Upon coming alive in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve saw only beauty and bounty–everything they would ever need or want had been provided, courtesy of their Creator. Added to this was the fact that they had been created in the physical and spiritual exactness of the Creator of the entire universe. In human parlance, they had arrived on the world scene with a “golden spoon” in their mouths. In that God creates flawlessly, their world and their lives were flawless (Gen. 2:8). Not only did He create a marvelous place for them to live (Gen. 2:15), He promised them a family along with total dominion over “everything that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28). The world was a perfect place in which to live at that point because one ingredient was missing–sin.

But then sin entered this perfect world. The devil entered the perfect Garden and convinced its perfect occupants to defy the perfect God. The rest is history. The irony of the situation is that God limited Satan’s influence to only one thing on the entire earth–a tree. Then He warned His first church to stay away from it and to avoid its fruit, for that would result in their deaths. The story is known by the masses, including the readers of this website. Therefore I will not detail Adam and Eve’s fall.

God’s plan was for Adam, Eve and their descendants to rule Satan and the earth forever. As a result of their rebellion, Satan now rules the earth and, with the exception of a minutely few obedient saints, the masses comprising Adam and Eve’s descendants. Today we have a planet in rebellion against its Maker. Having broken faith with God, mankind has chosen a new leader. The devil now claims the entire planet as his personal domain and the descendants of Adam and Eve as his slaves. To show the extent of Satan’s power, consider this Biblical fact: HIS SLAVES DO NOT KNOW THEY ARE SLAVES. And even more ironic is the fact that two billion of them BELIEVE THAT THEY BELONG TO THE BIBLICAL GOD.

How did this spiritual transformation take place? How does Satan maintain his control over 99.999% of the world’s population? The beginning of the answer is found in John 8:44: “He (the devil) was a (spiritual) murderer from the beginning, not holding (believing and obeying) the Truth (the Word of God-Jn. 17:17), for there is no Truth in him. When (not if) he lies, he speaks his own language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (about the Truth).” The world’s deadly condition is due to sin. SIN ENTERED THE WORLD AND REMAINS IN THE WORLD BECAUSE MAN DID NOT, DOES NOT AND WILL NOT BELIEVE GOD’S WORDS. WHERE SIN IS ALLOWED TO REMAIN IN A PERSON, IT DOMINATES THAT PERSON. This is stated in most simple terms in 1 Cor. 5:6 where we are told that a little leaven leavens the whole loaf. Sin is like a cancerous body cell. If left in place, that tiny cell will eventually consume the entire body. Having allowed sin (leaven) to remain within them, “Sinners saved by grace” have been spiritually consumed. They are the walking dead. Their refusal to rid themselves of sin was the result of Satan, working through his false prophets, convincing them that, because their spiritual DNA had been infected by Adam, sin was an unavoidable part of the “Christian life.” As one famous t.v. preacher told his congregation: “You’re just a society of sinners.” He then told them to ignore the inevitable sin in their lives, relax and enjoy the religious ride. Through the Holy Spirit I could hear Satan add: “And you shall not surely die.”

God did not create Satan, the devil. God created Lucifer–“light bearer.” Nor did He create sin. Sin is the creation of God’s creations. The Bible states that the devil, along with one third of the angels He created, rebelled against Him and were sent back to earth where Satan set out to deceive the entire human race. Revelation 12:9 tells us that he succeeded: “Satan has deceived the whole world.” To be continued. L.J.