Genesis 3:14-15. 14The Lord God said to the serpent…15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The word embattled simply means that we are in a battle. A fight. Not with people, but with the devil, Satan. This is a battle that God said would happen from the beginning. Look at our verses for today. Yes, they are confusing, but they also tell us something very important – there is a spiritual battle going on all around us between people (the offspring or children of the woman, Eve) and Satan (the offspring of the serpent).
When I was a kid growing up we would be warned in church and in my Christian school about all the terrible ways that Satan wanted to get us. Satan would get us through heavy metal rock music, or through reading horoscopes, or watching horror movies. Honestly, I didn’t ever care about those things growing up.
The truth is that Satan doesn’t try to tempt us with extreme things, at least not at first. Like he did with Eve, Satan tempts us with good things. Things that God created. Ordinary things. Everyday things. Things that look good or make us happy. Notice how the forbidden fruit was described in Genesis 3:
Genesis 3:6. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Tastes good. Looks good. Makes you wise like God. You might be thinking: Why would God say no to this? Be careful, that’s the question the serpent asked Eve.
Genesis 3:1. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
Bu if God is in charge, and he is, then it doesn’t matter how good it is, or how smart it might feel. If God says no, then the answer is no. Why should we obey God? Because HE IS GOOD. That means that if God asks us to trust him, or if he tells us what to do, we don’t need to fight God, we need to fight Satan and obey God.
Like we said, Satan likely won’t tempt you with big huge sins and evil deeds. Instead he will put tiny doubts about God in your head. In a garden where Adam and Eve could have the fruit from hundreds of trees, Satan focused on the one tree that God said no to. In a classroom where I have endless opportunities to learn and do my best, why shouldn’t I be allowed to cheat on this one little quiz in order to make sure my grade stays OK? Or, in a world where I can play all kinds of sports and have fun, why shouldn’t I be allowed to get angry when I lose this one game? Can you see how this thinking doesn’t make any sense?
The battle you will face your entire life is one where Satan will want you to question the goodness and honesty of God. Satan will say things like this: “If God is so good, then why would he say no to what you want? God says that sin is bad, but it’s not really. Did God even say not to do that? Listen to your friends, the TV, the Instagram influencer, they will tell you the truth, not God.” But these are all his lies.
God wants us to be free, he wants us to choose, and that means we will choose to sin sometimes. We will lose the battle. But with Jesus in our hearts we have won the war. Jesus has bruised (or crushed) the offspring of the serpent. When Jesus died on the cross, his heel was bruised, but Satan’s head was crushed. Jesus has won! The victory is his and it is ours too. We never have to be tricked by Satan again, we never have to give in to his temptations again. And when we do, we never have to feel guilty again because Jesus has forgiven us of all our sins and given us his eternal life.
Questions: Can you think of a time when you were tempted to do something wrong? How can remembering that God is good, so good he would send Jesus to die for us, help you to fight against temptation?
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