Christ did not yield up His life till He had accomplished the work which He came to do, and with His parting breath He exclaimed, "It is finished." John 19:30. The battle had been won. His right hand and His holy arm had gotten Him the victory. As a Conqueror He planted His banner on the eternal heights. Was there not joy among the angels? All heaven triumphed in the Saviour's victory. Satan was defeated, and knew that his kingdom was lost.
To the angels and the unfallen worlds the cry, "It is finished," had a deep significance. It was for them as well as for us that the great work of redemption had been accomplished. They with us share the fruits of Christ's victory.
Not until the death of Christ was the character of Satan clearly revealed to the angels or to the unfallen worlds. The archapostate had so clothed himself with deception that even holy beings had not understood his principles. They had not clearly seen the nature of his rebellion.
It was a being of wonderful
power and glory that had set himself against God. Of Lucifer the
Lord says, "Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and
perfect in beauty." Ezek. 28:12. Lucifer had been the covering
cherub. He had stood in the light of God's presence. He had been
the highest of all created beings, and had been foremost in revealing
God's purposes to the universe. After he had sinned, his power
to deceive was the more deceptive, and the unveiling of his character
was the more difficult, because of the exalted position he had
held with the Father.
God could have destroyed Satan and his sympathizers as easily as one can cast a pebble to the earth; but He did not do this. Rebellion was not to be overcome by force. Compelling power is found only under Satan's government. The Lord's principles are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means to be used. God's government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power.
It was God's purpose to place things on an eternal basis of security, and in the councils of heaven it was decided that time must be given for Satan to develop the principles which were the foundation of his system of government. He had claimed that these were superior to God's principles. Time was given for the working of Satan's principles, that they might be seen by the heavenly universe.
Satan led men into sin, and the plan of redemption was put in operation. For four thousand years, Christ was working for man's uplifting, and Satan for his ruin and degradation. And the heavenly universe beheld it all.
When Jesus came into the world, Satan's power was turned against Him. From the time when He appeared as a babe in Bethlehem, the usurper worked to bring about His destruction. In every possible way he sought to prevent Jesus from developing a perfect childhood, a faultless manhood, a holy ministry, and an unblemished sacrifice. But he was defeated. He could not lead Jesus into sin. He could not discourage Him, or drive Him from a work He had come on earth to do. From the desert to Calvary, the storm of Satan's wrath beat upon Him, but the more mercilessly it fell, the more firmly did the Son of God cling to the hand of His Father, and press on in the bloodstained path. All the efforts of Satan to oppress and overcome Him only brought out in a purer light His spotless character.
All heaven and the unfallen
worlds had been witnesses to the controversy. With what intense
interest did they follow the closing scenes of the conflict. They
beheld the Saviour enter the garden of Gethsemane, His soul bowed
down with the horror of a great darkness. They heard His bitter
cry, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me."
Matt. 26:39. As the Father's presence was withdrawn, they saw
Him sorrowful with a bitterness of sorrow exceeding that of the
last great struggle with death. The bloody sweat was forced from
His pores, and
fell in drops upon the ground.
Thrice the prayer for deliverance was wrung from His lips. Heaven
could no longer endure the sight, and a messenger of comfort was
sent to the Son of God.
Heaven beheld the Victim betrayed into the hands of the murderous mob, and with mockery and violence hurried from one tribunal to another. It heard the sneers of His persecutors because of His lowly birth. It heard the denial with cursing and swearing by one of His best-loved disciples. It saw the frenzied work of Satan, and his power over the hearts of men. Oh, fearful scene! the Saviour seized at midnight in Gethsemane, dragged to and fro from palace to judgment hall, arraigned twice before the priests, twice before the Sanhedrin, twice before Pilate, and once before Herod, mocked, scourged, condemned, and led out to be crucified, bearing the heavy burden of the cross, amid the wailing of the daughters of Jerusalem and the jeering of the rabble.
Heaven viewed with grief
and amazement Christ hanging upon the cross, blood flowing from
His wounded temples, and sweat tinged with blood standing upon
His brow. From His hands and feet the blood fell, drop by drop,
upon the rock drilled for the foot of the cross. The wounds made
by the nails gaped as the weight of His body dragged upon His
hands. His labored breath grew quick and deep, as His soul panted
under the burden of the sins of the world. All heaven was filled
with wonder when the prayer of Christ was offered in the midst
of His terrible suffering,--"Father, forgive them; for they
know not what they do." Luke 23:34. Yet there stood men,
formed in the image of God, joining to crush out the life of His
only-begotten Son. What a sight for the heavenly universe!
The principalities and powers of darkness were assembled around the cross, casting the hellish shadow of unbelief into the hearts of men. When the Lord created these beings to stand before His throne, they were beautiful and glorious. Their loveliness and holiness were in accordance with their exalted station. They were enriched with the wisdom of God, and girded with the panoply of heaven. They were Jehovah's ministers. But who could recognize in the fallen angels the glorious seraphim that once ministered in the heavenly courts?
Satanic agencies confederated
with evil men in leading the people to believe Christ the chief
of sinners, and to make Him the object of detestation. Those who
mocked Christ as He hung upon the cross were imbued with the spirit
of the first great rebel. He filled them with vile
and loathsome speeches. He
inspired their taunts. But by all this he gained nothing.
Could one sin have been found in Christ, had He in one particular yielded to Satan to escape the terrible torture, the enemy of God and man would have triumphed. Christ bowed His head and died, but He held fast His faith and His submission to God. "And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." Rev. 12:10.
Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. His administration was laid open before the unfallen angels and before the heavenly universe. He had revealed himself as a murderer. By shedding the blood of the Son of God, he had uprooted himself from the sympathies of the heavenly beings. Henceforth his work was restricted. Whatever attitude he might assume, he could no longer await the angels as they came from the heavenly courts, and before them accuse Christ's brethren of being clothed with the garments of blackness and the defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was broken.
Yet Satan was not then destroyed. The angels did not even then understand all that was involved in the great controversy. The principles at stake were to be more fully revealed. And for the sake of man, Satan's existence must be continued. Man as well as angels must see the contrast between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness. He must choose whom he will serve.
In the opening of the great
controversy, Satan had declared that the law of God could not
be obeyed, that justice was inconsistent with mercy, and that,
should the law be broken, it would be impossible for the sinner
to be pardoned. Every sin must meet its punishment, urged Satan;
and if God should remit the punishment of sin, He would not be
a God of truth and justice. When men broke the law of God, and
defied His will, Satan exulted. It was proved, he declared, that
the law could not be obeyed; man could not be forgiven. Because
he, after his rebellion, had been banished from heaven, Satan
claimed that the human race must be forever shut out from God's
favor. God could not be just, he urged, and yet show mercy to
the sinner.
But even as a sinner, man
was in a different position from that of Satan. Lucifer in heaven
had sinned in the light of God's glory. To him as to no other
created being was given a revelation of God's love.
Understanding the character
of God, knowing His goodness, Satan chose to follow his own selfish,
independent will. This choice was final. There was no more that
God could do to save him. But man was deceived; his mind was darkened
by Satan's sophistry. The height and depth of the love of God
he did not know. For him there was hope in a knowledge of God's
love. By beholding His character he might be drawn back to God.
Through Jesus, God's mercy
was manifested to men; but mercy does not set aside justice. The
law reveals the attributes of God's character, and not a jot or
tittle of it could be changed to meet man in his fallen condition.
God did not change His law, but He sacrificed Himself, in Christ,
for man's redemption. "God was in Christ, reconciling the
world unto Himself." 2 Cor. 5:19.
The law requires righteousness,--a righteous life, a perfect character; and this man has not to give. He cannot meet the claims of God's holy law. But Christ, coming to the earth as man, lived a holy life, and developed a perfect character. These He offers as a free gift to all who will receive them. His life stands for the life of men. Thus they have remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. More than this, Christ imbues men with the attributes of God. He builds up the human character after the similitude of the divine character, a goodly fabric of spiritual strength and beauty. Thus the very righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer in Christ. God can "be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." Rom. 3:26.
God's love has been expressed in His justice no less than in His mercy. Justice is the foundation of His throne, and the fruit of His love. It had been Satan's purpose to divorce mercy from truth and justice. He sought to prove that the righteousness of God's law is an enemy to peace. But Christ shows that in God's plan they are indissolubly joined together; the one cannot exist without the other. "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." Ps. 85:10.
By His life and His death, Christ proved that God's justice did not destroy His mercy, but that sin could be forgiven, and that the law is righteous, and can be perfectly obeyed. Satan's charges were refuted. God had given man unmistakable evidence of His love.
Another deception was now
to be brought forward. Satan declared that mercy destroyed justice,
that the death of Christ abrogated the Father's law. Had it been
possible for the law to be changed or abrogated, then Christ need
not have died. But to abrogate the law would be to immortalize
transgression, and place the world under Satan's control. It was
because the law was changeless, because man could be saved only
through obedience to its precepts, that Jesus was lifted up on
the cross. Yet the very means by which Christ established the
law Satan represented as destroying it. Here will come the last
conflict of the great controversy between Christ and Satan.
That the law which was spoken by God's own voice is faulty, that some specification has been set aside, is the claim which Satan now puts forward. It is the last great deception that he will bring upon the world. He needs not to assail the whole law; if he can lead men to disregard one precept, his purpose is gained. For "whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10. By consenting to break one precept, men are brought under Satan's power. By substituting human law for God's law, Satan will seek to control the world. This work is foretold in prophecy. Of the great apostate power which is the representative of Satan, it is declared, "He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand." Dan. 7:25.
Men will surely set up their laws to counterwork the laws of God. They will seek to compel the consciences of others, and in their zeal to enforce these laws they will oppress their fellow men.
The warfare against God's law, which was begun in heaven, will be continued until the end of time. Every man will be tested. Obedience or disobedience is the question to be decided by the whole world. All will be called to choose between the law of God and the laws of men. Here the dividing line will be drawn. There will be but two classes. Every character will be fully developed; and all will show whether they have chosen the side of loyalty or that of rebellion.
Then the end will come.
God will vindicate His law and deliver His people. Satan and all
who have joined him in rebellion will be cut off. Sin and sinners
will perish, root and branch, (Mal. 4:1),--Satan the root, and
his followers the branches. The word will be fulfilled to the
prince of evil, "Because thou hast set thine heart as the
heart of God; . . . I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from
the midst of the stones of fire. . . . Thou shalt be a terror,
and never shalt thou be any more." Then "the wicked
shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and
it shall not be;" "they shall be as though they had
not been." Ezek. 28:6-19; Ps. 37:10; Obadiah 16.
This is not an act of arbitrary power on the part of God. The rejecters of His mercy reap that which they have sown. God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service of sin, he separates from God, and thus cuts himself off from life. He is "alienated from the life of God." Christ says, "All they that hate Me love death." Eph. 4:18; Prov. 8:36. God gives them existence for a time that they may develop their character and reveal their principles. This accomplished, they receive the results of their own choice. By a life of rebellion, Satan and all who unite with him place themselves so out of harmony with God that His very presence is to them a consuming fire. The glory of Him who is love will destroy them.
At the beginning of the great controversy, the angels did not understand this. Had Satan and his host then been left to reap the full result of their sin, they would have perished; but it would not have been apparent to heavenly beings that this was the inevitable result of sin. A doubt of God's goodness would have remained in their minds as evil seed, to produce its deadly fruit of sin and woe.
But not so when the great controversy shall be ended. Then, the plan of redemption having been completed, the character of God is revealed to all created intelligences. The precepts of His law are seen to be perfect and immutable. Then sin has made manifest its nature, Satan his character. Then the extermination of sin will vindicate God's love and establish His honor before a universe of beings who delight to do His will, and in whose heart is His law.
Well, then, might the angels rejoice as they looked upon the Saviour's cross; for though they did not then understand all, they knew that the destruction of sin and Satan was forever made certain, that the redemption of man was assured, and that the universe was made eternally secure. Christ Himself fully comprehended the results of the sacrifice made upon Calvary. To all these He looked forward when upon the cross He cried out, "It is finished."
