Why Is There Suffering?
Many see the work of evil, with its woe and desolation, and question how this can
exist under the sovereignty of One who is infinite in wisdom, power, and love. Those
who are disposed to doubt seize upon this as an excuse for rejecting the words of Holy
Writ. Tradition and misinterpretation have obscured the teaching of the Bible concerning
the character of God, the nature of His government, and the principles of His dealing with
sin.
It is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give a reason for its existence. Yet
enough may be understood concerning the origin and final disposition of sin to make
fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God. God was in no wise responsible for
sin; there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine grace, no deficiency in the divine
government, that gave occasion for rebellion. Sin is an intruder for whose presence no
reason can be given. To excuse it is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, it would
cease to be sin. Sin is the outworking of a principle at war with the law of love, which is
the foundation of the divine government.
Before the entrance of evil there was peace and joy throughout the universe. Love for
God was supreme, love for one another impartial. Christ the Only Begotten of God was
one with the eternal Father in nature, in character, and in purpose—the only being that
could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. "By him were all things created,
that are in heaven, . . . whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers." Colossians 1:16.The law of love being the foundation of the government of
God, the happiness of all created beings depended on their accord with its principles of
righteousness. God takes no pleasure in forced allegiance, and to all He grants freedom of
will, that they may render Him voluntary service.
But there was one that chose to pervert this freedom. Sin originated with him, who,
next to Christ, had been most honored by God. Before his fall, Lucifer was first of the
covering cherubs, holy and undefiled. "Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum,
full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every
precious stone was thy covering. . . . Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I
have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and
down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that
thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. . . . Thine heart was lifted up because of
thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness." "Thou hast set
thine heart as the heart of God." "Thou hast said, . . . I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation. . . . I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." Ezekiel 28:12-17; 28:6; Isaiah
14:13, 14.
Coveting the honor which the Father had bestowed upon His Son, this prince of
angels aspired to power which it was the prerogative of Christ alone to wield. A note of
discord now marred the celestial harmonies. The exaltation of self awakened forebodings
of evil in minds to whom God's glory was supreme. The heavenly councils pleaded with
Lucifer. The Son of God presented before him the goodness and justice of the Creator
and the sacred nature of His law. In departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his Maker
and bring ruin on himself. But the warning only aroused resistance. Lucifer allowed
jealousy of Christ to prevail.
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Pride nourished the desire for supremacy. The high honors conferred on Lucifer
called forth no gratitude to the Creator. He aspired to be equal with God. Yet the Son of
God was the acknowledged Sovereign of heaven, one in power and authority with the
Father. In all the counsels of God, Christ was a participant, but Lucifer was not permitted
to enter into the divine purposes. "Why," questioned this mighty angel, "should Christ
have the supremacy? Why is He thus honored above Lucifer?"
Discontent Among the Angels
Leaving his place in the presence of God, Lucifer went forth to diffuse discontent
among the angels. With mysterious secrecy, concealing his real purpose under an
appearance of reverence for God, he endeavored to excite dissatisfaction concerning the
laws that governed heavenly beings, intimating that they imposed unnecessary restraint.
Since their natures were holy, he urged that angels should obey the dictates of their own
will. God had dealt unjustly with him in bestowing supreme honor upon Christ. He
claimed he was not aiming at self-exaltation but was seeking to secure liberty for all the
inhabitants of heaven, that they might attain a higher existence.
God bore long with Lucifer. He was not degraded from his exalted station even when
he began to present false claims before the angels. Again and again he was offered
pardon on condition of repentance and submission. Such efforts as only infinite love
could devise were made to convince him of his error. Discontent had never before been
known in heaven. Lucifer himself did not at first understand the real nature of his
feelings. As his dissatisfaction was proved to be without cause, Lucifer was convinced
that the divine claims were just and that he ought to acknowledge them before all heaven.
Had he done this, he might have saved himself and many angels. If he had been willing to
return to God, satisfied to fill the place appointed him, he would have been reinstated in
his office. But pride forbade him to submit. He maintained that he had no need of
repentance, and fully committed himself in the great controversy against his Maker.
All the powers of his master mind were now bent to deception, to secure the
sympathy of the angels. Satan represented that he was wrongly judged and that his liberty
was abridged. From misrepresentation of the words of Christ he passed to direct
falsehood, accusing the Son of God of a design to humiliate him before the inhabitants of
heaven.
All whom he could not subvert to his side he accused of indifference to the interests
of heavenly beings. He resorted to misrepresentation of the Creator. It was his policy to
perplex the angels with subtle arguments concerning the purposes of God. Everything
simple he shrouded in mystery, and by artful perversion cast doubt upon the plainest
statements of God. His high position gave greater force to his representations. Many were
induced to unite with him in rebellion.
Disaffection Ripens Into Active Revolt
God in His wisdom permitted Satan to carry forward his work, until the spirit of
disaffection ripened into revolt. It was necessary for his plans to be fully developed, that
their true nature might be seen by all. Lucifer was greatly loved by the heavenly beings,
and his influence over them was strong. God's government included not only the
inhabitants of heaven, but of all the worlds He had created; and Satan thought that if he
could carry the angels with him in rebellion, he could carry also the other worlds.
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Employing sophistry and fraud, his power to deceive was very great. Even the loyal
angels could not fully discern his character or see to what his work was leading.
Satan had been so highly honored, and all his acts were so clothed with mystery, that
it was difficult to disclose to the angels the true nature of his work. Until fully developed,
sin would not appear the evil thing it was. Holy beings could not discern the
consequences of setting aside the divine law. Satan at first claimed to be seeking to
promote the honor of God and the good of all the inhabitants of heaven.
In His dealing with sin, God could employ only righteousness and truth. Satan could
use what God could not—flattery and deceit. The true character of the usurper must be
understood by all. He must have time to manifest himself by his wicked works.
The discord which his own course had caused in heaven, Satan charged upon God.
All evil he declared to be the result of the divine administration. Therefore it was
necessary that he demonstrate the working out of his proposed changes in the divine law.
His own work must condemn him. The whole universe must see the deceiver unmasked.
Even when it was decided that he could no longer remain in heaven, Infinite Wisdom
did not destroy Satan. The allegiance of God's creatures must rest upon a conviction of
His justice. The inhabitants of heaven and of other worlds, being unprepared to
comprehend the consequences of sin, could not then have seen the justice and mercy of
God in the destruction of Satan. Had he been immediately blotted from existence, they
would have served God from fear rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver
would not have been fully destroyed, nor the spirit of rebellion eradicated. For the good
of the universe through ceaseless ages Satan must more fully develop his principles, that
his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created
beings.
Satan's rebellion was to be to the universe a testimony to the terrible results of sin.
His rule would show the fruit of setting aside the divine authority. The history of this
terrible experiment of rebellion was to be a perpetual safeguard to all holy intelligences to
save them from sin and its punishment.
When it was announced that with all his sympathizers the great usurper must be
expelled from the abodes of bliss, the rebel leader boldly avowed contempt for the
Creator's law. He denounced the divine statutes as a restriction of liberty and declared his
purpose to secure the abolition of law. Freed from this restraint, the hosts of heaven
might enter upon a more exalted state of existence.
Banished From Heaven
Satan and his host threw the blame of their rebellion upon Christ; if they had not been
reproved, they would never have rebelled. Stubborn and defiant, yet blasphemously
claiming to be innocent victims of oppressive power, the archrebel and his sympathizers
were banished from heaven. See Revelation 12:7-9.
Satan's spirit still inspires rebellion on earth in the children of disobedience. Like him
they promise men liberty through transgression of the law of God. Reproof of sin still
arouses hatred. Satan leads men to justify themselves and seek the sympathy of others in
their sin. Instead of correcting their errors, they excite indignation against the reprover, as
if he were the cause of difficulty.
By the same misrepresentation of the character of God as he had practiced in heaven,
causing Him to be regarded as severe and tyrannical, Satan induced man to sin. He
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declared that God's unjust restrictions had led to man's fall, as they had led to his own
rebellion.
In the banishment of Satan from heaven, God declared His justice and honor. But
when man sinned, God gave evidence of His love by yielding up His Son to die for the
fallen race. In the atonement the character of God is revealed. The mighty argument of
the cross demonstrates that sin was in no wise chargeable upon the government of God.
During the Saviour's earthly ministry, the great deceiver was unmasked. The daring
blasphemy of his demand that Christ pay him homage, the unsleeping malice that hunted
Him from place to place, inspiring the hearts of priests and people to reject His love and
to cry, "Crucify him! crucify him!"—all this excited the amazement and indignation of
the universe. The prince of evil exerted all his power and cunning to destroy Jesus. Satan
employed men as his agents to fill the Saviour's life with suffering and sorrow. The pentup
fires of envy and malice, hatred and revenge, burst forth on Calvary against the Son of
God.
Now the guilt of Satan stood forth without excuse. He had revealed his true character.
Satan's lying charges against the divine character appeared in their true light. He had
accused God of seeking the exaltation of Himself in requiring obedience from His
creatures and had declared that while the Creator exacted self-denial from all others, He
Himself practiced no self-denial and made no sacrifice. Now it was seen that the Ruler of
the universe had made the greatest sacrifice which love could make, for "God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." 2 Corinthians 5:19. In order to destroy sin
Christ had humbled Himself and become obedient unto death.
An Argument in Man's Behalf
All heaven saw God's justice revealed. Lucifer had claimed that the sinful race were
beyond redemption. But the penalty of the law fell upon Him who was equal with God,
and man was free to accept the righteousness of Christ and by penitence and humiliation
to triumph over the power of Satan.
But it was not merely to redeem man that Christ came to earth to die. He came to
demonstrate to all the worlds that God's law is unchangeable. The death of Christ proves
it immutable and demonstrates that justice and mercy are the foundation of the
government of God. In the final judgment it will be seen that no cause for sin exists.
When the Judge of all the earth shall demand of Satan, "Why hast thou rebelled against
Me?" the originator of evil can render no excuse.
In the Saviour's expiring cry, "It is finished," the death knell of Satan was rung. The
great controversy* which had been so long in progress was then decided, the final
eradication of evil made certain. When "the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; . . .
all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall
burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch."
Malachi 4:1.
Never will evil again be manifest. The law of God will be honored as the law of
liberty. A tested and proved creation will never again turn from allegiance to Him whose
character has been manifested as fathomless love and infinite wisdom.
* The “great controversy” between Christ and Satan is over God’s character, His justice, and His law.
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