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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 explain the origin
of sin so as to give a reason for its existence. Yet enough may be
understood concerning both the origin and the final disposition of sin
to make fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all His
dealings with evil. Nothing is more plainly taught in
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Scripture than that God was in no wise
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.
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"
(Colossians 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.
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
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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." Verse 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." Verse 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.
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;
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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 councils 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?"
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
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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 reinstated 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.
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
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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.
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
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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 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
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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.
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 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
punishments.
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.
With one accord, Satan and his host
threw the blame of their rebellion wholly upon Christ, declaring that if
they
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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 archrebel
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.
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.
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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 no wise
chargeable upon the government of God.
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 sprang 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
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with inexpressible love and power came
forth the answer from the Father's throne: "Let all the angels of God
worship Him." Hebrews 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.
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 and 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 Corinthians 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.
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
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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.
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." Hebrews 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
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thee to ashes upon the earth, . . . and
never shalt thou be any more." Isaiah 14:13, 14; Ezekiel 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." Malachi 4:1.
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 the
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.
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