The Sentence

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

THE SENTENCE

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

Much has been said by the theologians of old regarding who this serpent was and what it became. However, we notice that, whatever this creature was, it had no defense; it could not blame anyone, as both the man and the woman had. Whatever creature it was, apparently it stood upright, maybe not two-footed, but maybe a quadruped; however, it was of the highest order above all other of the livestock and wild animals. The sentence was pronounced on this creature, changing it from whatever it was to becoming something like a snake, or maybe even an earthworm, for they literally eat the dust. Whatever the agent was that tempted the woman, it was just an agent of Satan, and this sentence was against him, more than upon the agent he used. We have been subjected to agents of Satan all our lives; in fact, because of the sin of Adam and Eve, all their offspring, all mankind, were born with what has been labeled as "original sin". There is none righteous, not one, we have all turned aside from God.

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, quotes that truth from the Psalmist. So what are we to do? The tempter has been sentenced; he is doomed, he will eat dirt, so to speak. He is the lowest of the lowest, the least of the least; his future is to perish, yet he continues to try to bring us down with him. He may have thought he stuck the heel of Jesus, but Jesus crushed his head, demolished his stronghold on man. The tempter  no longer has any power over those who have decided to follow Jesus. He may try to tempt, he may use some agent to bring about our temptation, but all he can do is create an illusion, because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. There cannot be two spirits in our being; the tempter cannot be within us. He cannot speak to us as he did with Eve. There may be times we fail, we fall, but it is not the tempter's fault; it is our own. We might be able to blame Satan, as that old Flip Wilson saying, "The Devil made me do it," indicates. But the truth is, no one makes us do it, except ourselves. The tempter has been judged and sentenced. We, who are in Christ, will not be judged, for we have already been declared innocent, holy, and pleasing in the eyes of God. Jesus broke that chain that we were connected to Adam and Eve with; He broke us free, and because Jesus set us free, we are free indeed. This is the sentence.