He Shall Bruise Thy Head

Carl Bloch: The Denying of Satan

And the Lord God said unto the serpent, . . .  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. (Genesis 3:14,15)

From before the beginning, Jesus Christ was ordained to be the Savior of the world.  In the Grand Council in Heaven, Heavenly Father presented His plan for our ultimate salvation and exaltation.  God later told Enoch: I gave unto [man his] knowledge, in the day I created [him]; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency. (Moses 7:32 )

Because He knew all would sin and come short of the Glory of God (Romans 3:23) Father's plan included a Savior that, through Him, men could come back into the presence of the Father. He asked for a volunteer to take on this most difficult of all Heavenly callings.  Jehovah, the first born, said "send me" and I will follow Thy plan and give the glory to Thee.  Lucifer, another spirit son of God, said, "send me" and I will save everyone and because i will do it, I want Thy glory.  The father chose the chose Jehovah and cast Lucifer and his followers out of heaven because, along with many other reasons, Lucifer's plan would have destroyed man's agency.

Lucifer became Satan.  From that moment on, he sought to destroy all of God's children.  He tempted Eve in the Garden which brought about the fall. Lucifer thought he was destroying the Father's plan from the beginning.  In truth, he was forwarding the plan.

Like the first bold move in a chess match, the battle between good and evil that began in Heaven now played out here on earth. By placing enmity between Satan and Man, God granted Satan the right to tempt and torment man, but ultimately the Father's Plan would win because Jesus Christ, through His atonement, would crush Satan's head.

While it may seem at times as if Satan is winning this battle for souls, we should never forget that in the end, Satan will be defeated and Jesus Christ will prevail. From the day Adam and Eve left the Garden, they have been teaching their children about the role of the Savior in God's plan.  

The Old Testament if full of references to that babe born of a virgin; descriptions of His character and mission; His atonement and death.  Tomorrow, we will look at some of these prophecies leading up to the culmination of all God's plans through His only Begotten Son.

In this week before Christmas, join me as I look at some of the prophecies of the coming of the Messiah.

© Gebara Education, December 18, 2017 All rights reserved