Genesis 3 speaks of the original sin of Adam and Eve and the consequences for their sin. In verses 16-19, we have the Lord’s judgment on Adam and Eve. That says, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

When God judged sin, He began where sin began…with the serpent. So let’s read Genesis 3:14-15, “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Who is this mysterious serpent that tempted Eve to sin? We do not have to wonder. Revelation 20:2-3 say, “And he laid hold on the dragon, THAT OLD SERPENT, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Satan took on the form of a serpent so that he might tempt the innocent pair into committing sin.

Physically, the serpent was cursed by being made to crawl on its belly. We might consider that until this point, the serpent had legs to walk upon, either on two legs walking upright, or by four or more legs walking as most animals do. Spiritually, there was a great curse placed upon the serpent (Satan). That curse was ultimate defeat. As the lord said to him, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Let’s read that verse again from the Amplified Bible which makes the meaning more clear. That says, “And I will put enmity (open hostility) Between you and the woman, And between your seed (offspring) and her Seed; He shall [fatally] bruise your head, And you shall [only] bruise His heel.”

The offspring of the woman is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ. He came into the world to defeat Satan and give us eternal life. We read in Hebrews 2:14, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” It was ‘through death’ that the Lord destroyed Satan. That is when the Lord’s heel was bruised by Satan. Christ was wounded, but Satan was absolutely defeated. We read in Isaiah 53:5, “But he was WOUNDED FOR OUR TRANSGRESSIONS, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

We read more of the Lord’s triumphant work in Colossians 2:13-15, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” Christ, who was victorious against Satan, has graciously caused us to share in His victory, thereby making believers victorious as well. We are told in 1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (291.6)