The serpent represents rebirth and resurrection.

I am not a Freemason or a Gnostic. I try to follow the example of Jesus in all I do.
I have been researching the symbol of the "serpent" in World cultures and religions.

There is a reason that so many religions of the world include the serpent as an important symbol.
The Serpent represents rebirth and resurrection - shedding of the old skin and being reborn into a new body.

In Genesis 3:13 the Hebrew term "Nachash" can mean serpent, but it also means "shiny one"

In the story "the shiny one" says : "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Gen 3:4

And after they taste the fruit, the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil." Gen 3:22

The "Nachash" (Shiny One) was created by God.

"Now the serpent was more crafty (subtle) than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made." Gen 3:1

In Buddhism, Hinduism, Egyptian, North American spiritual traditions the "Nagas" is the "serpent god" that brings knowledge and "light" to mankind. These traditions existed long before the Genesis story and it is very likely that the Jewish tradition borrows from these earlier stories/creation myths.

If you read Gen 3:14 in relation to Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 perhaps the "Nachash/Nagas" is referring to something other than "satan"

Gen 3:14-15

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
"Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [a] and hers;
he will crush [b] your head,
and you will strike his heel."


Isaiah 53:3

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:10

Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes [c] his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

Psalm 22:
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads:

Galatians 3:13

13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written:
"Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."[a]
John 3:14

14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.[a]

Numbers 21:8

8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived."

The word Sheckinah (God head) spoken in reverse is ha-nachash (the Shiny One)

Shekhinah (alternative transliterations Shekinah, Shechinah, Shekina, Shechina, Schechinah, שכינה) is the English spelling of a grammatically feminine Hebrew language word that means the dwelling or settling, and is used to denote the dwelling or settling presence of God,

Shekhinah is derived from the Hebrew verb שכן. In Biblical Hebrew the word means literally to settle, inhabit, or dwell, and is used frequently in the Hebrew Bible. (SeeExodus 40:35,

The Shekhinah is held by some to represent the feminine attributes of the presence of God (shekhinah being a feminine word in Hebrew), based especially on readings of the Talmud.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekhinah

In Luke 17: 20 Jesus teaches us,

The Coming of the Kingdom of God

20Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within[a] you."

On the Jewish Dreidel (a symbol of the world) - there are the letters NGHS (Nakas) when the top is spun in one direction it spells "Shiny One" When it is spun in the other direction it spells SHGN ("Shekin-ah")

There is an evil that lurks in man's heart - that causes him to do evil things but I do not believe that it is the "serpent" in the story of Genesis.

We have within us the ability to find the Kingdom of Heaven (or create a living hell).

We have within us a portion of God's light placed there by Him at our creation.
That light is what creates the desire to seek Him in all we do. A spark that draws us to seek knowledge of Good and Evil and opens the door to understanding where God rests. (within-Lk 17:21)

He is our very breath. It is God alone that sustains us.
And it is the message and teaching of Jesus that offers the Way, the Truth and the Light of God in all.

Matt 5:14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

John 14
Jesus the Way to the Father

5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."

Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit

15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."