Prophecy
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Lucifer’s
Vanity
One day,
Lucifer found a clever way to put
himself on par with Michael.
Lucifer began by using his perfect
beauty and exalted position as a
covering cherub[40] to
elevate himself into
equality with Michael among
his closest friends. Over time,
Lucifer argued that to be fair, the
angels “really should”
worship both covering
cherubs. Lucifer’s friends
did not suspect an evil intent.
They had sinless natures and they
loved Lucifer and deeply respected
his leadership. As a result,
some angels did not see anything
logically wrong with worshiping
‘the other covering
cherub.’ However, there was
something about this that did not
seem right to most of the
angels. As time went by,
Lucifer gained sympathizers because
he promoted those who worshiped him
to higher positions and with this
maneuver, the concept of politics
began in Heaven. Suddenly, two
parties existed in Heaven; angels
loyal to Lucifer and angels loyal to
Michael. Happiness and
innocence began to evaporate.
Tension displaced happiness.
Attitudes and allegiances began to go
in different directions and this was
very unsettling.
Lucifer was
careful to avoid open conflict with
Michael. Instead, Lucifer
preferred to present his arguments in
secret meetings, using the excuse
that his hushed endeavor was all
about fairness. One of his
favorite arguments went like this:
“How can it be fair of God to
permit the angels to worship one
covering cherub and not the
other?” Unfortunately,
many angels sided with Lucifer and
concluded that in fact, God was
unfair! Angels loyal to
Lucifer defended him saying that he
was just as worthy and important as
Michael because he was a covering
cherub, the other chief
prince![41] As
disaffection for the Father and
Michael grew, the devil twisted
everything that Michael did and
said. Lucifer put righteousness
in the worst possible light. He
made Michael’s actions appear
self-serving and harmful to the
angels’ welfare, although
nothing harmful had ever
happened. Lucifer raised many
questions and doubts about God’s
government which God had not
specifically addressed. Lucifer
presented clever arguments which
ultimately caused one-third of the
angels to doubt that the Father was
fair and Michael was the Creator of
the universe. Remember, no
angel had seen Michael create
anything at that time, so
Lucifer’s arguments gained some
traction with sympathizers.
Lucifer’s
campaign against Michael went on for
a long time. He undermined the
joy of Heaven and over time,
Lucifer’s controversy with
Michael became widely known.
Lucifer’s rebellion matured when
he recruited enough followers and he
began to secure their loyalty with
promises of higher positions and
freedom from the Father’s
tyranny. Of course, the Father
knew everything that was going
on. Time after time, the Holy
Spirit tried to convict Lucifer of
wrong doing, but Lucifer would not
listen. The Father and Michael
spent time with Lucifer and addressed
his concerns, but Lucifer would not
relent. He could not be
embarrassed before his
followers. Lucifer and his
followers were warned repeatedly that
their disaffection would bring about
their destruction,* but they mistook
the Father’s patience as
indecisiveness and the threat of
destruction as evidence of tyranny.
*Note: Before
the angels were created, the Father
implemented a law that requires the
immediate death for anyone who sins.
This law was also imposed on Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden,[42] but the
Father has suspended this law until
the knowledge of good and evil has
matured.[43] After
the drama of sin is completed, this
law will be enforced. In the future,
if someone should willfully ignore
the testimony of ex-sinners and the
urging of the Holy Spirit, that
defiant sinner will be destroyed on
the day that he sins. If God’s
sudden death law should be
implemented at any time in the
future, God’s children will not
question the righteousness of this
law because everyone in the future
will understand all that sin does.
Sin and its curse will not permeate
God’s universe again. There will
be no salvation for any future sinner
after the current drama with sin
ends.
Lucifer told
his followers, “God cannot
tolerate the possibility of
competition. He is not a God of
love. You have heard Him say
that it is His way or sudden
death.” Lucifer used such
propaganda to accelerate his wicked
agenda and his followers eventually
became bold in their rebellion.
The sweet and softening influence of
the Holy Spirit was totally shut
out. The Holy Spirit could not
change the growing bitterness within
Lucifer or his followers.
The Demand
Lucifer’s
controversy with Christ came to a
head at a regularly scheduled
convocation. As usual,
Lucifer called the meeting to
order. The angels gathered
around God’s awesome throne and
typically, before the Father’s
glorious presence filled the temple,
Michael arrived and took His position
on the right side of the
throne. When Michael took His
position on that day, one-third of
Heaven’s angels refused to bow
down before Him. This had never
happened before. Suddenly, the
Father’s glorious presence came
into the temple. His presence
was unusually brilliant. Of
course, the service abruptly stopped.
The Father
spoke. He commanded everyone to
stand up and carefully consider His
words. He acknowledged the
conflict between Lucifer and
Michael. He described
Lucifer’s jealousy and his
subsequent campaign to gain the
adoration and worship of the
angels. His report was
presented with embarrassing
clarity. He reviewed incidents
and conversations that were not
common knowledge. He also
exposed many lies which Lucifer had
made up. In short, the Father
laid bare the jealousy of Lucifer and
his hatred for Michael. Then,
the Father said, “Let everyone
hear and understand this eternal
truth: Fear Michael who, like
myself, is Almighty God. Give
Michael the honor and glory that you
give me. Worship Michael your
Creator as you worship me, because He
made you and the Heavens and all that
is in them. In Him, you move
and have your being. The hour
of your judgment has come. Bow
down and worship Him right now or you
will be destroyed!”
Every angel
was caught by surprise. A clear
line had been drawn, a decisive
moment of truth confronted them.
Their faith in Michael was put to a
test. Was Michael the Creator
of the angels and the universe or was
He not? Each angel was forced
to make a decision that would affect
his eternal destiny. There was
a sound of movement as two-thirds of
the angels bowed down before Michael,
but Lucifer, sensing this would be
his last defense, broke the awkward
silence with his commanding
voice. He spoke adamantly and
with authority, “I will not
worship Michael.” Then, he
pointed to his many followers who
were still standing. He said,
“We do not think the Father is
fair. You claim to be a God of
love, but you give us no
choice! Your law says
“obey and live, disobey and
die!” How loving is
this? Is it fair that the
Father requires us to worship and
honor Michael while ignoring the
exalted position of the
other covering cherub? You
say that Michael is the Creator, but
we have not seen any evidence of His
creative powers! Many of us
think that your government is based
on arbitrary whim and it is secured
through your mighty powers. You
and your Tattletale, Michael, have
conspired to keep us as your slaves
and if we rebel, you threaten to
destroy us. This is not right,
this is not fair, this is not love
and we will not bow down and worship
Michael.”
Lucifer’s
defiant response to the Father was
shocking. The silence that
followed was unbearable. Heaven
had never experienced any tension
like this! Lucifer and his
followers remained standing.
One-third of the angels had disobeyed
a direct order! They had been
warned of the consequences of
rebellion and still, they openly
defied the clearest evidences of the
Father’s will. They
refused to bow down before
Michael. They refused to
worship a God who lived in the form
of an angel. Suddenly there was
a frightening sound like the sizzle
and searing crackle of nearby
lightning. A tremendous burst
of light blinded the angels’
eyes and a deafening crash of thunder
fell upon the assembly. The
ground trembled and a great crevice
opened up. Lucifer and his
angels were swept into the crevice
and in a matter o[43]f seconds, it
closed up. Lucifer and his
angels were cast out of Heaven at the
speed of lightning.[44] The
drama was so overwhelming and it
happened so fast that the remaining
angels remained prostrate on their
faces until the
Father spoke again. He said
kindly, “My children,
today your faith in Christ has
saved you. Stand up and behold
your Creator!”
This dramatic
event defined Michael in a new way
that the angels had not
considered. Prior to
Lucifer’s expulsion, they were
innocent and naive. They lived
in a sinless universe and had sinless
natures. The angels naturally
loved one another and serving the
Father, the Archangel and Lucifer was
a special delight. Angels had
not seen sin or rebellion, so they
could not understand the malignant
effects that sin produces, but their
naivete vanished. The knowledge of
good and evil began
to unfold that day.
Creation
Observed
After Lucifer
and his followers were expelled from
Heaven, the angels witnessed for the
first time, the awesome creative
power of Michael. They watched
in awe as He created the Earth and
all that is in it.[45] “For
he spoke, and it came to be; he
commanded, and it stood firm.”[46] After
watching the creation of Earth and
the creation of millions of life
forms that would occupy Earth in six,
twenty-four hour days, the angels
worshiped Michael as though He was a
new deity in Heaven! It was so
exciting. Suddenly, the Michael
they had known for thousands of years
was so much more than the
archangel. He was so humble in
appearance, yet His creative powers
were awesome and divine! Later
on, when the heavenly angels saw
Jesus die on Calvary, they gained
another perspective on the depth of
Michael’s love that words cannot
convey. It became clear to them
that Michael/Jesus is not an
angel. In fact, He is not a
man. Jesus is The Alpha and The
Omega, the beginning and the end, the
first and the last, He is Almighty
God, just like the Father.
Prior to coming to Earth, Jesus lived
as an angel so that He could show the
angels how God would live if He were
an angel. Jesus also lived as
an angel so that He could tell the
Father about the angel’s
experiences from their
perspective. What amazing love!
One last
point. The angels did not see
Michael create the Earth and all that
is in it until their faith in Him as
Creator had been tested. In
other words, after Lucifer
and his angels were cast out of
Heaven, the angels saw Michael create
for the first time. Similarly,
the saints will not see Jesus
exercise His creative powers until
their faith in Him has been
tested. At the end of the 1,000
years, Jesus will destroy Lucifer and
all the wicked. After
destroying death itself, the saints
will watch as Jesus once again
exercises His amazing power.
Jesus will create a new Heaven and a
new Earth! In Heaven and on
Earth, the creative powers of
Michael/Jesus and other facts about
Him have been hidden for a time,[47] because faith
in Jesus Christ is always
and forever the key to eternal life.
Lucifer
Permitted to Live
I hope you
can see how there was a time when the
angels did not fully understand who
Michael was. This knowledge was
not revealed until their faith in Him
could be tested. Similarly, the
angels could not know what sin was
all about until sin occurred and
matured. This also means the
angels could not know the fullness of
Michael’s love and power until
they saw Him resolve the sin
problem! A bittersweet thing
has happened because of sin.
The Father permitted Lucifer and his
angels to live for a while so that
the nature, scope, and complexity of
sin might mature and the universe
could clearly understand the
consequences of sin. The
Father’s decision to allow sin
to mature has produced an enormous
amount of questioning, suffering, and
death, but this outcome has been
offset by two wonderful developments.
First,
God wants everyone to know that He
has given His subjects the power of
choice. In fact, sin and
rebellion only exist because Lucifer
and his followers chose to
sin and rebel. At the end of
the 1,000 years, Jesus will destroy
Lucifer and his followers – not
because He dislikes them or they
offended Him. In fact, Jesus
loves the wicked angels, but He must
destroy Lucifer and his followers
because sin turned them into
predators. Consider the
process:
Lucifer became jealous of Jesus; he
wanted the adoration and worship that
belonged to Michael. Lucifer
was moved by his envy and jealousy to
seek sympathizers. He preyed
upon innocent angels with lies and
propaganda. After God banished
Lucifer from Heaven, he preyed upon
Eve and Adam. Cain was
motivated by jealousy to prey upon
Abel. Throughout the ages,
history has revealed the wicked are
predators and they always prey on the
innocent and/or the righteous.
This is why God destroyed the world
with a flood in Noah’s
day. This is why God burned
Sodom and Gomorrah to the
ground. Given enough
time and the right circumstances, all
sinners will exhibit predatory
behavior. Predatory
behavior stems from
selfishness. Predatory behavior
occurs because it offers the shortest
path to fulfilling a selfish desire
and this natural orientation within
fallen man is inescapable. This
is why the removal of the carnal
nature, the sealing, is so
important. The sinless nature
naturally conforms to God’s two
laws of love. Predatory
behavior is the result of sin and
this is why those who refuse to
repent and forsake their sins must be
destroyed. God is willing to
give us the strength to subdue our
predatory nature if we are willing to
receive His strength. Eternal
salvation is as much about eternal
life as it is freedom from
the predatory tendencies that
comes with sin. Every born
again believer can taste the joy and
peace of eternal life which will come
in due time. Strength and grace
from God transforms sinners so that
they can overcome passion and the
power of sin each day![48]
Second, by
allowing Lucifer to live and flourish
for a time, God chose to use the
curse of sin to reveal the depth of
His love for His creation.
Because of sin, many aspects about
the Father and His government have
been revealed that would have
otherwise remained obscure for
billions of years! The Father
wisely permitted sin to exist for a
period of time and once it is
destroyed, sin will never permeate
the universe again. Once the
drama of sin is completed, everyone
in the universe will have the
knowledge of good and evil and all
future creations will have the
opportunity to study the sin problem
and how it developed. No one
who has been freed from sin’s
curse will ever want a repetition of
living with sin’s curse.
Our Heavenly
Father predetermined long ago that
the capstone to resolving the sin
problem was a full disclosure of our
Creator, Jesus Christ! The sin
problem started when Lucifer (a
created being), wanted to be an equal
or better than Jesus (the
Creator). Of course, when
Lucifer became jealous he did not
know everything about Jesus.
Lucifer could see that Jesus was not
as beautiful as himself. Lucifer did
not know that Jesus was “God in
angel’s feathers” and this
led to his assumption that he should
be respected with the same adoration
and worship. Little did Lucifer
realize that the humble archangel was
Almighty God who was the Creator of
life itself. We know much more
about Jesus today than ever
before. The Bible declares that
Jesus is the Creator of Heaven and
Earth.[49] He is
Almighty God.[50] He is
the only antidote for sin.[51] Our
Creator is the Savior of mankind and
a mirror of the Father’s humble
character.[52] It is
ironic that Lucifer and his angels
were created with sinless natures,
yet they chose to rebel. On the other
hand, the offspring of Adam and Eve
were born with rebellious natures,
but many have chosen to surrender to
the Holy Spirit and be saved!
All who obey the Holy Spirit will be
saved and the redeemed of Earth will
repopulate Heaven! God will
restore Heaven’s population to
three-thirds again and this time,
Heaven will be better than before
because one-third of God’s house
will be conquerors over
rebellion! They lived in sin
and overcame it through Christ’s
power.[53]
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