Restoration 2018:  Our Picture of God

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Restoration Ministry

Dee Casper

The Problem of Evil:  Does God Care?

Sweet Jesus, I thank you for this privilege to come into your presence just now.

And I'm asking that you would bless us indeed, that there would be a plenteous outpouring of your spirit, that you would empty me of self, and Lord, I pray that you would do for these people what I cannot.

And so we expect a blessing and we thank you for it in advance.

Tomorrow morning will be part 2 on the idea of does God care.

This evening we're gonna be covering the problem of evil, the existence of evil in the world, and does God care?

Does God understand what we're going through?

So what I'd like to do is have a Bible study with you this evening.

I work with ARTV, which is the Adventist Review's on-demand media platform.

If you'd like to know more about the content we're creating, how you can get involved, you can visit our website, ARTVnow.com.

Apps for your devices are coming very, very soon, hopefully in the next week or so.

Now, the question that could be asked then is, does God hurt when I hurt?

Can you understand the pain that I go through?

And we'll close with that thought tomorrow.

But this evening I'd like to deal with our unfortunate view of the Old Testament and its God.

It's easy for people to take this view of God that's very negative, vengeful, wrathful, against us, basically.

And almost this view of maybe Jesus came to try to get the Father to be for us.

So what I'd like to do, particularly tomorrow, is spend quite a bit of time in the Old Testament just looking at what God Himself says about His experience in the midst of the great controversy.

But this evening what I'd like to do is just walk through the existence of evil and God's solution to this.

This is where it all went south, where things really kind of got ugly.

This kind of gives us the origins of this.

Revelation chapter 12, And we'll begin in verse 7.

Revelation chapter 12, beginning in verse 7.

In heaven." Almost seems like a contradiction in terms, doesn't it?

It's the furthest thing that 1 would expect to encounter, and yet we're told that war breaks out in heaven.

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, that serpent of old called who?

The devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world.

He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast out with him.

Behold, a great fiery red dragon having 7 heads and 10 horns and 7 diadems on his heads.

And his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.

Now stars in Bible prophecy represent angels.

Literally, a third of the angels were swept up in whatever it is that transpired in this war that took place.

But the war, the word war here, is actually important for us to better understand.

In the original language, in the Greek, it's actually the word polemos.

How many people have ever heard of the word polemics?

Ever heard of polemics, the art of debating?

The word politics, both of those words find their origin from here.

This was not a war of like lightsabers and boxing gloves.

This was a war of words, a war of competing ideas that took place in heaven that eventually ended up with a physical excommunication.

But the origin of this was actually in word and in an idea.

But turn with me to Isaiah chapter 14 and we're going to see heaven's response to this.

Isaiah chapter 14, we're going to go to some familiar texts on this topic and then go to some unfamiliar texts, at least maybe in the context of this topic.

Isaiah 14 beginning in verse 12, it actually begins with a question.

How you are fallen from heaven, Isaiah 14 verse 12, and the references are on the screen as well.

How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!

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.

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

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.

Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit." So it's clear here then that Satan has upward ambitions.

There are 5 I will statements that are used, but there are actually 12 upward words that are used.

That he's going to ascend 1 into heaven 2, exalt 3, his throne above 4, the stars 5 of God.

I will also sit on the mount 6 of the congregation, on the farthest sides of the north 7.

I will ascend 8, above 9, the heights 10, the clouds 11, and I will be like the most high, 12.

He wants to go up, up, up, up, up at the expense of humanity, at the expense of everyone else involved in the great controversy, but in the end what's going to happen to this man, to Lucifer?

Now, I think it's interesting when you contrast this with Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians chapter 2, just want to look at the way in which both parties of the great controversy are presenting themselves and what their intentions are.

Satan again wants to go up, up, up, up, up at the expense of humanity, but in the end he's going to be brought down.

But in Philippians chapter 2, we see a contrasting picture of Christ.

Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 5, that let this mind be in you, which was also in who?

Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider robbery to be equal with God.

The NIV uses a little more user-friendly language here.

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

But they continue, but made himself of no reputation, that's a step down, taken the form of a bond servant, a step down, and coming in the likeness of men as a divine being that's a step down.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself coming down again and became obedient to the point of death, step down, even the death of the cross." The most shameful death in their culture at this stage, Jesus assumes.

That the name of Jesus, sorry, verse 9, therefore God has also highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

So literally, Jesus is going down, down, down, down, down for the uplifting of humanity, and in the end, he's going to be exalted.

2 completely different trajectories and 2 completely different actions taken from both parties in the Great Controversy.

1 has your best interests at mind, the other does not.

Now we have additional insight into Lucifer's fall in the book of Ezekiel.

Just before the book of Daniel, the Old Testament book of Ezekiel.

Ezekiel chapter 28, and we'll begin in verse 12.

It Says, son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, a song of weeping for the king of Tyre and say to him, thus says the Lord.

Now, the explanation that's gonna be given here about the King of Tyre will tell us very quickly that this is not talking about this particular man, but the forces of darkness that lie within him, the origin of evil, and we'll see that as we read.

So he says, thus says the Lord God, you are the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

Twice already it was listed as a perfect being originally.

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The Problem of Evil: Does God Care?

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