It was no empty statement that Satan made when he offered Christ the kingdoms of this world if He would fall down and worship him. Satan, through usurpation of the dominion given to man, had come into the possession of the kingdoms of this world. He had become, as Christ calls him, “the prince of this world.” But that princedom was man’s by gift of God. Through obeying Satan instead of God (Gen. 3:1-6), man placed himself under Satan’s power, became his servant (Rom. 6:16), and all that man had went with him under Satan’s dominion.
Adam was to have been the prince of this world, under God. The one who usurped his place took that position. So while God is Ruler of this universe, Satan the usurper is prince of this world, and is responsible for all the iniquity that has come to pass under that rulership, from the first sin in Eden to the last one recorded in the books of heaven—responsible in that he was the originator and propagator of evil. This does not release man from responsibility for the sins which he commits; for, while “all have sinned,” and man is “sold under sin,” Christ has paid the redemption price, that will set free every son of Adam who desires that freedom. Man is responsible for his choice—the right and power of choice is his.
Is Satan’s princedom eternal? Has he the right to rule? If not, in whom does the right exist? Will this earth, which was once given to man for a dominion, ever come back to man?
Satan’s Rule Is Not Eternal.
As the representative of this earth, Satan has in times past been permitted to enter heaven. Job 1:6-8. He entered there as the accuser of God’s faithful servants in the earth. Zech. 3:1, 2. But when Christ had demonstrated to the universe His power over Satan, that wicked being lost the privilege of entering the gates of gold. Christ said, “I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.” Luke 10:18, R.V. The same event is brought to view in Revelation 12:12, 13. That scripture makes it plain that Satan is now confined to the realm over which he is prince by usurpation. But that is not the extent of the curtailment of his powers and privileges. Christ overcame him in the wilderness and in His life of sinlessness on this earth. At the close of the great controversy an angel from heaven will receive authority to bind this father of sin, who once was a mighty covering cherub by the throne of God. Rev. 20:1, 2. But this binding is not his end. He is loosed again; and when the wicked dead are raised, he marshals them for an attack on the New Jerusalem, which has come down from heaven to earth6(Rev. 21:2); and in that last act of desperation he perishes with all his wicked hosts. Rev. 20:7-10. That ends the dominion, the princedom, of Satan in this earth; that ends the reign of sin, with all the misery, degradation, sorrow, and death, that came with the advent of Satan and the fall of man. “Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:14. Then will it be said, “O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?”
With the utter destruction of sin and its author is associated the renovation of the earth. Peter, by the Spirit of Inspiration, declares, “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:13. The method of this renovation is stated in verse 10. The fire there mentioned will burn out the last root of sin with the sinner who has clung to it. Mal. 4:1. So we see that the princedom of Satan is not eternal. The course which he has taken from his rebellion in heaven until the last act of the great drama is closed has completely demonstrated Satan’s unfitness for any place in the universe of God. He obtained the dominion of this world by stealth, deception, and fraud, and by trying to set man against his Maker. Being out of harmony with God and all that is good, he has demonstrated to the eyes of all the universe that he has no right to rule in any portion of it.
In Whom Does the Right to Rule Exist?
Christ came to this earth to conquer where Adam failed; and not only that, but to make the conquest so complete that what had been lost through Adam’s fall could be regained through His triumph. Man had not only forfeited his own life, but had lost the possession which had been given to him. So there is more involved in Christ’s triumph over Satan than the demonstration of His own ability to live above sin. That is in it, but there is also in it the redemption of man from the bondage of sin and Satan, and the redemption of the earth from Satan’s domination. In other words, He triumphs over Satan and makes a way possible for all who will to be free again in God, to share in His triumph. He “was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), “that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Heb. 2:14, 15. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:22.
In this Christ has demonstrated His right to be the Head of the human family. He became human, partook of flesh and blood, in order that humanity might triumph in His victory. The human had failed, but humanity must triumph over its failure and over its traducer; so He became one of us. In this He brought humanity again in touch with divinity, for both were united in Him. As the Son of God He vindicated the love and justice and forbearance and wisdom of the Father; as the Son of man He purchased by His own blood the inheritance which man had lost. All is complete in Him. He has won the right by conquest and by purchase to be “the Head of every man.”
When God called a people out of the sin of this world to be His peculiar people, He purposed to establish His rule of love in that portion of the human family. He gave them His law that they might know His character and seek to be like Him; and He established prophets among them, through whom He would speak to them His will concerning them. He would be their Ruler, and their Deliverer from all their foes; but there came a time when sin came in among them to that extent that they clamored for a king that they might be like the nations around them. They got their king, and they became like the nations around them. The nations of this world were under the controlling influence of the enemy of God. Idolatry, with all the evils that go with it, was rampant in them all. Those nations had forgotten God. Israel had the wish of their hearts; and in that wish, God tells His prophet, “They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.” 1 Sam. 8:7. So in becoming a nation like the nations around them, they became one of the nations of this world. Still God held to them for the sake of the honest ones who remained faithful to Him among them. His prophets anointed their kings; but their kings wandered so far from God that at last He declared to Israel’s ruler, “And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, and take off the crown. . . . I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it; and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is; and I will give it Him.” Eze. 21:25-27.
In this language the Lord declares that He will no longer have a ruler ruling in His name the people of His choice, until one should come who had the right to rule them. When that One comes, God will make Him the ruler of His people. That One was the Babe of Bethlehem; Jesus, the Saviour; Emmanuel, God with us; Messiah, the anointed One. “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be Ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. . . . And He shall stand and rule [margin] in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.” Micah 5:2-4. He is the Branch that was to build the temple of the Lord. Zech. 6:12, 13. He is the “root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.” Rev. 22:16. He is “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David” (Rev. 5:5), and the only one who has the power and authority to “open the book, and to loose the seven seals.” He is the One who has suffered “in the flesh” in order that He might put an end to all suffering in the flesh. He has conquered him who conquered man. Satan overcame man and took his dominion from him. Christ has overcome Satan, and taken His usurped dominion from him. So in Him alone rests the right to the rulership of this world. As He partook of the nature of man, He has brought the dominion back to man. He has earned the right to rule, and God “will give it Him.”
At His glorious coronation all heaven will be in attendance. To the prophet Daniel it was given to witness the event. He says: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Dan. 7:13, 14.
He has demonstrated His right to rule, and His coronation will soon occur. Then, when the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, and the earth has been purged of sin by fire, then will it be true that “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.” Rev. 11:15. He will rule not only in this earth, but in the hearts of His subjects as well. In fact, only those in whose hearts Christ reigns before He comes to receive His own will be permitted to be subjects of that kingdom whose sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness. Let the kingdom of God be set up now in your heart, that when it is established in the earth, you may enter into it to live and reign with Him forever. S.
THE FINAL CORONATION.
By Ellen G. White
[Condensed from last chapter of "Great Controversy."]
At the close of the thousand years, Christ again returns to the earth. He is accompanied by the host of the redeemed, and attended by a retinue of angels. As He descends in sublimest majesty, He bids the wicked dead arise to receive their doom. They come forth, a mighty host, numberless as the sands of the sea.
Every eye in that vast multitude is turned to behold the glory of the Son of God. With one voice the wicked hosts exclaim, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord!” It is not love to Jesus that inspires this utterance. The force of truth urges the words from unwilling lips. As the wicked went into their graves, so they come forth, with the same enmity to Christ, and the same spirit of rebellion.
Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence, after His resurrection, He ascended, and where angels repeated the promise of His return. Says the prophet, “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.” “And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof, . . . and there shall be a very great valley.” “And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day shall there be one Lord, and His name one.” Zech. 14:5, 4, 9. As the New Jerusalem, in its dazzling splendor, comes down out of heaven, it rests upon the place purified and made ready to receive it, and Christ, with His people and the angels, enters the holy city.
The Last Hopeless Struggle.
Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. As the wicked dead are raised, and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner, and through them endeavor to execute his plans. The wicked are Satan’s captives. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his suggestions and to do his bidding.
In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-lived race that existed before the flood; men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielding to the control of fallen angels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to the exaltation of themselves; men whose wonderful works of art led the world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions, defiling the earth and defacing the image of God, caused Him to blot them from the face of His creation. There are kings and generals who conquered nations, valiant men who never lost a battle, proud, ambitious warriors whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death these experienced no change. As they come up from the grave, they resume the current of their thoughts just where it ceased. They are actuated by the same desire to conquer that ruled them when they fell.
Satan consults with his angels, and then with these kings, and conquerors, and mighty men. They look upon the strength and numbers on their side, and declare that the army within the city is small in comparison with theirs, and that it can be overcome. They lay their plans to take possession of the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem. All immediately begin to prepare for battle. Skilful artisans construct implements of war. Military leaders, famed for their success, marshal the throngs of warlike men into companies and divisions.
At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on,—an army such as was never summoned by earthly conquerors, such as the combined forces of all ages since war began on earth could never equal. Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and his angels unite their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors are in his train, and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each under its appointed leader. With military precision, the serried ranks advance over the earth’s broken and uneven surface to the city of God.
The Glory of the King.
Now Christ again appears to the view of His enemies. Far above the city, upon a foundation of burnished gold, is a throne, high and lifted up. Upon this throne sits the Son of God, and around Him are the subjects of His kingdom. The power and majesty of Christ no language can describe, no pen portray. The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding His Son. The brightness of His presence fills the city of God, and flows out beyond the gates, flooding the whole earth with its radiance.
Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous for the cause of Satan, but who, plucked as brands from the burning, have followed their Saviour with deep, intense devotion. Next are those who perfected Christian character in the midst of falsehood and infidelity, those who honored the law of God when the Christian world declared it void, and the millions, of all ages, who were martyred for their faith. And beyond this is the “great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,” “before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Rev. 7:9. Their warfare is ended, their victory won. They have run the race and reached the prize. The palm branch in their hands is a symbol of their triumph, the white robe an emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ which now is theirs.7
The redeemed raise a song of praise that echoes and re-echoes through the vaults of heaven, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” And angel and seraph unite their voices in adoration. As the redeemed have beheld the power and malignity of Satan, they have seen, as never before, that no power but that of Christ could have made them conquerors. In all that shining throng there are none to ascribe salvation to themselves, as if they had prevailed by their own power and goodness. Nothing is said of what they have done or suffered; but the burden of every song, the key-note of every anthem, is, Salvation to our God, and unto the Lamb.
The Final Coronation.
In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and heaven the final coronation of the Son of God takes place. And now, invested with supreme majesty and power, the King of kings pronounces sentence upon the rebels against His government, and executes justice upon those who have transgressed His law and oppressed His people. Says the prophet of God, “I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Rev. 20:11, 12.
As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon the wicked, they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed. They see just where their feet diverged from the path of purity and holiness, just how far pride and rebellion have carried them in the violation of the law of God. The seductive temptations which they encouraged by indulgence in sin, the blessings perverted, the messengers of God despised, the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by the stubborn, unrepentant heart—all appear as if written in letters of fire.
The Living Panorama of the Past.
Above the throne is revealed the cross; and like a panoramic view appear the scenes of Adam’s temptation and fall, and the successive steps in the great plan of redemption. The Saviour’s lowly birth; His early life of simplicity and obedience; His baptism in Jordan; the fast and temptation in the wilderness; His public ministry, unfolding to men Heaven’s most precious blessings; the days crowded with deeds of love and mercy, the nights of prayer and watching in the solitude of the mountains; the plottings of envy, hate, and malice which repaid His benefits; the awful, mysterious agony in Gethsemane, beneath the crushing weight of the sins of the whole world; His betrayal into the hands of the murderous mob; the fearful events of that night of horror,—the unresisting prisoner, forsaken by His best-loved disciples, rudely hurried through the streets of Jerusalem; the Son of God exultingly displayed before Annas, arraigned in the high priest’s palace, in the judgment hall of Pilate, before the cowardly and cruel Herod, mocked, insulted, tortured, and condemned to die,—all are vividly portrayed.
And now before the swaying multitude are revealed the final scenes,—the patient Sufferer treading the path to Calvary; the Prince of Heaven hanging upon the cross; the haughty priests and the jeering rabble deriding His expiring agony; the supernatural darkness; the heaving earth, the rent rocks, the open graves, marking the moment when the world’s Redeemer yielded up His life.
The awful spectacle appears just as it was. Satan, his angels, and his subjects have no power to turn from the picture of their own work. Each actor recalls the part which he performed.
The whole wicked world stand arraigned at the bar of God, on the charge of high treason against the government of Heaven. They have none to plead their cause; they are without excuse; and the sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them.
It is now evident to all that the wages of sin is not noble independence and eternal life, but slavery, ruin, and death. The wicked see what they have forfeited by their life of rebellion. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory was despised when offered them; but how desirable it now appears. “All this,” the lost soul cries, “I might have had; but I chose to put these things far from me. O, strange infatuation! I have exchanged peace, happiness, and honor for wretchedness, infamy, and despair.” All see that their exclusion from heaven is just. By their lives they have declared, “We will not have this Jesus to reign over us.”
As if entranced, the wicked have looked upon the coronation of the Son of God. They see in His hands the tables of the divine law, the statutes which they have despised and transgressed. They witness the outburst of wonder, rapture, and adoration from the saved; and as the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city, all with one voice exclaim, “Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints;” and falling prostrate, they worship the Prince of Life.
Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven. He has trained his powers to war against God; the purity, peace, and harmony of heaven would be to him supreme torture. His accusations against the mercy and justice of God are now silenced. The reproach which he has endeavored to cast upon Jehovah rests wholly upon himself. And now Satan bows down, and confesses the justice of his sentence.
Every Question Made Plain.
“Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest.” Rev. 15:4. Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy has now been made plain. The results of rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes, have been laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The working out of Satan’s rule in contrast with the government of God, has been presented to the whole universe. Satan’s own works have condemned him. God’s wisdom, His justice, and His goodness stand fully vindicated. It is seen that all His dealings in the great controversy have been conducted with respect to the eternal good of His people, and the good of all the worlds that He has created. “All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall bless Thee.” Ps. 145:10. The history of sin will stand to all eternity as a witness that with the existence of God’s law is bound up the happiness of all the beings He has created. With all the facts of the great controversy in view, the whole universe, both loyal and rebellious, with one accord declare, “Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints.”
Before the universe has been clearly presented the great sacrifice made by the Father and the Son in man’s behalf. The hour has come when Christ occupies His rightful position, and is glorified above principalities, and powers, and every name that is named. It was for the joy that was set before Him,—that He might bring many sons unto glory,—that He endured the cross and despised the shame. And inconceivably great as was the sorrow and the shame, yet greater is the joy and the glory. He looks upon the redeemed, renewed in His own image, every heart bearing the perfect impress of the divine, every face reflecting the likeness of their King. He beholds in them the result of the travail of His soul, and He is satisfied. Then, in a voice that reaches the assembled multitudes of the righteous and the wicked, He declares, “Behold the purchase of My blood! For these I suffered; for these I died; that they might dwell in My presence throughout eternal ages.” And the song of praise ascends from the white-robed ones about the throne, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” Rev. 5:12.
The wicked receive their recompense in the earth. Isa. 34:8; Prov. 11:31. In the cleansing flames the wicked are at last destroyed, root and branch,—Satan the root, his followers the branches. The full penalty of the law has been visited; the demands of justice have been met; and heaven and earth, beholding, declare the righteousness of Jehovah.
Satan’s work of ruin is forever ended. For six thousand years he has wrought his will, filling the earth with woe, and causing grief throughout the universe. The whole creation has groaned and travailed together in pain. Now God’s creatures are forever delivered from his presence and temptations. “The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they [the righteous] break forth into singing.” Isa. 14:7. And a shout of praise and triumph ascends from the whole loyal universe. “The voice of a great multitude,” “as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings,” is heard, saying, “Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
While the earth was wrapped in the fire of destruction, the righteous abode safely in the holy city. Upon those that had part in the first resurrection, the second death has no power. Rev. 20:6; Ps. 84:11. While God is to the wicked a consuming fire, He is to His people both a sun and a shield.
The Only Reminder of Sin.
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” Rev.821:1. The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.
The Final Coronation.
(Continued from page 7.)
One reminder alone remains; our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon His side, His hands and feet, are the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought. The prophet says, beholding Christ in His glory, “He had bright beams coming out of His side; and there was the hiding of His power.” Hab. 3:4, margin. That pierced side whence flowed the crimson stream that reconciled man to God,—there is the Saviour’s glory, there “the hiding of His power.” “Mighty to save,” through the sacrifice of redemption, He was therefore strong to execute justice upon them that despised God’s mercy. And the tokens of His humiliation are His highest honor; through the eternal ages the wounds of Calvary will show forth His praise and declare His power.
The First Dominion.
“O Tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto Thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah 4:8. The time has come, to which holy men have looked with longing since the flaming sword barred the first pair from Eden,—the time for “the redemption of the purchased possession.” Eph. 1:14. The earth, originally given to man as his kingdom, betrayed by him into the hands of Satan, and so long held by the mighty foe, has been brought back by the great plan of redemption. All that was lost by sin has been restored. “Thus saith the Lord . . . that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited.” Isa. 45:18. God’s original purpose in the creation of the earth is fulfilled as it is made the eternal abode of the redeemed. “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.” Ps. 37:29.
There the redeemed shall “know, even as also they are known.” The loves and sympathies which God Himself has planted in the soul, shall there find truest and sweetest exercise. The pure communion with holy beings, the harmonious social life with the blessed angels and with the faithful ones of all ages, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, the sacred ties that bind together “the whole family in heaven and earth” (Eph. 3:15),—these help to constitute the happiness of the redeemed.
There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There is no cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of God. Every faculty will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There the grandest enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the highest ambitions realized; and still there will arise new heights to surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects to call forth the powers of mind, and soul, and body.
All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s redeemed. Undeterred by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to worlds afar,—worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human woe, and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul. With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation of God’s handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon the glory of creation,—suns, and stars, and systems, all in their appointed order circling the throne of Deity. Upon all things, from the least to the greatest, the Creator’s name is written, and in all are the riches of His power displayed.
And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God, the greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens before them the riches of redemption, and the amazing achievements in the great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more fervent devotion, and with more rapturous joy they sweep the harps of gold; and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise.
“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” Rev. 5:13.
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.
MRS. E. G. WHITE.
The Eternal King.
Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own!
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee;
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.
Crown Him the Lord of years,
The Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres,
Ineffably sublime!
All hail! Redeemer, hail!
For Thou hast died for me;
Thy praise shall never, never fail
Throughout eternity.
