Satan and the Fall of Man
This article provides excerpts from the book “Journey Through the Bible and Your Story”
which will be available on Amazon books later in the summer.
God gave Adam the responsibility to be fruitful and multiply, to subdue the earth and have control and dominion over it (Genesis 1:28). In essence, God handed over the title deed to this earth to Adam and Eve. The Fall, described in Genesis chapter 3, happens after humans were tempted by Satan to eat a fruit. This seems fairly innocent and does not rank on our radar of crime. However, it was a deliberate choice to disobey God which was a sin and separated them from God.
Satan used the same tactics of deception and lies to question the goodness of God and to lie about man’s becoming like God. Satan wants control of humans like he has with the fallen angels. The significance of this earthshaking event of the fall of man cannot be overstated. It resulted in a radical transformation—in both Man and earth! Until this moment in time, there was no sin. There was no evil. No disease had access to the earth, so there was no death. Everything was a state of perfection. An absolute paradise. Man’s act of disobedience brought a complete upheaval in earth’s order. It turned God’s creation upside down. The fruit of man’s disobedience brought sin, death, corruption, murder, perversion and destruction to all life on earth.
The Fall introduced the concept of original sin of humans, suggesting that all humanity inherits a sinful nature due to Adam and Eve's disobedience. Romans 5:12 states, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned." This passage underscores the belief that sin and death are universal conditions affecting all of humanity.
As a consequence of their disobedience, it causes humans to be separated from God. In addition, humans lose what God had given them-- dominion, divine part of the image of God (righteousness and holiness), the personal relationship with God, and eternal life on this earth--death is instituted.
God allows Satan temporarily to usurp the dominion of Earth. God, in His infinite, inscrutable wisdom, has allowed Satan to operate in this world within the boundaries God has set for him. Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air” in Ephesians 2:2. He is the “ruler of this world” in John 12:31. These titles and many more signify Satan’s capabilities. He wields a certain amount of authority and power in this world. He is not a king, but a prince, a ruler of some sort. In some way he rules over the world and the people in it: “The whole world is under the control of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). Satan is the major influencer on the ideals, opinions, goals, and views of the majority of people. His influence encompasses the world’s philosophies, education, and commerce. When people live as if there is no God, they by default follow Satan. The unholy thoughts, destructive ideas, wild speculations, and false religions of this world have sprung from Satan’s lies and deceptions.
Satan may temporarily have dominion of this earth, but his rule is limited to unbelievers. Born-again children of God are no longer under the rule of Satan. God the Father “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Colossians 1:13). The apostle Paul was sent by God to turn people “from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18).
Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of all that was lost, defeated Satan at the cross.
