Yes, Brother Ed, when Adam sinned man was separated from God. There was no hope, there was no promise of anything, but death to Adam. Why did not Adam die immediately? Because Christ stepped in between Adam and death. He was not given eternal life, but was granted a period of probationary life that he might be reconciled to God. The first intimation of this gift is found in Genesis 3:15. It is the gospel message. It is the promise of a provision that had been made that Adam and his children might be reconciled to God and to hate sin.
By transgression man was severed from God, the communion between God and man was broken. But Jesus Christ had consented to die upon the cross of Calvary, to bear in His body the sins of the whole world. God gives us a probation in which we may prove whether or not we will be loyal to Him. Christ calls upon us to lay our sins upon Him, the Sin-Bearer, that we may represent God. But if we refuse to let them go, taking the responsibility ourselves, we will be lost. We may fall upon Christ, the living stone, and be broken, but if that stone falls upon us, it will grind us to powder.
In Genesis 3:15 we have Christ's promise, "He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him" He manifested Himself to John, who had been banished by his persecutors to the lonely isle of Patmos. But there He who rules the earth and keeps the waters in their appointed channel, manifested Himself to John. "I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last" Revelation 1:9-11: "the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty"
Christ manifested Himself to Peter, and delivered him from prison by the hand of an angel. He manifested himself to Stephen, and he, "being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God" Acts 7:55.
So Christ will manifest Himself to us if we are faithful. "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:38.
Now is the time when we may prove whether we will obey the law of God, or whether we will transgress. When a sinner unloads his burden at the foot of the cross, then it is that peace and happiness comes to him. And there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine who need no repentance. "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing" Zephaniah 3:17.
Do we realize our value in the sight of God? He says, "Ye are laborers together with Me." Are we letting our light shine in clear rays to a fallen world? Are we seeking to exercise every faculty and every power which God has given us? We may not stand in a pulpit, but we can be His witnesses. We may not be eloquent speakers, but we can be eloquent in living for Christ; we can be eloquent in letting our light shine before men. We will have to travel a rough path; we will have to meet with the powers of darkness; but we do not meet them alone, for God has given us His Son.
Christ Himself, the Majesty of heaven, leads the children of God against their enemies. Thousands of holy angels wait to help those who are seeking for immortality and eternal life. A crown of glory waits for all who fight the good fight of faith, and when the warfare is over they will be greeted with the words, "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city" Revelation 22:14. Then, casting their glittering crowns at the feet of Jesus, and touching their golden harps, the redeemed host will fill all heaven with rich music.
This is what Genesis 3:15 signifies, a promise of a Saviour who can reconcile sinful man to his Creator. It was the first promise of grace to guilty man that was under a sentence of death. 3:15 is a promise to put enmity into the heart of man if he would accept the promised redeemer, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Saviour. There is no enmity towards sin and Satan until the heart is renewed at conversion.