And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel. (Genesis 3:15)

Not only is Eve going to start to hate Satan and love God, but children born to Adam and Eve, a redeemed humanity, will also hate Satan. Not only has Satan not permanently captured Adam and Eve, but he hasn’t permanently captured humanity either. There will be conflict between human beings and the kingdom of Satan.

Now, the reference to Satan’s seed doesn’t mean that Satan gives birth to demons (or to people, for that matter). What it does refer to is all of the haters of God, which would include demons, but particularly here includes human beings.

What the Lord is saying is, “You haven’t won all of humanity.” There are going to be people within the human race that can be called, like Jesus called them in John 8:44, children of Satan. There are going to be those people Ephesians 2:2 calls the children of disobedience. They’re going to be the devil’s seed, human beings who hate God and follow the prince of the power of the air, which all the unconverted do.

God says, “Your seed is going to have enmity with her seed.” In other words, Satan’s not going to just take over the world. The whole human race does not belong to him. He will have his seed, but the woman, who will belong to God, will have those born of her who will also belong to God. And they are her seed spiritually speaking, because they follow the faith that will be true of Adam and Eve. And there will be tremendous conflict between the children of Satan and the children of God, between a redeemed humanity and an unredeemed humanity.

Then God mentions a “He.” God doesn’t say “I” or “We,” but “He.” And who is “He”? He is an individual within the line of Eve. Within that seed, within the believing people, there will be a He – a special man who is going to deliver the fatal blow to Satan. Satan will go after that one man and bruise Him on the heel. But the man will inflict a death blow, literally crushing Satan’s head.

We know who He is, don’t we? It’s Jesus. He is part of her seed. And when did Satan bruise Him on the heel? It happened at the cross:

But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our peace fell upon Him,
And by His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

And after the piece of bread, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” (John 13:27)

It was at the cross that Jesus was bruised. Yes, it was in the purpose and plan of God. Yes, it was God letting His Son be punished for our sins. Yes, it was the just wrath of God. But at the same time it was Satan who was inflicting these bruises. The sufferings of Christ on the cross was His bruise. And as I said, it healed very fast. It only took a few hours before Jesus said, “It is finished,” and in triumph gave His life up.

This bruise served the purpose of God. Sure, it was inflicted by Satan, because Satan was the source of sin. Satan was the source of the corrupt world system. Satan was the tempter who plunged the whole human race into sin. So in a great way, Satan is responsible for all of this. Therefore he’s responsible for the bruising of Jesus, even though it’s within the framework of God’s judicial purpose.

It was there at the cross that Jesus was bruised. But it was also there at the cross where Satan’s head was crushed.

Why? Because Jesus conquered sin. Jesus reconciled sinners to God. Jesus satisfied the justice of God. He paid the full debt for sin. He conquered death. He opened heaven. Everything that needed to happen redemptively happened at the cross. It was an absolutely crushing blow to Satan. And those who are in Christ participate in that victory:

And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. (Romans 16:20)

Paul is saying, “You may be struggling. You believers in Rome may be going through some difficult times. I just want to tell you, you participate already in crushing the head of Satan, because you are the seed of the woman. You are in Christ, and His victory is your victory.” Satan’s head is crushed at the cross by Christ and by all who are Christ’s throughout all the era of redemption.

Now you say, “Well, isn’t Satan still running around?” Sure, but he’s already been sentenced. He just hasn’t been executed. He’s under complete constraint by God. He can’t do one thing that isn’t within the permanent purposes of God. His head has been crushed. He is vanquished. He is defeated. And he’s under your feet as well. You are in a triumphant position. The devil has essentially no power in your life as a believer. You can fall victim to temptations, but he cannot do anything fatal to you. He cannot do anything to take away what God has given you in Christ.

And the time will come for his execution. At the end of Revelation you come into chapter 19 and 20. Here, Jesus comes back and sets up His millennial kingdom. John records:

And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were finished. After these things he must be released for a short time. …

And when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be released from his prison, and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.

And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Revelation 20:2-3, 7-10)

Satan has already had his head crushed. He is not sovereign in the world. He is a god only over the systems of evil that he works in the world, but he is under the sovereignty of God. He is no threat to the believer whatsoever, because greater is He that is in us, namely the Spirit of Christ, than he that is in the world, Satan (1 John 4:4).

We participate in the crushing of the head of Satan, because we are joined with Christ, who has delivered the deadly blow. We have no fear of Satan. He is a crushed foe.

This post is based on a sermon Dr. MacArthur preached in 2000, titled “The Curse on the Serpent, Part 2.”