SATAN'S REBELLION AND ITS RESULTS
By R. C. P.
In Creating Intelligent Beings, God Took a Risk—If Created Free, There Was the Chance for Sin—Lucifer, the Author of Sin, Once the Highest Created Being
THE universe was born of the love of God. It burst into songs of unrestrained joy in response to the love which gave it birth. When His creative work was finished, and God saw the joy of a universe of newly born beings basking in the delights of His love, He rested from His creative work, and was refreshed. An innumerable company of angels formed the highest order of the subjects of the kingdom of love. Heb. 2:7. In the creation of intelligent beings, God took the risk of the entrance of sin. He must of necessity take that risk if He would create them free. The right of choice in His worship and service involved the risk of sin. That God in creation faced that problem and assumed that risk is evident, since from the beginning He gave the freedom of choice to all, and gave warning against disobedience.185 Great as was that risk, it is shared still by every parent who brings a child into the world to satisfy the longing of parental love. The child may go wrong, but the parent takes the risk, that he may have the joy of fatherhood. So the great fatherly heart of God would rather take the risk of sin than be denied the privilege of rendering loving service to a universe of loving children. WOULD NOT BE SERVED BY AUTOMATONS
In creating intelligent beings, He must risk disobedience, bringing sin, with all its train of evil, into His kingdom, or by enforced obedience be served by automatons with no more character than machines. In enforced obedience, the act would be His, not theirs; hence they would develop no character. A God of love could but take the risk and leave His children free. Since righteousness is character, and God will not enforce character, He therefore, strictly speaking, created intelligent beings neither righteous nor unrighteous. He created them innocent as a child before character is developed, with the capacity to form righteous characters through obedience, or unrighteous characters through disobedience. HE SAW BEYOND THE TEARS AND HEARTACHES
He who saw the end from the beginning, knew that His plan would succeed. Isa. 46:10. Although sin should enter, He saw beyond the tears and heartaches which it would bring for a brief span, and beheld a redeemed host joining the great throng of the millions of unfallen worlds ascribing glory, honor, thanksgiving, and praise to their Creator and Redeemer throughout endless ages. Rev. 5:13. In taking the risk of sin invading His kingdom of perfect peace and love, God therefore took the risk of sorrow, pain, and death marring for a time His kingdom, and causing the ruin and loss of some of His loving subjects, and deep grief to Himself. Yet, at the last, this seeming defeat of His purpose to establish a kingdom where love should be all-pervading and everlasting would bring a new opportunity to manifest His love; and since nothing can be done against the truth, but for it (2 Cor. 13:8), in the end the love that took the risk of sin in order to create free subjects, will be rewarded. Eternity will be none too long for loyal subjects of the kingdom of God to praise the God of love who created them free. WILL WE GRASP THE MARVELOUS MEANING?
"God is love." This expression has become so common that there is danger of passing it without grasping its marvelous meaning. It is the character of God, the foundation of His great creative and redemptive work. In it are infolded all of the unfathomable depths of infinite wisdom, power, holiness, truth, mercy, and justice, which are the attributes of God. It is the mainspring of every act of God, manifested in inexpressible goodness, for the word "God" means good. His all-pervading love, which encircles all created intelligences, from the center to the circumference of His vast universe, stoops to no selfish pleasure, and is too honorable for any unworthy act. When, therefore, it is said, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created" (Rev. 4:11), He is worthy to receive glory and honor because, while creating for His own pleasure, He created in love. And love "doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own." 1 Cor. 13:5. Love seeks the pleasure of others, for no other reward than the pleasure of seeing them happy and receiving returns of love for love dispensed. And "there is no respect of persons with God." Rom. 2:11. Therefore, since "love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." 1 John 4:7, 8. LUCIFER A COVERING CHERUB
While unsurpassed acclamations of joy arose from every creature in the universe, God stationed created beings in the positions for which each had been prepared to serve the interests of His kingdom best. In the places for which each had been prepared, all would find their highest pleasure. God set Lucifer next to Christ as a covering cherub. Eze. 28:14. Between two covering cherubs, God sat upon His throne to administer the affairs of His kingdom. Ps. 99:1. Lucifer was therefore honored by receiving the highest position of any created being. For a period, all responded to the love of God, in love fulfilled His holy law, and anthems of harmonious praise poured forth from every part of the habitable universe. LUCIFER'S REBELLION AND THE ENTRANCE OF SIN
Having been placed second only to Christ, as a covering cherub, Lucifer stood in the immediate presence of God as an attendant to perform His bidding. Lucifer occupied the highest position of which he had been made capable. But as Christ occupied a higher place, there was a test of character in Lucifer's relation with the throne of God. Opening his heart to the suspicion that God had not done the best thing for him in assigning him his position in the universe, his heart became so lifted up in pride that he sought to exalt himself to a higher position by dethroning the Creator. That this covering cherub was a created being, that he was created perfect, that the spirit of pride which led to his desire for supremacy caused the entrance of sin and the announcement of its penalty, is all plainly told by the prophet Ezekiel, who introduces him under the figure of the king of Tyre. "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, 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, 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 in 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. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." Eze. 28:11-19. A CONSPIRACY TO OVERTHROW GOD'S GOVERNMENT
This revolt against God's method of handling the affairs of His kingdom led to open rebellion against the government of God. Selfishness was Lucifer's first act of secession. The next step was feigned reformation of God's government, followed by a conspiracy to overthrow the government. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." Isa. 14:12-15. Satan's rebellion brought a spirit of disaffection into the universe. It also brought in a spirit of seeking position for self glory instead of occupying the position of greatest service for others. It introduced sophistry and fraud instead of fair and open presentation of truth. It introduced flattery as an artful influence to lead others to join in a confederacy of evil. Satan thus sought, through misrepresentation, to cast reflections upon the law of God and to impeach God's wisdom and love. For these reasons, after all that infinite love could do for Satan's recovery, he was removed from his position as covering cherub, and cast as profane out of the mountain of God. Time was required to unmask the sophistries of Satan sufficiently before the intelligent host of free angelic worshippers that they might reach an intelligent decision as to the relation they should sustain to the controversy that had been forced upon them by Satan's rebellion. SATAN MUST BE ALLOWED TO SHOW HIMSELF
Although God knew the changed character of Lucifer, as with satanic frenzy he now led all who would join him in rebellion against the government of heaven, He must consider that angels required time to gather from its results evidence of the character of Satan's rebellion. For this reason death, as the penalty of sin, was not inflicted when Satan was cast out of heaven. God deferred the execution of this traitor against His government until his confederacy of evil had borne sufficient fruit to reveal to all subjects of His kingdom the true nature of sin, as contrasted with righteousness, the attribute of a just government by the law of love; until they should see contrasted with a confederacy in opposition to moral law, the character of a God of love as King; until, contrasted with the character of a usurper who would dethrone God and ruin the universe to satisfy an unholy ambition for supremacy, should be seen the character of One who was willing to empty Himself to assist those without hope. But the day is coming when iniquity will have an end. A just and loving God will be vindicated, and Satan and his rebellious followers will meet the full penalty of sin in death. Beyond this, perfectly united in the kingdom of love, all loyal subjects will render voluntary worship and service throughout unending ages to a God without iniquity, whose work is perfect, and all His ways justice and truth.