He Will Crush Your Head

Genesis 3:15 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.”

There is an image from the movie “The Passion of the Christ” that vividly reminds me of the relationship between Jesus and Satan. The scene takes place in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is visibly struggling with the enormity of what is to happen to him in Jerusalem. Jesus has been praying, the disciples have been sleeping. Satan, depicted by a serpent, is seen to be slithering towards Christ. Just as the serpent is poised to strike at Jesus, the serpent is loudly crushed. Boom! Take that satan.

Satan has been stopped. His power to levy death over you and I has been crushed. That is one key thing for us to remember. The score is at the end of the game is God 1, satan 0. The prisoner, you and I, have been set free. The problem is, we keep forgetting the finality of that victory. We keep trying to refight that epic battle by minimizing the importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. When we try to re-earn our salvation by foolishly pursuing salvation by works or routine or worse, we re-invigorate satan. When we fail to embrace that salvation, we re-empower satan. All too often we seek to refight the battle already won in Christ. The promises of God were fulfilled in Christ. Satan was crushed. So very many forget that key bit of information. And many more reject that promise made and fulfilled. My heart aches for those who reject the simple truth. Their eyes are closed, their ears are sealed and their hearts are hardened.

If you want something to pray for during Lent, pray for the lost. Pray for those who seek salvation through means that will surely lead to their separation from God. Pray for those who chose to viscously kill innocents in a desperate bid to find paradise. Pray for those who seek to place Jesus and those who are Christians in an unfavorable light. Pray for our world filled with broken promises. Pray that all would turn to the One True God.  

PRAYER: Father, our world is filled with broken promises. In stark contrast stands Your faithfulness. Truly, great is Your faithfulness. For Your love we are forever thankful and offer this humble prayer in Jesus’ name, Amen.