I WILL PUT ENMITY - Daily Devotional - Tuesday, February 28, 2012

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY, 26, 2012

Colossians 1:20  “...it shall bruise thy head…

Prophetic references to the cross will be our focus for the next several reflections.

SCRIPTURE READING: GENESIS:3:15

15 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.

REFLECTION: Moments after he lured, deceived, and ensnared Eve, the serpent was sentenced—“the seed of a woman will crush your head!”  Too often we point to Eve’s tragic choice and fail to observe that it was a descendant of Eve’s—born of a virgin—without the involvement of any man, who would conquer that old serpent the devil. (Revelation 12:19; 20:2). 

That final conquest would not be painless.  Indeed the serpent would wound and kill his destroyer. But “death could not hold him prey, Jesus my Savior!  He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!” (He Arose, by Robert Lowry).

The enmity, or hostility that exists between Satan and the Savior can never be resolved by negotiation, accommodation, or compromise.  “What communion hath light with darkness? What agreement has Christ with beliel?” (2 Corinthians 6:15,16).  Some moderns have proposed that unity at any price is preferable to calling our enemy and his impish allies by name and engaging them in battle.   But there is an enmity between Satan’s seed and Christ’s that can never be resolved. Failure to acknowledge and accent that difference is the genesis of compromise.

John the Beloved tells us, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”  (1 John 3:8).  What Christ came to do, He did!  His sacrifice expunges the guilt of sin, defeats the authority of sin, delivers from the power of sin, sanctifies us from the nature of sin, protects us when enticed to sin, and saves us from the penalty of sin.

But there is more.  We who are born of God, having His seed within us (1 John 3:9), will like our Christ be bruised through persecution and temptation. Yet through it all, we can rejoice that the power to triumph over every solicitation of Satan is ours through our conquering Savior.  “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37). 

PRAYER: Our Gracious Heavenly Father, With the Apostle we say, “Thanks be unto God, for His unspeakable Gift!”  To know that from the very foundation of the world you were making provision for the redemption of fallen man is wonderful evidence of your great love for us.  Open our eyes to see our enemy, to recognize his subtle as well as his straight-on attacks, and to appreciate our conquering Savior.  Forgive us for yielding to the allure of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Our heart’s desire is to be wholly and holy on the Lord’s side.  Savior we are Thine!  May all that we say and do this day bring glory to the Savior in whose name we pray. Amen.  Our Father &c.