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10 -- Do you know God's judgment over Satan?
GENESIS 3:14-15
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you from all the cattle and from all the beasts of the wilderness; on your belly you shall walk and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall crush your head, and you shall crush his heel.”
God speaks to sinners, revealing to them the atrocity of their sins in all clarity. In doing this, his aim is to save them from their iniquities. But he did not discuss with Satan, the evil one, rather he immediately judged him, because his malice is evident. He is the enemy of God; he blasphemes his Creator; and his aim is the destruction of the Highest One with all the creatures, which He brought forth. And Satan, the very cunning deceiver, enjoys a huge power, to the extent that Christ even named him “the ruler of this world”.
God cursed Satan, because he led the simpleminded astray, made them fall in the sin of pride, plunged them into his rebellious disobedience, and destroyed in them the glory of God, which was granted to them. So the spirit of Satan is the opposite of God's Spirit. The Holy One is glorious, but Satan is ugly and detestable, even if he were to appear as an angel of light bewitching millions. God is love, but Satan overflows and sprays the poisons of his hatred in every inadvertent careless person, just as a snake sprays its poison, when it bites distracted children. This means that Satan wants to fill us with the poisons of his malice and to kill the life of God in us. He is the enemy of truth. For this reason Christ taught you to pray with determination and persistence, “Deliver us from the evil one”.
God did not destroy Satan immediately, because he has the right to tempt all people, trying to separate them from God. How horrible is our destitution, such that everyone born of a woman has become a prey to Satan's spirit, except one, namely Jesus Christ our Savior!
Now, if it is true that the first woman surrendered to the temptation of Satan, and her surrender resulted in the entrance of sin into the world, so it is equally true that Mary opened her heart to the Word of God, so that eternal life could enter our world through the birth of the Son of God. So Christ Jesus is the victor over Satan through His birth, the course of His life, and His death on the cross. The deluder tried with all his might to place in the soul of the Holy One hatred and selfishness and disbelief. But the Crucified One remained innocent, atoning with His love for the sin of the world, and justifying those, whom Satan had led astray, extracting them from his power with the shedding of his precious blood. Satan tried to exterminate the Son of God through His crucifixion, but the opposite happened. The death of the Crucified One crushed Satan and exterminated his power, because he did not have enough strength to undo the reconciliation of God with the world.
The result is that today Christ liberates millions from the power of Satan, by touching them with His Holy Spirit and by filling them with Him. For those, who are born from the Spirit of God, do not bring forth the fruits of Satan's lies, but they spread the kingdom of Christ in faith and hope and love, waiting for the coming of the King of kings, who will bind the evil one and tie him up for the final judgment. Certainly Christ will triumph, so do you participate in his victory?
MEMORIZE: I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall crush your head, and you shall crush his heel. (Genesis 3:15)
PRAYER: We thank you, heavenly Father, for the summary of the Gospel, which has come in the Old Testament, and for the death of your Son, who saved us from the power and cunning deception of Satan. Open our hearts to the Holy Spirit, then we will be sanctified and bring the fruits of His love in purity and truth. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, to spread your kingdom until our Savior comes, and then we will glorify Him with your children in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon and Central Africa.