Note: We all know it is a struggle to sing songs like the angels did 2,000 years ago. We struggle to view the birth of Jesus as a big deal. So, this is my attempt to stir worship within us. This is the second of 20 blog entries, one for each day until Christmas.
Satan is real. And deadly. And he is one million times stronger than you or I. He is a roaring lion, devouring people (1 Peter 5:8). All men apart from Christ have him as their father (John 8:44). We followed him, and not begrudgingly, but whole-heartedly down the path of life unto our own cliff of destruction (Ephesians 2:2). He is the ‘god of this world’ who exerts incredible power as BILLIONS do his damning bidding.
And it has been this way from the very beginning, since Adam and Eve.
Yet God did not leave us on our own. After Adam and Eve’s treasonous disobedience in the Garden of Eden, God graciously gave this glimmer of hope in his curse on the Serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the women, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15, ESV).
Notice two awesome things in this promise. First, salvation will not come from Adam or Eve, but will come through the woman’s line. It is her offspring that will destroy the Devil. But who is this offspring? It was not Abel nor Seth nor Abraham nor Moses nor David. None of them bruised the serpent’s head. No, it was this humble, meek infant born of the virgin Mary and lying in a manger. Jesus could not just show up on earth to save. He had to be born of a woman. He is the one and only true offspring of Eve.
Second, look how this salvation comes about. It is the offspring of the woman who “shall bruise [the serpent’s] head,” but the serpent “shall bruise [the offspring’s] heel.” This offspring will deal out a deadly wound (“bruise your head”) and receive a minor wound (“bruise his heel”). Why do you suppose God would waste time mentioning this minor wound? If it is minor, he will recover. No big deal? Right? Perhaps he was just saying that there would be conflict. Perhaps, but I think there is more. Could it be that both are mentioned because God is hinting at how this deadly wound happen? The deadly wound could not happen without his heel being bruised. In fact, it was precisely by having his heel bruised that he crushed the serpent’s head. By the infant Jesus’ eventually laying down his life (“bruise his heel”), he would fully crush the serpent’s head and deal the blow to end his reign (“bruise his head”). Jesus’ death brought Satan’s death.
Notice how clear this is from these two texts:
“This [Jesus] set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:15).
“And they [the saints] have conquered him [the Devil] by the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 12:11).
Come, let us adore this devil-destroying infant!
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