When humanity defied God, we were cast out of the Garden of Eden, leading to estrangement from our Creator. Genesis 3:8 describes God’s casual walks in the garden during the cool of the day, and He observed Adam closely as he named the animals. In Eden, God shared consistent and intimate communion with humanity. However, humanity sinned, resulting in curses upon humanity, Satan (the serpent), and the earth itself, as detailed in Genesis 3:14-19.
Many often focus on the curses on humanity: Eve’s severe pain in childbirth, a husband who rules over her, and mortality. Adam’s curse involved painful labor and mortality. Yet, we frequently overlook that humanity’s sin also cursed the earth, causing it to produce thorns and thistles, which explains many of the difficulties we encounter in life. The Serpent was condemned to crawl on its belly and eat dust forever, and from that day, animosity was established between the woman and the serpent, and their offspring. Eve’s offspring would crush the Serpent’s head, while the serpent’s offspring would strike Eve’s offspring’s heel.
It’s crucial to understand that Satan was already a fallen angel when he tempted Eve. His fall, documented in Isaiah 14:12-15, stemmed from his own disobedience. Driven by pride and coveting God’s position, Satan schemed to become like God and raise a throne for himself, leading to his humiliating expulsion. When God created Adam and Eve, Satan, envious of man’s dominion over the earth and God’s intimate relationship with humanity, opposed them. Ezekiel 28 contains a prophecy against the King of Tyre that specifically alludes to Satan’s fall in the Garden of Eden, particularly in verse 7.
Satan was cast to earth along with his supporters—other fallen angels. These are the rulers in the kingdom of darkness who control the world today. As Paul warns in Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.”
Genesis 6 reveals the state of humanity after their separation from God, now living in a world influenced by Satan and his fallen angels. Profound wickedness emerged as humanity was exploited and corrupted by Satan and rogue angels. By this point, humanity was irredeemably corrupt; Genesis 6:5 states that every inclination of the human heart was continuously evil. God even regretted creating humanity. The nature God had instilled in humans was completely altered, becoming utterly evil, rendering them incapable of fulfilling their original purpose. Consequently, God decided to wipe them out. Fortunately, Noah, a righteous man of that generation, was chosen by God to save humanity by preserving him and his family, thus restarting the human race through the Ark.
Noah repopulated the earth, and humanity multiplied once more. As anticipated, history began to repeat itself because the kingdom of darkness, led by the devil, remained active. Satan and his fallen angels are immortal and survived the flood.
In His mercy, God set a plan in motion to reconcile with humanity and save us from the enemy’s schemes. God did not intend a repeat of Noah’s flood. In Genesis 9:15, God made a covenant with Noah, vowing never again to destroy all life with water.
While Satan and his fallen angels recommenced their corruption of humanity, God now had a plan. He approached a man named Abram, who later became Abraham, and established a covenant with him. God decided to raise a people for Himself through Abraham. God’s plan was far grander than it appeared; He intended to eventually open the entire world to a relationship with Him through one of Abraham’s descendants, the Messiah.
Through Abraham and Sarah, God raised a people for Himself: the Israelites. Throughout their journey with God, we witness God’s nature—His desire for holiness and His commitment to protect His people from their enemies. This relationship also reveals what it takes to be in a relationship with God: He gave His people commandments to follow, and we see the Israelites’ struggles to obey them. The Old Testament recounts the Israelites’ journey, their kings, and notable figures, some righteous and some wicked. God remained faithful to those who continued to obey His commands, never letting down the righteous. However, God’s plan to save humanity did not end there.
God’s overarching plan throughout this journey was to reconcile His people to Himself, restoring humanity to its original purpose: to have dominion over the earth. This plan extended beyond the Israelites; He desired a relationship with everyone. To achieve this, God chose Abraham so that the Messiah would be born through him. Humanity now lived in a world where, despite being created to dominate, they could not, because Satan and fallen angels ruled and oppressed the very people created to rule. Humanity lacked the spiritual tools to overcome the unseen enemy.
Being worthy of a relationship with God required holiness, as evidenced by the Israelites’ journey. Without holiness, it was impossible to have a relationship with God, for He is a holy God. The spiritual currency is blood, meaning that obtaining something from the heavenly realm necessitates blood sacrifices. As human beings, we are prone to sin, and sinning against a Holy God requires seeking His forgiveness to maintain intimacy with Him. Leviticus details the various blood sacrifices the Israelites were required to make to atone for their sins and continue their relationship with God, including fellowship offerings, sin offerings, guilt offerings, and burnt offerings. In today’s world, attempting to gain God’s favor, a right to relationship, and forgiveness through such means would quickly deplete our livestock.
God understood that we could not, by our own power, achieve what was necessary to reclaim our relationship with Him. Satan and his fallen angels exploited our inability to meet God’s holy standards to keep us from God and prevent us from assuming our rightful place as the legitimate rulers of the world.
Therefore, God did what only He could do. Out of His immense love for humanity, He made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. This sacrifice paid for all our sins at once, nullifying any claim Satan and his fallen angels had over us. We no longer owed Satan anything, as humanity had, over the years, made various agreements with him, engaging in cultural beliefs and practices of worship that opened them up to covenants with the rulers of the Kingdom of Darkness. God’s sacrifice for humanity accomplished two things: it earned us His forgiveness and a relationship with Him, and it provided us with the tools to defeat Satan and his fallen angels once and for all. This meant that all humanity’s debts to Satan were fully paid, and he no longer had any claim over humanity.
This sacrifice was Jesus Christ, the Messiah. John 3:16-17 states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Recall the prophecy God spoke during the fall of man: that the woman’s offspring would crush the Serpent’s head.
Jesus Christ was that offspring—the unblemished lamb chosen by God the Father to atone for the sins of humanity. All humanity is now required to do is believe in Jesus’ sacrifice and use His blood as the currency to build a relationship with God, and also to cancel all debts owed to Satan. This means that if Satan has any hold on you, do not allow him to oppress you, because it was already paid for. Satan holds us captive through sin. He employs the same strategy he used against Eve: he uses lies to bait us into sin, and once we sin, he uses that as a right to infiltrate and oppress our lives. He even exploits the sins of our ancestors; sin gives Satan legal rights into our lives. But the blood of Jesus pays for that sin, removing Satan’s legal right to operate in your life.
After Jesus departed, the Father, at Jesus’ request, sent the Holy Spirit to believers. The Holy Spirit indwells God’s children, assisting them in transforming their nature to align with God’s original intent. Holiness is not and cannot be attained through human effort. Instead, it is first achieved by accepting salvation through faith in Jesus’ sacrifice, and then by allowing the Spirit of God to work within us, reforming our hearts and minds (souls) from within. The righteousness God desires extends beyond actions, primarily residing in our hearts and minds. This kind of righteousness can only be achieved through Grace. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
However, if humanity fails to understand or accept this sacrifice as their liberation from oppression, they will remain oppressed. Humanity is like the princes mentioned in Ecclesiastes 10:7: “I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.” Remember that in the beginning, humanity was given dominion over every living creature, Satan is a creature living on earth. Jesus came, died on the cross, was given full authority by the Father, and delegated this authority back to humanity as seen in Luke 10:19. “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, nothing will harm you.” This means we can now exercise authority in His name and have dominion over the earth as God originally intended.
In conclusion, God’s plan to save humanity has been fulfilled. He has done His part, winning the war through His Son, Jesus Christ. The ball is now in our court. Satan has been defeated, the victory is ours; all we need to do is claim it in our lives. There is power in the name of Jesus and power in the blood of Jesus—use that power to shape your life.
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