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Chapter 29
The 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
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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
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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;
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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