“God is love.” His nature, His law, His government, His dealings with humanity, and every one of His manifestations are expressions of His love. 1 John 4:16. And God’s love is associated with other qualities of His character. See chapter I. Then how could God permit evil to originate?
All intelligent beings having a moral conscience were created free to choose between obedience or disobedience to the great principles of truth, righteousness, and love. Lucifer (meaning “light bearer”), one of the most exalted cherubim, misused his freedom of choice. Deuteronomy 30:19; Galatians 6:7, 8. This was the beginning of the great rebellion in heaven. Lucifer became Satan (Hebrew Shatan, meaning “adversary”). He set aside the law of God through self-exaltation, deception, lying, and murder. Ezekiel 28: 13-15, 17; Isaiah 14:12-14; Revelation 12:7, 8; John 8:44 (cf. 1 John 3:15).
When Satan and his angels were expelled from heaven, they found their abode on this earth, where they continued the work of rebellion as our first parents yielded to him. Revelation 12: 9, 12, 13; Job 1:6, 7; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6 (cf. Matthew 8:29); Genesis 3:1-15 (cf. Romans 5:12).
Satan falsely claims that this earth, with everything that is in it, belongs to him. He became the “god” and “prince of this world,” not by right, but by usurpation. Luke 4:5, 6; 2 Corinthians 4:4; John 12:31; 1 John 5:19.
The final victory of Christ over Satan was obtained in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. John 14:30; 16:11; Hebrews 2:14, 15. As a result of Christ’s victory, we can also overcome. 1 Corinthians 15:57; James 4:7, 8; Revelation 12:11.
During the millennium (1000 years), Satan will be bound by a chain of circumstances on this earth, and at the end of the millennium he and his followers will be loosened for a short time, and then they will finally be destroyed, and leave neither root nor branch. Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10; Malachi 4:1, 3; Isaiah 14:15-20; Ezekiel 28:16, 18, 19.
Where and How Did Sin Originate?
“The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of ‘the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal’ (Romans 16:25, R. V). It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, ‘that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16).”-The Desire of Ages, p. 22.
“Sin originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God and was highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Lucifer, ‘son of the morning,’ was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled. He stood in the presence of the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glory enshrouding the eternal God rested upon him.”-Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 35.
Satan puts the following questions into the minds of infidels: If God knew that our first parents would fall into temptation, why did He create them? Or, why didn’t He, instead, create a different man and a different woman, who would not fall when tempted? But he does not ask the same questions about himself, since he is the originator of sin, and the one who tempted Adam and Eve to transgress God’s command. The origin of sin is a mystery to us. Deuteronomy 29:29.
“There are thousands today echoing the same rebellious complaint against God. They do not see that to deprive man of the freedom of choice would be to rob him of his prerogative as an intelligent being, and make him a mere automaton. It is not God’s purpose to coerce the will. Man was created a free moral agent. Like the inhabitants of all other worlds, he must be subjected to the test of obedience; but he is never brought into such a position that yielding to evil becomes a matter of necessity. No temptation or trial is permitted to come to him which he is unable to resist. God made such ample provision that man need never have been defeated in the conflict with Satan.”-Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 331, 332.
“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 [Lucifer] who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God and who stood highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven.”-The Great Controversy, p. 493.
“When the conflict was renewed upon the earth, Satan again won a seeming advantage. By transgression, man became his captive, and man’s kingdom also was betrayed into the hands of the archrebel. Now the way seemed open for Satan to establish an independent kingdom, and to defy the authority of God and His Son.”-Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 331.
“At the time when sin had become a science, when the hostility of man was most violent against heaven, when rebellion struck its roots deep into the human heart, when vice was consecrated as a part of religion, when Satan exulted in the idea that he had led men to such a state of evil that God would destroy the world, Jesus was sent into the world, not to condemn it, but, amazing grace! to save the world. The unfallen worlds watched with intense interest to see Jehovah arise and sweep away the inhabitants of the earth, and Satan boasted that if God did do this, he would complete his plans and secure for himself the allegiance of unfallen worlds. He had arguments ready by which to cast blame upon God, and to spread his rebellion to the world’s above; but at this crisis, instead of destroying the world, God sent his Son to save it.”-The Signs of the Times, February 5, 1894.
“Why was it that Satan’s existence was not cut short at the outset of his rebellion? It was that the universe might be convinced of God’s justice in His dealing with evil; that sin might receive eternal condemnation.”-Education, p. 308.
Chapter VI
CreationThe Bible teaches that the universe and the various forms of life were created by God through Christ out of things invisible and that “God’s creation is but a reservoir of means made ready for Him to employ instantly” according to His purpose (Lift Him Up, p. 66). Hebrews 11:3; Psalm 33:6, 9; Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Job 26:7-14; 38:36; Isaiah 45:18; Colossians 1:16. We have some comprehension of the invisible God by the visible things He has created. Romans 1:19, 20; Psalm 19:1. God created this world in six literal days. Genesis 1:31; 2:1; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:3; Job 38:4-7; Exodus 20:11.
Human beings cannot number the stars, but, in God’s omniscience, they are all numbered and called by name. Psalm 147:4, 5; Isaiah 40:26; Job 9:9.
God is not only the Creator but also the Sustainer of the things that He brought into existence. He also made, and is still making, provision to sustain His creatures with food. Isaiah 40:12; 42:5; Matthew 5:45; Acts 17:24-28; Genesis 1:29, 30; Psalm 65:9-13; Matthew 6:25-30.
When the works of creation were completed, everything was “very good.” Genesis 1:31; Psalm 8:1, 3, 9; Ecclesiastes 7:29.
The universe, the world, humanity, the animal kingdom, and the plant kingdom are highly organized systems which could not have come into existence by chance. Things which reveal a calculated “purpose” such as a mind to think, eyes to see, ears to hear) came from the “hands” of an Intelligence, an omniscient and omnipotent Being, whom the Bible calls God. Nature clearly reveals a design, and where there is a design there is a designer. A person would certainly need much faith to believe that the shaking or rotation of a gigantic drum containing millions of pieces of metal, over a long period of time, would produce clocks, typewriters, and computers; or that an explosion in a print-shop would produce an encyclopedia. How much more faith, then, would he or she need in order to believe that human beings just happened to come into existence by themselves, as a result of an unconscious, senseless, and aimless interaction of soil-water-wind-fire and nothing else? Therefore, if one disbelieves God, he or she automatically believes that blind and impotent chance is able to form highly complex things, such as human beings, the world, and the universe. In other words, one needs more belief to disbelieve God than to believe in Him.
“In the formation of our world, God was not indebted to preexisting matter. On the contrary, all things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord Jehovah at His voice and were created for His own purpose. The heavens and all the host of them, the earth and all things therein, are not only the work of His hand; they came into existence by the breath of His mouth.”-Testimonies, vol. 8, pp. 258, 259.
“As the earth came forth from the hand of its Maker, it was exceedingly beautiful. Its surface was diversified with mountains, hills, and plains, interspersed with noble rivers and lovely lakes; but the hills and mountains were not abrupt and rugged, abounding in terrific steeps and frightful chasms, as they now do; the sharp, ragged edges of earth’s rocky framework were buried beneath the fruitful soil, which everywhere produced a luxuriant growth of verdure. There were no loathsome swamps or barren deserts. Graceful shrubs and delicate flowers greeted the eye at every turn. The heights were crowned with trees more majestic than any that now exist. The air, untainted by foul miasma, was clear and healthful. The entire landscape outvied in beauty the decorated grounds of the proudest palace. The angelic host viewed the scene with delight, and rejoiced at the wonderful works of God.”-Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 44.
