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University SDA Church- East Lansing

Cosmic Conflict

David Shin

Cosmic Conflict- Part 1

Sermon study guide cosmic conflict part 1.

I want to read the quotation from great controversy page 570 It says it is satan's constant effort to misrepresent The what does it say?

The character of god The nature of sin and the real issues at stake in the great controversy, Great Controversy 570.

Before we get to the heart of the message proper today, I want to spend a few moments in background on the book of Revelation.

There are many people living today that believe that the book of Revelation is a sealed book, that the book of Revelation cannot be understood.

You can know that that is a misunderstanding just by the title of the book of Revelation.

Because it says the revelation or the revealing of Jesus Christ.

The very nature of the book of Revelation is that it can be understood, amen?

In the beginning of the book of Revelation, it says the angel came to John and signified the book of Revelation, meaning in the Greek, it says literally that he's placed it in symbolic language.

The book of Revelation is different than any other book of the Bible.

It's apocalyptic and is to be read symbolically unless the context determines it to be otherwise.

Other books of the Bible you read literally unless the context determines it to be symbolic.

I have a chart here on the screen and I apologize that the text is kind of small, but the Book of Revelation can be divided into 2 major genres or segments within it.

It's historical and eschatological, meaning it has an end time emphasis pointing toward the future.

A little literary device that helps us to understand the structure of the book of Revelation is that it is written in a poetic form.

For those of you that have ever tried to read the book of Revelation, you will notice immediately that the book is not linear in nature, it's not chronological.

Have you ever tried to read it and you're like, why is this here, and it seems like themes come up?

It's not written chronologically, it is actually in what is called a chiasm.

Today when we write poetry, we write it in a particular stanza, form of rhyme and rhythm.

But ancient poetry followed a literary structure called a chiasm.

And I have a slide here on the screen that illustrates the nature of how this chiasm works.

And this for me has really helped me to understand how the book of Revelation is to be understood because we look at it and this is Incredible how the book of Revelation is laid out in a poetic form and this was discovered in the 1940s Dr.

Bill Shea at the Biblical Research Institute.

He unearthed a lot of the study that we benefit from today as Bible-believing Christians regarding the nature of the Book of Revelation.

You notice the Prologue parallels the epilogue.

You have 7 epistles, 7 angels, 7 bowls, 7 seals, 144, 000, 144, 000, 2 beasts, 2 witnesses, women clothed in the sun, woman seat keeps the commandments of God, Dragon persecutes the woman, dragon in heaven.

Woman flees to the wilderness, woman flees to the wilderness.

And then there you have it, Revelation chapter 12, 12.

The way that the structure of the book of Revelation is in a chiastic literary form.

The center of the Book of Revelation, which we're going to be going today, is Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation chapter 12 is at the apex of this mountain of the chiasm.

It is the center, the focal point of the book.

The thematic structure points to Revelation chapter 12.

Now here's another thing about Revelation chapter 12, is that Revelation chapter 12 is also a chiasm.

The center of the chiasm is chapter 12, and chapter 12 itself is in chiastic structure.

It's all laid out, and then you can see the chiastic structure here and then here is the center of the center.

So I want to invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10.

I think I have a slide here that says, the center of the center of the book of the Revelation, according to scholars, is Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10.

Isn't that fascinating how this book is structured?

It's a beautiful pronouncement and it's a pronouncement from heaven.

Here is the apex of the thematic chiastic structure of the book of Revelation.

1416 in your pew Bible, if you have a pew Bible.

1416, Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10, last book of the Bible.

Here it is, the center of the center of the book of Revelation.

Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night have been cast down.

There is the center of the center of the book of Revelation.

Now is salvation come and the power of his Christ and the devil is cast out.

We have our study passage, and I want us to read the 3 verses preceding the center of the center of the book of Revelation.

It was granted him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority was given him over every tribe.

Just keeping you awake here this morning.

And war broke out in heaven, and Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought.

But they did not prevail, neither was their place found anymore in heaven." And the Bible says, so the great dragon was cast out and the great serpent of old called the devil and Satan who deceives the whole world, He was cast out to the earth and his angels were cast out with him.

So there you have the 3 verses prior to the center of the book of Revelation.

Here the Bible talks about a cosmic conflict between 2 entities, Michael and his angels and the dragon and his cohorts.

This cosmic conflict did not begin on Earth, but it began where?

It began in heaven and the conflict was so fierce that It got to the place where the 2 opposing parties could no longer coexist.

And this cosmic conflict is known as the great controversy theme that provides the backdrop for the entire Bible.

The controversy, the cosmic conflict between Michael and the dragon.

Few basic questions that we need to ask ourselves.

Michael is found both in Greek and Hebrew.

It's found both in the Old and New Testament.

In the Old Testament, It's found specifically in the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 12.

It says Michael shall stand up There's been a lot of people that have different understandings of Michael but Michael in the Hebrew is Mikael El God but it literally means 1 who is like God, Mikael.

And there's 3 verses that give indication as to who Michael is, let's go to Jude 9.

I don't have this in your study guide, so you may want to write this down if anyone asks you who Michael is.

Jude 9, Jude only has 1 chapter, so there's only, it's very easy, easy to miss as well.

It's right before the book of Revelation.

So if you go to the beginning of the book of Revelation and turn to the next book, it's right there.

And here you have another mention of this person, this being Michael.

The archangel, in contending with the devil when he disputed the body of Moses.

Now the point I want you to get from this verse is very simple.

Cosmic Conflict- Part 2

Today is part 2 in our series entitled Cosmic Conflict and we are talking about issues in the great controversy between Christ and Satan.

I want to do a brief review from last week.

Last week we said that the book of Revelation is divided into 2 major sections.

It is divided into the historical and the eschatological sections.

We also said that the book of Revelation is a chiasm.

Steve really likes the chiastic structure.

Have you ever tried to read the book of Revelation and discovered that it's not in chronological order?

And scholars have noted that the entire book of Revelation is in the chiastic structure that we discussed last week.

It's a mirror image and the center of the chiasm is Revelation chapter 12, the great controversy panoramic view.

When you look at Revelation chapter 12 we made the observation that it's also in a chiastic structure as well.

The book of Revelation is a chiasm and then the center of the book of Revelation chapter 12 is also in a chiastic structure and we said the center of the center of the book of Revelation, you can see it there on the screen, is Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10.

We're doing a review from last week and if you were not here last week You can go online to our website, which is found in your bulletin and Download our sermon there.

It's an mp3 format podcasting and I'd like to invite you to turn with me in your Bible today to Revelation chapter 12 verse 7 through 10 our scripture reading today Revelation is the last book of the Bible, Revelation chapter 12, and we're going to read the verses leading up to the center of the center of the book of Revelation.

And war broke 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 there a place found for them in heaven any longer.

So the dragon was cast out, 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.

Here's the pronouncement from heaven, the center of the center, the book of Revelation, it is salvation centered.

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come for the accuser of our brethren who accused them before our God day and night has been cast down.

We said last week that rebellion started in a perfect place, within a perfect being, created by a perfect God.

This is known as the mystery of iniquity.

And we said that Lucifer desired 3 things.

He desired a higher position, an exalted throne, rulership and dominance.

And last week we said that the central issue in the great controversy is concerning the character of God as expressed in His Law.

We said that the character of God is found in His Law.

We said that in the Old Testament, in the Ark of the Covenant, there were angels that were hovering above the throne of God.

And the Ark of the Covenant was a box inside of the Ark.

Moses was instructed to place the 10 Commandments, indicating that the foundation of the government of God was his moral law.

We also said that the law of God was so unchangeable, so immutable, that the only way that God could allow sinners back into heaven who had broken the law, the wages of sin is death, was for him the lawgiver to die.

We said that the law is so unchangeable, so sacred that God himself had to die to meet its claims.

And we also said that at the cross you see the perfect picture of 2 things, justice, Jesus dying to meet the claims of the law, but mercy, Jesus dying as our substitute in our place.

There, mercy and justice are together demonstrated at the cross.

And we come to our thesis question here this morning in our study.

And this is a question that is asked by Christians, well-meaning individuals, perhaps you yourself have asked this question and the question goes something like this, why was sin permitted?

Furthermore, with God's foreknowledge, He knows the future, how could God create Lucifer, whom He knew would choose the path that would lead to all the sin and the suffering that we see in our world today.

Now I'm not saying that we should play God, but it's a very difficult decision.

Can you imagine what is going through the heart and mind of God as He is about to create this perfect, beautiful being called Lucifer and He knows perfectly, understanding in His mind, knowing the future, knowing the beginning from the end, that in creating Lucifer, it was going to lead to all of this.

That was a difficult decision, wasn't it?

And some people have said, look, couldn't God just have not created Lucifer?

And many people that are in the midst of suffering today have asked this question, why God Did you allow this to happen?

We come to this passage as we begin our study here today.

You can see it there in your study guide.

1 John 4, verse 8, it says, He who does not...

He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

According to the Bible, when you look up love in the dictionary, it should say God.

He is the epitome, the demonstration of what love is.

We live in an age today where love is being redefined.

Love doesn't mean that everything is permitted.

Remember as a child I would say to my parents, I wouldn't say this explicitly, but I would imply it, oh, how, why was I born into this home?

And parents will know that in order for there to be love, there needs to be boundaries, amen?

Because if you live in a home that has no boundaries, has no parameters, it is anarchy.

A parent that allows his child to do whatever he or she wants to do is not a loving parent.

But here we have the very definition of love, God is Love.

What are the implications of the nature of God being the very definition of love?

And I like to explain it in this way in the marriage relationship, when a man loves a woman, And then the woman loves the man, reciprocates.

They decide to be in a relationship and then if the relationship matures, they decide to get married.

And they stand there at the altar and say those words for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, forsaking all others, amen, till death do us part." And you seal that covenant with a promise.

And what makes it so beautiful is that there are 2 people that could choose anyone in the world, but they choose to be with 1 single individual for life.

What if you were forced to be with another individual for the rest of your life?

You never see a bride going down the aisle at gunpoint.

We don't call that love, we call that a lot of other things.

Anytime that in the love relationship, that you take out volition, free will, and moral capacity, love no longer exists.

In order for love to exist, there has to be choice.

2 people choosing, not being forced, 2 people choosing to be together for the rest of their life, but if 2 people are forced to be together, or 1 party is forced to be with another individual for the rest of their life, that is bondage, that's slavery, that's not love.

God in his very definition, in his very nature is love.

But in order for there to be love, we come to our first corollary there in your study guide.

Sorry about the word corollary, I couldn't think of a better word.

In order for there to be love there has to be free will, there has to be volition.

Anytime you take out choice and you put in force, it no longer becomes love.

Cosmic Conflict- Part 3

Our Father in Heaven, we thank you for this opportunity that we have to come into your presence today.

That we can come apart from the cares of this life to worship you in spirit and in truth.

And we pray today that you would speak to us.

As we look at these themes in the great controversy, we pray that our hearts would be moved.

As we look at the face of Jesus Christ, we pray that our souls would be drawn closer, closer to you.

Today is part 3 in a four-part series I've entitled Cosmic Conflict.

I'd like to do a brief review before we get to the heart of today's message and study.

You remember in part 1, we said that the great controversy is found in the book of Revelation and that the book of Revelation is in a chiastic structure.

You can see there on the screen that it actually goes into a central point, a climax, which is Revelation chapter 12.

Revelation chapter 12 paints that panoramic picture of the great controversy between Christ and Satan.

We said that the center of the chiasm is Revelation chapter 12.

And then we looked at Revelation chapter 12 and we said that the center chapter of the book of Revelation in the chiastic structure is in itself a chiasm, and that the central verse is Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10, as was read in our scripture reading.

It's a salvation-centered passage and text, Revelation chapter 12 and verse 10.

The Bible tells us that war broke out where?

It seems like an odd place for war to break out.

You would think that heaven would be the last place for disunity and disharmony, but the Bible tells us that war started in heaven in a perfect place, within a perfect creature called Lucifer, and Lucifer started to question God's authority, God's government, and he actually got to the place where he thought that he could do a better job than God himself.

We said that the central issue in the great controversy between good and evil between Christ and Satan was concerning the character of God as expressed in what?

Why would the devil attack God's law and we look in the Old Testament, saw that the law of God was not written on paper or parchment, but it was written in stone by the very finger of God.

Incidentally, the only part of the Bible that is written by God himself, literally is the 10 Commandments.

He wrote it in stone, attesting to its unchangeable nature.

We saw that Moses, when building the Ark of the Covenant, which was a symbol of the throne of God, the Shekinah of glory was there, Moses was instructed to place the 10 Commandments not beside the ark, not around the ark, but inside the ark under the throne of God, indicating that the foundation of the throne and the government of God was his law.

And the devil knew that if he attacked the law of God, he was really attacking the character of God and undermining the government of God.

That was the central issue in the conflict in heaven.

Last week in part 2 we discussed that the great controversy is a demonstration of God's love.

By the way you can go online if you've missed any of these presentations and download them in a podcast.

And we said last week that love cannot exist without choice.

You can never force someone to love you and that in a love relationship, God created beings with the capacity to choose, to respond, to have the free will, and that is how the great controversy transpired.

Moving very quickly to today's presentation, our thesis question today as we look through the Bible is what happened at the cross?

But many times when we look at the cross, we look at it in terms of our own salvation.

And we look at it in terms of our individual salvation and what happened at the cross.

We know that justification happened at the cross, forgiveness happened at the cross, salvation happened at the cross.

But today I want to look at the cross from this vantage point or from the perspective of the great controversy.

Today we'll see that the cross was the greatest revelation in terms of the great controversy as to who God and the devil actually were.

It was the greatest exposition, demonstration of the character and the nature of God.

I'd like to begin with a little bit of background.

We go to the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis.

It was a very sad day, but before being removed from the garden, I want you to notice, there in your study guide, you can see it there, in Genesis 3, verse 15, you see what is called the garden promise that in the midst of a tragedy God gives this incredible promise there in Genesis he's talking to the serpent and in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 you see the words coming from the mouth of Christ himself.

And he says, and I will put enmity between you and the woman, between the serpent and the woman.

At the fall, the human race was put under the dominion of the enemy.

Humanity was placed in subjection to the enemy, but here the promise, the prophecy, is that there is going to be a separation.

And between your seed and her seed, He, I put Jesus in there because scholars believe that this is a messianic prophecy.

He, and in many of your Bibles it's actually capitalized, it says, He, Jesus, shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.

I'd like to pick that apart with you a little bit, but before we do that, I want to make a simple observation that the Bible is alluding to this narrative of the great controversy which began in heaven, now is being transferred to where?

Because Adam and Eve sinned, the metanarrative has changed in location.

The conflict goes to earth, and it's between the serpent and Christ.

Literally, this word bruised in the Hebrew is to crush.

So when the Bible says, He, Jesus, shall crush your head, the serpent's head, we are talking about a mortal wound.

If your head is crushed, or you see a snake slithering through the middle of the sanctuary, it's not, but imagine that it is, and you go up and you smash its head, that is a mortal wound.

This is the imagery that the Bible is giving.

The Bible is indicating that even though this controversy is going on here on earth, that in the end, the devil will receive a mortal wound.

And that the great controversy will be finished with Christ being victorious.

But you also see here that the Bible tells us that Jesus will receive a bruise, will receive a crushing blow.

This is quite a curious passage because when you look at it and you think about the notion of God being crushed, hurt, bruised in any way, that is anything from our picture of God.

But the Bible tells us that in this controversy, that God will make himself vulnerable.

God will make himself open to being bruised and crushed.

Love is not love until love's vulnerable.

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