Still Hostile

by Candace Cortez

One of my favorite things about the Bible, the incredible, God breathed and powerful text handed down and preserved for generations is that if I read it right, I always find something new. I have been reading the Bible for more than 2 decades and this is still so true. Is this true for you? The key here is reading it “right.” There have been seasons when I read because I knew I was supposed to, so it was essentially just a verse count relay. I needed to get a certain amount of verses in me to justify calling myself a Christian. Fortunately, I have grown, and continue to grow in my love for scripture. If you are where I was, take heart! It gets better. I now read because I know I will find something. I now read because I love God more than I love being a Christian. I now read for growth, not verse count. Here is one of the beautiful things that recently stuck out to me.

From the beginning, God had a plan for all eternity. This alone, kind of blows my mind. In Genesis 3, we have the account of the fall of all mankind. The process is sad, and the reaction from the Father reveals so much about His love, compassion, handle on justice, and desire to keep us in the loop. One statement in particular recently stuck out about our relationship with the serpent, the central bad guy in this story. Genesis 3:15 is the middle of God’s account of His plan, both in retribution and in restoration. It is written,

“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.”

The first word highlighted in my heart (and now in my Bible) is the word enmity. I knew that Satan was my enemy, but I never realized that the status of enemy was established by God Himself. The status of enemy may have primarily existed between God and the devil, but God placed that same hostility between His created children and Satan. The meaning of enmity is the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something. This feeling of despising the work of the enemy is a result of the Father’s will. As I prayed on this, I began to realize, that if I am not in active opposition to the evil in this world, to the ways in which the enemy is trying to deceive and corrupt, then I am outside of the will of my Father. Each moment of passive acceptance of what the enemy is doing in this planet, actually puts me in HIS camp, instead of the side of the creator of the universe. Here’s my prayer: Lord, help me to keep that feeling of hostility against the enemy, and LOVE for people and this planet, alive in tandem, propelling me towards the active building of Your Kingdom. Amen.

The last part I’ll write about is God’s plan for Eve’s offspring. Many scholars suggest that the specific offspring mentioned here is actually Jesus. He will crush the head, meaning actually destroying Satan in the end, while Jesus will be struck a blow to the heel. Honestly, I am still studying to figure out the significance of the heel as the specified place of the strike, but I am certain of this: the enemy is destroyed, while Jesus, Eve’s offspring, is only wounded. This leads me to remember the crucifixion, as terrible as it was, led to the resurrection. Jesus conquered it all to defeat the enemy.

Now here we are. Still enemies of Satan, but on the side of a King who has already begun the process of victory. We live in victory and will be victorious even more. I don’t know what part of your life the enemy has tried to win over, or what you have become comfortable with, but remember that we are victorious in so many ways already. God uses all things, even the strikes of the enemy to create something good. He will use your trials to build strength, perseverance, and leverage these over the plans of the one who has already lost. Keep studying God’s word. Keep hostility for evil alive. Keep in mind, you serve a God who is crushing it!