adam brought the curse through disobedience.
Jesus removed it through obedience.
The story of Genesis 3 is not just about how humanity fell.
It’s about how God already planned for humanity’s restoration.
The fall wasn’t the end of the story.
It was the setup for redemption.
From the very moment humanity failed,
God was already pointing to the cross.
He Reverses the Curse:
• He honors women
• He restores dignity
• He redefines leadership as servanthood
Paul later echoes this in:
“There is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
Jesus doesn’t reinforce the hierarchy created by sin, He heals it.
Jesus Literally Carries Adam’s Curse
The details of Jesus’ suffering mirror Genesis with prophetic precision:
• Crown of thorns → “Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth”
• Sweats blood in Gethsemane → “By the sweat of your face”
• Buried in a tomb → “You will return to the ground”
• Rose again → He reverses the curse completely
Jesus didn’t symbolically fix the curse.
He absorbed it into His own body.
Redeemed From the Curse
“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.”(Galatians 3:13)
Adam brought the curse through disobedience.
Jesus removed it through obedience.
The story of Genesis 3 is not just about how humanity fell.
It’s about how God already planned for humanity’s restoration.
The fall wasn’t the end of the story.
It was the setup for redemption.
From the very moment humanity failed,
God was already pointing to the cross.
Posted in YHWH Revealed