REVELATION 4-6
SEGMENT 1

Revelation 4-6

Option A: Have no children. God rejected this option because He wanted to fill His huge house with a numberless group of happy children. (Isaiah 45:18) The presence of billions of angels and human beings in God’s universe proves this point. Each angel and human being is alive because God deliberately gave them life! Jesus the Creator, must have thought, “Even though sin will occur someday, and I will have to die to redeem sinner’s, the gift of life is of greater value than any damage sin can cause.”

Option B: Do not create Lucifer. While this option may have solved the problem with Lucifer, it does not solve the underlying problem of sin. If God limited creation to beings that would remain obedient to His demands, then He could not be considered a God of love. Love is not about control. Love is about granting choice. Because God is love, He grants angels and mankind the power of choice. We can choose to rebel against Him or we can choose to love and obey Him – the choice is ours to make, not His to dictate. If God created beings that have no choice, love would be meaningless. God’s created beings would be mere robots. Therefore, leaving Lucifer (and any others who might rebel against His will) out of the creative process was not a viable option for God. If it were, do you think Jesus would have created Adam and Eve foreknowing the price He would have to pay for their sins? Do you think He would have created you and me? Any manipulation of created beings for personal benefit is contrary to God’s character of love.

The presence of sin in the universe proves three immutable things.

1. First, it proves that God grants the power of choice to His children. Lucifer and one-third of the angels could sin and they chose to sin. Adam and Eve could sin and they chose to sin. In both cases, sinning was an unnatural act. Before they fell, neither angels nor mankind possessed a predisposition toward sin. We were created in God’s image, after His likeness – having a proclivity for right doing. God put a magnetism for right doing within the angels and mankind so that everyone in His universe would naturally live in harmony with the rules necessary for eternal happiness and joy. When the angels and mankind fell, we were predisposed to be rebellious and selfish toward God and His rules. Therefore, the presence of rebellion proves that God grants the power of choice to His creatures and some of His creatures have exercised their God given right by rebelling.

2. The second immutable truth that comes out of the drama of sin is that God has no self-seeking pride, arrogance or selfishness in His heart. God did not have to offer His Son to save mankind; He was no forced to do it. (“For God so loved the world that He gave….”) He chose to offer man salvation through Jesus because Eve and Adam did not defiantly disobey their Creator. God would have gladly offered salvation to Lucifer and his angels, but they repeatedly and defiantly rejected God’s appeals. When the Holy Spirit could not bring them to repentance, they passed the point of no return. There is a point in rejecting the Holy Spirit where submission to God’s authority becomes impossible; Lucifer and the angels reached that point and committed the unpardonable sin. (Matthew 12:31, 32) Therefore, no sacrifice for their sin was offered. Even though God foreknew the enormous consequences that sin would bring to Himself and His children, His foreknowledge did not prevent Him from creating those would eventually rebel. What a loving God!

3. The third immutable truth that comes out of the drama of sin is simply stunning. Contrary to what many people believe, God does not destroy sinners with fire at the end of the thousand years because they refused to honor and obey Him. God is the meekest being in the universe. Here is a profound point: God does not use His divine powers of omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence to keep Himself on the throne. Instead, God uses His divine powers to insure that His universe will be a wonderful home for His children. The point is that God has a simple reason for destroying the wicked with fire. God only annihilates sinners after He has demonstrated to the saints that His laws are singularly designed for the happiness and well being of His subjects. In other words, the annihilation of rebels is necessary to stop sorrow, sickness, suffering and death. There is no other option for eliminating these horrible curses. When the wicked are destroyed, sin will be destroyed and then the Scripture will be fulfilled: “…Death has been swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:54)

Given these three immutable truths, we can say that God has granted His children the power of choice; we can also say that God is meek and selfless; and furthermore, the destruction of the wicked will be totally justified.

Option C: Abandon Lucifer after he is created so that he does not come to know his Creator. A loving parent cannot abandon his offspring and certainly, a loving God could do no less. In fact, if you really want an inside glimpse into God’s heart of love, consider this: God foreknew that Lucifer would eventually become hostile toward Him, but He gave Lucifer the highest position and the greatest gifts that a created being could possess. Lucifer was appointed as a guardian cherub. He stood on the left side of the throne and Michael stood on the right. Lucifer was just below Michael, the archangel, in authority and glory. No created being was given more talent, glory, authority, or power than Lucifer. These gifts speak volumes about God’s love for Lucifer – especially when you understand God’s foreknowledge. Think this through: God treats His subjects on the basis of what He knows is best for us (His infinite love), not on the basis of what He knows we do (His foreknowledge).

Option D: Kill Lucifer while he is still a great friend. Of course, this was not an option for God. How could God justify killing an innocent being? If He had killed Lucifer before He sinned, God would be guilty of murder! If God killed Lucifer on the basis of His foreknowledge, how could He justify His action to the angels when Lucifer had done nothing wrong? Because God is pure in heart, He could not deceive the angels by disguising Lucifer’s death as an accident. If God killed Lucifer without justification, intelligent angels would rightfully conclude that God is a tyrant! Despots destroy those who threaten their authority because the self-centered ego cannot let go of the two things it loves most; control over others and wealth to satisfy every selfish desire.

God claims to be righteous in everything He does (Isaiah 41:10) and killing Lucifer to avoid having problems with him would not be righteous. In fact, God has done the opposite. He has permitted Lucifer to live for a few thousand years after his rebellion to demonstrate to a very important point about sin. Sin hurts. Sin causes the innocent to suffer. Sin produces sorrow, suffering, sickness and death. God’s rules for eternal life are righteous and true – not because He says so – but because they can be proven to be so.

Lucifer and a great host of sinners will be destroyed by fire at the end of sin’s drama, but God will be totally justified in the eyes of every survivor before He annihilates the first wicked angel or human being!

Option E: Kill Lucifer when he first sins. If God had killed Lucifer immediately, the angels – who did not have the knowledge of good and evil at that time – would have concluded that God is not a God of love. In other words, if Lucifer had been killed for disagreeing with God, it would have appeared to the angels that the moment one deviates from God’s will, KABOOM! It is sudden death! It would be a terror to live throughout eternity with a God who might explode in fury like this. Therefore, God allowed Lucifer to live a few millennia so the nature and properties of sin might develop and be understood by angels and humans.

Option F: Kill Lucifer to limit his influence on the other angels. If God had killed Lucifer to limit his influence on others, the universe would not have an opportunity to observe and understand the awful properties of sin. The knowledge of good and evil would have been incomplete. If Lucifer had been prematurely put to death, the possibility of sin occurring again would have remained high because the angels would not have understood the consequences of sin. By allowing sin to run its ugly and grievous course for a few thousand years, God has provided a comprehensive drama that clearly reveals the terrible properties of sin. Angels as well as human beings now have access to “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Before the rise of sin, God alone had this knowledge. Now you know why the tree in Genesis 2 was given this name.

God has predetermined that sin must last long enough to demonstrate this truth: Rebellion against the infinitely wise laws of God always produces suffering, sorrow, sadness and death. The profound point here is that God wants the universe to know that His laws are not arbitrary. He did not make them up to suit His fancy. God’s laws were framed by infinite wisdom and they are based on principles of love. God’s laws encompass all of the issues of life. He alone knows what it takes to happily live throughout eternity. Remember, He has foreknowledge. Since God foreknew the rise of sin and the harvest of suffering that sin would produce, He opted to allow Lucifer to live for a few thousand years for the benefit of everyone who would choose to live eternally. The drama of sin will be constantly studied throughout eternity and “the knowledge of good and evil” will prevent the rise of sin a second time.

Option G: To protect Himself from the lies of Lucifer and the ignorance which sin would impose on billions of human beings, God wrote a book. With technology exceeding anything known to man, the Father “penned” a complete history of sin before Jesus created angels or human beings. (See Revelation 17:8) This book (or scroll) is called the “Book of Life,” for it contains the complete story of life. (Revelation 3:5; 5:7; 20:15) The Father wrote down a complete history of life so that He could show the universe what He knew before life was given to any creature. He sealed the Book of Life with seven great seals so that the contents of this book would not be disclosed until the very end of sin’s drama. If the contents of the Book of Life were prematurely revealed, God would not be able to recover beyond a reasonable doubt from the accusation that He manipulated the eternal destiny of His children with His foreknowledge. This fact confuses many people. They say, “If my eternal destiny is my choice and God already knows my eternal destiny, do I really have any choice in the matter?” The answer is a resounding “Yes!”

God’s foreknowledge about our choices has no bearing on our choices. For example, suppose you record a football game on Monday night. Because you watched the game as you recorded it, you know the outcome of the game when it ends. A day later, a friend comes over to watch the tape and your friend does not know the outcome of the game. Does your foreknowledge have any effect on the outcome of the taped game? Of course not! In God’s case, He can record the game before it takes place because He has perfect foreknowledge. The Book of Life was sealed because God does not want anyone to know what He knows until the right time arrives.

We are free to rebel against His laws or to submit to His authority. This is our choice. The fact that He already knows what we will do has no bearing on what we do. Keep this thought in mind as we proceed through this study: No one will be judged according to what is written in the Book of Life. By keeping the contents of the Book of Life sealed until the end of the thousand years, God will prove to everyone that even though He has perfect foreknowledge, He did not manipulate one of His subjects. God will prove that He is a God of love. Remember, we were created in God’s image. God has a free will and we have a free will. God freely exercises His choices and we can freely exercise our choices. God takes full responsibility for His actions and so must we. God is our Creator and we are accountable to Him.

God Can Be Trusted

Now that we have examined seven options that God faced before creating Lucifer, you know why God wrote the Book of Life. God has a few things to say to the whole universe at the end of the thousand years and the contents of the Book of Life will do the talking. Because the Father is a God of love, He can be difficult to understand at times because His love is not like our love. God’s love is not corrupted with selfishness. Many people think of God’s mercy or generosity as love, but God’s love is more than mercy and generosity. God’s love is a balance between justice and mercy. Mercy and justice are not antagonists in the courtroom of His love. Consider how mercy and justice work together in God’s government. God uses His awesome powers of divinity to ensure His government of love is imposed throughout His universe. In other words, He does not use His divine powers to selfishly maintain His exalted throne. He uses His omnipotence and omniscience to keep His children safe and happy. Because finite children cannot fathom the wisdom or plans of their infinite Father, faith in God is a crucial matter. God is doing things right now that will take thousands of years to understand. So, how does a person live at peace and in adoration of a God whose actions are not understood? How does a person live “in the fog of darkness” until the time fro light comes? There is only one way. Jesus said, “You have to trust in the Father and in me.” (John 14:1) God’s subjects have to trust Him. Rebellion indicates a lack of trust. Rebellion says, “my way is better.” Rebellion is particularly harmful because it ruins every wonderful project that God is trying to accomplish before the project comes to completion. Time after time God has proven that He can be explicitly trusted. Faith in God is rewarded because faith gives way to understanding. (Hebrews 11:6; 1 Corinthians 13:10) Faith in God is an experience that when seen in reverse, makes perfect sense. God stands today where we will stand tomorrow.

The Great White Throne

“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and the books were open, which is the book of life. The dead were judged [sentenced] according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” (Revelation 20:12, insertion mine) The Bible indicates that God assigned some angels to faithfully record everything that happens in His universe. (Malachi 3:16; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Daniel 7:10) I like to think of these recording angels as God’s secretaries who use powerful camcorders. They do not miss a word, a deed or a motive that goes on in a universe brimming with life. Their records are kept in the books of deeds, and these books are not to be confused with the book sealed with seven seals. The books of deeds and the Book of Life will be opened at the end of the 1,000 years and both will be presented for all to see. (See Daniel 7:9,10; Ecclesiastes 12:14; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:12)  There will be no blame, no denial, no excuses, and no escape from God’s record of life when the Great White Throne scene occurs at the end of the 1,000 years. After the wicked dead are resurrected, the book of deeds will be opened and their lives will be presented before them. They will see that God judged them accurately and sentenced them fairly and righteously. All wicked people will confess that they were judged on the basis of their choices and their actions as recorded in the books. The Bible says, “…The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” (Revelation 20:12) The point is that the eternal destiny of each person is based on his choices.

When the wicked observe the righteous and fair judgment of their life as recorded in the book of deeds, they will kneel before God admitting that God’s record is flawless and His judgment fair. When righteous people see their life’s record, they too will kneel before God and confess that God’s record is flawless. The righteous will have no claim to the marvelous gift of eternal life that He bestowed on them and they kneel before God’s great mercy. Consider the scene: Two groups of people kneel before God on that day: One will kneel before God’s justice, the other before His mercy. “By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.’ All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be found righteous and will exult.” (Isaiah 45: 23-25)

After the righteous and wicked confess that God is righteous and true, the seventh seal on the Book of Life will be broken and the all-important book will be opened. The secret contents of the Book of Life will be presented before the vast throng. Everyone will be astonished that God, foreknowing the choices of every angel and person, extended so much patience, love and grace. Everyone will recognize that God foreknew who would hate Him and rebel against Him long before He gave them life. Yet, even with this knowledge, God graciously bestowed the gift of life on billions of angels and people any way. More amazingly, the Father gave Jesus as a ransom for sinners. When this revelation occurs, every knee will bow again, but not in submission to God’s awesome authority and power. Rather, every knee will humbly bow before God admitting that He is worthy of love, honor and worship because He is love! He is far more generous than He needs to be in order to be fair. The depths of God’s love and goodness are unbelievable! What a day that will be. I am looking forward to this great occasion.

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