Studies in the Gospel Message
The subject of the lesson for Sabbath, April 19, is “The Great Controversy Transferred to the Earth.” The rebellion against the government of God began in heaven. And it all grew out of envy. “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.” Another translation of this verse reads, “For wherever jealousy and rivalry are, there are anarchy and every foul deed.” Here is the original source of all anarchy. It had its root in jealousy, and it blossomed out in “every foul deed.” From the description given of Lucifer, under the name of “the king of Tyrus,” in the twenty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel, it is evident that he was created high in the scale of being. “Full of wisdom,” “perfect in beauty,” “perfect in thy ways,” are the expressions used by the prophet. It is thus evident that he was created like God, but he was not God, and therefore he could not occupy the same position as the only begotten Son, who was one with the Father. For this reason envy filled the heart of Lucifer, because he could not be what he was not made to be. While he professed a purpose to be “like the Most High,” his real purpose was to exalt himself above the Most High, and to be ruler in his place. And so the mystery of evil was first revealed “upon the holy mountain of God,” in the immediate presence of the King of righteousness. The character of God as revealed in the love which he has shown to us, forbids us to think otherwise than that pardon and cleansing were offered to Lucifer, just as they have been to us; but pride ruled his will, envy was cherished, love was refused, and the inevitable result followed. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” By filling the minds of men with the same thoughts which he himself entertained about God, he has carried forward through man and upon the earth the same warfare against the government of God which he began in heaven. He who sought to put himself above God inspired in man the same desire, filled him with the same spirit of pride, and under the pretense of securing for him greater liberty, led him in the revolt against rightful authority. And this is sin. “We can thus, in some measure at least, understand that the original sin, the primary root of all sin, the defiant6act of him who, whatever his rank in the scale of created life (and it may conceivably have been the highest), was the first leader of rebellion against the sovereign supremacy of God, was pride. It was the lust of independence at whatever cost, the longing for a separate kingdom of his own, the assertion of self and self-sufficiency, the dethronement, the annihilation of God, the deification of self.” The question to be settled in heaven was, Who is God? Shall God rule in his kingdom, or shall Lucifer be allowed to take the throne? Lucifer could not rule the universe. To allow the attempt would be simply to permit him to draw the whole kingdom down to ruin with himself. God is love, and his love is shown in his care for the subjects of his kingdom. He would not permit them to be dragged down to irretrievable ruin by the self-assertion of Lucifer. With love as the only weapon, and his Son as the one through whom that love was revealed, Lucifer was overthrown in heaven, and was cast out of heaven. With the same weapon, wielded by the same person, Lucifer, now Satan, is to be overcome, and cast out of the earth. God gave his Son as the price which he paid for the blotting out of sin from his kingdom. Love could do no more. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us.” By yielding to the temptation to sin, man admitted Satan into his own heart. So far as he was concerned, he gave up to Satan the place in the kingdom of God within his heart which belonged to God, and in doing so he lost the power to conquer Satan, and expel him from the dominion which he had usurped through deception. Satan became the prince of this world, and man would have been his helpless slave if it had not been for the deliverance provided through the gospel. This provision required that the Son of God should become the Son of man, uniting his divinity with humanity; that by taking up his abode in the heart of fallen humanity, he might by this act of self-sacrificing love conquer and drive out Satan. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” And this is the gospel of the kingdom. This is “the gospel of God, . . . concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” This is the gospel of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Christ dwelling in the heart by faith is to conquer Satan, and cast him out of the heart of man, just as he conquered Satan, and cast him out of heaven. The King of righteousness is to have his rightful place as ruler. The question as to who is God is to be settled on earth, just as it was in heaven. And each one of us has a responsibility in this matter, and each one of us is deciding the question, so far as we are concerned, by the decisions which we are making day by day. The day of final decision is near at hand, and soon we shall hear the voices saying, “The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ.” Take your place on the right side of this controversy at once. “The Lord, he is the God; The Lord, he is the God.”