Adam and Eve were waiting for death, thinking themselves to be under the sentence of death. Hence, the mention of a seed came as glad tidings to them. They thought it was impossible for them to have a seed because they were doomed to die immediately. When Adam heard that the woman was going to have a seed, he called his wife's name Eve, which in Hebrew means "living." As Adam and Eve were awaiting the sentence of death in fear and trembling, there suddenly came the glad tidings that this woman would have a seed, and Adam spontaneously said, "Living. You are not dying, you are living. Your name is Eve. You are living." As we have seen in message seventeen, when Adam first saw Eve in Genesis 2:23 he was excited, saying, "This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." However, in Genesis 3 Adam was also excited. Instead of receiving the sentence of condemnation, he heard the gospel. So, Adam called his wife, "Living." We have all heard these glad tidings and we all should call ourselves "Living." If you ask me my name, I will tell you that my name is "Living."
God preached the gospel in verse 15, and Adam reacted to the gospel in verse 20. If Adam had not reacted to the gospel, he would have called his wife "Dying," saying, "Poor woman, don't you know that you are the cause of death? Your name should be Dying." On the contrary, after Adam heard God's preaching of the gospel he was happy and called his wife's name Eve—"Living." The whole world today is under the sentence of death, and we must go to them proclaiming Genesis 3:15. When the people hear the glad tidings of Genesis 3:15, receiving the gospel and responding to it, they will shout, "Now we are living. Praise the Lord!"
The seed of the serpent are the people who follow Satan. The Bible uses various terms to describe them. In Matthew 3:7 they are called the "brood of vipers." In Matthew 13:38 they are designated "the sons of the evil one." In John 8:44 the Lord Jesus referred to them as being of their father, the Devil. In 1 John 3 the Apostle John said that everyone who practices sin is of the Devil (v. 8); he also used the term "the children of the Devil" (v. 10). All of these titles indicate that the people who follow Satan are the seed of the serpent. Whether they are called brood of vipers, sons of the evil one, or children of the Devil, the meaning is the same: they are the seed of the serpent and they persecute and fight against the Lord Jesus and the overcomers.
The seed of the woman is the Lord Jesus. He was born of the virgin Mary (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23; Gal. 4:4). Thus, He is truly the seed of the woman. He is the very seed prophesied in the glad tidings proclaimed by God Himself in Genesis 3:15. He is the One who bruised the serpent. There is great enmity between the people who follow Satan and the Lord Jesus.
The Lord Jesus, the seed of the woman, has bruised the head of the serpent. The Lord has destroyed Satan, the one who holds the power of death. This is fully revealed in Hebrews 2:14 and 1 John 3:8.