1. Rebellion in a Perfect Universe (1Jn 4:7-21)

Sabbath Afternoon

Prayer Thought

When Christ ascended and laid open before the heavenly intelligences the scene of the conflict and the fierce attacks that Lucifer made against Him to prevent Him from accomplishing His work on the earth, all the prevarications and accusations of him who had been an exalted angel were seen in their true light. It was seen that his professedly spotless character was deceptive. His deeply laid scheme to exalt himself to supremacy was now fully discerned. . . . When the issue was finally settled, every unfallen being expressed indignation at the rebellion. With one voice they extolled God as righteous, merciful, self-denying, just. His law had been vindicated. {CTr 291.2}

Memory Text

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 14:12}

Please visit this link for the Memory Verses Songs {click or copy-paste to your browser}

This week's SS Lesson will discuss the creation of all things as an expression of His great love, and the origin of sin, pride, selfishness, ingratitude, and rebellion against God. It also includes the reasons why these things had been permitted, and in the end, we will learn how to understand them through the eye of faith considering questions that are related to our present experiences.

Outline of the Study

Reasons to be Loyal:

Sunday: Creation, an Expression of Love (The Love of God) Mat. 13:27, 28; 1John 4:8, 16; Mark 12:30, 31

Monday: Free Will, the Basis for Love - 1 John 4:7-16; Mat. 5:43-48; Rom. 5:6-11

Reasons to Rebel:

Tuesday: Mysterious Ingratitude - Ezek. 28:1-10, 12-19

Wednesday: The Price of Pride - Isa. 14:12-15; Gen. 11:31; 12:9; Rev. 18:4; Rev. 14:1; Rev.21:1-3, 10

Reasons to Care:

Thursday: The Spread of Unbelief (The Great Controversy) - Rev. 12:7, 9-10; Jude 9; Dan. 2:34, 45; 7:13; 8:11, 25; 12:1; Acts 7:30-33

Friday: The Further Study and Meditation

Reasons to be Loyal:

Sunday: Creation, an Expression of Love (The Love of God) Mat. 13:27, 28; 1 John 4:8, 16; Mark 12:30, 31

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. {1 John 4:16}

Other Lessons From Nature--Object Lessons

Teach the children to see Christ in nature. Take them out into the open air, under the noble trees, into the garden; and in all the wonderful works of creation teach them to see an expression of His love. Teach them that He made the laws which govern all living things, that He has made laws for us, and that these laws are for our happiness and joy. Do not weary them with long prayers and tedious exhortations, but through nature's object lessons teach them obedience to the law of God. {CG 534.1}

Creation as an Evidence of God's Power in Redemption

And what more appropriate time could be chosen for setting aside the tithe and presenting our offerings to God? On the Sabbath we have thought upon His goodness. We have beheld His work in creation as an evidence of His power in redemption. Our hearts are filled with thankfulness for His great love. And now, before the toil of a week begins, we return to Him His own, and with it an offering to testify our gratitude. Thus our practice will be a weekly sermon, declaring that God is the possessor of all our property, and that He has made us stewards to use it to His glory. Every acknowledgment of our obligation to God will strengthen the sense of obligation. Gratitude deepens as we give it expression, and the joy it brings is life to soul and body.-- R. & H., Feb. 4, 1902. {CS 80.2}

Consider the Following:

Love must be shown. First, God showed His love between the three people that He is. Then, His loved moved Him to create other beings in order to share His love with them.

All the beings God has created have been given the ability to love and to lavish love on others.

Besides, love is the principle behind all the laws that God has established.

Therefore, sin (rebellion against God’s laws) should’ve never existed, and it couldn’t have been created by God.

Monday: Free Will, the Basis for Love - 1 John 4:7-16; Mat. 5:43-48; Rom. 5:6-11

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” (1 John 4:11)

Voluntary, Free Will - He Yielded Up His Life a Sacrifice

But He humbled Himself, and took mortality upon Him. As a member of the human family, He was mortal; but as a God, He was the fountain of life to the world. He could, in His divine person, ever have withstood the advances of death, and refused to come under its dominion; but He voluntarily laid down His life, that in so doing He might give life and bring immortality to light. He bore the sins of the world, and endured the penalty, which rolled like a mountain upon His divine soul. He yielded up His life a sacrifice, that man should not eternally die. He died, not through being compelled to die, but by His own free will. {FLB 46.7}

Act in Accordance with a Character under God's Molding or Satan's Harsh Rule

Men act out their own free will, either in accordance with a character placed under the molding of God or a character placed under the harsh rule of Satan. {FLB 155.6}

Every act, every word, is a seed that will bear fruit. Every deed of thoughtful kindness, of obedience, or of self-denial, will reproduce itself in others, and through them in still others. So every act of envy, malice, or dissension is a seed that will spring up in a "root of bitterness" (Hebrews 12:15), whereby many shall be defiled. {FLB 155.7}

Crucified with Christ, Live Not I but Christ Liveth in Me

Paul declares, "I am crucified with Christ." Galatians 2:20. There is nothing so hard as the crucifixion of the will. Christ was tempted in all points like as we are; but His will was ever kept on the side of God's will. In His humanity He had the same free will that Adam had in Eden. He could have yielded to temptation as Adam yielded. And Adam, by believing God and being a doer of His word, could have resisted temptation as Christ resisted it. Had Christ so willed it, He could have commanded the stones to be made bread. He might have cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple. He might have yielded to Satan's temptation to fall down and worship him, the usurper of the world. But at every point He met the tempter with, "It is written." His will was in perfect obedience to the will of God, and the will of God was revealed throughout His entire life.... {OHC 107.3}

Consider the Following:

In addition to the ability to love, all the creatures (from the angels to humankind) have been given something inherent to love: freedom. Nobody is forced to love.

Freedom came with a risk: someone might choose not to love. We cannot understand why it happened, but it happened. This is how sin appeared in the universe.

Although sin is contrary to God’s nature, He allowed its existence at an expensive price: the life of His Son (1 John 4:10).

Humility of Christ - He Freely Give His Life to Die on our Behalf

He yielded up His life a sacrifice, that man should not eternally die. He died, not through being compelled to die, but by His own free will. This was humility. The whole treasure of heaven was poured out in one gift to save fallen man. He brought into His human nature all the life-giving energies that human beings will need and must receive. {5BC 1127.1}

Reasons to Rebel:

Tuesday: Mysterious Ingratitude - Ezek. 28:1-10, 12-19

“You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.” (Ezekiel 28:15)

Disregard God's Infinite Gift - His Greatest Love

At any moment God can withdraw from the impenitent the tokens of His wonderful mercy and love. Oh, that human agencies might consider what will be the sure result of their ingratitude to Him and of their disregard of the infinite Gift of Christ to our world! If they continue to love transgression more than obedience, the present blessings and the great mercy of God that they now enjoy, but do not appreciate, will finally become the occasion of their eternal ruin.—Manuscript 125, 1907 (Sermons and Talks, vol. 1, pp. 388, 389). {CTr 16.5}

The Day of Trust, Opportunity, and Privilege Ignored

If I go with the crowd, the Bible tells me I am in the broad road to death. Said the Majesty of heaven, “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” We are accountable for the light that shines in our day. Christ wept in agony over Jerusalem because they knew not the time of their visitation. It was their day of trust, their day of opportunity and privilege. . . . The foul ingratitude, the hollow formalism, and the hypocritical insincerity of hundreds of years called these tears of irrepressible anguish from His eyes.—Letter 35a, 1877. {CTr 317.6}

The Neglect of Opportunities and Blessings

The sin of the world today is the sin that brought destruction upon Israel. Ingratitude to God, the neglect of opportunities and blessings, the selfish appropriation of God's gifts--these were comprised in the sin that brought wrath upon Israel. They are bringing ruin upon the world today. {COL 302.2}

An example of Ancient Israel is a Warning to God's People Today

The murmurings of ancient Israel and their rebellious discontent, as well as the mighty miracles wrought in their favor and the punishment of their idolatry and ingratitude, are recorded for our benefit. The example of ancient Israel is given as a warning to the people of God, that they may avoid unbelief and escape His wrath. If the iniquities of the Hebrews had been omitted from the Sacred Record, and only their virtues recounted, their history would fail to teach us the lesson that it does. . . . {CC 8.2}

Consider the Following:

God explained Ezekiel how rebellion began in Lucifer’s heart by using the king of Tyre as an example (Ezekiel 28:12-19).

He was created perfect and beautiful (12-13).

He was put in a high-ranking position (14).

Iniquity was found in him, so he had to be expelled from Heaven (15-16).

He became vain because of his beauty and wanted to be worshipped instead of God (17-18).

He was no longer thankful to God for having created him. He thought he was more important than he actually was. He used his free will to rebel against his Creator.

Wednesday: The Price of Pride - Isa. 14:12-15; Gen. 11:31; 12:9; Rev. 18:4; Rev. 14:1; Rev.21:1-3, 10

“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:14)

Boastful Pride - Being Rich and Increased of Goods - Need of Nothing

The Pharisees were favored with every temporal and every spiritual advantage, and they said with boastful pride, We are "rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing"; yet they were "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Revelation 3:17. Christ offered them the pearl of great price; but they disdained to accept it, and He said to them, "The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you." Matthew 21:31. {COL 117.1}

Intellectual Pride - Extolling Human Wisdom

In their pride of intellect and human wisdom may be found the reason why the gospel message met with comparatively little success among the Athenians. The worldly-wise men who come to Christ as poor lost sinners, will become wise unto salvation; but those who come as distinguished men, extolling their own wisdom, will fail of receiving the light and knowledge that He alone can give. {AA 240.1}

Distrust, Alienation, and Malice Among God's People (Pride and Self-Esteem)

Satan is constantly seeking to introduce distrust, alienation, and malice among God's people. We shall often be tempted to feel that our rights are invaded, even when there is no real cause for such feelings. Those whose love for self is stronger than their love for Christ and His cause will place their own interests first and will resort to almost any expedient to guard and maintain them. Even many who appear to be conscientious Christians are hindered by pride and self-esteem from going privately to those whom they think in error, that they may talk with them in the spirit of Christ and pray together for one another. When they think themselves injured by their brethren, some will even go to law instead of following the Saviour's rule. {AA 305.1}

Consider the Following

Isaiah 14:12-15 introduces another reason why Lucifer rebelled against God: pride.

Lucifer needed his own worshippers to fulfill his goals. In order to get them, he accused God of being what Lucifer actually was: selfish, arrogant, and liar.

This is the mysterious origin of evil in the universe.

Similar Spirit of Oppression will be Followed in the Last days

Among many of the professing followers of Christ there is the same pride, formalism, and selfishness, the same spirit of oppression, that held so large a place in the Jewish heart. In the future, men claiming to be Christ's representatives will take a course similar to that followed by the priests and rulers in their treatment of Christ and the apostles. In the great crisis through which they are soon to pass, the faithful servants of God will encounter the same hardness of heart, the same cruel determination, the same unyielding hatred. {AA 430.4}

Reasons to Care:

Thursday: The Spread of Unbelief (The Great Controversy) - Rev. 12:7, 9-10; Jude 9; Dan. 2:34, 45; 7:13; 8:11, 25; 12:1; Acts 7:30-33

“Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” (Revelation 12:12)

Please review and restudy the Great Controversy described in Revelation 12 - click or copy paste to the browser to navigate the study outline. Meat In Due Season - 14. Rev 12: The Woman and the Dragon (google.com)

Accusing Began in Heaven and Carried Out on Earth

The work of Satan as an accuser began in heaven. This has been his work on earth ever since man's fall, and it will be his work in a special sense as we approach nearer to the close of this world's history. As he sees that his time is short, he will work with greater earnestness to deceive and destroy. He is angry when he sees a people on the earth who, even in their weakness and sinfulness, have respect to the law of Jehovah. He is determined that they shall not obey God. He delights in their unworthiness, and has devices prepared for every soul, that all may be ensnared and separated from God. He seeks to accuse and condemn God and all who strive to carry out His purposes in this world in mercy and love, in compassion and forgiveness. {COL 167.1}

Endangered by Continued Association with the Opposers of Truth

The Spirit of God had wrought with and through Paul in his labors for his countrymen. Sufficient evidence had been presented to convince all who honestly desired to know the truth. But many permitted themselves to be controlled by prejudice and unbelief, and refused to yield to the most conclusive evidence. Fearing that the faith of the believers would be endangered by continued association with these opposers of the truth, Paul separated from them and gathered the disciples into a distinct body, continuing his public instructions in the school of Tyrannus, a teacher of some note. {AA 285.3}

Paul saw that "a great door and effectual" was opening before him, although there were "many adversaries." 1 Corinthians 16:9. Ephesus was not only the most magnificent, but the most corrupt, of the cities of Asia. Superstition and sensual pleasure held sway over her teeming population. Under the shadow of her temples, criminals of every grade found shelter, and the most degrading vices flourished. {AA 286.1}

Through Unbelief Connection with God had been Lost

Through unbelief and the rejection of Heaven's purpose for her, Israel as a nation had lost her connection with God. But the branches that had been separated from the parent stock God was able to reunite with the true stock of Israel--the remnant who had remained true to the God of their fathers. "They also," the apostle declares of these broken branches, "if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again." "If thou," he writes to the Gentiles, "wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. {AA 377.2}

Consider the Following

Should we care about what happened in Heaven thousands of years ago?

Of course! Revelation explains that Satan (rebel Lucifer, symbolized by a dragon) “swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth” (Revelation 12:4).

The controversy in Heaven spread throughout Earth. Satan repeatedly attacked the people of God (symbolized by the woman in Revelation 12:1) to avoid the coming of archangel Michael (Jesus) to Earth (Revelation 12:2, 4)

Jesus got the victory. Satan was defeated by His death and resurrection (Revelation 12:5, 7-11). However, the war has not finished yet (Revelation 12:12-13, 17)

Friday: The Further Study and Meditation

In the days of Christ His disciples stood firm to their right and declared the risen Saviour in the temple. The spiritually-blinded guides ordered them out, but they came back again, and again this was repeated, until the impious Pharisees threw them in jail. By a miracle they were let out and immediately they returned to the temple, and again preached the supposedly strange doctrine in spite of the opposition. Such persistence as this to save their brothers and sisters from the impending doom is called by the enemies of Christ "rebellion," even using Scripture to prove their accusations true. But the matter of fact is, he who is persistent to perform his duty to his God, for the good of his brethren, is not the guilty one. He who would resent the message from heaven is a rebel in the sight of the great God. The office or position of such a one does not clear him any more than it cleared the proud Pharisee in the rabbinical cloak. Though some may point to his own office of authority it will not excuse him, neither will it condemn the messenger of God. Manyother excuses and charges will be presented, but he who does the service of the Most High need not be distracted in any way, but go forward in his duty with faith in God to save his brethren from the impending doom. The Spirit of Prophecy, in view of this message says: "Should a case like Achan's be among us, there are many who would accuse those who might act the part of Joshua in searching out the wrong, of having a wicked, fault-finding spirit." Volume 3, p. 270. {SR1: 250.3}

Questions to Ponder

1. How could the human mind fathom the mystery of the entrance of sin? Is it possible to fully understand this mystery through our own human knowledge?

2. In Sunday's lesson, why is it important to acknowledge God's creative power as a reflection of His great Love but yet He allows sin to enter into it? In what way does it reveal His character as a Loving God?

3. How do we exercise our free will, when God had already known what is our future? What does it relate to our daily decision and choices?

4. Can we choose by our own will or is there any supernatural power that leads us into it?

5. If sin is a mystery, then How could we reach such understanding, in order for us to give our gratitude to the awesome Creator, who allows sufferings, conflicts, persecutions, and afflictions in life?

6. Why does Lucifer become proud and boastful which He knew that He is just a created being? How it develops in him, and we're subjects to do the same?

7. Based on the statement above, {3T, p. 270; SR1: 250.3}, Why is it that persistency in preaching or standing in the principles set forth by God to His people will be regarded as "rebellion" against the authority of the church, association or community?

From the Pen of Inspiration

“From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, ‘that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16.” E. G. W. (The Desire of Ages, cp. 1, p. 22)

SSL-Q4-L1-Rebellion-in-a-Perfect-Universe-Sept.24-30-2022 (fliphtml5.com)