Decision 2016 and You
UPDATED NOVEMBER 7, 2016
Things are getting, well, um, err… interesting in the 2016 Presidential Race. Debates have been extremely intense and heated. On Tuesday, November 8, millions of Americans will go the polls to elect the next president of the United States. But beyond Decision 2016 is a greater decision that all people, not just Americans, are called upon to make.
Yes, there is an election, a campaign of sorts, taking place right now. And it is far more intense that Election 2016. In fact, the parties involved have even resorted to all-out war!
Thousands of years ago, a rebel angel began campaigning in the courts of heaven. His name—Lucifer. His goal—to seize the throne of the universe. We are told in Scripture that he possessed great power and authority. In his position in the heavenly courts he was next only to Jesus. But something went wrong.
At some point in the history of the universe, seeds of rebellion began sprouting in Lucifer’s heart. Why this happened, we will never know. An inspired writer says, “Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it, is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is that given in the Word of God; it is ‘the transgression of the law;’ it is the outworking of a principle at war with the great law of love which is the foundation of the divine government” (E.G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 492.2).
Lucifer broke God’s Ten Commandment law—therefore committing sin (see 1 John 3:4)—in two ways: (1) He was filled with pride (Ezekiel 28:17) and put himself first in his life, rather than God, thus breaking the first commandment, and (2) he coveted God’s position (Isaiah 14:12-14), thus breaking the second commandment. He planned to carry out an open rebellion against the King of the Universe.
Lucifer began campaigning in heaven to gain the support of the other angels. He convinced them to follow him by spreading lies about God’s character. American politicians are not the first to start talking badly about their political opponents—Lucifer was the first! And whereas some politicians react to verbal attacks on them by using the same tactics on the instigator, God could not employ Lucifer’s tactics, for Lucifer used truth and lies, but God uses only truth (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18)! So Lucifer appeared to have an advantage over God. Eventually, one third of the angels in heaven followed Lucifer in his rebellion (see Revelation 12:4).
Some wonder why God did not destroy Lucifer and his supporters right then and there. Think about it: one bolt of lightning vaporizes Lucifer and his supporting angels, and boom! problem solved! But would the problem really be solved?
Remember, Lucifer had been spreading lies about God; so if God had destroyed Lucifer just like that, the other angels would have been thinking something along the lines of, “Maybe Lucifer was right. Maybe God feels insecure now that Lucifer has been pointing out flaws in His government. But let’s not do anything about it! Let’s do everything God asks us to do, or we might be destroyed like Lucifer was!” The angels would have served God out of FEAR, rather than out of LOVE. God desires worship based solely on love, not fear. It is a tyrant who uses fear to manipulate his subjects. God is not like that! He gives us the freedom to choose whether or not we will love and serve Him. He decided to let sin run its course so that the whole universe would see the results of sin—that sin brings misery, pain, woe, and death. Then all would choose to serve and follow God out of love!
It was eventually decided that Lucifer and his supporters could no longer remain in heaven. So there was war (see Revelation 12:7-9). Lucifer and his supporting angels lost that first battle and were expelled from heaven.
Sin soon came to Planet Earth, however, as Adam and Eve, the first human beings, fell for Satan’s deceptions. Throughout the history of the world, there have been only two sides in this conflict—those who follow Christ, and those who follow Satan. 6,000 years of sin in our world is enough to convince anyone that Satan is cruel and up to no good on Planet Earth. But when we look at the cross of Calvary, where Christ demonstrated His love for us by dying a criminal’s death for those in rebellion against Him and His ways, we can see that indeed God is love!
Scripture tells us that we are living near the end of this great conflict. Christ and Satan are both “campaigning” in our planet today. Satan is popularizing his message through movies, TV shows, popular music, and other venues. Christ, on the other hand, is working through His church to spread His last-day message, the “everlasting gospel,” to the entire world. We are being called upon now to make a decision for or against Christ. In the words of James Russell Lowell,
Once to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood,
For the good or evil side.
Now is the moment for you to decide which side you are on. Those on Satan’s side will eventually experience defeat and eternal death, while those who follow Christ will experience victory in this life and the next! They will experience the joys of eternal life in an earth made new! They will see their Savior face to face! What will your choice be? Which side are you on? Who will you follow?
- By Ilcias Vargas, Jr.
Things are getting, well, um, err… interesting in the 2016 Presidential Race. Debates have been extremely intense and heated. On Tuesday, November 8, millions of Americans will go the polls to elect the next president of the United States. But beyond Decision 2016 is a greater decision that all people, not just Americans, are called upon to make.
Yes, there is an election, a campaign of sorts, taking place right now. And it is far more intense that Election 2016. In fact, the parties involved have even resorted to all-out war!
Thousands of years ago, a rebel angel began campaigning in the courts of heaven. His name—Lucifer. His goal—to seize the throne of the universe. We are told in Scripture that he possessed great power and authority. In his position in the heavenly courts he was next only to Jesus. But something went wrong.
At some point in the history of the universe, seeds of rebellion began sprouting in Lucifer’s heart. Why this happened, we will never know. An inspired writer says, “Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it, is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is that given in the Word of God; it is ‘the transgression of the law;’ it is the outworking of a principle at war with the great law of love which is the foundation of the divine government” (E.G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 492.2).
Lucifer broke God’s Ten Commandment law—therefore committing sin (see 1 John 3:4)—in two ways: (1) He was filled with pride (Ezekiel 28:17) and put himself first in his life, rather than God, thus breaking the first commandment, and (2) he coveted God’s position (Isaiah 14:12-14), thus breaking the second commandment. He planned to carry out an open rebellion against the King of the Universe.
Lucifer began campaigning in heaven to gain the support of the other angels. He convinced them to follow him by spreading lies about God’s character. American politicians are not the first to start talking badly about their political opponents—Lucifer was the first! And whereas some politicians react to verbal attacks on them by using the same tactics on the instigator, God could not employ Lucifer’s tactics, for Lucifer used truth and lies, but God uses only truth (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18)! So Lucifer appeared to have an advantage over God. Eventually, one third of the angels in heaven followed Lucifer in his rebellion (see Revelation 12:4).
Some wonder why God did not destroy Lucifer and his supporters right then and there. Think about it: one bolt of lightning vaporizes Lucifer and his supporting angels, and boom! problem solved! But would the problem really be solved?
Remember, Lucifer had been spreading lies about God; so if God had destroyed Lucifer just like that, the other angels would have been thinking something along the lines of, “Maybe Lucifer was right. Maybe God feels insecure now that Lucifer has been pointing out flaws in His government. But let’s not do anything about it! Let’s do everything God asks us to do, or we might be destroyed like Lucifer was!” The angels would have served God out of FEAR, rather than out of LOVE. God desires worship based solely on love, not fear. It is a tyrant who uses fear to manipulate his subjects. God is not like that! He gives us the freedom to choose whether or not we will love and serve Him. He decided to let sin run its course so that the whole universe would see the results of sin—that sin brings misery, pain, woe, and death. Then all would choose to serve and follow God out of love!
It was eventually decided that Lucifer and his supporters could no longer remain in heaven. So there was war (see Revelation 12:7-9). Lucifer and his supporting angels lost that first battle and were expelled from heaven.
Sin soon came to Planet Earth, however, as Adam and Eve, the first human beings, fell for Satan’s deceptions. Throughout the history of the world, there have been only two sides in this conflict—those who follow Christ, and those who follow Satan. 6,000 years of sin in our world is enough to convince anyone that Satan is cruel and up to no good on Planet Earth. But when we look at the cross of Calvary, where Christ demonstrated His love for us by dying a criminal’s death for those in rebellion against Him and His ways, we can see that indeed God is love!
Scripture tells us that we are living near the end of this great conflict. Christ and Satan are both “campaigning” in our planet today. Satan is popularizing his message through movies, TV shows, popular music, and other venues. Christ, on the other hand, is working through His church to spread His last-day message, the “everlasting gospel,” to the entire world. We are being called upon now to make a decision for or against Christ. In the words of James Russell Lowell,
Once to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood,
For the good or evil side.
Now is the moment for you to decide which side you are on. Those on Satan’s side will eventually experience defeat and eternal death, while those who follow Christ will experience victory in this life and the next! They will experience the joys of eternal life in an earth made new! They will see their Savior face to face! What will your choice be? Which side are you on? Who will you follow?
- By Ilcias Vargas, Jr.
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