Genesis 3; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:7-9; John 8:44; Rom. 16:20; Heb. 2:14; 1 Tim. 2:14, 15.

 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15, NKJV).

 Amid all that God had given our first parents in Eden came also a warning: “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16, 17, NKJV). This warning against eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil shows us that, though they were to know good, they were not to know evil.

 We certainly can understand why, can’t we?

 And, too, the threat of death attached to the warning about disobedience (Gen. 2:17) would be fulfilled: they will die (Gen. 3:19). Not only forbidden to eat from the tree, they were also driven from the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:24), and thus had no access to what could have given them eternal life as sinners (Gen. 3:22).

 However, amid this tragedy comes hope, which is found in Genesis 3:15, called the protoevangelium, or “the first gospel promise.” Yes, this verse presents the first gospel promise found in the Bible, the first time humans are told that, despite the Fall, God has made a way of escape for us all.

 Study this week´s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 9.