John 19:30
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Genesis 3:15
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

1) What is finished?
Jesus had been sent for a specific purpose; to ransom Himself for our souls in order to restore a broken relationship caused by sin. This “sending” was a plan for redemption that had been promised since sin first entered the world with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Ever since that first promise of a coming Savior, God had used leaders, judges, kings, and prophets to continually remind His people that Redemption was indeed coming. Sin entered the human race, Death ruled, but with Jesus’s perfect, flawless sacrifice, He covered our sin making atonement for us. Something we could never do on our own. When Jesus died, the debt to sin was paid in full. The work was finished.

2) What is enmity and who is the “you” referencing?
“Enmity” is defined as hatred. We use the word “hate” for a lot of things in our culture. (“I hate beets”, for example) But that usage comes nowhere near this definition. Enmity is a chasm so expansive, it’s impossible to span because the hatred is incomprehensibly vast.
The “you” is referring to Satan, which we can tell if we back up a few verses. God is speaking directly to Satan here, and putting him under a curse for his deception.

3) Who is the “he” and what does it mean to “bruise your head”?
“He” refers to the offspring of Eve, who would one day be Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the victor, having the final word in this epic battle for righteousness and evil. He wins that battle by “bruising (or crushing)” the head of Satan. Just as we kill a physical serpent by crushing its head, so Jesus Christ would utterly defeat death by crushing the head of Satan with His own death and resurrection victory! Furthermore, one coming day, Jesus will banish Satan forever to Hell, or the Lake of Fire in Revelation 20:10, where He will remain for eternity!

4) What does it mean to “bruise his heel”?
In God’s cursing of Satan, is hidden this great and precious promise of One who would come to crush Satan’s head, but it carried a cost. Satan would bruise the Savior’s heel. The Enemy would bruise Christ’s heel at the cross with physical pain and unfathomable relational and spiritual anguish as He carried the burden for our sins on Himself.

1) What is finished?
In our society, we like to see things through to the finish line. Get ‘er done, and get ‘er done right. “Pull yourself up by your bootstrap” mentality provides a good work ethic, but terrible theology. Meaning that we simply cannot accomplish enough to be “good enough” for God’s standard, which is flawless perfection. On the cross, Jesus finished for us what we couldn’t even begin to do. For those who ask Jesus to be their Lord and Savior, we are free from all guilt and condemnation because of Christ’s finished work on the cross. Evaluate time when you are tempted to “strive to be good enough”. Remember that Jesus already has finished it! For a deeper look, read Romans 5:12-21.

2) What is enmity and who is the “you” referencing?
If “enmity” is hatred on steroids to the nth degree, what picture does it paint for you when you realize that “enmity” exists between every human being and God because of sin? You and I are impossibly lost without a Savior. In fact, Scripture says that God’s wrath is upon us because of our sin. There is only one remedy for this enmity, and that is peace with God through the precious blood of Christ! Have you surrendered your everything to Him? Are you watching for others who haven’t made that decision? Life and death hang in the balance for each of us, what will we do with Jesus?

3) Who is the “he” and what does it mean to “bruise your head”?
Just as Jesus held all victory over sin and death through His death and resurrection, so do we as Christ-followers hold that same victory over the Enemy in our everyday lives. Satan has no rule and reign in our hearts and lives! True, sometimes believers choose to fall into temptation and live like we don’t have victory, but it doesn’t change the reality of what is 100% ours in Christ. Revelation 12:11 victoriously proclaims, “And they (believers) have conquered him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” We conquer the Enemy by declaring the work of Jesus in our lives. We push back on Satan’s advances by boldly declaring our testimony, our story, our hope in Jesus Christ. Where do you need to take back ground that you’ve given over to the Enemy? Remember whose you are!

4) What does it mean to “bruise his heel”?
As Christ followers, we too have a cost to following Him. The wounds of Christ show up in our lives as persecution. Spurned or rejected by family members or friends, ridicule or mockery for “believing” or “going to church” or even for making lifestyle choices that look different because you’ve chosen Jesus. Just as the New Testament believers did, rejoice in your sufferings for following Christ, not because you’re glad for suffering, but because you’ve been counted worthy of suffering for and with Him! (2 Thessalonians 1:5)

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Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

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Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

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