Your Authority In Christ—The Reign of Satan from Creation to the Flood - Booty and Treasures fer All!
THE NOAH COVENANT
Years have passed since the fall of Adam. Now, every intent of man’s heart is only evil. Not some thoughts, but all the thoughts of every person who descended from Adam and Eve are bent toward evil (Genesis 6:5). God grieves (Genesis 6:6). His grand plan to send a representative to Earth to subdue Lucifer has failed. Because God gave His power and authority to Adam (Genesis 1:26–28), and Adam, through independence from God, surrendered that authority to Satan (Genesis 3:6–7), God cannot deal directly with Satan. We might think this absurd, that God can do anything He desires. We say He is sovereign, and He is, but He cannot violate His will, and His will was to give Adam all authority on earth to subdue and restore. For God to step in would violate His character, for it would prove His word to Adam untrue.
The reign of man has reached a moment of decision: tolerate unending wickedness on earth, or wipe man off the face of the earth and perhaps start over with a better plan (Genesis 6:5–7).
God decides to send a flood. He’ll cleanse the earth of all wickedness. But there is one man who, when God shares His plan, has a heart to save others (Genesis 6:8–22). In a society where it’s everyone for themselves, this is rare. Unheard of, in fact.
“Will you save your family?” God asks.
“Yes.”
“The animals I select?”
“Yes.”
The man does not know how. He only knows that he’s willing. Willing… to save. What a novel idea! So encouraging, God thinks. Here is a man after my own heart.
“If I give you a set of plans, will you follow them exactly as instructed?”
“Yes.”
God likes this man. He’s someone of few words. Brevity of words is a quality God admires.
The Reign of Satan from Creation to the Flood
The plans for a vessel are given, and the man, though he has no peers to encourage him and no parental models to follow, starts to do exactly as God has instructed (Genesis 6:14–22).
Here we need to step out of the story and recognize a feature of Scripture that we often overlook. We throw around the word righteous as if everyone understands what it means, as if we know. But to this point in our story, righteous is a foreign word, a concept reserved for heaven.
“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. He walked faithfully with God.” (Genesis 6:9)
Once upon a time, long ago, another man walked with God (Genesis 3:8). Then he walked away from God and into the arms of Lucifer (Genesis 3:6–7). Rare though this is, God’s heart beats faster. This, God thinks, obedience—this I can work with.
No need to cover the remainder of the story: the key point for us to know is that obedience to God always brings a smile to His face (1 Samuel 15:22). Yes, God has a face. It shines upon you when He is gracious to you (Numbers 6:24–26). And obedience to His word releases His blessings into our lives (Luke 11:28; Deuteronomy 28:1–2).
Now, Lucifer has competition. Though Noah only has two commands—be fruitful and increase (Genesis 9:1, 7)—God’s plan will continue through this man. Gone are God’s commands to subdue, bring into bondage, force, tread down, rule, reign, and make subjects of all living things on earth (Genesis 1:26–28). Satan now has the authority to give to any he wishes the kingdoms of the world (Luke 4:5–6).
Perhaps not a fair fight, but in time, God will have numbers on His side.
We get a hint of this when, roughly two hundred years later, mankind, still in rebellion against God, attempts to build a tower to the heavens. In response, God says, “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do” (Genesis 11:1–6).
This is the power of those created in God’s image. Even without His authority, we can still overcome any obstacle.
From being cast out of the Garden (Genesis 3:23–24) to the Flood (Genesis 6–9), to building a monument to ourselves (Genesis 11:1–9), the struggle for dominion continues. Satan has authority to reward those who serve him (Luke 4:5–6). Man is gaining in numbers. Each time God relents and gives man a second chance, the results only get worse.
God waits four hundred and twenty-five years to call again: this time to Abram, a man living near where the Ark came to rest and where the Tower of Babel was built and abandoned (Genesis 8:4; 11:1–9; 11:10–26; Acts 7:2–4; 12:4).
“The Stick” didn’t work. Next, God tries “The Carrot.” And this time, God’s goodness breaks through, leading to repentance and obedience (Romans 2:4).
