Wherever you plan to go, you have to start somewhere, in order to get there.

Genesis 3:14And Jehovah God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—[even these] were created through him and for him.”

The idea of preparation is seen here from the beginning. That preparation is for the dwelling of God with humankind in a sacred space that is a palace-temple. God creates a creature as his image with whom he can dwell. Even when sin and disobedience entered the scene with devastating consequences and made fellowship impossible, God does not abandon His work. There is judgment but also the promise that all of the discord will be set right.

The Serpent is Cursed

There is a curse that is specifically against the serpent. “You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 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.”

Enmity” has the intensity of hostility experienced among nations in warfare (Ezek 25:15; 35:5) and the level of animosity that results in murder ( Num 35:21). The language of the passage indicates a life-and-death struggle between combatants

It is possible to read this text as if it is affirming that originally serpents were actually reptiles of some sort and all had legs and then in the wake of the curse all the legs fell off and they became what we mean by snakes.

Who is this serpent?

The fullest answer is given in Revelation 12:9: “The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” So the serpent in the garden is the devil (which means slanderer), and Satan (which means accuser), and the deceiver of the whole world. Jesus calls him “the evil one” (Matthew 13:19) and “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). The Pharisees call him “Beelzebul, the prince of demons” (Matthew 12:24). Paul calls him “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4) and “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).

That is who Eve meets in Genesis 3. He is already evil, already a deceiver, already a murderer when he appears in the garden of God. In verse 15, God speaks to the serpent and pronounces judgment on him.

Where did Satan come from?

Why does God tolerate his horrible activity?

In Genesis he just appears. Between the perfection described in Genesis 1:31 (“behold, it was very good”) and the appearance of evil in Genesis 3, something happened. The good creation was corrupted. Jude and 2 Peter give us clues as to what happened.

Jude 1:6 says, “The angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.”

2 Peter 2:4 says, “God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment.”

It appears then that once there was a host of holy angels. And some of them, including Satan, “sinned,” or as Jude 1:6 says, “did not stay within their own position of authority.” An insurrection, a desire for more power and more authority than they were appointed by God and under God. So Satan originates as a created angel who, with other angels, rebel against God, reject him as their all-satisfying king and joy, and set out on a course of self-exaltation and presumed self-determination.

How the sin arises in Satan’s heart, we do not know. What we do know is that God is sovereign over Satan, and therefore Satan’s will does not move without God’s permission. And therefore every move of Satan is part of God’s overall purpose and plan.

Why Did God Allow Satan to Continue after he Rebelled?

Why, does God not simply wipe Satan out? He has the right and power to do this. And Revelation 20:10 says he is going to do it some day. Why didn’t he cast him into the Lake of Fire the day after he rebelled? Why let him rampage through humanity for centuries?

Part of the ultimate answer is in Colossians 1:16.
But of all the things, of things Paul could have mentioned that Christ made and that exist for his glory, he chose to mention these: “thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities.” v16: “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—[even these] were created through him and for him.”

In both the life of Job and Peter, God has to grant Satan the right to do anything. God is in ultimate control.

The Son of God, Jesus Christ, will be more highly honored in the end because he defeats Satan through longsuffering, patience, humility, servanthood, suffering, and death, rather than through raw power. And the more highly honored the Son is, the greater the joy of those who love him.

The glory of Christ reaches its apex in the obedient sacrifice of the cross where Jesus triumphed over the devil (Colossians 2:15). Jesus said, “Now [in my final hour] is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31). Paul said, “We preach Christ crucified … the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23–24). Jesus said to Paul about Satan’s thorn in Paul’s side, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Satan, and all his pain, serves in the end to magnify the power and wisdom and love and grace and mercy and patience and wrath of Jesus Christ. We would not know him in the fullness of his glory if he had not defeated Satan in the way he did.

Satan is Crushed at the Cross

The day is coming, God says, when you (not just your offspring) will be defeated and removed from the earth. The offspring of this woman will crush you.

Romans 16: 19For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I rejoice therefore over you: but I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple unto that which is evil. 20And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Hebrew 2:14Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

That decisive blow was struck by the perfect offspring of the woman, Jesus Christ, when he died on the cross. This is one of the reasons why the eternal Son of God had to become a man—because it was the offspring of the woman who would crush Satan.

When Christ died for our sins, Satan was disarmed and defeated. The one eternally destructive weapon that he had was stripped from his hand—namely, his accusation before God that we are guilty and should perish with him. When Christ died that accusation was nullified. All those who entrust themselves to Christ will never perish. Satan cannot separate them from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:37–39).

All of this reminds us that we can trust God with every aspect of our lives, and the world events.

Never despair that this evil world is out of God’s control. (Ephesians 1:11).

Never give in to the sense that because of random evil life is absurd and meaningless. “(Romans 11:33, 36).

Never yield to the thought that God sins, or is ever unjust or unrighteous in the way he governs the universe. “ (Psalm 145:17).

Never doubt that God is totally for you in Christ. If you trust him with your life, you are in Christ.

Never doubt that everything that happens to you, God has to ok, even the bad stuff, is God, exercising discipline over a child that he loves. It is not an expression of his punishment in wrath. “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12:6).

When we renounce the devil and his way, and trust the power and wisdom and goodness of God through Christ, we fulfill God’s purpose in letting Satan live. We glorify the infinitely superior worth of Jesus.

If there were no incarnation, no Christmas, there would be no regeneration.

If there were no incarnation, there would be no incarnate Jesus Christ to behold and believe in, and the new birth would not happen.

If there were no incarnation, there would be no vital union or connection between us and the incarnate Christ, and there would be no source of new saving, forgiving life.

Christianity is not a kind of spirituality that floats shapeless through various religions. It is historically rooted in the person of Jesus Christ. If there is no incarnation, there is no union with the Son or with the Father, and no regeneration, and no salvation.

At the incarnation, the birth of Jesus, God took another step in fulfilling his plan to restore fallen man to the right relationship with Himself. God had a plan, has a plan, and will always fulfill that plan. We can trust Him, even when what he allows is beyond our understanding.