Christ had accomplished the work He came to do, and with His parting breath He exclaimed, “It is finished.” John 19:30. The battle had been won. All heaven triumphed in the Saviour’s victory. Satan knew his kingdom was lost. It was for the angels and unfallen worlds as well as for us that the great work of redemption had been accomplished. Until the death of Christ, Satan had so clothed himself with deception that even holy beings had not understood his principles nor clearly seen the nature of his rebellion.
(HLv 506.1)
Lucifer had been the covering cherub, the highest of all created beings. He had been foremost in revealing God’s purposes to the universe. After he had sinned, his power to deceive was the more deceptive, and unveiling his character was more difficult because of the exalted position he had held with the Father.
(HLv 506.2)
God could have destroyed Satan and his sympathizers, but He did not do this. Force, compelling power, is found only under Satan’s government. The Lord’s authority rests on goodness, mercy, and love, and these principles are the means to be used. God’s government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power.
(HLv 506.3)
In the councils of heaven it was decided that time must be given for Satan to develop the principles of his government. He had claimed that these were superior to God’s. Time was given for the working of Satan’s principles, that they might be seen by the heavenly universe. For 4000 years, Christ was working for man’s uplifting, and Satan for his ruin. And the heavenly universe beheld it all.
(HLv 506.4)
From the time when Jesus appeared as a babe in Bethlehem, Satan worked to bring about His destruction. He sought to prevent Him 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. All the efforts of Satan to overcome Him only brought out in a purer light His spotless character.
(HLv 507.1)
With intense interest heaven and the unfallen worlds followed the closing scenes of the conflict. They heard His bitter cry, “Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” Matthew 26:39. They saw Him sorrowful with a bitterness exceeding that of the last great struggle with death. The bloody sweat was forced from His pores, and 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.
(HLv 507.2)
Heaven beheld the Victim betrayed and with violence hurried from one tribunal to another. It heard the sneers of His persecutors and the denial with cursing by one of His disciples. It saw the Saviour 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.
(HLv 507.3)
Heaven viewed with amazement Christ hanging on the cross, blood flowing from His wounded temples, His hands, His feet. The wounds gaped as the weight of His body dragged on His hands. His soul panted under the burden of the sins of the world. All heaven was filled with wonder when Christ prayed in the midst of His terrible suffering, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34.
(HLv 507.4)
The powers of darkness around the cross cast the hellish shadow of unbelief into the hearts of men. Satanic agencies led the people to believe Christ the chief of sinners and to make Him the object of detestation. Those who mocked Christ were imbued with the spirit of the first great rebel. He inspired their taunts. But by all this he gained nothing.
(HLv 507.5)
Had Christ in one particular yielded to Satan to escape the terrible torture, the enemy would have triumphed. Christ bowed His head and died, but He held fast His faith. “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.” Revelation 12:10.
(HLv 508.1)
Satan saw that his disguise was torn away. 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 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 defilement of sin. The last link of sympathy between Satan and the heavenly world was broken.
(HLv 508.2)
Yet 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. 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.
(HLv 508.3)
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. If God should remit the punishment of sin, urged Satan, He would not be a God of justice. When men broke the law of God, Satan declared it was proved 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.
(HLv 508.4)
But man was in a different position from that of Satan. Lucifer had sinned in the light of God’s glory. Understanding the character of God, Satan chose to follow his own selfish will. There was no more that God could do to save him. But man was deceived, his mind darkened by Satan’s sophistry. The height and depth of the love of God he did not know. By beholding His character he might be drawn back to God.
(HLv 509.1)
Through Jesus, God’s mercy was manifested to men; but mercy does not set aside justice. The law could not be changed, but God sacrificed Himself in Christ for man’s redemption. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19.
(HLv 509.2)
The law requires a righteous life, a perfect character, and this man has not to give. But Christ, as man, lived a holy life and developed a perfect character. These He offers as a free gift to all who will receive Him. His life stands for the life of men. Thus they have remission of sins that are past. More than this, Christ imbues men with the attributes of God. He builds up the human character after the similitude of the divine character. Thus “the righteousness of the law” is fulfilled in the believer in Christ. Romans 8:4. God can “be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:26.
(HLv 509.3)
It had been Satan’s purpose to divorce mercy from truth and justice. But Christ showed that in God’s plan they are joined together; the one cannot exist without the other. “Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Psalm 85:10.
(HLv 509.4)
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.
(HLv 509.5)
Another deception was now to be brought forward. Satan declared 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. Because the law was changeless, Jesus was lifted up on the cross. Yet the means by which Christ established the law Satan represented as destroying it. Here will come the last conflict of the great controversy.
(HLv 510.1)
That some specification of the law spoken by God’s own voice has been set aside is the claim which Satan now puts forward. He need not 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. Prophecy declares of the great apostate power, the representative of Satan: “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.” Daniel 7:25. Men will set up laws to counterwork the laws of God, and in their zeal to enforce these laws they will oppress their fellow men.
(HLv 510.2)
The warfare against God’s law will continue until the end of time. All will be called to choose between the law of God and the laws of men. There will be but two classes. Every character will be fully developed. All will show whether they have chosen the side of loyalty or that of rebellion.
(HLv 510.3)
Then the end will come. God will vindicate His law and deliver His people. Satan and all who join him in rebellion will be cut off. Sin and sinners will perish, root and branch. See Malachi 4:1.
(HLv 510.4)
This is not an arbitrary act 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 sin, he cuts himself off from life. Christ says, “All they that hate Me love death.” Proverbs 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. Satan and all who unite with him place themselves so out of harmony with God that the very presence of Him who is love will destroy them.
(HLv 510.5)
At the beginning of the great controversy, the angels did not understand this. Had Satan and his host then perished, a doubt of God’s goodness would have remained in their minds as evil seed to produce its deadly fruit of sin.
(HLv 511.1)
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. Sin has made manifest its nature, Satan his character. The extermination of sin will vindicate God’s love and establish His honor before the universe.
(HLv 511.2)
Well, then, might the angels rejoice as they looked on the Saviour’s cross; for though they did not then understand all, they knew that the destruction of Satan was made certain, the redemption of man was assured, and the universe was made eternally secure.
(HLv 511.3)
To all these results of His sacrifice Christ Himself looked forward when on the cross He cried out, “It is finished.”
(HLv 511.4)