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It cannot be overstated how crucial the first three chapters of the Bible are for understanding the rest of Scripture. One can never study Genesis 1–3 enough, and the more we do, the more it enriches our reading of the rest of the Bible, for these chapters echo throughout the entire Scripture—indeed, across every page. In the third chapter, we read of humanity’s fall from God and the entrance of sin. God had created the first humans to be his representatives on earth, his royal priesthood, to rule over the earth and subdue it in accordance with the mandate the Creator had given them. Had they remained obedient, they would have been glorified through the tree of life. Through their obedience, they could have obtained eternal life in a glorified state, with no potential for future rebellion. But instead of banishing or destroying the cunning serpent that had intruded into the garden God had placed Adam to care for, they listened to its poisonous words—and in doing so, hurled humanity into ruin, misery, and death.
Hope Spoken in Judgement
They sinned against God and fell short of—never reached—his glory (Romans 3:23). As a result, the Lord God punished their rebellion in accordance with the gracious warning he had previously given to Adam: “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” (Genesis 2:17). Yet God’s goodness did not end with a warning; he also gave a promise that would one day be fulfilled. To the serpent he said: “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). Throughout the rest of the Bible, we see this enmity unfold—between the serpent and its offspring, the children of this world, and the offspring of God. Again and again, new biblical characters are introduced in such a way that we are prompted to ask, “Is this the promised offspring? Is this the son God pledged to our first parents in Eden? Is it him?”—only to see each one immediately fall into sin, just as Adam and Eve did, revealing their own need for forgiveness, cleansing, and salvation.
The Last Adam Appears
But then we come to the New Testament and encounter the opening words of Matthew: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). At this point, there is no longer any doubt about the identity of the woman’s offspring—Jesus is the promised one. We read, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4–5). In other words, Jesus came as the second Adam to accomplish what the first Adam—and all his descendants after him—failed to do since the fall. Where Adam failed to obey God’s law, the second Adam succeeded. Where Adam failed to cast out the serpent from God’s garden, which he had been entrusted to care for, the second Adam declared: “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). And in Hebrews 2, we see that God, as a result of this Adam’s success and his voluntary, sacrificial death in the place of his people, has subjected the entire coming world—the new earth—under him. He has crowned him “with glory and honor” and has brought “many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10). The glory that the first Adam never attained, but lost for himself and his descendants, is the very glory Christ has now earned for his people through his obedience and suffering.
The glory that the first Adam never attained, but lost for himself and his descendants, is the very glory Christ has now earned for his people through his obedience and suffering.
Born to Die
This is the reason for the season: the birth of the last Adam, the one who came to make all things new. And how does he accomplish this renewal? He does so by allowing his incarnation to culminate in an act of atonement. Indeed, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem finds its true meaning in the death of Jesus at Golgotha. Christmas finds its purpose in Easter. The incarnation points toward the atonement; the manger toward the cross. In fact, the only reason we can sing of that silent night when God’s Son took his first breath on earth is that God, from eternity, had foreordained the dark day when that same Son would draw his last, lifted up from the earth. Before his crucifixion, Jesus himself said, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour” (John 12:27). In other words: Jesus was born to die.
In Hebrews 2:14–17 we read about the relationship between Christ’s incarnation and atoning work: “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
Here we see the absolute necessity of Christ taking on flesh and blood: he had to become human because those he came to save were human. It is humanity that has rebelled against God and therefore stands guilty before him and must make amends for the sin committed. Our own feeble attempts to impress or compensate are not accepted in heaven. Our works of the law can never meet God’s standard of righteousness, and our blood can never satisfy divine justice. And yet, it must be humanity that makes amends, for it is humanity that stands guilty. Therefore it must be a sinless human—indeed, it must be God himself—who pays the price, since only he can bear his own justice. Therefore, the text says that Jesus, who is truly God, “had to be made like his brothers in every respect.” He had to have a physical body that could be wounded, red blood that could be shed, and a human soul so that he could experience the divine wrath our souls deserve.
Crushing the Serpent
Do you remember what God said to the serpent? “He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). God the Son took on flesh and blood to become the last Adam—the one who came to defeat the serpent that the first Adam, as God’s representative on earth, should have overcome. We see the same truth in 1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” But what does it mean that Christ became like us “so that through his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil”? Of course, the devil does not possess power over death in an absolute sense, for death is God’s determined punishment for sinners, and it is the sovereign God who decides when a person will take their last breath on earth. Nevertheless, the devil exercises power over death through the ongoing influence he and his followers exert over humanity. This world is under the sway of the evil one, and he does not hesitate to use any means to blind, enslave, mislead, and corrupt. He holds his children in an iron grip and does everything in his power to prevent them from turning and being freed from his spiritual domain (see, for example, Acts 26:17–18; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Luke 8:11–12). It is enough to pick up our phone, visit a random news site, entertainment page, or social media platform, and within seconds we are exposed to the influence Satan has over this society and this world.
And here lies the devil’s power over death: as long as the sinner remains under Satan’s spiritual domain—living in the world in an unrepentant state—death remains an inevitable penalty for sin. The devil’s power over death reaches its peak in this: he can point his crooked finger at guilty sinners and hiss before God, “You know that she is guilty and deserves to be punished with death!” His name is the Accuser, and even though he is himself the most guilty of us all, his accusations against sinners are legally correct, for sinners truly are guilty of breaking God’s law and deserving of his condemnation. This is humanity’s common starting point, and it is why people have always feared death. “He has put eternity into man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). In every age and every culture, humans have rightly feared death, because deep down we know what eternity awaits as a result of our rebellion—eternal death.
Glory Restored and Death Undone
On the cross, Christ seized the ancient serpent and cast him into the abyss—and with him, the fear of death for everyone who has placed their faith in the offspring of the woman, the last Adam.
But Christ partook of flesh and blood “that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” This victory means that those who have lived their entire lives enslaved by the fear of death are now set free from that bondage. On the cross, Christ seized the ancient serpent and cast him into the abyss—and with him, the fear of death for everyone who has placed their faith in the offspring of the woman, the last Adam. He “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). Christ accomplished this victory over Satan by dealing with our sin. As verse 17 says: “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17).
Through his sacrifice, Christ has propitiated God—that is, he has stilled, calmed, and satisfied God’s holy wrath that rested upon us because of our rebellion against him. By Christ’s atoning work, through which he has made satisfaction for our sin and appeased God’s wrath, the devil’s power over death—his accusations that we deserve to be punished with death for our crimes—has lost its legal force. “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Romans 8:33–34).
It no longer matters how loudly the serpent hisses that God’s elect deserve death for their sins. Christ Jesus is the one who has been made like his brothers in every respect (sin excepted) and has paid their entire debt with his own blood. Death is no longer God’s punishment in which we need to live in constant fear; death will not take us to God as judge and executioner, but to God as the smiling Father. In Christ, death is no longer a punishment for sin, but the portal that brings us to true and everlasting life—to immortality, yes, to glory.
In light of this, how can we do anything but exclaim:
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King,
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
