When Satan came down into the Garden of Eden, he came with a hatred for God that manifested every time he tried to bring to ruin that which was closest to the heart of the Lord: mankind. The devil ended up sowing a thought into the human race that would bring man to his own destruction — the idea that we can become as God in ourselves.
After Satan tempted Adam and Eve, God said to him, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every best of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:14-15).
This is the first time in the Bible that we see the redemptive plan of God. Obviously, God was not caught by surprise in the Garden of Eden. He knew that humankind would be created in His image, would subsequently fail, and then would have to be redeemed. So God was essentially telling Satan, “Lest you should exalt yourself, know that I have a plan. You are going to live to conquer and devour those created in my image all the days of your life. I will put an act of opposition between you and the woman — but from the seed of a woman I am going to raise up the One who will actively oppose you and defeat you.”
The One from the seed of the woman was Christ. And as we know the story today, Jesus would be raised from the dead and would tread upon the devil’s imagination that he has the right to captivate those who have been created in the image of God, not just for time but for all eternity.
It is vital to remember that we have power over the devil — and the true source of our power is in prayer. It always has been, and it always will be.
Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 at the invitation of the founding pastor, David Wilkerson, and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001.