The Lord provided a paradise for the first couple. No scarcity! No weeds. Animals in harmony! No hatred. No death. Love for God and for one another! Everything God created was very good. No reason whatsoever for people to be unhappy or oppositional towards God.
There was one commandment to observe. God told them, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” [1]
“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” [2]
The dragon, the devil, Satan, entered the paradise of humankind in the form of a serpent. His goal was to get the first couple to rebel against God. Never mind that God created the heavens and earth! Never mind that the Creator had them living in paradise! The serpent wanted them to think that God was unjust.
The serpent said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’? “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” [3]
The war was won with words. A three-pronged attack: “Did God say?” Question what God said. “You will not surely die.” Imply God’s Word is errant and fallible. “You will be like God.” Imply that God deprives and oppresses.
Fast forward to the future: “And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!’” [4]
Saints praise GOD. GOD overcomes the instigator of rebellion ! By trusting in GOD’s grace, the saints are saved from the devil’s efforts to destroy them. Now, they are singing with God-given instruments in hand atop a glassy sea. They are singing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. The Law and the Gospel have victorious virtuoso voices, namely those who embraced them here on earth. These are not patting each other on the back. No, they are praising the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. HIS works are GREAT and MARVELOUS! HIS ways are JUST and TRUE! Saints happily confess and adore GOD as their KING!
[1] Genesis 2:16-17
[2] Revelation 12:8-9
[3] Genesis 3:1, 4-5
[4] Revelation 15:2-3
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