Genesis 3:14-15
So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 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."
We not only know by now that the serpent is the Devil or also known as Satan in other parts of the Bible but that it disguises itself as other animals too. Sometimes, as cunning as a fox, at other times, as bloodthirsty as a wolf, as lethal as a viper, as noisy and threatening as a roaring lion, as fictitious as a dragon and so on. But, none of these reflect the actual position of the Devil as it does in the passage above. If it can only "strike the heel", that would mean it moves on it's belly. It cannot strike any higher than the "heel". Limited powers! In fact, it has been made powerless already! Whose heel, by the way?
The heel of the Lord Jesus Christ. When did the Devil strike the heel of the Lord Jesus Christ? When He took the form of flesh. From His birth to the cross at Calvary, the Devil was after His "heel"- to strike it.
Did it manage to "strike the heel" of the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes it did, disguising as a pack of wolves with its demons and minions at His trial and death. But, what resulted from this "strike"? No power! No power to kill Him forever. The Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. He won over all the power of the Enemy. The Devil's sting was death and it didn't work on Him. Even the grave could not hold Him in there beyond three days. There was no corruption or decay to His body upon resurrection, even though the marks of the cruel injuries inflicted on His body by the Enemy was still there. He showed them later to His disciples upon His triumphant resurrection as a testimony of God's power. The Devil "struck His heel" but the Lord Jesus Christ crushed it's head once and for all through His mighty resurrection from the dead. He also frees all those who believe, love and obey Him from this power of sin and death. We are able to put to death the sinful nature of the Devil in us by obeying Him with the help of God the Holy Spirit within us.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin,and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
