Sin Wreaks Havoc, God Brings Hope

We return to our series in Genesis with chapter 4. If chapter 3 describes sin’s entrance into the world, chapter 4 describes its tragic spread. We see a clear development and escalation of man’s sin, a further hardening of the human heart against God. We see the murder of the innocent and the overturning of God’s design of one man and one woman in marriage. We see actual boasting in the slaying of fellow image-bearers.  

God’s words to the serpent in chapter 3 verse 15 keep getting pulled forward as the story unfolds. Remember God says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

This enmity, this conflict, between these two lines of people begins in this chapter. But as black and bleak as it seems, a glimmer of hope remains. God’s promise endures, often in hidden, unexpected ways.  In the midst of great wickedness, God is just and he remains faithful to his promise.

The line of the seed of the woman will be preserved pointing to the day when one comes to finally crush the head of the serpent.