This is the forth blog in a six-part series that looking at the concept of “Where’s God when Life’s so Hard?” Every has someone to blame. If we aren’t blaming our parents for our problems, if we aren’t blaming our spouses or children or bosses, then we’re blaming God. You may be wondering Who’s Side is God On, and Who’s the real Villain in the Story?
For millenniums, poor Eve carried the blame for all our troubles. If you believe the Garden of Eden story at all then it’s all her fault, is it not? But what we don’t understand is that in addition to being separated now from the life that Father God had originally planned for us, we also have an enemy:
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” [a]
Our enemy is called satan or, the devil. He’s a created being — a “fallen angel”. He took with him a third of the angels when he pitted himself against all things good. That is: God, His Word, and His image-bearers — especially those who have chosen to follow God. He started all our trouble when he first appeared as a snake in the Garden of Eden. When our story first began. [b] However, in the Book of Revelation (the last book of the Bible), he is ultimately defeated:
“And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” [c]
Interestingly enough, the Dreamtime stories (handed down in the oldest continuing belief in the world), also include the rainbow serpent. Because Indigenous Australians didn’t move about taking food and occupying land belonging to their neighbours, their life, traditions and stories were pretty much in silos. Their stories weren’t mixed up and confused. So each story, taken from various parts of the country, holds separate clues.
In some stories, the serpent fell from heaven. The impact caused a crater (that became a billabong or waterhole) where he then resided. Some versions call it the Lightning Snake. The stories show the significance and power of this being. Described in some stories as having hair around its head and face, this Lightning Snake is viewed as ‘a giver of life’ because of its association with water. But it can be a destructive force if angry.
Jesus said, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.” [d]
This shows that even though satan insists on wanting to be God: the Lord the Giver of Life, as a created being he has no more power over us than what we allow from any other created things. So from beginning to end, the Bible shows us the missing link in our human experience. We’ve lost what God originally created for us. We’ve lost our hope in it (just as Indigenous Australians have said) and we’re now separated from our Father God – the author of Creation and His Blueprint to Life. Losing our place and our connection with our Father from the beginning, has now caused all of us to be disconnected, and to battle our way through this life on many varying levels.
This may explain how the world, and the people in it, have become messed up in the first place. But if He’s such a Loving God, why is He apparently unconcerned for the struggles we’re in? If you are wondering these things, click onto the next blog: 2.5 Why does God seem so ‘detached’?
[a] Ephesians 6:12 [NIV]
[b] 1 Peter 5:8 and Genesis 3
[c] Revelation 12:9 [NASB]
[d] Luke 10:18-20 [NASB] See Also Genesis 3:15