TWO POWERS—TWO PRINCIPLES.
THE word of God presents before us two great opposing powers—God and Satan. The One is the great Creator of the heavens and earth, the self-existent God, the only One who has any right to say: "I am God; and there is none else." "I am Jehovah; and there is none else." "There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me." "I have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host I have commanded." "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." "I, even I, am Jehovah; and beside me there is no Saviour." "I am Jehovah, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King." Such expressions as the above are abundant, especially in Isaiah, chapters 40-49. They declare as emphatically and clearly as human language can express thought, that the Author and God of the Bible is the one only Creator, Redeemer, and Saviour, possessing eternity and immutability of being, the source of all life and power, the One who created all things by the word of his power (Ps. 33:6, 9), and the One who "giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;" "for in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:25, 28). Even such, and more than language can tell or mind comprehend, is God. The opposing power is Satan, the adversary. He was once one of the highest and most glorious beings in the universe, none greater save the Father and the Son. At that time his name was Lucifer, the "light bearer," or "daystar." Now he is called Satan, "the adversary;" the Devil, or "the accuser;" Abaddon or Apollyon, "the destroyer," and by still other names indicative of his character. Everywhere he is treated as a personality, chief over a multitude of evil spirits, or demons, who are his angels, or messengers. He is frequently called The Evil One, because in him evil found its origin. He is called the "father of lies," because he was the first that proved false. He is called the king of Babylon, because he controlled the literal king of that monarchy. In Eze. 28:12-19 he is called king of Tyre, in contradistinction to the earthly king of Tyre, who is called the prince of Tyre, because controlled by the spirit of Satan. In the last-named scripture his exalted position in heaven before sin entered, is thus set before us:— "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, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold; the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee the day that thou wast created. 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." Eze. 28:12-15. At that time in the counsels of God, when all heaven was harmony, was to be executed his purpose of creating the earth, of which the Lord thus speaks to Job (38:4-7):— "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? . . . when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" "The Bright and Morning Star" now and always is Michael (who is like God), or Christ (Rev. 22:16); and second in brightness under the Father was "Lucifer, son of the morning" or "daystar" (Isa. 14:12). In that morning of earth's creation all was peace; all the angels of God shouted for joy, and Michael and Lucifer sang together. But the honor rested with Michael, the One like God, the One through whom the rolling suns and planets were created and the ages constituted, the One to whom the Father spake, "Let us make man." See 1 Cor. 8:6; Heb. 1:2, 8-10; Gen. 1:26.2Here crept in the first transgression in the universe, by just what process we do not know; for it we can give no reason, for there is no reason for sinning. The choice of honoring God and Him on whom God placed his honor, rested with Lucifer, as with all others. He could choose or refuse. God must have willing service, for no other would be loving service, and nothing but loving service would glorify God and perpetuate happiness. He must therefore leave to angels and to men the awful prerogative and responsibility of choosing or refusing. Lucifer refused the loving service of his Creator. He looked upon himself; he saw the beauty which God had placed upon him, and, instead of giving glory to God, he glorified himself. In these two powers we have the two actuating principles,— "God is love," and all that he did for his creatures was done in love. Love comprehends every moral attribute of his character. It would be absolutely impossible for him to act in any other way save in the way of love. In our finite knowledge and limited perception we may not be able to see how love may enter into all of God's dealings with his creatures, but we should remember that we see only the present; God sees the end from the beginning. The kind surgeon may seem to be cruel to the uninformed bystander when he amputates the limb of the wounded man, but the wisdom of the surgeon knows that the act is necessary to save the life of his patient. So infinite love is guided by infinite wisdom and controlled by infinite power to the best good of not only the greatest number, but also for each one who will choose the way of that love. It is by love that God would win the hearts of men; it is love which he would implant in them. It is by the motive of love that he would have their service to him rendered. The divine injunctions, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," and "thy neighbor as thyself," are not only commands but implied promises; for God will enable man to perform all that he commands him, if man will but choose so to do. But the choice rests with man. God will not destroy man's individuality. He only asks willing, unselfish service. He sets before man "life and death, blessing and cursing," and then pleads with man to "choose life," that both he and his seed may live. All this is for man's highest good. Were man capable of perfecting a righteous character in himself alone, his character would be no broader than himself, and his immediate environments and attachments. It would besides be an intrinsically selfish character. For every achievement self would be honored. For every victory self would be glorified. It does not require special discernment to understand that a number of such characters associated together would cause endless strife. Each one would naturally feel his own superiority, would boast of his own achievements, and would think that he himself would be the only one fitted to rule. Such a state of things would change heaven into a hell. But faith in an infinitely wise and holy Being would continually draw man out of himself, enlarge his conceptions, expand his mind; and yet at the same time, while contemplating the Infinite, and growing ever more and more like God, man would have less and less conceit and love of himself, and more of God and his fellowmen. Forgetting himself for others' sake, he would find the highest and purest happiness while seeking the happiness of others. And this is God's plan; this is God's love; this is the teaching of the Bible; this was the life of Christ, and is still in his followers. But the actuating motive of Satan is self-aggrandizement, self-praise, self-advancement, selfishness in every form. The manifestation of these two principles as shown in Lucifer and the Son of God, will be considered in our next.