April 25, 2025 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Ted Wilson (TW): Hello, friends. Today we have the joy and privilege of looking at the final moments in the book, The Great Controversy. At this point in our reading, sin and sinners are no more. Satan has been destroyed forever. While God is a consuming fire to the wicked, He is, as the Psalmist declares, “a sun and shield to His people” (Ps. 84:11).
We read, “The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin” (The Great Controversy, p. 674). The only reminder will be the marks Christ will bear of His crucifixion—on His head, His side, His hands, and feet. These scars will, through all eternity, bear witness that He is “mighty to save!” (Is. 63:1).
Nancy Wilson (NW): And then, God will make a new earth. John describes this in the book of Revelation. He writes: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away” (Rev. 21:1).
This new heaven and new earth is going to be more wonderful than we can even imagine. The Bible tells us, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
Can you imagine a place where there will be no more pain, no more sorrow—no more tears, no more sickness and death—ever again! And what will it be like to never grow tired or weary—to live in a place where “we shall ever feel the freshness of the morning and shall ever be far from its close” (The Great Controversy p. 676).
TW: We will be able to learn new things, explore new horizons, and there will always be more of God’s greatness to discover. “There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized. . .
“All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar—worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human woe and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul. With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings” (The Great Controversy, p. 677)
NW: There, too, we will spend eternity with our dear loved ones who are part of the redeemed—and we will never have to say goodbye again.
But the best part of all is that we will be with Jesus forever—and we will see Him, and the Father, face to face. Inspiration tells us of that time: “The people of God are privileged to hold open communion with the Father and the Son. . . . [Now] we behold the image of God reflected, as in a mirror, in the works of nature and in His dealings with men; but then we shall see Him face to face . . . We shall stand in His presence and behold the glory of His countenance” (The Great Controversy, pp. 676, 677).
TW: Oh, friends, I long for that day when we will be together with our Lord forever in the place that He has prepared for us—and we pray that one day we will meet you there.
I hope this video series on The Great Controversy has been a blessing to you as it has been to us, and I encourage you to re-read this marvelous book, for I am sure you will be encouraged. If you haven’t already done so, I invite you to download the book at the URL shown at the bottom of the screen [Insert: thegreatcontroversyproject.org].
In closing, let us reflect on the final paragraph of this incredible book:
“The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love” (The Great Controversy, p. 678).