The Search for Significance

Summarizing the Search 111
earth. Adam and Eve were authorized to rule over
the earth (Genesis 1:28-30). God had given them
dominion over all the works of His hands, all the
sheep and oxen, the birds of the air, the fish of
the sea, and all the vegetation that grew under
heaven. Therefore, being cast out of heaven and
down to earth, Satan found himself exiled as a
tenant on a planet God had given to
man. As the
arch angel Lucifer, Satan was once free to walk in
and out of the very presence of God. But now,
Satan was confined to an earth that he did not
control. Adam's right to rule was granted by God,
and Satan could not snatch that authority away
from him. Therefore, Satan's only chance to gain
control and thwart the plan of God was to turn
mankind against God and to trick Adam into willingly
giving his authority to him.
Did Satan succeed? On first examination, we
would probably answer, yes. However, the Bible
tells us that Adam was not deceived by Satan's
subtle lies(I Timothy 2:14). No, Adam deliberately
chose to disobey God. In his rebellion against God,
Adam chose to obey Satan's desires, and in doing
so, found himself enslaved to Satan. Because the
owner of a slave owns all the slave possesses,
Satan took over the earth. Adam committed the sin
His Creator had specifically warned him about:
the sin of rebellion against God. There could be
no instant restoration to perfection. When Adam
squandered away his rights and dominion, Satan
became the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4),
the ruler of this world, the prince of the power of
the air (Ephesians 2:1-3).
As a result, man's intellectual and spiritual eyes
became darkened, and his mind was filled with
pride and vain imaginations. Created in the image
of God, man now became the slave of Satan, destined
to live in the curse of disease, pain, and
death. Rejecting the authority of God, Adam sold