Can Paradise Lost become Paradise Regained?

Genesis 3 and Revelation 12

'All things, bright and beautiful ... The Lord God made them all' - this is the great, positive message that comes to us from Genesis 1 - but things are very different when we get into Genesis 3: things are not so bright and beautiful. What are we to do? Are we to listen to Genesis 1, and ignore Genesis 3? No! - we need both: Genesis 3 as well as Genesis 1. Without Genesis 3, we're living in a dreamworld - and a dreamworld is not the real world. 

Even, in Genesis 3, where things are not so bright and beautiful, there is a glimpse of how things can become more bright and beautiful. This is given to us in verse 15. There, we are given hope that 'Paradise Lost' can become 'Paradise Regained.' Later on, we will come to that great hope - but, first, we must begin at the start of Genesis 3. In verse 1, we read about "the serpent." We are told that he was "more crafty than all the wild animals the Lord God had made." To understand what we are reading about here, we need to look on from Genesis 3 to Revelation 12, where "the ancient serpent" is identified as "the devil and Satan" (Revelation 12:9).

What we see, in Genesis 3, is the work of Satan, and it's still going on today. This is not only the story of Adam and Eve. It's our story - your story, my story, everybody's story. It's not only a story from a long time ago. It's a story about today's world. 

When we think about the work of Satan in today's world, we must look at what the new Testament says about him - "He prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8); "He disguises himself as an angel of light", seeking whom he may deceive (2 Corinthians 11:14).

Satan deceives and, then, he devours. In this work of deceiving and devouring, he's having plenty of success in today's world.

Adam and Eve yielded to Satan's temptation. What was God doing about this? He was looking for them - "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9). He was looking for them because he loved them. He was calling them to return to him. He's still looking for sinners to return to him. He's still coming to us with the message - Jesus has come "to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10). He's still coming to us with the good News: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15).

In Genesis 3:15, there is a glimpse of Christ's death (by crucifixion) and his resurrection. In Christ's crucifixion, it seemed like Satan had won a victory over Christ - but the crucifixion was not the end of Christ's story. In the resurrection, it became clear that the victory did not belong to Satan.  The resurrection declared that Jesus is Lord. In Jesus, love triumphs over hatred, light triumphs over darkness and life triumphs over death. Christ won the victory over Satan. He won the victory for us.

In Revelation 12, we read that the victory, won for us by Christ, is to be claimed by us in faith. When Satan, the accuser, comes to us, with his many accusations, we must answer him with "the blood of the Lamb" and "the word of our testimony" (Revelation 12:11). Notice what comes first - "the blood of the Lamb." Our testimony is this - 'What can wash away my sin? ... Nothing but the blood of Jesus.' Our testimony doesn't add to what Jesus has done for us. It points away from ourselves to what Jesus has done for us.

Here, on earth, we are in a situation of conflict - "the devil has come to you with great fury" (Revelation 12:12). Why? - "because he knows that his time is short"(Revelation 12:12). The battle is fierce. The victory is secure - "the ancient serpent, which is the devil and Satan" (Revelation 20:2) will be "thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:10): Paradise Lost has become Paradise Regained!