We all love stories, don’t we? From childhood most of us had stories read to us by our parents at bedtime. The oldest story is… can you guess? The story of redemption. It was first told by Adam and Eve to their offspring. Through these stories they learned of the fall, its consequence, and the remedy. The story of redemption was passed on verbally from one generation to the next well before it was ever put into written form. Men at that time were of greater intellect than today. They likely had a photographic memory! Unlike me, they needed no Ginko Biloba! Eventually, of course, these stories and commands of God were preserved in written form.
But why turn to Hollywood when you have the Bible containing the greatest drama of all time?Unlike the theatre of today, all these stories contained within the Word of God are true. Unfortunately, most of us even as Christians are drawn to fiction. We love to be entertained, and so we are easily drawn into the world of make-believe. We can sit for hours on end watching the screen, whether it be on the television, tablet, smart phone, or at the theatre.
The Bible tells us that by beholding we become changed. The entertainment of the world leaves us empty, but the Word of God fills us with truth, hope, and joy. We need look no further than to the Bible to engage our minds with stories and lessons to satisfy the longings of our heart.
As a result of the abundance of available entertainment literally at our fingertips, we have adopted a spectator mentality. As such we need not become involved or move a muscle; we need only to sit and watch the drama unfold. No wonder so many show no impulse to intervene and render help to victims of crime. Instead, they immediately take out their cell phones and record the ordeal!
Now, could it be that this mentality, this seeming indifference, has entered the church of God? While the world suffers and perishes the majority among us seem content to simply watch it unfold. Does this describe you?
The truth is, folks, that the drama known as the great controversy involves you and me. There can be no spectators in this ongoing battle between Christ and Satan, good and evil. We must be involved; we must be engaged. Christ says, “He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad” (Matt. 12: 30).
Oh, the Christian world will argue that the victory’s been won on the cross: “It is finished.” There’s nothing left to prove. But if that were true, why are we still here some 2,000 years later? As Seventh-day Adventists we understand that Christ has not yet completed His work in the heavenly sanctuary. We understand that there’s a correlation between Christ cleansing the sanctuary and His cleansing the hearts of His children on earth. We understand that probation for the world is soon to close, and the Third angel’s message of warning must be sounded “to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.”
The title of today’s study is found in 1 Corinthians 4: 9: “For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.”The Greek word for “spectacle,” is “theatron,”from whence comes our English word, “theatre.” The truth is, we are a “spectacle” because we are being watched by the unfallen in habitants in heaven and other worlds. We are all actors, if you will, in this great drama of the ages; we all play a role in the greatest story ever told!
What’s the great interest with man? I’m glad you asked. Allow me to make several points:
- God is on trial. He is being judged. (Rom. 3: 4; Rev. 14: 6). Man is needed by God to help settle the great controversy. Our justice system requires an impartial jury. They are often sequestered to prevent their being influenced by public opinion. When the great controversy began in heaven it involved not only the angelic beings, but every intelligent creature of other worlds. All took their stand, whether for God or for Lucifer. No one in God’s vast creation remained neutral. There were none qualified to comprise an impartial jury and to render their judgment, whether to condemn or to acquit. The doubt and division caused from Satan’s rebellion had to be resolved. There could never be lasting peace within the kingdom of God until all doubt and fear is gone and God is cleared of any wrongdoing. God purposed that man would assist in the trial of all ages. Sister White tells us that “all heaven took a deep and joyful interest in the creation of man. Human beings were a new and distinct order” (RH, Feb. 11, 1902).
2. Man is qualified to judge. “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” (1 Cor. 6: 3). See also Dan. 7: 22; Rev. 20: 11-13. While God is the ultimate Judge, His very justice has been indicted! He needs an independent counsel, if you will, to confirm His judgments.
3. Man will not only play a vital role in the final judgment, but he will also be the Defendant’s chief witnesses. Jesus declares of us in Acts 1: 8: “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me.” The weight of their testimony rests not so much upon what they say as much as what they do. Their lives are a living testimony which provides the proof that God’s laws can be kept. Christ in His humanity proved that sinful man couldkeep the law, and His victorious life may be lived out in us, providing the necessary power to follow in His steps and to live righteously. Romans 3: 22 speaks of this righteousness: “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe: for there is no difference.” You and I, together with Christ, will “declare His righteousness: that He may be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3: 26).
4. God in His wisdom and foreknowledge designed that man would fill the vacancy of the fallen angels. Prior to sin man was commanded to procreate and “replenish the earth.” The word “replenish” can also be translated as “fill.” Yet, I like the word “replenish,” for it conveys the idea of filling a void or lack. Notice the following statement found in 1 BC 1082:”God created man for His own glory, that after test and trial the human family might become one with the heavenly family. It was God’s purpose to repopulate heaven with the human family.” Well, how did we do? We failed miserably!But all was not lost. God had devised a contingent plan from eternity past should man fail the test. God sent“His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom. 8: 3).But folks, don’t you see? The test in the garden of Eden was not made simply for man’s interest, and the gift of God’s dear Son was not merely for our salvation. Much more was at stake. The honor and credibility of God, affecting the entire host of heaven, were at stake! The central issue in the great controversy involves the law of God, the transcript of God’s character. Throughout the centuries Christianity has lost sight of the bigger picture and became to a large degree ego centric. But as we mature in our understanding and appreciation of the gift of His Son, our higher purpose to glorify God becomes our primary desire. It’s our high calling, which brings us to the 5th point.
5. Paul tells us in Ephesians 3: 10: “Through (by means of) the church the manifold wisdom of God is (to be) made known (or revealed) to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” We learn at least two things from this statement. First, that not everything that can be known has been made known on the cross, whether to the inhabitants of heaven or to those on earth. There is more to be revealed. Not every question has been answered.Second, that what is yet to be revealed will be accomplished through the church – through you and me.
As free moral agents we are writing our own scripts through the decisions we make every day of our lives. In the context of the great controversy, we are a living testimony for or against God. We claim to be God’s witnesses. How are we doing? Can God point to us as He did to Job and say to the principalities and powers, “Have you considered My servant (enter your name), for he is a perfect and upright man (woman), one that feareth God, and avoids evil?” God is waiting to point to His modern-day Jobs. In the end God will be exonerated, vindicated, justified. He will have a generation of believers known as the 144,000 who reflect the character of God and who love not their lives unto death. The only question that remains is whether you and I will be among them
Let me speak now to those in our church who have bought into the Evangelical lie that everything was done at the cross. First, if this were true, why are we still here some 2,000 years later? Second, what would be the need for the Three Angels’ warning? The fact that we’re still here is evidence that the great controversy has not been fully decided. As mentioned earlier, at the heart of the controversy is the law of God: can it be kept? Sure, Christ kept the law perfectly. But what about you and me? Christ has indeed defeated Satan on the cross, but this victory is ours only as we receive it by faith, right? Thus, righteousness by faith, which is the Third Angel’s message in verity, calls upon God’s remnant church to manifest to the world, both fallen and unfallen, that God’s laws can be kept. God will point to us and say, “Here are they who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Christ cannot return to earth until this “faith which works by love and purifies the soul” is on full display in the face of the greatest opposition and persecution this world has ever seen.
There are many within the SDA Church who deny this. They claim there is nothing left to prove. I disagree, and so does the Spirit of Prophecy. Notice:
“All heaven is waiting for man to vindicate God’s law.” Review and Herald, April 16, 1901.
“It becomes every child of God to vindicate His character. You can magnify the Lord; you can show the power of sustaining grace.” Testimonies Vol. 5, p. 317.
Does this sound to you like God doesn’t need us?
“The honor of Christ must stand complete in the perfection of the character of His chosen people. He desires that they shall represent His character to the world. In the work of redemption, in the sufferings which Christ was called upon to endure, you are to cooperate with Him, that you may be complete in Him. In being unified to Him by faith, believing and receiving Him, you become part of Himself. Your character is His glory revealed in you.” Signs of the Times, Nov. 25, 1897.
What does the word “must” mean? Imperative, essential, necessary, etc. What does the word “complete” mean? To finish, fulfill, establish, accomplish, etc. And how is this to be accomplished? “Through the perfection of the character of His chosen people”!
While the popular Christian maxim says, “Let Go, and let God,” our motto should instead be, “Let God, and let’s go.” The former places the onus upon God, thus blaming Him for the delay, while the latter places the onus upon us to cooperate with divine power. 2 Peter 3: 11, 12 tells us: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”
While the popular Christian maxim says, “Let Go, and let God,” our motto should instead be, “Let God, and let’s go.” The former places the onus upon God, thus blaming Him for the delay, while the latter places the onus upon us to cooperate with divine power. 2 Peter 3: 11, 12 tells us: “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?”
Folks, we cannot stand idly by with a seeming indifference while the inhabitants of our world suffer and perish without hope. We must be filled with the compassion and love of Christ. Sister White understood this, writing the following:
“Divine power must be combined with human effort or this terrible paralysis of indifference, this deathlike sluggishness will never be broken from the souls of those in darkness and error” The Upward Look, page 127.
At the end of the book, The Great Controversy, in the final chapter entitled, The Controversy Ended, we find this statement:
“But the time has now come when the rebellion is to be finally defeated and the history and character of Satan disclosed… Every question of truth and error in the longstanding controversy has now been made plain. The results of rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divine statues, have been laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The working out of Satan’s rule in contrast with the government of God has been presented to the whole universe. Satan’s own works have condemned him. God’s wisdom, His justice, and His goodness stand fully vindicated… With all the facts of the great controversy in view, the whole universe, both loyal and rebellious, with one accord declare: ‘Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints.’”
In conclusion, it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1: 27). In other words, Christ desires to be glorified in you and me. “Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come.” And just who is being judged? God Himself primarily (Rom. 3: 4), and you and me secondarily. If we will bear in mind that it’s more about vindicating God than gaining heaven, then we shall understand these words of Christ found in John 17: 4: “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” “I have manifested thy name.” Just as Christ came to glorify the Father, our greatest desire – our greatest joy – should be to glorify Christ in our character. What a privilege to glorify the Creator, to help vindicate His name for all eternity! It’s a humbling thought, isn’t it? The creature, sinful at that, helping his Creator! Wonder of wonders! The only question yet to be answered is this: are you a witness for God? Can He count on you in these last days?