Does God hurt when I hurt? In part 1 we address why evil came into existence, and how God will put it to an end. We also focus on the character and heart of God in how He deals with those who are lost.

<p>Does God hurt when I hurt? In part 1 we address why evil came into existence, and how God will put it to an end. We also focus on the character and heart of God in how He deals with those who are lost.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Livingston SDA Church

Dee Casper

Does God Care?- Part 1

Oh Father, I thank you for this privilege to come into your presence, to open the Word together and to hear a Word in season for all of us who are weary.

I'm just asking that you would move me aside, that you would speak with power, with clarity, with conviction, that you would give me wisdom, clarity and brevity, as I share this morning.

Another question we could ask is, does God hurt when I hurt?

And we're going to have to deal with an unfortunate view that many people have of the Old Testament and its God.

That there's this view that there's the God of the Old Testament who's a God of war and fire and vengeance.

And then there's Jesus and there's just this dissonance in our minds of this 1, but this 1, and but he says he's just like him.

And we wrestle sometimes with connecting the dots.

And I'd like to deal with that today through both messages as well.

If you've got your Bibles with you, and I hope so, Revelation chapter 12, Revelation chapter 12, How did things go south?

In Revelation 12, and I'm going to begin in verse 7, Revelation 12, and I'll begin in verse 7.

Now those words don't really seem to go well together in a general sense.

War and heaven, you wouldn't typically put those in the same sentence.

Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.

But they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

So the great dragon was cast out, and here's who that dragon is, that serpent of old called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.

He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him." If you go to verse 3 we see how many angels.

Behold, a great fiery red dragon, having 7 heads and 10 horns, and 7 diadems on his heads.' and then in verse 4 it says his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.

Stars prophetically can represent angels.

So this idea of war again just doesn't sound like something you should see in heaven, but that's what the Bible says, that there was a war in heaven.

Now, that word war in the Greek is the word polemos.

If you ever have like a debate team or people who are proficient at debating, That's the art of polemics.

Politics also comes from the same root word, polemics and politics.

Now do people like debate and argue and stuff in politics at all?

This was not a war of lightsabers and boxing gloves or anything of that sort.

What was happening was a war of ideas, a war of worldviews, a dispute, and specifically about who God was and how he governed.

This is what started, this is what that war looked like in heaven according to Revelation chapter 12.

Now what was heaven's reaction to this war?

There's even a question asked in response to the fall of Lucifer.

According to Isaiah 14, beginning in verse 12, it says, "'How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning.

This was his unfallen name, actually means day star.

How you were cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations.

In your heart that I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God." We talked about that being angels.

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest side to the north.

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

Yet you should be brought down to shale to the lowest depths of the pit.

There are 5 I will statements here, and it climaxes, and they all have upward momentum, upward ambition is what he has in mind.

And he says, lastly, that I will be like the most high.

Now, he's not wanting to be like God in character.

He's wanting to be like God in position and in influence and in power.

He's not looking to be co-regent with God.

And it's kind of like those old Western movies, this town ain't big enough for the both of us, right?

He's wanting to rule over God and instead of God.

There are actually 12 upward words used in just those small series of verses.

He wants to go up at the expense of everyone else, but the Bible says that he's going to be brought down.

So even though He wants to go up at the expense of everyone else, but the Bible says that he's going to be brought down.

So even though he wants to go up at the expense of everyone else, he's going to be cast down.

But I want you to see a contrast here in the Great Controversy.

Philippians chapter 2, and we're gonna look at how Jesus responds in the midst of the Great Controversy.

He's doing it at the expense of everyone else in the great controversy with no thoughts towards them.

But in the end, the Bible says that God is going to bring him down.

But according to Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 5, look at Jesus.

It says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.

The NIV has a very nice translation of this particular verse.

It says, Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.

There are aspects of the divinity of Jesus that had to be laid aside when he became a man.

He couldn't be everywhere all the time anymore, right?

He didn't know everything that was going on all over the universe anymore.

There were certain aspects that he had to lay aside.

So he didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped.

Verse 7, But he made himself of no reputation.

Taking the form of a bond servant, another step down, and coming in the likeness of men.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, another step down, and became obedient to the point of death, another step down, even the death of the cross." There is not a more shameful and humiliating form of death available than what Jesus went through at that stage.

That's a lot of steps down that Jesus is taking, but He continues in Philippians 2, Paul does, and he says, Therefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him the name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." So Satan is wanting to go up, up, up at the expense of everyone else, but at the end he's going to be brought down.

But yet Jesus, in contrast to that, is willing to take multiple steps down for the uplifting, for the salvation of humanity, and at the end he's going to be exalted above every name.

You've heard, you know, the first shall be last and the last shall be first.

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Does God Care?- Part 1

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