Serpent crushing

"I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
hhe shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15)

Ed Clowney just taught me that Satan's quotation of Psalm 91:11-12 when tempting Jesus is significant in a surprising way. It is significant not just because he was quoting Scripture, and quoting Scripture in a Christocentric way that found Christ in David's psalm, but also for the context of the verses.

Like so many of us Satan knew when to stop the quote when it got to the bit that made him uncomfortable. However, for Jesus knowing what came next must have been a great encouragement to resist Satan's temptation because if he was the Messiah of verses 11-12 he was also the Messiah for whom it was promised:

"You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot." (v.13)

The good news for us is that although all the promises find their "yes" in Jesus, he does not cling onto what is his but shares this birth-right to those he is not ashamed to call his brothers. For this reason, contrary to what you may expect, the only direct references to treading on serpents in the NT (correct me if I'm wrong) are about Christians rather than Christ!

"I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you." (Luke 10:19)

"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." (Romans 16:20a)

Because Jesus defeated Satan in his temptation, when Israel and Adam had both failed to, we can share in his victory no matter how tempting the sin or powerful the enemy.

True sovereignty

God is man's rightful Lord, Satan a false lord, a usurper, a thief, a robber. This distinction between God and the Devil, their contrasted claim on man, is not something which should be added to the contrast between life and death to complete that contrast, for Satan's subordination to God and his helplessness before God are implied in that very contrast itself. When it is said that God is life, it is implied that man becomes man by receiving from God; and when Satan is said to be death, it is implied that man loses his humanity when under the legitimacy of God's claim, and of Satan's, on man is a question that provides its own answer, as is always the case when true sovereignty emerges: the dispute is not settled in favour of the rightful claimant, instead it is clear that the rightful claimant never disputes with the underling but allows him to be just who he is, and thus proceeds with his work using the subordinate usurper as his tool without taking away his evil. So shall it be at the last day when the faithful of the Lord shall attain to fulness of vision and shall see that the death, discipline and evil under which they suffered on earth, ad in which Satan always works, but brought them nearer to life and destroyed the hold that sin, their enemy, had on their inmost being. The enemy executes that which God has determined shall be.

(pp. 93-94, The Living Word, Gustaf Wingren)