One Little Verse

Have you ever wondered what the most important verse in the whole Bible is? Is it John 3:16? (“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”) How about the end of 1 Corinthians 13? (“So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”) Today, though, I found an author who offers a most unusual candidate for the best verse:

“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.” (Genesis 3:15)

The context, of course, is the fall of man into sin. These words are spoken after Adam’s disobedience. For those unfamiliar with this passage, the “you” refers to Satan, the “woman” is Eve as the mother of all living after her, “he” is Christ. God is predicting that Jesus will deal a death blow to Satan, and that in the process Satan will hurt Christ.

But there is more going on here according to Maurice Roberts, who writes this paragraph in his book entitled The Happiness of Heaven:

“All of human history, not to say of angels and demons, is included in this single promise. From that point of view, this is not simply the first announcement of the gospel. It is also the first announcement that Satan and those who fell with him, together with the future impenitent part of mankind, would eventually be confined to the punishment of hell. Conversely, Christ and the unfallen angels, together with the redeemed of Adam’s race, would one day overcome the powers of darkness, obtain the victory, and reign in the glorious kingdom of heaven. The entire Bible is embryonically present in this one statement (Gen 3:15). And the whole subsequent history of the world is neither more nor less than the gradual outworking, step by step, of what is already implicit here. “

Wow. I’d say that Roberts makes a pretty convincing case that this passage tells the entire story, not only of the rest the Bible, but of human history as well. We would do well to meditate on the truths contained in this one little verse, and thank God that He has provided us a way into the Heavenly realms.