Jesus said “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:19). The story of the origin of sin is a mystery.
The Bible tells us that sin was born in the perfect heart, of the perfect Angel, who lived in a perfect place, who had a perfect job, to which he was perfectly suited, with which he was perfectly happy, surrounded by perfect companions, with similarly perfect conditions, all in perfect harmony, before a perfect God. That is the environment in which sin began. It is from that perfect place, that Jesus saw Satan, the previously perfect Lucifer, fall from heaven as lighting.
As human beings, we trace our connection with sin to our great forefather, Adam. He was also a perfect man, with a perfect heart, built in the image of the perfect God, by God’s perfect hands, placed in a perfect garden, with perfect animals, all living in perfect peace, given a perfect wife, blessed with perfect employment, and perfect food, with which he was all perfectly happy.
And yet despite this perfection “Angelic perfection failed in heaven. Human perfection failed in Eden, the paradise of bliss.”[i] Let that sink in for a moment. Perfection of environment, and perfection of nature were no guarantee against sin. They both failed, and failed miserably. Therefore, if any Seventh-day Adventist Christian is waiting for perfect conditions, and perfect natures, to keep from falling into sin, I have bad news for you; they won’t, and they never will.
Perfect circumstances, perfect nature, and perfect surroundings are no guarantee against the inception of sin, past, present, or future. Sin can arise in a perfect environment, and in the expanse of eternity would be given almost an indefinite number of chances to do so. Thankfully we are not without hope. “In the divine plan, evil was foreseen and provided for”[ii]. It is not the immediate destruction of sin and sinners that would resolve the issue of sin in a perfect universe. However terrible, evil could not be abolished by its instant destruction.[iii] This would be a temporary solution at best and would only create more doubt as to the goodness and righteousness of God and His government. It would not deal with the sin problem arising among the sinless creation; it would only engender further suspicion in regards to the Righteousness of God, and His claim that His ways are the best ways.[iv]
But now we have a bigger problem. If perfect angels and men could not keep the Law, how are imperfect men and women to keep it? Some see no other solution to this problem but do away with the Law entirely. No Law, no sin. It’s that easy. Others do it differently, by lowering the standard. It is still there, but much more attainable. However, that Christ demands perfect obedience from imperfect people, we have ample evidence. Both the paralytic at the pool and woman caught in adultery were admonished to ‘go and sin no more’. (John 5:14, 8:11) The fact that Christ said that if we love Him, we should keep His commandments. (John 14:15) The fact that Christ died, is itself, the biggest indictment against sin. For if the Law could be done away with then Christ need not have died.
There is only one solution to the sinning problem. There is only one way to prevent affliction from rising up a second time. (Nahum 1:9) The only solution is Jesus Christ and Him crucified, this is the provision of the divine plan. Ellen White writes:
“The angels ascribe honor and glory to Christ, for even they are not secure except by looking to the sufferings of the Son of God. It is through the efficacy of the cross that the angels of heaven are guarded from apostasy. Without the cross they would be no more secure against evil than were the angels before the fall of Satan. Angelic perfection failed in heaven. Human perfection failed in Eden, the paradise of bliss. All who wish for security in earth or heaven must look to the Lamb of God. The plan of salvation, making manifest the justice and love of God, provides an eternal safeguard against defection in unfallen worlds, as well as among those who shall be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Our only hope is perfect trust in the blood of Him who can save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. The death of Christ on the cross of Calvary is our only hope in this world, and it will be our theme in the world to come.” (ST, December 30, 1889 par. 4, emphasis mine).
Since the grace of Christ and His sacrifice, the theme in which the Angels desire to look into (1 Peter 1:12), is the ONLY hope that sin will not rise a second time in heaven, and is our only hope on earth, it should put to silence the argument that it is impossible to cease from breaking the Law of God, right now. If perfection of circumstance and nature cannot prevent sin from rising in Heaven and Eden, then perfect circumstances and nature are not the answer to the sinning problem. As White writes, the “blood of Christ is the eternal antidote for sin”[v]. Those who wait on, believe, or teach that only upon reaching heaven can a sinner cease from sin, are trusting in that which never prevented sin in the first place. It is another gospel, a false one, that has kept God’s people from realizing God’s plan to make an end of sin. Unto 2300 days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. (Dan 8:14) Therefore, all quibbling about perfection, sinlessness, last generation theology, becomes moot when this truth is brought to the heart.
The answer to sinning is Christ and Him crucified, period, for angels and for men, NOW and in the world to come. The church needs to arise to this great truth. This truth, the Third Angel’s Message, the faith of Jesus which leads to keeping all the commandments of God. It was brought to the Church by brother’s Jones and Waggoner, and supported by Ellen White. Notice what brothers Waggoner and Jones wrote:
Brother Waggoner wrote:
“The secret of living the Christian life is simply that of holding fast the life which, received at the beginning, forgives the sin. God forgives sin by taking it away. He justifies the ungodly by making him Godly. He reconciles the rebel sinner to Himself by taking away his rebellion, and making him a loyal and law-abiding subject.”[vi]
Brother Jones wrote:
“Bearing guilt, being under condemnation and so under the weight of the curse, Jesus, a
whole lifetime in this world of guilt, condemnation, and the curse, lived the perfect life of
the righteousness of God, without ever sinning at all. And whenever any man knowing
guilt, condemnation, and the curse of sin, and knowing that Jesus actually felt in His
experience all this just as man feels it; then, in addition, that man by believing in Jesus
can know in his experience the blessedness of the perfect life of the righteousness of God
in his life to redeem him from guilt, from condemnation, and from the curse; and to be
manifested in his whole lifetime to keep him from ever sinning at all.”[vii]
This goes beyond the gospel which was restored by the Reformers. We are more than Seventh-day Baptists. We believe that “…Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed”. If we don’t believe it, we might as well be Seventh-day Baptists, who do not understand the ramifications of the Sabbath in the context of Daniel 8:14. We might as well be Sunday keepers, or even atheists. Because if we don’t believe that God is going to ‘make an end of sin’ sometime after the 2300 prophetic days then what is the point of being a Seventh-day Adventist. Are we charlatans? Is our religion a cunningly devised fable? Or is it the power of God unto salvation? Indeed, it is present truth and the only truth that can prepare God’s people for the Mark of the Beast crisis.
The Third Angel’s Message plainly states the fact that those who are to survive the Mark of the Beast crisis will have two distinct features, they “keep the Commandments of God, and have the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12). A plain reading of the text can lead no one to be confused as to its meaning. Those who overcome the Mark of the Beast have not just faith in Jesus, but the faith of Jesus. It is the faith of Jesus, which leads to keeping all the commandments of God.
Fanaticism you say? No, it’s fantastic. Impossible you say? No, it’s inevitable. We are not to look at the experience and record of our miserable failures on here on earth. These are no evidence against the truth. These failures only prove that we need more of Jesus. We are to look to Jesus, in faith, knowing that it is He that “is able to keep you from falling and, present you faultless, before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” (Jude 24)
How do we keep from falling into sin? We do the same thing sinless angels need to do. How are angels prevented from sinning? Is it their perfect environment, do they rely on their perfect nature? No, it is only as they behold the sacrifice of the Son of God for Humanity. As they, we are to behold the man, behold the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. God is now preparing sinful people, with sinful natures, living in a sinful world, surrounded by sinful men and sinful devils, to live perfect lives, with perfect hearts, to be taken to a perfect Heaven, by The Perfect Savior to meet our Perfect Father, and be perfectly happy, in a perfect eternity.[viii]
What a perfect ending.
Marko Kolic was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist faith in 1998 in a cold lake in Canada. Coming from a Catholic background he is passionate about Biblical truth and the Spirit of prophecy. He received his B.A. in Religion from Burman University [formerly Canadian University College] in 2005 and his M. Div. from Andrews Theological Seminary in 2009. He currently works in one of Canada’s federal penitentiaries.
[i] Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889 par. 4
[ii] Signs of the Times, April 22, 1903 par. 2
[iii] “Even when he was cast out of heaven, Infinite Wisdom did not destroy Satan. Since only the service of love can be acceptable to God, the allegiance of His creatures must rest upon a conviction of His justice and benevolence.” (Patriarchs and Prophets, page 42)
[iv] “Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts: And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; And to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:7-9)
[v] Ellen White, Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889 par. 3
[vi] Waggoner, E J. 1999. Christ and His Righteousness. Berrien Springs, Mi: Glad Tidings Publishers, p125.
[vii] Alonzo Trévier Jones. The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection. Boise, Idaho, Upward Way, 1988, p. 24. (Note: I am usure if the emphasis is in the original or not, but it was such in the book I have.)
[viii] “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:11-14