50: The Curse on Satan

Because of the fall of man, creation was cursed. Death entered where there had only been life. Enmity entered where that had only been harmony.

The first curse out of God’s mouth was on satan.

So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust. and you shall eat dust all the days of your life, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15)¹

The word “head” in “He shall bruise your head” speaks of authority. God promised that One would be born from the descendants of Eve (Jesus Christ) who would be wounded by satan while in the process of crushing satan’s authority in the earth forever. “Bruise His heel” is referring to the cross. “Bruise your head” is referring to the resurrection. Jesus disarmed the devil and made a public spectacle of him!²

Throughout biblical history we can see the devil’s strategy to destroy the Redeemer or stop Him from being born. The devil attempted to stop God’s plan of redemption from the beginning.

Satan was the one to put it into the heart of Cain to kill his brother in Genesis 4. Why? Inspiring Cain to murder Abel was his attempt to “bruise His heel” in order to kill Eve’s Seed and stop God’s plan to save His people from sin. The devil thought that Abel might be the Redeemer because he did not know God’s timing of when the Messiah would be born.

Thousands of years later we see the Egyptian Pharaoh trying to suppress the growing Israelite population because God’s people were growing greater and stronger and mightier than the Egyptians. Pharaoh commanded that every newborn Hebrew male was to be murdered.³ Once again, we see satan attempting to stop the Seed.

About fifteen hundred years later, when our Savior was born and a myriad of angels filled the skies, satan knew that this could be his dreaded hour, and we see him on the rampage again. He did not know where the Baby was born, so he tried another clean sweep when he incited Herod to issue the decree to kill all the firstborn sons of the Hebrews.⁴ Thank God for the angel who appeared to Joseph telling him to take the Baby to Egypt for protection.⁵

Throughout Jesus’s life on earth, satan tried many times to kill Him by the hands of the Pharisees, but nothing could stop Jesus before His time. When Jesus hung on the cross and prayed, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”⁶, satan figured he was finally triumphing over Jesus. When Jesus breathed His last, satan thought he had won the victory. However, he didn’t realize that he had only “bruised his heal.” In three days, Jesus would “bruise his head” forever.

Nothing could stop the Seed from being born. Nothing could stop the Seed from growing up as a human being in this world. Nothing could stop the Seed from giving up His life for us. Nothing could stop the Seed from being raised from the dead. Nothing could stop the Seed from bringing forth a new creation just like Himself.

Today there is a still a seed that satan tries to steal: the incorruptible seed of God’s word in our hearts. Our part is just to believe that what God has said is true and to guard our hearts by rejecting satan’s lies.

(from pages 97-98 of Unveiling Jesus)

Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!

Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.

---

Shop Unveiling Jesus Products

¹Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.  Used by permission.
²Colossians 2:13-15
³Exodus 1:22
⁴Matthew 2:16
⁵Matthew 2:13
⁶Matthew 27:46