Protoevangelium

Genesis 3:14-15
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”

Protoevangelium. There's your big word for the day. It means "first Gospel". In verse 15, God gives His first indication that all is not lost. Even though Adam and Eve have sinned and The Garden of Eden is lost to them, God still has a plan. This plan has been in place from the beginning, but now He reveals that there will be a Savior. All hope is not lost. The words are spoken to the serpent, but meant for the ears of Adam and Eve. Since we have all of the Bible and Adam and Eve were living it rather than reading it, they didn't have the luxury of hindsight. We know that the Father did indeed send the Son of Man to crush the head of the evil one. His heel was bruised. He shall bear the scars of our sin on His hands and feet for eternity. But the victory was complete. The enemy was crushed on the cross and no longer can accuse the saints of sin. He has been cast from heaven forever.

Of course we still have to deal with the temptations of the Satan on a regular basis. But if we live like a people who have victory over him in Christ Jesus, our lives we are the winners. Far too often we live like a defeated army, dragging themselves home from a losing battle. We are not on the losing side! God has won and Satan has been crushed.

Paul picks up this picture for us in Romans 16:19-20.
19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Not only is Satan's head going to be crushed, God's going to use OUR feet (through Christ) to do the crushing. He gets stomped. It's a vivid picture, but one worth holding onto when tempted!

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