Victory
Read Genesis 3:15
Today, Easter isn’t very violent. Walk into any grocery store and you’ll find lots of pastel colors, plastic eggs and baskets filled with candy to mark the season. I’ll admit, biting the heads off of chocolate covered bunnies and marshmallow chickens is a bit disturbing, but it’s hardly the stuff “Die Hard” movies are made of.
The picture of Easter in the Bible, however, is that of a decisive victory after a long battle. After Eve was deceived by the serpent in the Garden of Eden, the battle lines had been drawn. God told the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers” (Genesis 3:15a).
Look who the opponents are. The battle isn’t between good and evil, between God and Satan, but between humanity and Satan. While this isn’t God’s fight, He picks a side. In drawing the battle lines, God foreshadows the victory. He tells the serpent about Eve’s offspring, saying, “He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” This is the very first glimpse of Easter we have in the Bible.
One may recover from being struck on the heel, but having one’s head crushed is another story. The imagery describes the complete loss of power and control, and Satan’s power is death. Satan may have assumed victory when Jesus died on the cross, but it was only a strike. When Jesus walked out of the grave, however, it was clear that death had been defeated. Satan had been dealt a crushing blow and the victory God had long foreshadowed had finally come.
Pastel colors and chocolate candy may not paint the graphic picture of Easter the Bible does, but they have become part of our celebration. And we have every reason to celebrate. The victory we could not have won on our own has been won by Christ.
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