Jesus Defeated Satan For All Eternity

Jesus Defeated Satan in the Past, Present and Future

Mathew chapter 4 is right after Jesus is baptized by John the Baptist and then goes into the wilderness and is tempted. I find it interesting that even though Satan knows exactly who Jesus is, the first two of his temptations start with "If you are the son of God..." He is essentially saying, "Prove it."

The second temptation is when Satan told Jesus to jump from the pinnacle of the temple. I was reminded again that Satan used God's word to tempt Jesus when he said, 'He will command his angels concerning you; on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." All scripture quoted is from the NASB version.

Being a curious kind of person, I looked up the original reference that Satan quoted. It's Psalm 91:11-12. I read the whole chapter for context. It is a beautifully written encouragement to "those who dwell in the shelter of the Most High." v. 1

What Satan neglected to mention, was verse 13. "You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down." 

The use of these particular animals grabbed my attention. Isn’t Satan referred to as a snake, lion and dragon in other scriptures?

Let’s start by looking at the PAST: The Cobra.
In Genesis chapter 3 the serpent, which could also be translated snake, came to Eve and tempted her. Yet when the snake is cursed in v. 14-15 we read, "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." Seed in the singular here is a reference to Jesus the Messiah. As seen in Gal 3:16,19

Hebrews 2: 14 Tells us that through His death, Jesus rendered Satan powerless. So, that cobra from way back in Genesis has been defeated.

Now the PRESENT: The Lion and the Young Lion. 
1Peter 5:8 "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." 

   This is written to believers after Christ death, resurrection and ascension. Rev. 12:10-12 honestly gives me goose bumps; let’s see what will happen to the lion seeking to devour us.

Rev. 12:10-12 "Then I (John) heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.

"'And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death."

Although Satan still accuses us, we have overcome him, not on our own but by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

I don't know about you, but sharing my testimony can be very difficult. I'm not talking about my conversion, but what God is doing in my life right now. That is, until I realized that sharing my testimony, no matter how painful or embarrassing, is one of the ways that I overcome the enemy of my soul.

The FUTURE: The Dragon. 
At first glance it would appear that Serpent and Cobra are the same. However serpent here can be translated, Dragon. Dragon is used 14 times in Rev.

Rev. 20:2 tells us exactly who this dragon is, " And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years:"

While this is a temporary defeat, we are told that "after these things he (Satan) must be released for a short time." Rev. 20:3 b.

After that, Satan will meet his final and eternal defeat. Rev. 20:10 "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."

Whoo Hoo! That just makes me want to shout.

I think it's kind of funny that the scripture that Satan tried to lure Jesus into sin with, contained his own defeat, across time, in the very next sentence. I wonder if he smacked his forehead after he quoted that passage.