SECOND QUARTER 2024
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #13
JUNE 29, 2024
“THE TRIUMPH OF GOD'S LOVE”

 

And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people.  God Himself will be with them and be their God.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.  There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away’ ” (Revelation 21:3, 4, NKJV throughout).

This week’s lesson highlights the final developments in the cosmic war between Christ and Satan.  When human probation closes Michael stands up, and there is a time of trouble, “such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time” (Daniel 12:1).  Those who have the seal of God, who live through the seven last plagues, are delivered and with the resurrected saints are taken to Heaven when Christ comes in the clouds of glory.  Christ’s second coming is followed by the millennium.  After the millennium the executive judgment takes place.  Satan and his hosts are destroyed.  The earth is cleansed and recreated.  God’s government of righteousness and peace is now eternally secure.  “Affliction will not rise up a second time” (Nahum 1:9). 

As we study this week’s lesson let us keep in mind the following questions: Why will “affliction not rise up a second time”? What will safeguard the universe from a future rebellion?  

The lesson directs us to Bible passages that offer encouragement and hope as we look to the imminent future.  Our covenant keeping God is faithful.  Looking to Jesus we need not fear.

“We have this hope that burns within our hearts,

Hope in the coming of the Lord,

We have this faith that Christ alone imparts,

Faith in the promise of His Word”—Wayne Hooper.

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.  And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2, 3).

When the last gospel appeal has been given and every human heart has responded to, or spurned God’s gift of grace, the final time of trouble will commence.  The inhabitants of earth will then fully experience what it is like to live under Satan’s rule. 

“Alas!  For that day is great, so that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it” (Jeremiah 30:7).  Just as Satan was not permitted to take Job’s life, so the people of God will be protected during the time of trouble.  Angels will guard and watch over God’s loyal servants.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).

“A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.  Only with your eyes shall you look and see the reward of the wicked.  Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:7-11).

“When He (Jesus) leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth…The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent.  God’s long-suffering has ended.  The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law.  The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn.  Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one.  Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great final trouble.  As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose…

“A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians and filled the land with mourning.  When David offended against God by numbering the people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was punished.  The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 614, emphasis supplied here and onward.

Let it be noted who is causing the earth’s violent upheaval during this time.  It is Satan and his evil angels!  Understanding how he rules, and treats not just those who oppose him, but those who have chosen him as their leader, should cause his subjects to flee his wrath.  Who would knowingly choose such a leader! 

Satan rejoiced when Adam and Eve sold their birthright to him.  The earth was now his domain.  He would prove that a government free from the restrictions of God’s law could and would show itself to be superior.

Satan hates the Sabbath in that it points to Christ as the Divine Creator (John 1:1-3).  The Sabbath is also a sign of Satan’s failure to overcome Christ.  The Son of man redeemed man’s failure, bore the penalty of man’s transgression, and died the victor.  He rested from His finished work of salvation on the Sabbath.  “Satan was defeated, and knew that his kingdom was lost.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 758.

After 6,000 years of inciting rebellion and causing untold devastation, the father of lies is given 1,000 years (a Sabbath of time) to reflect on his apostasy.  Confined to earth, he is confronted with the base falseness of his charges against God and His law.  Utter destruction and gloom meet Satan’s eyes everywhere he roams.  He ruled his subjects with lies, fear tactics, and hate.  He incited mankind to use the gifts and imaginations God blessed them with to promote selfish pride and greed; to create inventions of evil, war, and destruction.  During the millennium Satan beholds the fruit of his doings. 

Isaiah, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, pens it aptly. “Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?  All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, everyone in his own house; But you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like the garment of those who are slain, thrust through with a sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a corpse trodden underfoot.  You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land and slain your people” (Isaiah 14:16-20).

While Satan and his angels are chained to the desolate and depopulated earth, the redeemed enjoy a thousand years of rest in their Heavenly abode.  In that city prepared for them they have fellowship with one another, the unfallen angels, the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb. 

"They shall neither hunger nor thirst anymore; The sun shall not strike them nor any heat; For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev 7:16, 17).

What a marvelous history course will be offered to the redeemed in the New Jerusalem University!  Unanswered questions and perplexities will be explained to them.  They will learn of the numerous times God’s angels shielded them from hurt and evil.  As the saints examine Heaven’s books, they will see that God did everything that possibly could have been done to save the lost.  There was and is no justification for sin.  The saved will gain a full and complete understanding of why God dealt with the sin problem as He did.

Yet the subject of the cross, the ultimate price paid to save sinners, the supreme sacrifice of the Godhead that secured the well-being of the universe for all eternity, will never be exhausted.  Throughout the ceaseless ages this will be the saints’ science and song. 

In the day of final reckoning, it will be acknowledged by all that God manifested the utmost wisdom, justice, mercy, and love in dealing with sin and sinners.  Though unchanged in character, the wicked themselves, when shown a panorama of the great controversy, recognize there was no justification for the rebellious course they chose.  “All with one voice, exclaim, ‘Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints’ (Revelation15:3); and, falling prostrate, they worship the Prince of Life.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 668.

Many of us have been richly blessed by the message of Christ our righteousness, a “most precious message” for some years.  We are well versed in “the truth,” but do we know the Truth?  Are we captivated by the matchless charms of Jesus?  Have we been crucified with Christ and allowed Him to lay our glory in the dust?  Are we daily fixing our eyes on the Author and Finisher of our faith? (Hebrews 12:2).  We need a faith that will see us through “distress and anguish,” that “can endure weariness, delay, and hunger, -a faith that will not faint, though severely tried.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 621.    

We have abundant light available to us.  God’s end-time church has been greatly enriched by the gift of prophecy.  We have access to amazing insights into the war between good and evil. 

We are finishing a quarter of Sabbath school lessons that reviewed the book The Great Controversy.  I am fully persuaded that future predicted events are going to happen and transpire exactly as outlined in the book.  (Read and reread the book!  Especially read its final chapters that pertain to what is soon to take place).  The Great Controversy’s narrative and teachings harmonize with Scripture.  

The five volumes of Ellen G. White’s The Conflict of the Ages series detail the history of sin from its inception to its final demise as revealed to us in the Bible. 

By nature the God-head is other-centered.  The well-being and happiness of His creatures has always been God’s utmost priority.  Foundational to everything God does and allows is His agape love, and throughout history He has faithfully and lovingly worked out His Divine purposes.   

It is of wonderful significance that the first words of Patriarchs and Prophets and the last words of The Great Controversy are “God is love.”  The Conflict of the Ages series begins and concludes with “God is love.”

“‘God is love’ (1 John 4:16).  His nature, His law, is love.  It ever has been; it ever will be.  ‘The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,’ whose ‘ways are everlasting,’ changeth not.  With Him ‘is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’ (Isaiah 37:15; Habakkuk 3:6; James 117).

“Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love.  The sovereignty of God involves fullness of blessing to all created beings…

“The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a demonstration of God’s unchanging love.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 33.

“The great controversy is ended.  Sin and sinners are no more.  The entire universe is clean.  One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation.  From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space.  From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 678.

Our lesson’s title, “The Triumph of God’s Love,” says it all.  Truly love has won (It won at the cross), is winning (The Good News is being proclaimed), and will be eternally victorious (Sin and death will be forever vanquished!).

“O, love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure-

The saints’ and angels’ song.”—Frederick M. Lehman

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,

To receive power and riches and wisdom,

And strength and honor and glory

and blessings!” (Rev. 5:12).

 

~ Martha Ruggles