From the moment God promised the devil that Eve’s offspring would crush his head, Satan sought to murder the Messiah. John 8:44 tells us that “he was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth.” The spirit of murder is of the devil.
Thinking that perhaps Abel was the Messiah, Satan incited Cain to murder his brother. Later, when he realized that Jesus was the true Messiah, he provoked the bloodthirsty tyrant Herod into killing “all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, because the wise men had told him the star first appeared to them about two years earlier” (Matthew 2:16).
Satan’s hatred, not only for Christ but also for those who are “Christ-ians,” has driven him to murder millions of believers worldwide. Try as he will, though, to gather those who will “plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one” (Psalm 2:2), the devil is always defeated! In fact, God even laughs at Satan’s anger and murderous attempts to stop His Son from redeeming the world (v. 4).
In the end, the ultimate prophecy to believers will be fulfilled: “Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession” (v. 8). We are on the winning side!
Genesis 3:1-4:26
Matthew 2:13-3:6
Psalm 2:1-2:12
Proverbs 1:7-1:9