The remedy

The Fall made things so bad that only God could mend them.  Two things had to be done.  First God had to smash the Devil’s power.  Secondly, he had to make it possible for us to conquer the evil within ourselves and live happily with him in Heaven.

Both these things he knew he could do by coming into this world himself.  So it was that many years later, in his love for us, God the Son became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ.  He came to:

• save us from the evil around us and within us;
• bring us back to himself;
• help us become our best selves by changing us into his likeness.

The cost of his coming was the Crucifixion.

The Book of Genesis gives the first ray of hope for humankind: “The Lord God said to the serpent…I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel” (NRSV, 3:14, 15).  So the Devil and the woman, and their descendants, are to be set against each other and one of the woman’s descendants (Jesus) will strike the Devil’s head, that is, overcome the Devil.