Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. Genesis 3.1

How did sin become established as a continuing condition of the human soul and the creation of God? The Law of God explains that sin entered through the rebellion of Adam and Eve, which was instigated by Satan, the serpent from of old (Rev. 20.2). The Law of God presents Satan as a reality, but it does not reveal much about him. He is not even named in the Law; rather, he took the form of a serpent, and this is how the Lord was pleased to refer to him. He makes but one appearance in all the Law of God, but we are to understand that this was enough. By his guile and deceit, he plunged the creation into sin and trouble. It would take a mighty act of God to redeem, not only the people He had chosen for Himself, but the entire vast cosmos which He loves (Jn. 3.16).

We do not learn anything more about Satan until we get beyond the Law of God. He makes three more appearances in the Old Testament, and the prophets describe his origins and fall from grace. All we know from the Law is that he exists and he is in some way related to the fallen and sinful condition of men.

But the fact that so little is said about Satan in the Law of God reminds us that the story of humankind is not about Satan and the baleful effects of sin; it is about God and His will and desire for the world to know and enjoy His glory. How it must have galled Satan to be assigned such a bit part throughout the whole vast compendium of Old Testament revelation! And how it must have reminded him, with each additional book of Scripture, precisely Who is in charge of whom.

Sin has a “personal face” in the Law of God, but he is kept largely out of sight as God sets the stage for His glorious work of redemption and renewal in the unfolding of His Covenant.

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