WORLD CRISIS FORETOLD!HOW IT BEGAN— WHAT IS AHEAD— WHAT IS NEEDED TO MEET IT We sorrow over the terrible tragedy that occurred in New York City on September 11, 2001. At 9:03 a.m., 17 minutes after the earlier impact, a second Boeing 767 was turned into a flying jet-fuel bomb. United Airlines Flight 175, hijacked en route from Boston to Los Angeles with 65 passengers aboard, struck floors 80 to 86 of the 110 story, 1,362-foot South World Trade Center. Fifty-seven minutes later, the first of the two towers collapsed. The other followed shortly afterward.
CONTENTS Events Today — Foretold as much as 100 Years Ago 1
Crisis of the Ages —
Bringing a Planet into Rebellion
2A Persecution in the First Centuries — 3
Laying Plans to Destroy —Preparing
for the Mark 4
Talking with Devils —Supernatural
Power to Destroy
5
By Threat or by Violence —Entering
the Final Crisis
6
Going Deeper into the Word of God —Discovering
a Deeper Worship
7
The Basic Steps to Christ —Entering
upon a New Way of Life
8 Another Preparation for the Crisis —Principles of Healthful Living
— Foretold as much as 100
Years Ago
“Since
1945, it began to be technologically feasible to end life on this
planet.”—Michael Grosso, “Analyzing the
Future,” in Isaac Asimov, ed., Living in the Future (1985), p. 18. Why
did we seek to uncover that last, that deepest, secret? But now it is done
and we stand aghast at what crazed men can now do to the rest of us. “Man
has survived, thitherto, through ignorance. Can he continue to survive now
that the useful degree of ignorance is lost?”—Bertrand Russell, Has
Man a Future? historian and philosopher (1961), p. 69. Then
came the 43-year nuclear arms race between the United States and the
Soviet Union. For decades, there was a massive bipolar face-off between
the Soviet Union and America; and the rest of the world quietly sat back
and nervously watched. But
then, when the Soviet Union broke apart in 1989, everything changed again.
Over a dozen smaller nations began preparing for war against one
another—or against us. In
the 1990s, nations once again were arming,—but this time it is
different. We have now entered upon a situation that has steadily grown
almost unmanageable.
Now
there are too many actors in the drama, too many loose nukes, too many
individual terrorists. It is too easy to buy nuclear bombs, too easy to
make chemical and biological ones. The
leading scientists and intelligence experts of America tell us they long
for the days of the cold war, when things were peaceful! “In
comparison to the present, in some ways it seems like
the Cold War was a piece of cake.”—National Security Seminar, late
1990s, held at the U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Make
no mistake: The 1990s and beyond have hurled us into an increasingly
dangerous world. The entire world is becoming increasingly militarized,
and many of the belligerents are fanatics. We
now live on the edge of a sudden military attack which could destroy major
cities,—an
attack which need not come from the skies. It can be brought in on
trucks. Yet there are a number of other, equally dangerous
problems. This is the story of what we are facing. Why it will come.
And what you need to do to prepare for it. Nuclear
attack:
All the terrorists and rogue nations need is the raw material—the
uranium or plutonium.
Once they have that, they can build the bombs. The underpaid workers at
Russian storage sites are glad to secretly sell quantities of it. Bribery
and black market selling have been standard market procedures in Russia
for decades. Writing
in a 1997 intelligence digest, a nuclear weapons expert, Graham Allison,
described the situation: Once fissionable material is obtainable, it can
easily be made into weapons. Transportation of the material is not
difficult. A simple bomb design can be made with less than 20 pounds of
plutonium. It
would be easy to sneak such a bomb into America or another Western nation.
Many rogue
groups want the nuclear material and are willing to pay a lot to get it (Graham
T. Allison, “The Number One Threat of Nuclear Proliferation Today: Loose
Nukes from Russia,” The Brown Journal of World Affairs, Winter/Spring
1997, p. 65). Rarely
mentioned by officials, but a very serious “weapon,” would be the
small airplanes parked at thousands of private airports in America. It
would be easy to load explosives into a small plane, fill it with fuel,
and fly it into government buildings. The combination of explosives and
aviation fuel would be terrible. Jetliners are also not adequately
protected. America is not guarding its airplanes! The
worst scenario, next to nuclear bombs, includes chemical and biological
weapons: Chemical
weapons:
The
raw materials are relatively easy to get, and the finished products do not
have to be kept alive. But, unlike germs, the chemicals cannot reproduce.
So they can affect only a small area—unless a crop-dusting plane is
used, which could cover a large city. Only
a large terrorist syndicate could make tons of chemical weapons.
But it is known that Iraq has stockpiles of them. The 1995 Tokyo subway
attack used a chemical weapon (sarin gas). Because an extremely small
amount was used, few people died. Biological
weapons:
Most
feared are anthrax (a bacterium) and smallpox (a virus). Both are highly
lethal. Inhalant anthrax kills nearly 90% of its victims; but anthrax is
not communicable. Smallpox
kills about 30%, but can be transmitted with horrifying ease. Experts
believe smallpox is the worst of the two. Anthrax
is turned into a weapon merely by releasing airborne spores for people to
breathe. A plane flying over New York City could easily do it. Within a
few days cold-like symptoms develop. By the time the symptoms are
noted, treatment is too late. Death follows within a week. Bubonic
plague
is the third major “weapons-grade” disease. Russian defectors have
declared that, before its collapse, the Soviet Union was developing new
super plagues (primarily strains of anthrax and smallpox which were more
lethal), against which there would be no known antidotes. Following that
collapse, it became far easier for foreign agents to bribe guards to sell
them quantities of it. Today
17 nations are believed to have biological weapons programs, many of which
involve anthrax. The
ABOVE STATEMENT was written prior to September 11, 2001. (See our book,
Beginning of the End.) If anything, the situation is now even more
dangerous. We are hurtling toward oblivion. Only God can help us; yet, by
our immoralities, we are declaring that we do not want His help. We
join the rest of America and the world in deep sorrow over the recent
tragedies in New York City and Washington, D.C., which took the lives of
thousands of innocent people. Our heartfelt prayers go out to the many who
have suffered loss in these tragedies as well as in the ongoing battle
against worldwide terrorism. We
are stunned as we consider that a terrible climax is now developing before
our eyes, events leading to the destruction of this world. Yet, according
to Bible prophecy, God is permitting this to happen. He often allows
developments to work toward a climax, just as they have in the past. He
did it in Noah’s day, when He sent a flood of waters that buried the
wicked. He did it in the days of Abraham, when He destroyed the cities of
Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness. When wickedness reaches a
certain point, God steps in. Christ
predicted that, when conditions in the entire world became as evil as they
were in the time of Noah and Sodom—the end would come! Have
we reached that point? Are the worldwide calamities a sign that we have
reached the end? Almost
one hundred years ago the primary author of this book, E.G. White, was
shown in vision what was to happen to the great cities of this world. Here
are a few examples: “Satan
is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine
and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands
perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more
frequent and disastrous.”—EGW, Great Controversy, 590. “On
one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon
to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven . . The
scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the
lofty and supposedly fireproof buildings and said: ‘They are perfectly
safe.’ But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire
engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable
to operate the
engines.”—EGW, 9 Testimonies, 12-13 (1909). “In
the night I was, I thought, in a room but not in my own house. I was in a
city, where I knew not, and I heard explosion after explosion. I rose up
quickly in bed, and saw from my window large balls of fire. Jetting out
were sparks, in the form of arrows, and buildings were being consumed, and
in a very few minutes the entire block of buildings was falling and the
screeching and mournful groans came distinctly to my ears. I cried out, in
my raised position, to learn what was happening: Where am I? And where are
our family circle? Then I awoke.”
—EGW, Manuscript 126 (1906). “During
a vision of the night, I stood on an eminence, from which I could see
houses shaken like a reed in the wind. Buildings, great and small, were
falling to the ground. Pleasure resorts, theaters, hotels, and the homes
of the wealthy were shaken and shattered. Many lives were blotted out of
existence, and the air was filled with the shrieks of the injured and the
terrified . . One touch, and buildings, so thoroughly constructed that men
regarded them as secure against every danger, quickly became heaps of
rubbish. There was no assurance of safety in any place.”—EGW,
9 Testimonies, 92-93 (1909). “The crisis is stealing gradually upon us. The sun
shines in the heavens, passing over its usual round, and the heavens still
declare the glory of God. Men are still eating and drinking, planting and
building, marrying and giving in marriage. Merchants are still buying and
selling. Men are jostling one against another, contending for the highest
place. Pleasure lovers are still crowding to theaters, horse races,
gambling hells. The highest excitement prevails, yet probation’s hour is
fast closing, and every case is about to be eternally decided. Satan sees
that his time is short. He has set all his agencies at work that men may
be deceived, deluded, occupied, and entranced until the day of probation
shall be ended, and the door of mercy forever shut.”—EGW, Southern
Watchman, Oct. 3, 1905.
Chapter
One
Bringing a Planet into Rebellion — Crisis of the AgesHow
DID evil begin? Why IS there sin anyway? Here is one of the most sweeping
chapters in this entire book of the ages.
Read that most amazing of stories—how
sin began — Although
surrounded by continual selflessness, something happened. What could turn
an angel of light into a devil—and do it right in the middle of heaven?
This is something you will want to read.
It will tell you why God had to wait—and the wonderful future in store
for His children—because He did — Before
the entrance of evil, there was peace and joy throughout the universe. All
was in perfect harmony with the Creator’s will.
Love for God was supreme, love for one another impartial. Christ the Word,
the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,—one in
nature, in character, and in purpose,—the only being in all the universe
that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. By Christ, the
Father wrought in the creation of all heavenly beings. “By Him were all
things created, that are in Heaven . . whether they be thrones, or
dominions, or principalities, or powers” (Col. 1:16); and to Christ,
equally with the Father, all Heaven gave allegiance. The
law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness
of all created beings depended upon their perfect accord with its great
principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the
service of love,—homage that springs from an intelligent appreciation of
His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all
He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service. How
Sin Began But
there was one that chose to pervert this freedom. Sin originated with him
who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God
and who stood highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of Heaven. Before
his fall, Lucifer was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled.
“Thus saith the Lord God: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and
perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every
precious stone was thy covering.” “Thou art the anointed cherub that
covereth; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God;
thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast
perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was
found in thee.” Ezekiel 28:12-15. Lucifer
might have remained in favor with God, beloved and honored by all the
angelic host, exercising his noble powers to bless others and to glorify
His Maker. But, says the prophet, “Thine heart was lifted up because of
thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness”
(Eze. 28:17). Little by little, Lucifer came to indulge a desire for
self-exaltation. “Thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.”
“Thou hast said . . I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I
will sit also upon the mount of the congregation.” “I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” Ezekiel
28:6; Isaiah 14:13-14. Instead of seeking to make God supreme in
the affections and allegiance of His creatures, it was Lucifer’s
endeavor to win their service and homage to himself. And, coveting the
honor which the infinite Father had bestowed upon His Son, this prince of
angels aspired to power which it was the prerogative of Christ alone to
wield. They
Pleaded with Him All
Heaven had rejoiced to reflect the Creator’s glory and to show forth His
praise. And while God was thus honored, all had been peace and gladness.
But a note of discord now marred the celestial harmonies.
The service and exaltation of self, contrary to the Creator’s plan,
awakened forebodings of evil in minds to whom God’s glory was supreme. The
heavenly councils pleaded with Lucifer. The Son of God presented
before him the greatness, the goodness, and the justice of the Creator,
and the sacred, unchanging nature of His law. God Himself had established
the order of Heaven; and in departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his
Maker and bring ruin upon himself. But the warning, given in infinite
love and mercy, only aroused a spirit of resistance. Lucifer allowed
jealousy of Christ to prevail, and he became the more determined. Pride
in his own glory nourished the desire for supremacy.
The high honors conferred upon Lucifer were not appreciated as the gift of
God, and called forth no gratitude to the Creator. He gloried in his
brightness and exaltation, and aspired to be equal with God. He was
beloved and reverenced by the heavenly host. Angels delighted to execute
his commands, and he was clothed with wisdom and glory above them all. Yet
the Son of God was the acknowledged sovereign of Heaven, one in power and
authority with the Father. In all the counsels of God, Christ was a
participant while Lucifer was not permitted thus to enter into the divine
purposes. “Why,” questioned this mighty angel, “should Christ
have the supremacy? Why is He thus honored above Lucifer?” Opposed
to the Law of God Leaving
his place in the immediate presence of God, Lucifer went forth to diffuse
the spirit of discontent among the angels.
Working with mysterious secrecy, and for a time concealing his real
purpose under an appearance of reverence for God, he endeavored to
excite dissatisfaction concerning the laws that governed heavenly beings,
intimating that they imposed an unnecessary restraint. Since their
natures were holy, he urged that the angels should obey the dictates of
their own will. He sought to create sympathy for himself, by representing
that God had dealt unjustly with him in bestowing supreme honor upon
Christ. He claimed that in aspiring to greater power and honor he was
not aiming at self-exaltation, but was seeking to secure liberty for all
the inhabitants of Heaven, that by this means they might attain to a
higher state of existence. God,
in His great mercy, bore long with Lucifer.
He was not immediately degraded from his exalted station when he first
indulged the spirit of discontent, nor even when he began to present his
false claims before the loyal angels. Long was he retained in Heaven.
Again and again he was offered pardon, on condition of repentance and
submission. Such efforts as only infinite love and wisdom could devise,
were made to convince him of his error. The spirit of discontent had never
before been known in Heaven. Lucifer himself did not at first see whither
he was drifting; he did not understand the real nature of his
feelings. But as his dissatisfaction was proved to be without cause,
Lucifer was convinced that he was in the wrong, that the divine claims
were just, and that he ought to acknowledge them as such before all
Heaven. Had he done this, he might have saved himself and many angels.
He had not at this time fully cast off his allegiance to God. Though he
had forsaken his position as covering cherub, yet if he had been willing
to return to God, acknowledging the Creator’s wisdom, and satisfied to
fill the place appointed him in God’s great plan, he would have been
re-instated in his office. But pride forbade him to submit. He
persistently defended his own course, maintained that he had no need of
repentance, and fully committed himself, in the great controversy, against
his Maker. A
Master of Deception All
the powers of his master-mind were now bent to the work of deception, to
secure the sympathy of the angels that had been under his command.
Even the fact that Christ had warned and counseled him, was perverted to
serve his traitorous designs. To those whose loving trust bound them most
closely to him, Satan had represented that he was wrongly judged, that his
position was not respected, and that his liberty was to be abridged. From
misrepresentation of the words of Christ, he passed to prevarication and
direct falsehood, accusing the Son of God of a design to humiliate him
before the inhabitants of Heaven. He sought also to make a false issue
between himself and the loyal angels. All whom he could not subvert and
bring fully to his side, he accused of indifference to the interests of
heavenly beings. The very work which he himself was doing, he charged upon
those who remained true to God. And to sustain his charge of God’s
injustice toward him, he resorted to misrepresentation of the words and
acts of the Creator. It was his policy to perplex the angels with
subtle arguments concerning the purposes of God. Everything that was
simple he shrouded in mystery, and by artful perversion cast doubt
upon the plainest statements of Jehovah. His high position, in such close
connection with the divine administration, gave greater force to his
representations, and many were induced to unite with him in rebellion
against Heaven’s authority. It
Takes Time God
in His wisdom permitted Satan to carry forward his work, until the spirit
of disaffection ripened into active revolt. It was necessary for his plans
to be fully developed, that their true nature and tendency might be seen
by all.
Lucifer, as the anointed cherub, had been highly exalted; he was greatly
loved by the heavenly beings, and his influence over them was strong.
God’s government included not only the inhabitants of Heaven, but of all
the worlds that He had created; and Satan thought that if he could
carry the angels of Heaven with him in rebellion, he could carry also the
other worlds. He had artfully presented his side of the question,
employing sophistry and fraud to secure his objects. His power to deceive
was very great, and by disguising himself in a cloak of falsehood he had
gained an advantage. Even the loyal angels could not fully discern his
character, or see to what his work was leading. Satan
had been so highly honored, and all his acts were so clothed with mystery,
that it was difficult to disclose to the angels the true nature of his
work. Until fully developed, sin would not appear the evil thing it was.
Heretofore it had had no place in the universe of God, and holy beings had
no conception of its nature and malignity. They could not discern the
terrible consequences that would result from setting aside the divine law.
Satan had, at first, concealed his work under a specious profession of
loyalty to God. He claimed to be seeking to promote the honor of God, the
stability of His government, and the good of all the inhabitants of
Heaven. While instilling discontent into the minds of the angels under
him, he had artfully made it appear that he was seeking to remove
dissatisfaction. When he urged that changes be made in the order and laws
of God’s government, it was under the pretense that these were necessary
in order to preserve harmony in Heaven. In
his dealing with sin, God could employ only righteousness and truth. Satan
could use what God could not—flattery and deceit.
He had sought to falsify the word of God, and had misrepresented His plan
of government before the angels, claiming that God was not just in laying
laws and rules upon the inhabitants of Heaven; that in requiring
submission and obedience from His creatures, He was seeking merely the
exaltation of himself. Therefore it must be demonstrated before the
inhabitants of Heaven as well as of all the worlds, that God’s
government was just, His law perfect. Satan had made it appear that He
Himself was seeking to promote the good of the universe. The true
character of the usurper, and his real object, must be understood by all.
He must have time to manifest himself by his wicked works. The
Work will Condemn The
discord which his own course had caused in Heaven, Satan charged upon the
law and government of God. All evil he declared to be the result of the
divine administration.
He claimed that it was his own object to improve upon the statutes of
Jehovah. Therefore it was necessary that he should demonstrate the nature
of His claims, and show the working out of his proposed changes in the
divine law. His own work must condemn him. Satan had claimed from the
first that he was not in rebellion. The whole universe must see the
deceiver unmasked. Even
when it was decided that he could no longer remain in Heaven, infinite
wisdom did not destroy Satan.
Since the service of love can alone be acceptable to God, the allegiance
of His creatures must rest upon a conviction of His justice and
benevolence. The inhabitants of Heaven and of other worlds, being
unprepared to comprehend the nature or consequences of sin, could not then
have seen the justice and mercy of God in the destruction of Satan. Had
he been immediately blotted from existence, they would have served God
from fear rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver would not
have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebellion have been
utterly eradicated. Evil must be permitted to come to maturity. For the
good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages, Satan must more fully
develop his principles, that his charges against the divine government
might be seen in their true light by all created beings, that the justice
and mercy of God and the immutability of His law might forever be placed
beyond all question. A
Lesson for All Time Satan’s
rebellion was to be a lesson to the universe through all coming ages, a
perpetual testimony to the nature and terrible results of sin. The working
out of Satan’s rule, its effects upon both men and angels, would show
what must be the fruit of setting aside the divine authority.
It would testify that with the existence of God’s government and His
law is bound up the well-being of all the creatures He has made. Thus the
history of this terrible experiment of rebellion was to be a perpetual
safeguard to all holy intelligences, to prevent them from being deceived
as to the nature of transgression, to save them from committing sin, and
suffering its punishment. To
the very close of the controversy in Heaven,
the great usurper continued to justify himself. When it was announced that
with all his sympathizers he must be expelled from the abodes of bliss,
then the rebel leader boldly avowed his contempt for the Creator’s law.
He reiterated his claim that angels needed no control, but should be left
to follow their own will, which would ever guide them right. He
denounced the divine statutes as a restriction of their liberty, and
declared that it was his purpose to secure the abolition of law; that,
freed from this restraint, the hosts of Heaven might enter upon a more
exalted, more glorious state of existence. Cast
Out of Heaven With
one accord, Satan and his host threw the blame of their rebellion wholly
upon Christ, declaring that if they had not been reproved, they would
never have rebelled.
Thus stubborn and defiant in their disloyalty, seeking vainly to overthrow
the government of God, yet blasphemously claiming to be themselves the
innocent victims of oppressive power, the arch-rebel and all his
sympathizers were at last banished from Heaven. The
same spirit that prompted rebellion in Heaven, still inspires rebellion on
earth. Satan has continued with men the same policy which he pursued with
the angels.
His spirit now reigns in the children of disobedience. Like him they seek
to break down the restraints of the law of God, and promise men liberty
through transgression of its precepts. Reproof of sin still arouses the
spirit of hatred and resistance. When God’s messages of warning are
brought home to the conscience, Satan leads men to justify themselves
and to seek the sympathy of others in their course of sin. Instead of
correcting their errors, they excite indignation against the reprover,
as if he were the sole cause of difficulty. From the days of righteous
Abel to our own time, such is the spirit which has been displayed toward
those who dare to condemn sin. Methods
Unchanged By
the same misrepresentation of the character of God as he had practiced in
Heaven, causing him to be regarded as severe and tyrannical, Satan
induced man to sin. And having succeeded thus far, he declared that
God’s unjust restrictions had led to man’s fall, as they had led to
his own rebellion. But
the Eternal One Himself proclaims His character: “The Lord God, merciful
and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping
mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and
that will by no means clear the guilty.” Exodus 34:6-7. In
the banishment of Satan from Heaven, God declared His justice, and
maintained the honor of His throne. But when man had sinned through
yielding to the deceptions of this apostate spirit, God gave an evidence
of His love by yielding up His only begotten Son to die for the fallen
race.
In the atonement the character of God is revealed. The mighty argument of
the cross demonstrates to the whole universe that the course of sin which
Lucifer had chosen was in nowise chargeable upon the government of God. Behold
what Love and Hate
In
the contest between Christ and Satan, during the Saviour’s earthly
ministry, the character of the great deceiver was unmasked. Nothing could
so effectually have uprooted Satan from the affections of the heavenly
angels and the whole loyal universe as did his cruel warfare upon the
world’s Redeemer.
The daring blasphemy of his demand that Christ should pay him homage, his
presumptuous boldness in bearing Him to the mountain summit and the
pinnacle of the temple, the malicious intent betrayed in urging Him to
cast Himself down from the dizzy height, the unsleeping malice that hunted
Him from place to place, inspiring the hearts of priests and people to
reject His love, and at the last to cry, “Crucify Him! crucify
Him!”—all this excited the amazement and indignation of the universe. It
was Satan that prompted the world’s rejection of Christ. The prince of
evil exerted all his power and cunning to destroy Jesus; for he saw that
the Saviour’s mercy and love, His compassion and pitying tenderness,
were representing to the world the character of God.
Satan contested every claim put forth by the Son of God, and employed men
as His agents to fill the Saviour’s life with suffering and sorrow. The
sophistry and falsehood by which he had sought to hinder the work of
Jesus, the hatred manifested through the children of disobedience, his
cruel accusations against Him whose life was one of unexampled goodness,
all sprung from deep-seated revenge. The pent-up fires of envy and
malice, hatred, and revenge burst forth on Calvary against the Son of God
while all Heaven gazed upon the scene in silent horror. When
the great sacrifice had been consummated, Christ ascended on high,
refusing the adoration of angels until He had presented the request, “I
will that they also, whom thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am”
(John 17:24). Then with inexpressible love and power came forth the answer
from the Father’s throne, “Let all the angels of God worship Him”
(Heb. 1:6). Not a stain rested upon Jesus. His humiliation ended, His
sacrifice completed, there was given unto Him a name that is above every
name. Selfishness
Unmasked
Now
the guilt of Satan stood forth without excuse. He had revealed his true
character as a liar and a murderer.
It was seen that the very same spirit with which he ruled the children of
men, who were under his power, he would have manifested had he been
permitted to control the inhabitants of Heaven. He had claimed that the
transgression of God’s law would bring liberty and exaltation; but it
was seen to result in bondage and degradation. Satan’s
lying charges against the divine character and government appeared in
their true light.
He had accused God of seeking merely the exaltation of Himself in
requiring submission and obedience from His creatures, and had declared
that while the Creator exacted self-denial from all others, He Himself
practiced no self-denial, made no sacrifice. Now it was seen that for
the salvation of a fallen and sinful race, the Ruler of the universe had
made the greatest sacrifice which love could make; for “God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself” (2 Cor. 5:19). It was seen,
also, that while Lucifer had opened the door for the entrance of sin, by
his desire for honor and supremacy, Christ had, in order to destroy
sin, humbled Himself and become obedient unto death. What
God Is Like God
had manifested His abhorrence of the principles of rebellion. All Heaven
saw His justice revealed, both in the condemnation of Satan and in the
redemption of man.
Lucifer had declared that if the law of God was changeless, and its
penalty could not be remitted, every transgressor must be forever debarred
from the Creator’s favor. He had claimed that the sinful race were
placed beyond redemption, and were therefore his rightful prey. But the
death of Christ was an argument in man’s behalf that could not be
overthrown. The penalty of the law fell upon Him who was equal with
God, and man was free to accept the righteousness of Christ, and by a life
of penitence and humiliation to triumph, as the Son of God had triumphed,
over the power of Satan. Thus God is just, and yet the justifier of all
who believe in Jesus. But
it was not merely to accomplish the redemption
of man that Christ came to the earth to suffer and to die. He came to
“magnify the law” and to “make it honorable.”
Not alone that the inhabitants of this world might regard the law as it
should be regarded; but it was to demonstrate to all the worlds of the
universe that God’s law is unchangeable. Could its claims have been
set aside, then the Son of God need not have yielded up His life to atone
for its transgression. The death of Christ proves it immutable. And
the sacrifice to which infinite love impelled the Father and the Son, that
sinners might be redeemed, demonstrates to all the universe—what nothing
less than this plan of atonement could have sufficed to do—that justice
and mercy are the foundation of the law and government of God. It
Will End in Ashes In
the final execution of the Judgment it will be seen that no cause for sin
exists.
When the Judge of all the earth shall demand of Satan, “Why hast thou
rebelled against Me, and robbed Me of the subjects of My kingdom?” the
originator of evil can render no excuse. Every mouth will be stopped, and
all the hosts of rebellion will be speechless. The
cross of Calvary, while it declares the law immutable, proclaims to the
universe that the wages of sin is death. In the Saviour’s expiring cry,
“It is finished,” the death-knell of Satan was rung. The great
controversy which had been so long in progress was then decided, and the
final eradication of evil was made certain.
The Son of God passed through the portals of the tomb, that “through
death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the
devil” (Heb. 2:14). Lucifer’s desire for self-exaltation had led him
to say, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God . . I will be
like the Most High.” God declares, “I will bring thee to ashes upon
the earth . . and never shalt thou be any more” (Isa. 14:13-14; Eze.
28:18-19). When “the day cometh that shall burn as an oven,” “all
the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day
that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall
leave them neither root nor branch” (Mal. 4:1). Eternally
Secure The
whole universe will have become witnesses to the nature and results of
sin. And its utter extermination, which in the beginning would have
brought fear to angels and dishonor to God, will now vindicate His love
and establish His honor before a universe of beings who delight to do His
will, and in whose heart is His law. Never will evil again be manifest.
Says the Word of God, “Affliction shall not rise up the second time”
(Nahum 1:9). The law of God, which Satan has reproached as the yoke of
bondage, will be honored as the law of liberty. A tested and proved
creation will never again be turned from allegiance to Him whose character
has been fully manifested before them as fathomless love and infinite
wisdom. Enough
May Be Understood To
many minds, the origin of sin and the reason for its existence are a
source of great perplexity. They see the work of evil, with its terrible
results of woe and desolation, and they question how all this can exist
under the sovereignty of One who is infinite in wisdom, in power, and in
love. Here is a mystery, of which they find no explanation.
And in their uncertainty and doubt, they are blinded to truths plainly
revealed in God’s Word and essential to salvation. There are those who,
in their inquiries concerning the existence of sin, endeavor to search
into that which God has never revealed; hence they find no solution of
their difficulties; and such as are actuated by a disposition to doubt and
cavil, seize upon this as an excuse for rejecting the words of Holy Writ.
Others, however, fail of a satisfactory understanding of the great problem
of evil, from the fact that tradition and misinterpretation have obscured
the teaching of the Bible concerning the character of God, the nature of
His government, and the principles of His dealing with sin. It
is impossible to so explain the origin of sin as to give a reason for its
existence. Yet enough may be understood concerning both the origin and the
final disposition of sin, to fully make manifest the justice and
benevolence of God in all His dealings with evil.
Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture than that God was in nowise
responsible for the entrance of sin; that there was no arbitrary
withdrawal of divine grace, no deficiency in the divine government, that
gave occasion for the uprising of rebellion. Sin is an intruder, for
whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to
excuse it is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be
shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. Our only definition
of sin is that given in the Word of God; it is “the transgression of the
law”; it is the outworking of a principle at war with the great law
of love which is the foundation of the divine government. “This
God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death.” “Unto
Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” “As
the heaven is high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that
fear Him.” “God
is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a
city.” |
