God is faithful and good. God is sovereign. God is our redeemer.
Who began the rebellion?
Act Three: REbellion, Week 1
This summary is a day late. I could make the excuse that it's been a really busy week, but truth be told, it hasn't been busier than usual. I have pushed it off, rebelled a bit, and let other things take priority.
If this is the start of Act 3: Rebellion, be watchful with me, please! Pray for steadfastness in the battle. Satan doesn't want me to write this, or for any of us to read God's Word.
Have you picked up your new Act 3 card? If not, don't wait any longer! Grab one from the Women's Ministry board (or if you are traveling, here's a copy you can print). If you haven't participated in this study thus far, you can start now and join us where we are. I know you may not believe me, but truly, it is not too late. Watch out for the deceiver, who's telling you that you are too busy and don't have time to spend with God. The crafty enemy will attempt anything to keep you from God's truth. As he did to Eve in the Garden of Eden, he whispers, "has God really said...?" He doesn't want you to believe, hear clearly from, or know more about God. He isolates believers and makes it difficult for us to open up our Bibles.
Don't give in. Don't believe the lies. God is faithful and true! Stand strong against the schemes of the evil one. Grab hold of your sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17), and pray along with me as we begin Act 3: Rebellion.
So, who began the rebellion? This is a great question! When I was a child, and even well into adulthood, I believed that sin, and the fall of man, started with Adam and Eve in the garden. This was not wrong teaching. The fall of man did begin in the garden, and Adam and Eve were involved, as we will look at more next week, but as always, there was more to the story.
Rebel: to rise in opposition or armed resistance to an established government or ruler.
Were Adam and Eve the first to rebel against God? It appears that way at first glance. So far in the narrative story, we, the reader, don't learn anything about this serpent (Genesis 3:1) or where he came from. But the Bible (specifically Jesus and the prophets) talks about this prideful, crafty one, his rise in opposition to his Creator, and the incredible nerve he had to build his rebel army—for no one who is walking in disobedience and outright defiance wants to walk alone. Disobedience, rebellion against God, is comforted by company (be aware—this is the reason we are tempted to gossip and pacify another's sin).
Why did Satan (the lying serpent, the dragon, the star of the morning, Lucifer) rebel? We read the answer to this question in Isaiah 14:13-14. In this poetic narrative, Satan says in his heart, "I will raise my throne above the stars of God." Sounds pretty prideful huh? He wanted to be higher than God, He wanted to sit on the mount of assembly and to rule. To raise his throne above the angels. He wanted to be the best—and he still does! He wants to rise in opposition or armed resistance to an established (very good, faithful, and sovereign) government or ruler. His pride and arrogance fueled his desire to be higher than his Creator and to rule over Him. This is the very definition of a rebel.
Satan thought he could do better than God. Pride deceived the deceiver. He was originally walking with God on His holy mountain, blameless, until unrighteousness was found in him...and he was filled with violence and sinned. "So I [God] cast you [Satan] as a profane thing from the mountain of God....Your [Satan's] heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor" (see Ezekiel 28:14-18).
Will Satan gain the keys to the kingdom like he wants? No, he will be given the keys to the shaft of the bottomless pit (Revelation 9:1). Lucifer, whose name means "light," rebelled against God, bringing, instead of light, a domain of darkness (Jude 1:6). Satan could never have predicted his demise. Satan did NOT know that God is the Redeemer. Satan did NOT know that before he even contemplated rebelling and building his rebel army, God already had a rescue plan prepared to redeem what sin broke. Satan doesn't understand that everything he does he is allowed to do by a sovereign God and everything he does is redeemed by God in order to benefit the saints (you and I). God is the King (the threads we are focused on pull strong here)! The greater our God, the smaller the devil is:
When we stand in awe of how mighty God is and trust in His faithful promises, He is greater than Satan.
When we declare that He is truly good and true when everything around us is not, the devil flees.
When we share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others, we proclaim that He is our redeemer. Jesus is the rescue plan.
Let us remember that Jesus was in the beginning. He was not an afterthought or a "whoops, I gotta fix this." The cross. The resurrection. Jesus. He is the ONLY way, the REAL truth and the ETERNAL life. Jesus saw Satan fall (Luke 10:18). He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14).
Rebellion might have started with Satan, but it doesn't end there...
♥️ Meghan
