(Part 1 of 2)
“Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman siad, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”-Genesis 3: 13-15
Who is this serpent? He goes by many names throughout the Bible; Beelzbub, the god of this age, the father of lies, the great dragon and Lucifer. However, Revelation 12:9 refers to him by his two most common names:
“So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
The word Devil means slanderer/accuser. The word Satan means adversary. He was cast out of heaven after, according to, Isaiah 14:12-15 he attempted to ascend above the throne of God:
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.”
His mission according to John 10:10 is to steal, kill and destroy:
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
After his expulsion from heaven he turned his attention to mankind; the apple of God’s creation. He opposed them by bombarding them with temptations, accusations and condemnation; all in an effort to separate them from the love of God!
Satan had already suffered a humiliating defeat in heaven when God deposed him from his position of authority. When he was cast down; he knew it was over. So he turned his attention on humanity.
If he could not ascend above the throne of God, he would destroy that which God held dearest. His mission was to tempt Adam and Eve to sin. Why? Because Isaiah 59:2 declares:
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.”
After Adam and Eve succumb to temptation and allowed sin to enter the world, you would think that Satan would have been pleased with his results and celebrated his great victory; however he too heard what God declared in Genesis 3:15:
“He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15 is a beautiful passage because it declares for us from the very beginning of the Bible that Satan is already defeated. God looked Satan dead in the face and declared his defeat! Satan knew from that moment; he was already destined for destruction.
Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
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