In the midst of this story of sin and judgment we find the fir.st promise of restoration, and thus the Divine purpose of redemption is brought into association with the very beginnings of human evil. ' I wll put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel' (Gn 3"). That this utterance contains the germ of Messianic prophecy cannot be doubted ; but care must be taken to make neither too much nor too littleof this element in it, and to interpret the passage in accordance with sound principles of historical exegesis, with due reference to the^ con- text, and to the general characteristics of (JT ]iro- l.herv. The enriiodiment .if this Prntn;,„!)dii<m ill th'e iniinilive reli-ion^ trailition, .-in.l in tlie in- spire,! i rr,,nl ol ii , i- .i 1,-tinionvlo the fact that ihe |ii\iiie ].\n|"ise oi re. lenipt ion is coeval with ilie exi^ienie (it linman sin. From the time when I he eoiisrlon-ness of guilt aud corruption first dawned in I lie human heart, there was also present the hope of iistoration, and of man's ultimate triuuiph over those powers of evil by which he liad
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been temporarOy vanquished. This is the germ of which all the redemptive promise and prophecy of the OT are the development. Three progressive ideas may be traced in tlie teaching of the passage.
(1) Under the symbolism of the repulsion with which the serpent species is regarded, there is con- veyed the truth that there would be continual and deadly conflict between the human race and the powers of i'\ il, eaih seeking to destroy tlie otlier.
(2) The hopiful element in the struggle i.s indi- cated, anil mans linal victory suggested, by the specific way in wliiclx the conflict is described—' It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.' (3) There underlies the statement with re- gard to mankind in general the remoter and deeper significance applicable to the representative Man, in and tlrrough whom the warfare was to be brouglit to a crisis and a victorious issue.
The order of these points may also be taken as indicating the line along which the full meaning of the saying would unfold itself. It is one of those pregnant utterances of revelation whose content is gradually realized and defined by the progress of events. The Messianic ideas contained in it are as yet vague and general, yet real ; rudimentary, but fundamental ; implicit rather than explicit ; yet enough to keep a spark of hope alive, and to inspire faith and effort till clearer light came in the provi- dential unfolding of God's redemptive plan.
ii. The Fall in relation to the work of Christ. — The fact of man's fallen condition, of which the narrative of Gn 3 is the historical ex- planation, is the raison d'etre of redemption, and thus the Fall is very closely related to the whole work of Christ at every point. But it is witli tlie effects rather than with the manner or history of tlie Fall that the gospel is supremely conienieil, and after the story has once for all been >:iven at the beginning of revelation, it is thereafter but little referred to in Scripture, and is scarcely ever brought into direct relation A\itli redemption, except in two classical passages in the \v ritings of St. Paul, viz. in Ro 5 and 1 Co 15. Our attention will here be confined to those points in which the Fall comes into more direct relation with the work of Christ, or in which the fall of man in Adam and his restoration in Christ serve to illuminate each other.
1. The relation of the Fall to the Incarnation. —The question here raised is between the two views expressed respectively by the words of Augustine, ' Si homo nan pecasset, Jilius Dei non esset incamatus,' a,nd of Andreas Osiander, ' Etiamsi homo non pecasset. Dens tamen incarnatiis esset licet non crucifixus.' The common belief has hitherto been that tlie whole mission and work of Christ were solely conditioned by the Fall. But the other view with regard to the Incarnation, maintained by the Scotists in the Middle Ages and by other distinguished thinkers, has of late gained fresh currency, especially in connexion with modern evolutionary philosophy. The relation of the Fall to the Incarnation determines the place of the latter in the plan of redemption, and opens up the question whether the Incarnation was subsidiary to the Atonement, or the Atonement a develop- ment and modification of the Incarnation.
(i.) The view that an Incarnation was, independ- ently of sin, the consummation of God's purpose in relation to mankind, has been supported by argu- ments which can here only be briefly mentioned.
(a) The metaphysical arq-
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even apart from sin, would have found its issu The Mediator is necessary for the perfecting of the world no less tlian for its redeniption, and has a cosmical sit<nitieance wider and deeper than His work as Redeemer.
(f) As Christ is necessary for the world's perfection, the Incarnation may be held to be involved in the 'eternal idea of the world.' This is the counterpart of the preceding argu- ments, and is as old as Irenceus. It means that man has in his very nature a need and a capacity for Christ, corresponding to God's stlf-comniunicating love, and this quite apart from sin.