A widespread understanding of the prophecy recorded in Gen. 3:15 identifies the seed of the woman with Jesus Christ, whose heel was crushed in Calvary, but who will ultimately destroy Satan by symbolically crushing his head. And if Jesus Christ is the seed of a woman, Mary is apparently the woman. Despite such a simple interpretation, however, it is not yet the time to put a final period to this commentary, and this is because of one sentence recorded in Rom. 16:20 and addressed to believers inhabited in Rome: "And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly" (MKJV). So the seed that will crush the serpent's head is not only Jesus Christ, but also a number of his followers. This conclusion, in turn, causes the need to rethink the symbolism of the woman - Mary could be the mother of Jesus, but she is certainly not the mother of each of the elect. So who is the woman and who is her seed?
It is true that Christ is the seed of the woman. Nevertheless, Christ - God's anointed one - is not only Jesus. In many places, the Bible teaches that Christ is both head and body. Our Lord Jesus is the head, while the body of Christ consists of his consecrated followers (Rom. 12:4,5; 1 Cor. 12:12,13; Eph. 4:11-16; Col. 1:26,27 ). It is to them, the "called-out ones of Jesus Christ ... called to be saints" that Paul writes Paul in Rom. 16:20 (Rom. 1:6,7 MKJV). Those who will turn out to be the winners of this calling will be co-rulers with Jesus Christ, and will actually participate with him in the work of destroying Satan and establishing the kingdom of God. And they will also participate in the final destruction of God's opponent (1 Cor. 9:24; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 5:9,10, 20:4-6).
A number of Biblical texts evidence that a certain number of God's elect has this hope. Already in the Old Testament we read that "the kingdom and rulership, and the greatness of the kingdom under all the heavens, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High ... [and not only to the Son of Man, as it was shown separately in Dn. 7:13,14]" (Dn. 7:27 MKJV). We also read about these "saints of the Most High" in the book of Revelation that they 'sat on the thrones and judgment was given to them.' "They will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4,6 MKJV). In Rom. 8:19-22 the apostle Paul writes about the hope of the whole creation, which "waits for the manifestation of the sons of God" - the winners of the Gospel calling, whose revelation with Jesus Christ will mean for humanity a release from the devil and his power (see also Lk. 12:32; Rom. 8:17; Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6, 5:9,10).
One person cannot be the mother of such a collective seed, especially if understood in the physical sense. The symbolic woman that gave life to Christ - Head and Body - is the New Covenant. The apostle Paul is clear about that in Gal. 4:21-31, where he proves that Sarah and Hagar also had allegorical significance as an announcement of two covenants. Hagar represents the Law Covenant in this picture, while Sarah the New Covenant ("Jerusalem from above") related to the promise that God gave to Abraham. This promise concerned the offspring which "shall possess the gate of His enemies", and which Jesus Christ turned out to be, as well as everyone who belongs to him through the Body of Christ (Gen. 22:17 MKJV; Gal. 3:29).
It is not by accident that the New Covenant and the Law Covenant were pictured in the Bible as women with offspring. Each of these two covenants develops a nation. The Law Covenant developed Israel in the flesh, the New Covenant is developing "the Israel of God" (Gal. 6:16 MKJV; cf. Lk. 22:20; Heb. 8:6, 9:15). Both covenants constitute the realization of the original promise made by God to Abraham regarding two types of offspring: earthly (sand grain) and spiritual (stars of heaven; Gen 22:16-18). The prophecy announcing that Abraham's offspring would defeat his enemies and would be a blessing for nations, did not specify which part of the offspring would fulfill it. In Gal. 4:21-31 Paul teaches that the descendant of Abraham, who will do these things, is the Israel of God - Christ.
Therefore, the woman referred to in Gen. 3:15 is the antitypical Sarah - the New Covenant. Her descendant, which is Christ - head and body - will be the one who defeats enemies (Satan and his subordinate people and angels) and will bless the nations in the Kingdom of God. In this way, the prophecy recorded in Gen. 3:15 as in a nutshell draws not only the glorious finale of the defeat of God's opponent, but also the means by which this effect will be achieved - the New Covenant developing the class of Christ as the executor of the Divine Plan.