Sovereignty in the Garden
I’m so excited to be reading through the Bible this year. We have opted at my house to read through together and do a chronological reading plan. I love all of the things that constantly are brought to my understanding by the Holy Spirit as I seek God in His Word.
One of the things that stood out to me this last week was Genesis 3:14-15, which says,
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life; 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”
I’ve said before and I’m sure I’ll repeat again, that my favorite Bible doctrine is the sovereignty of God. In this passage, that’s exactly what gripped me this time around, specifically, God’s sovereignty over Satan.
Consider punishments for a moment. Have you ever considered that when God pronounces a punishment, the punishment stands. In the Garden, God announces to Satan what his ultimate punishment will be, and what choice does Satan have? None.
Sometimes I think we forget that God has complete power over Satan. We get confused about this because we sometimes also mistake God’s permissive will with His sovereign will.
God’s permissive will is the limited authority that He gives to His creation, both angelic and human, to make some choices, namely, to obey Him or to rebel.
God’s sovereign will is the authority that He alone exercises, and that none of His creation can affect. This also gets confusing to us because God is always able to cause even the rebellion of His creation’s will to work out for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28, Genesis 50:20).
So take heart. The countdown is on. The sentence of Satan’s crushed head has been pronounced and what God has pronounced, Satan has no control over. No matter how bad things appear in this world, God and all who belong to Him already have victory.
Much love!
Wes LeFlore (918) 607-8489 or huskerwes1@gmail.com
