Adam, Devil, and Jesus: #2 Power of Death

If the Devil is given authority over the earth, what is the tool he is given to govern with? Death.

Hebrews 2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

This makes sense in that the penalty for breaking the law is death. (For when you eat it you shall surely die) The Devil is also very good at it, for he was a murderer from the beginning. (John 8:44) Death includes all sorts of disease and malady. Think of what he does in Job. Job also establishes that the Devil doesn't have free reign but is still restrained by God. (Even if one believes that the beginning of Job is Poetic license it is still consistent with what the rest of Scripture says that he does - especially in the role of accuser. (Zech. 3, Rev. 12)

He often uses deceit to bring about death.

1. In the Garden his deceit brought about the death of humanity.
2. He tempted David to take a census which resulted in death 70,000 died (1 Chron. 21)
3. He sows the weeds and steals the seeds. (Matt. 13:39/Luke 8:12)
4. He is the Father of lies John 8:44 "He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
5. He leads the whole world astray/deceives the nations (Rev. 12 and 20)

He is granted permission to judge in his role as accuser. (Zech. 3)

So the three obstacles we have are sin, death, and the devil.

The breaking of the law is sin, which results in death, which is the weapon that the devil rules over us with.

There is hope though: 1 John 3:8 The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

The only way to undo the Devil's reign and power is to repair the means by which he was given power in the first place, namely sin.

Christ breaks the power of sin through his sacrificial death - thus breaking the hold that the devil has.

Christ overcomes and vanquishes death at the resurrection - for the death had not hold on him - he was vindicated.

Christ having broken the hold and defeated the power that the Devil had - ascended to the right hand of the Father and overthrew the Devil's authority over the earth. More about that later.

A New Systematic

One of the problems with traditional systematic theologies was that they were constrained by the structure of the book. One topic followed the next chapter and the author had to make decisions about where to put what topics even though various topics were interrelated in numerous ways. Where do I put the doctrine of providence or the decrees? Does prolegomena go first even though it already presupposes things about the doctrine of God or revelation? Thanks to the computer and the internet maybe there can be a systematic theology in which all the topics are interconnected through links. It also provides a systematic that challenges the notion that it is a complete or closed system, by providing the possibility for revision and addition. Its just a thought.

Adam, the Devil, and Jesus: #1

Adam and Eve were created as God's images and were given authority over all the earth.

Gen. 1:26 "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

They were given the responsibility to work it and to take care of it (or guard it). So when Adam allows the serpent to enter into the garden without subduing it - maybe even crushing its head, he fails to guard the garden and to protect even. Adam and Eve eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil against God's command and so God hands them, along with humanity and the world, over to the Devil's authority, much like God would hand Israel over to the nations who they followed after.

The Serpents demise is prophesied, not only with of a son who would crush the head of the serpent, but also in the serpent's demotion from a wild creature to one who will now crawl on its belly and eat the dust. This typifies the fall of Satan from the heavenly realms to the earth. (Ezekiel 28 - So I threw you to the earth; Isaiah 14 - How you have fallen from Heaven...but you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit; Revelation 12 - The great dragon was hurled down...he was hurled down to the earth.)

Nevertheless, the serpent is given authority now over the earth to deceive the nations. (Rev. 12,20) This is confirmed in a number of ways. 1. He offers the kingdoms of the world to Jesus (Matt. 4:8) 2. In Job is says that Satan roams the earth 3. He has a kingdom 4. He's the one who deceives the whole world. 5. In Daniel the angelic messenger is opposed by prince over Persia - a fallen angel over a nation. 6. He is called the prince of this world, John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11

Typology: Literary Device or History?

In his essay, "Typology," Frances Young agrees with Michael Goulder (Type and History in Acts) that typology is primarily a literary device that the NT authors used to convey spiritual truths, but they were not historical accounts of New Testament events. Goulder even says that the more types there are the less historical the account. Young complains that scholars (Danielou/Frye) have placed a modern demand for historicity on typology that was not present in the NT and patristic authors. What is important is that they were able to convey truths not historical accuracy. There are several problems with this account. First, is that Young and Goulder both continue to hold to a modern understanding of history and judge typology according to that definition. They assume that history is just random and unstructured, and that God is silent. Second, it is not that the Patristic authors were not concerned with history they just had a different understanding of history in which history is connected to spiritual reality and to the biblical story without contradiction. Third, just because there are typological connections between disparate events doesn't mean that the typological connections are just literary inventions of the human author. I don't deny that they are literary devices but this doesn't mean they were inventions but discovers of a history which is guided by God. A history which is a text itself. Fourth, the communications of spiritual truths in the stories which appear rooted in historical events but are inventions creates a dichotomy between the spiritual and real worlds. If the spiritual truths being communicated cannot be actually effect reality but must be conveyed in a deceit then what hope do we have that those truth can effect the present or the future. Spiritual truths are not some ethereal truths with no connection to the material world. This is not to deny the use of allegory or parables to convey truth - these do not make claims to be historical as do the gospel narratives and acts.

For Edwards the world is in a sense "enchanted" - history and nature are really a story and a language to be read. He is countering the deistic attempt to strip history of religious meaning or at least the meaning given by traditional religion and special revelation. Instead, they assign their own meaning in the name of reason. God is continually in the process of speaking through history - creation is a continual process, maybe too continual but that's another issue - and so doesn't abandon the world to our invention. The role of Scripture is to continually act as a grammar or idiom by which we interpret types in the rest of scripture and the meaning of the history.

Idolatry and the Image of God

I've been thinking about the relationship between the image of God and idolatry for a while now, and my thoughts were confirmed upon reading Act 17 in Paul's speech at the Areopagus.

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'29"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent."


I think that it is often assumed that idols were God's themselves set up by human hands, but the idols were merely intended to be representations of their gods or images as it were. Scriptures beef with this is that the god's could not make their own representations but relied on human hands to do so. The true God makes his own images - humanity and he has set them upon the whole earth and placed them where he liked. Idolatry let people off the hook - one could fashion a God in which ever way you want to represent the way you want to live. But if you are the image then we should repent and live as true images of God. To commit idolatry is to neglect your own responsibility to live as God's image, as his children.