Crisis: The Loss of Authority
God commissioned humanity to be his partners in his story by ruling over and filling the world to see it flourish as his kingdom. It isn’t long before the first people, Adam and Eve, are tricked by the serpent to break their loyal partnership with God, which results in a cosmic crisis as sin enters the world and spoils God’s good intentions (Gen 3).
The tragedy is that authority is lost to the serpent. The man and woman had been given authority by God to play their vital role in his creation-wide plan, but they handed over it to the serpent (aka Satan) who will misuse and exploit it for his disastrous ends. These ends include:
Deception. Satan’s goal is promising good but delivering evil. He did this with Adam and Eve and he has been doing it ever since, including with us. Adam and Eve were already like God, being made in his image, so what more did they need? We too can act deceitfully, mistreating others by going behind their backs, if we bear the image of the serpent.
Division. God had made a world that was whole and harmonious, with everything fitting together in healthy relationship. Satan’s intention is to divide, pit one group against another and people against the rest of creation. Breakdown, factions and unhealthy competition now mark the world we live in.
Domination. We were placed in the world to rule but will now be ruled. We are often at the mercy of other things – world systems, life’s challenges and even other people. We have little say over how our life will go. We are frequently in bondage to sin’s choices and others’ decisions.
Destruction. We were made as co-creators to build and extend order, life and beauty in the world. Satan seeks to destroy, pull down and ruin the good things in us and in others. Unwittingly, we can be party to this intention, resulting in still yet more misery and failure. So instead of the Garden of Eden being expanded, the wilderness now begins to encroach on the garden.
Death. God had placed the tree of life in the garden, inviting us to eat from it and live forever, enjoying his presence and goodness. The serpent, however, aims to stifle, harm and kill. We were supposed to rule over the ground, but now the ground swallows us up in death.
Thankfully, this is not the end of the story! God promised that the seed of woman would crush the head of the seed of the serpent (Gen 3:15). He watched over this Goldy seed through Seth, Noah and Abraham, while waiting for the true seed to come…
Deliverer. God sent his Son, Jesus, born of a woman and as the son of Abraham, as the deliverer of the world inflicting the defeat of the serpent. As he commissions his disciples, Jesus declares, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20). With authority regained, Jesus now shares it with us, that we may partner once again with God to see his life reach more people and the world flourish as his kingdom.