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Bible-Ten Commandments
THE FIRST LAWBREAKER:
ORIGIN OF EVIL
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
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 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;
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
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 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 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 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 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. 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
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 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
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. From Great
Controversy--Chapter 29
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