He called himself the Son of man only in the sense that he was born of her who was of the race of man. He ever claimed God as his Father, and in a different sense from that in which men can claim God as Father. His claim to be the Son of God was the claim to be equal with God, which no created being dare make. The Holy Spirit further declares, in Hebrews ii. 14; "For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death (his death on the cross) he might destroy him (Satan) that had the power of death"--"bruise the serpent's head." It was Satan that inflicted death. He was the first higher critic who changed and denied the word of God, saying to the woman, "Ye shall not die." Through his denial of the word of God, he deceived the woman and brought spiritual death on the race. This was the work of Satan, according to the New Testament teaching. He is the same that God calls the serpent in the third chapter of Genesis. For the Holy Spirit informs us, in 2 Cor. xi. 3, that "the serpent beguiled Eve," and states definitely who the serpent is--"that old serpent called the devil and Satan, who deceiveth the whole world." (Rev. xii. 9.) Having God's testimony that the serpent and the devil are one and the same, we are prepared for the mark which our Lord puts on him, "A murderer from the beginning ... and no truth in him." He had always sought to pervert and discredit the word of God. He suggested to Eve that she did not understand God's command; she had taken it too literally, which is a popular form of attacking the Bible today. "Yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Are you not mistaken? And when he had injected the doubt into the mind of Eve, had gained an advantage, he seized it and boldly denied the word of God, "Ye shall not die." He is an artful critic and successfully did his deadly work. Hence, the first great promise which God gave to the fallen pair, and through them to the race, set the seed of the woman, the Messiah, in conflict with "that old serpent called the devil and Satan." That promise is now in process of fulfillment, and must reach its final consummation when John's apocalyptic vision is fulfilled, "And the devil that deceived them (the nations) shall be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night, forever and ever." X. GOD HIS OWN INTERPRETER. _"To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not accordingly to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isaiah viii. 20._ _"Thy law is the truth." Psa. cxix. 142._ _"Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful." Psa. cxix. 138._ _"Lead me in thy truth and teach me." Psa. xxv. 5._ _"The word of our God shall stand forever." Isaiah xl. 8._ _"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away." Mark xiii. 31._