Copyright © 2006 By Doug Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church Reprinted With Permission.
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"dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and
the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth".
This was Satan's price for imparting the "Knowledge of Good and Evil".
It was a fool's bargain.
So it was that Satan gained control over the whole world and certain dominion
over man. The entire process was, in a technical sense, legal but it certainly wasn't
right. God wasn't pleased, either. Here, we learn of Satan's destiny:
Genesis 3:14 - 15 And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done
this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy
breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she
shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
The most important part (for us, at least) is the last line, where God speaks of a
woman; the seed (offspring) of the woman and the head of the serpent being
crushed by the woman's heel (many texts translate this verse as HE shall crush
thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for HIS heel). Either way, the Catholic Church
has always interpreted this verse to be God's first promise of a Redeemer or
Messiah, of one who would come and restore all things; forgive sins, heal the rift
between God and man, reinstate man's dominion over the world and finally, put
Satan in his place (hell) forever.
For a number of reasons, sending a Redeemer would not be easy,
even for God. In fact, thousands of years would elapse before the
exact time, place, and circumstances for Messiah would come.
Complicating matters still further, only one person in the entire
universe was qualified for the job.
Galatians 4:4 - 5 But when the
fullness of the time was come,
God sent his Son, made of a
woman, made under the law: That
he might redeem them who were
under the law: that we might
receive the adoption of sons.
Coming Up In Part 2:
Living In Sin
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