March 10, 2022 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Hello, friends. In this world of trouble and turmoil, our hearts ache as we see and experience suffering. Wars and devastation. Sickness, disease, and death. Disasters of every kind. Where is God in all of this? And if He is so kind and loving and good, why doesn’t He do something about it?!
This question has been asked down through the centuries, and today we are going to look at what is called the Great Controversy–the ultimate war between Christ and Satan, between good and evil.
At the beginning of time following this world’s Creation, we are told in Genesis 1:31 that “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.“ Yes, it was peaceful and beautiful–in fact, perfect. So, what happened?
In order to answer that question, we need to look even further back– back into heaven where the trouble began.
“Trouble in heaven?” you may ask. Isn’t heaven a perfect place? Yes, it was–until war broke out. War in heaven? How is that even possible?!
As the Bible tells us in many places, there are angels in heaven. For example, in Psalm 103:20 we read: “Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word.” And in describing the work of angels, we read in Hebrews 1:14, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
Tragically, however, there was one angel who decided he knew better than God and was determined to no longer follow His word. He wanted to rise above God and be his own god. His name was Lucifer.
Using the kings of Tyre and Babylon as figurative descriptions for Lucifer, Scripture illuminates how this cosmic controversy began. We read in Ezekiel 28:12-15, speaking of Lucifer, God says: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. . . You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.”
And in Isaiah 14:12-14 we read: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God . . . I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”
Although we can’t explain or justify the rise of sin, its roots can be traced to Lucifer’s pride. Speaking of this covering cherub, Ezekiel 28:17 explains, “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.”
Rather than being content with his high position, Lucifer wanted more. He wanted to be like God. Lucifer’s rebellion against God’s government was the first step into his transformation into Satan, “the adversary.”
Through his sophistry, Satan was able to deceive one-third of the angels and together they joined him in rebellion. As we read in Revelation 12:7-9—
“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Sadly, as we are all very aware, Satan brought his deception to earth and by his slithering deception in the Garden of Eden was able to first convince Eve, who then convinced Adam to take that first bite of disobedience to God, plunging what was once a perfect world into the depths of sin, misery, and heartache that we see today.
Recently, we have been looking at our Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Beliefs, and today we are discussing Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Belief #8—”The Great Controversy”, which states:
“All humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Christ and Satan regarding the character of God, His law, and His sovereignty over the universe. This conflict originated in heaven when a created being, endowed with freedom of choice, in self-exaltation became Satan, God’s adversary, and led into rebellion a portion of the angels. He introduced the spirit of rebellion into this world when he led Adam and Eve into sin. This human sin resulted in the distortion of the image of God in humanity, the disordering of the created world, and its eventual devastation at the time of the global flood, as presented in the historical account of Genesis 1-11. Observed by the whole creation, this world became the arena of the universal conflict, out of which the God of love will ultimately be vindicated. To assist His people in this controversy, Christ sends the Holy Spirit and the loyal angels to guide, protect, and sustain them in the way of salvation.”
If you would like to read this fundamental belief for yourself, along with the supporting Bible texts, I encourage you to visit the url at the bottom of the screen [www.adventist.org/the-great-controversy/].
I also strongly encourage you to read, or re-read, the incredible book titled The Great Controversy, written by Ellen White. This divinely-inspired, eye-opening book will take you behind the scenes of this incredible war now taking place in our world, and indeed in our own hearts. It tells how this conflict has played out in history, how it is playing out today, and how it will play out in the very near future.
We praise God that He has a plan to rescue us from this terrible war. We thank Him for sending Jesus, who came and experienced this war first-hand while on Earth, who lived and died and rose again and is now ministering for us in Heaven. Because of Him, we can be assured that one day soon this great controversy will come to an end and He and all who love Him will triumph gloriously!
Once again, I strongly encourage you to get the book, The Great Controversy, and read or re-read it. You will be amazed at how timely and accurate it is. You can read and download a free copy, available in many languages, at egwwritings.org.
Friends, the great controversy war is real. This world, and our hearts, are the battlefield. Which side are you on? I invite you to surrender your heart, or re-commit your heart, to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, right now. There is no time to lose.
Let’s pray together. Father in heaven, we thank you for the magnificent revealing of future activities, as we read them in the Bible, we also are so grateful, for understanding what is happened in the past and how you have had a plan of salvation even before the foundation of this world, we thank you, that Jesus has made a way of a scape for us, and not only lived on this earth, died and rose, he is now ministering fours in the most holy place, of the heavenly sanctuary and soon will take off those Priestley robes and put on his King robes and come to take us home. Lord, the great controversy will be ended, and Christ will be triumphant. Lord, by faith and grace, in connection with you, we claim that victory for ourselves, through the righteousness of Christ, thank you for hearing us in this prayer, in Jesus’s name amen.