Crushed

DEVOTION

PROPHECIES AND FULFILLMENTS CONCERNING CHRIST

CRUSHED

As the remaining two chapters of Proverbs were not written by Solomon, it is time to move on to another area of truth. We think it will be of interest to examine the prophecies which concern Christ and look at the scripture which shows the fulfillment of that prophecy. This will afford more insight into truth, as well as find some truth to guide our lives. The first prophecy is early on in scripture.

Gen 3:14-15

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 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."

NIV

There has been a long list of scholars who have spent much time given to the meaning of the word, serpent. Without repeating an enormous amount of investigation, we will be content to simple agree with their conclusions. However it might be good to remember that the original language this word translated serpent means snake. Yet a snake cannot talk, nor does it have any legs or arms. Others have thought it meant alligator which has legs and arms, but this beast has no means of human speech. Because there is New Testament references of the serpent being Satan, we have to agree with these scholars in their conclusion it is Satan. We must consider Eve was not taken aback that this creature spoke to her. We have no record of previous conversations, but the fact she was not surprised this creature spoke to her gives us reason to believe it was Satan. The fact that Satan, once cast from heaven, has always and will always be set against God and will continually attempt to draw us away from God, we must believe this was him, who tempted Eve. So then the prophetic meaning here in this verse is that there will always be enmity between Satan and Jesus. Jesus is her seed, Jesus will come into the world through a woman. It is not the seed of Adam, it is not the normal means by which offspring are born. The fulfillment of this prophesy is:

Gal 4:4-5

4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,

NIV

Luke 2:6-7

 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

NIV

Rev 12:6

5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.

NIV

We have known, as it is common knowledge to us believers, that Jesus is the Christ, born through a virgin who was conceived by the Holy Spirit. We have this recorded for us in the Gospels. But we have to know from the very beginning of time, this was the plan of God. What he told that old serpent, Satan, shows us God planned to bring his son into the world and he would crush Satan once and forever. Either Satan thought he could win against God, or that he did not believe God. We have to consider Satan was once in heaven as the angel Lucifer and that he already knew Jesus, the Son of God because Jesus was there in the beginning. So we must conclude Satan thought he could win against God. His first attempt to win, seemed to be a success, at least the first battle. He did successfully get Eve and then Adam to disbelieve God and thus fall from their perfect state in which they were created. It also seems he has been winning battles throughout generations. He engages in a battle against God every day in the lives of people, specifically us believers. Those who do not believe God, or in God, Satan already has them in his snare. He has them under his influence and so he spends most of his time attacking those of us who have been reunited with our God through Christ. Although the battles may be daily, the outcome of the war has already been determined by God. Jesus will crush the head of Satan. This may not actually be the crushing of his skull, but rather the head may refer to his headship or leadership of people into sin. Once we were under the headship of Satan, but when we came to Jesus, when we accepted Jesus as the head of our lives, he crushed the headship of Satan. We are referred to as the body of Christ, him being the head.

Col 1:15-18

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.

NIV

So we live in Jesus and Jesus lives in us, as us, and therefore we have nothing to fear of the old serpent, the devil, Satan. Christ is now our head, our Lord, and we live under his influence. Praise God, Satan’s head has been crushed.