CHARACTER OF GOD part 2: THE ORIGIN AND THE NATURE OF SIN There are certain fundamental principles and

issues involved in the Great Controversy and they can always be seen throughout the history of this world. Its important to understand because theyll come to the forefront again in the final days. Knowing the truth and being sanctified by the truth are the two most important things for us at this time. It has always been the work of Satan to misrepresent the character of God and express the spirit of persecution. The principles involved here are vital to understand. The final battle between good and evil will be more intense than ever. Satan's deceptions will be more subtle and his attacks more determined. Take a look at this verse. Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. [Even the elect could be deceived by the signs and wonders.] (Recall this same point from Revelation 13.) Our senses will be completely caught up in it if were not fully prepared. Many people blame God for the problem of sin in the worldHow can all of these terrible things happen if Hes a God of love? Everyones been struggling with itthey cant explain or understand it. We have sufficient evidence to show that God is in no way responsible for the development of sin and its consequences. THE ORIGIN OF SIN: 1John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. [God is light. Theres no darkness in Him at all.] We know that sin, evil, unrighteousness and etc, is often expressed in the bible as darkness. Before the disciples knew Him, they thought that both light AND darkness came from Him. We can see this plainly in the text we just read. They learned a message of God from being with Christthe truth was revealed to them that God did not actually have darkness in Him. Well discuss this more later on in the study. Light and dark cannot coexist.
(EGW) Testimonies for the Church, vol 3 (Chapter 26): There is no concord between Christ and Belial; there is no communion between light and darkness. How, then, can the spirit of Christ and the spirit of the world be in harmony? The Lord our God is a jealous God. He requires the sincere affection and unreserved confidence of those who profess to love Him. Says the psalmist: If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. [Satan was perfect when he was created, up until the time that he sinned.]

When God made the angels, sin was not present in their design. It wasnt until Satan sinned, that sin entered the scene. 1John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 1John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. [The work of the devil is to feed us lies and the work of Jesus is to destroy that evil work.] The devil sinned from the beginning and thus, Christs work became necessary. Recall from Part 1 of this study: James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: [God cannot be tempted nor does He tempt anyone.] Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. [Because I, the Lord, do not change, you are STILL not consumed/destroyed.] If God did not cause death from the beginning, and He doesnt change, then He has never since caused death either. Thus, we can see clearly that sin comes from Satan, and not God. THE NATURE OF SIN: The nature of sin is separation from God. Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Isaiah 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High. [Lucifer wanted to be like God.] This was self-exaltation. The natural result of sin is to separate us from God. This can be seen in this next text. Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. [There is nothing that can keep God away from us, except for sin, which separates us from Him.] Sin separates the creature from the Creator. God is the fountain (source) of life, and since sin separates us from Him, the only result therefore, is death. Heres a few more texts that reinforce this principle.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. [The cost of sin is death, and the only way to have life is through God.] By being separated from God, we disconnect from life, leaving us only death. James 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. James 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. [All are tempted when drawn away from God. It is when sin is entertained that it is committed.] It is not a sin to BE tempted (to have thoughts), but to ENTERTAIN or ACT on those temptations. Satan is constantly speaking evil thoughts into our minds; that is not something we can control. Even Jesus was tempted in the wildernessbut we know that Jesus never sinned! It is when we begin to entertain the ideas, or to actually act on them, that it becomes sinful. 2Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; [We need to stop the evil thoughts from entering further into our considerationfighting against it with the principles of God.] God is the source of life and when we sin, we separate OURSELVES from Him, and the only result is death. We see this again in the following verse. Psalm 36:9 For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light. [God is the source of life.] Proverbs 12:8 A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised. [The way of righteousness leads to life; theres no death in that path.] Death does not proceed from God. Jeremiah 17:13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake Thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. [Those who forsake Him will be ashamed.] The Lord is the fountain of life, and to depart from, or forsake, God, would naturally bring shame ultimately. Proverbs 8:35 For whoso findeth Me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. Proverbs 8:36 But he that sinneth against Me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate Me love death. [To find God is to find life. But whoever sins loves death.] Satans greatest lie (which the whole world believed) is that sin does not produce death. Recall the two interchanges with Eve in the garden. Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

[God said: You will die when you eat of that tree.] So these were the words of God, but listen to the words of the devil. Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil [subtle] than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: [Satan said: You will not die.] So God said theyd die, and Satan said they wouldnt. So who do we believe? Most people believed Satans lie, that sin really isnt THAT bad. And moreover, the majority of Christians believe that sin makes God mad, and thats the only reason why its bad. In actuality, He hates sin because it separates us from Him and leads to death, and He doesnt want us to die! It SEEMS like Satan was right, because they kept living at the point that they ate the fruit (recall how the verse read, For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.). Sin, then, is evil and causes destruction and death because it separates every detail (of the structure/function) of the affected part of creation from God. (EGW) Confrontation (Plan of Redemption): The Son of God, undertaking to become the Redeemer of the race, placed Adam in a new relation to his Creator. He was still fallen; but a door of hope was opened to him. The wrath of God still hung over Adam, but the execution of the sentence of death was delayed, and the indignation of God was restrained, because Christ had entered upon the work of becoming mans Redeemer. Theres a quote about this in Great Controversy, but the basic idea that EGW conveys here is that, if Christ hadnt stepped in at the cross, Adam wouldve died eternally. But He took Adams consequence, which gave us a probationary time to see how bad sin is. Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. [You died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.] Well go through a few more texts and then look back at this verse again, to see what it really means. Deuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. [People cannot take the punishment for the crimes of other people.] So how could Jesus take the place of Adam in the consequence of his sin? Jesus had to become the guiltyHe had to go where the sin was. The natural thing for Adam once he had sinned wouldve been death. But if God had let him die that instant, the universe wouldve been confused and wouldve thought that God had killed him, rather than allowing the natural results of sin to be seen.

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. [The Lamb was slain FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.] (EGW) In Heavenly Places (The Measure of Responsibility, May 26): Transgression is disobedience to the commands of God. Had these commands always been obeyed, there would have been no sin. The penalty of transgression is always death. Christ averted the immediate execution of the death sentence by giving His life for man.... Justice requires that men shall have light, and it also requires that he who refuses to walk in the Heaven-given light, the giving of which cost the death of the Son of God, must receive punishment. It is a principle of justice that the guilt of the sinner shall be proportionate to the knowledge given, but not used, or used in a wrong way. God expects human beings to walk in the light, to testify before angels and before men that they acknowledge Christ as the great propitiation for sin and that they respect His sacrifice as their greatest blessing.... (EGW) Review & Herald (February 24, 1874): Satan had peculiar interest to watch the development of events immediately after the fall of Adam to learn how his work had affected the kingdom of God, and what the Lord would do with Adam because of his disobedience. The Son of God, undertaking to become the Redeemer of the race, placed Adam in a new relation to his Creator. He was still fallen; but a door of hope was opened to him. The wrath of God still hung over Adam, but the execution of the sentence of death was delayed, and the indignation of God was restrained, because Christ had entered upon the work of becoming mans Redeemer. Christ was to take the wrath of God which in justice should fall upon man. He became a refuge for man, and although man was indeed a criminal, deserving the wrath of God, yet he could by faith in Christ run into the refuge provided and be safe. In the midst of death there was life if man chose to accept it. The holy and infinite God, who dwelleth in light unapproachable, could no longer talk with man. No communication could now exist directly between man and his Maker. [Christ took the wrath of God, in place of Adam. Man could no longer talk directly with God.] Sin is malignant and separates us from God. So recall a few minutes ago, we read Colossians 3:3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. [You died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.] What does this mean, you died and your life is hidden with Christ? We saw that Adam (mankind) was placed under probation. The consequence for his sin was to dieand he shouldve died immediately. But when Christ took his place, he was given a probationary time to continue living. His sinful life was accounted for in the death of Christ, and so his life literally became hidden within that of Christs. To put it another way, the wrath that shouldve been visited upon Adam, was transferred to Christ...Christ was essentially acting as a shield, hence, hiding or protecting Adams life from the wrath. Recall in the last EGW quote we read, it said that no communication could exist directly between man and God anymore? It had to go through Christ.

We already saw that sin originated in heaven in the mind of Lucifer. He opposed the law and government of God and proclaimed that his way was better than Gods. So it was, the war against God, His government, and His law began in heaven. Revelation 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, Revelation 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. [There was war in heaven between Michael and Satan.] God didnt use negativity or weaponry. Nor was He arbitraryHe didnt say, No Satan, this is my throne and you cant sit here because I am God, and that is that. God fought with truth: This is how it is; only God can be on the throne because He is eternal, and Satan is a created being. To sit on His throne, you have to be able to be able to uphold the universe. Ezekiel 28:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Ezekiel 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Ezekiel 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Ezekiel 28:14 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. Ezekiel 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. Ezekiel 28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Ezekiel 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Ezekiel 28:18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. Ezekiel 28:19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more. [Lucifers beauty turned to horror as a result of his sin.] 1John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

1John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. [Sin is lawlessness.] Lucifer deceived a third of the angels (Revelation 12:4), and did/does so by calling God a liar (lying about His character, government, and law), and is selfishly keeping us from good things. John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. [Satan was always a murderer and a liar. Those things came from himself. He was the origin of sin.] Satan was trying to make Gods character to appear as his own character. Satan was the first creature who suggested that Gods law is burdensome and doesnt have to be obeyed. 1John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous. [It is not a burden for us to keep Gods commandments.] So the bible says that its not burdensome to keep the commandments of God, as Satan has proclaimed it to be. The parable of the talents also reveals to us other lies that Satan has spoken against Gods character. Matthew 25:24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: Matthew 25:25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. [The servant was afraid of the roughness of his master.] Satan has accused God of being selfish, arbitrary, severe, and a tyrant. Therefore, he claims that His creatures should be afraid. John 14:8 Philip saith unto Him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. John 14:9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. John 14:11 Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me for the very works' sake. [Philip asked Jesus to reveal the way that God the Father is.] Recall at the beginning of this study, 1John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. We understood that before the disciples knew Him, they thought that both light AND darkness came from Him.

Philip (and the others) believed that there was something more to God that they had not yet seen. Where did he get the concept that God is different from what is seen in Christ? People though (think) that the characters of God the Father and God the Son are very different. They saw Jesus as this sweet, gentle, healing Man, whereas they had this view of God the Father as an awesome, harsh, merciless, killing Power. They had the wrong idea about why Christ came. He came to reveal God, as a reflection of God in His own life. We have seen that sin is completely opposed to the government of God. It separates us from God, the fountain of life, and causes death. Sin is the ultimate cause of all disease, natural disaster, absolute chaos, destruction and death worldwide. Sin began in heaven with Satan, but entered OUR WORLD when Adam and Eve accepted Satans temptation. Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: [Before sin, there was no death. After sin came death.] So when we choose the path of Satan, we automatically choose the path of death To establish his government, Satan has issued lies against Gods character and reputation. This is why Jesus had to come and give us a true revelation of His Father (as we just discussed in John 14). Recall 1John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. [Christ revealed the truth that darkness does not proceed from God.] To see Jesus is to see the Father. Satan had made the whole world believe that God is selfish and is the author of all evil in the world, and of death. But Jesus came to reveal that there was NOTHING dark in God and that He is the fountain of life! Job 21:14 Therefore they say unto God, Depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways. [They rejected God and His ways, thus choosing the way of Satan.] God has claimed that no way apart from His way can function. Satan has claimed that God's way does not bring happiness and that we can be successful in our own way. He has also stated that sin doesnt cause death and blames God for every bad thing that exists in the world. So who is telling the truth? Can we trust God, or not? The lies that Satan has issued against God have deceived both men and angels. The character of God is in question. By obeying God in all circumstances, and through love and by forgiving our enemies, we can demonstrate that Satan is a liar and God is just.

In reality it is God who is on trial. By following this implicitly we can vindicate His name and bring an end to this scene of misery. In the next part (part 3) of our 5 part Character of God study, TheWrath of God, we will be looking deeper into the way that God really operates, despite what people tend to be misled to believe based on a superficial study of the Bible As was shared at the end of the last study, there is a quote that we should continue to keep in mind throughout these five studies, as it is very much insightful into why the terminology of the Bible can often seem misleading. (EGW) The Great Controversy (Ch 1): Their sufferings are often represented as a punishment visited upon them by the direct decree of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his own work.