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The
IIICREIII8lf
HUMAN POTEITIAL.••
(Contlnu<dJrom pag< 7)
/
descriQing this suprtme angelic creation
~r
God, in Ezekiel
28.
Lucifer
.a
Cr~ated
Beiog
Actually, the entire coocept bere ia:chap–
ter 26 speaks of !he ancieot grea1 <x>m–
mercial city or Tyre.
Jt
was the oommercial
metropolis of the ancie·nt world. even as
Babylon was tbe political eapital. Tyre was
the New York, lhe London, !he Tokyo. or
the Paris of the ancient world. The ancient
Tyre, port ?f the world's ship¡iers and mer–
chants. gloried
herself
in ber beauty, even as
Paris in our time ..
Chapter 27 ca.rries on
with
comparisons to
passages in the 18ih ehapter of !he book of
Revelatioo refcrring
to
a politico·religious
' leaderto come(""·
9-
19).
But ooming 10 cbaprer 28, !he !heme
comes more complete!
y
to the time just now
ahead of us, the same ri.me depictod in lsaiah
14, rbat speaks of lhe prioee of 1'yre, ao
eartbly ruler. God says to the prophet Eze–
kiel: "Son of man, say unro the prinee of
Tyrus
(aetually referring lo a powerful reli·
gjous leader to arise SOON. in our
time~
Thus
saith tbe Lord God; Beca-use thin,e he.art
is
liftod up, and thou basr S3id, 1
am
a god,
1
sil
in the sear of
G~d
[el';
U
Thess. 2:4], in the
midst or tbe seas; yet th9u
a.rt
a man, and
not God, though thou set thine heart as the
hean of God: Behold, rhou an wiser lhan
Daniel; there is no se<:rer thal they
can
b.ide
from thee;
witb
thy
wisdom and wilb lhlne
u.ndersranding tho1,1 hasr
80Ucn tbee ricbes,
·
'
¡;¿..tr,e ..
' llilne
.
'elles:
lherefore thus saith the Lord God; Beeause
rhou hasl ser thine heart
as
!he
beart
ofGod;
behold. therefore
J
wjJJ
bring strnngcrs upon
thee
1
the teJTibJe of the natiO(I.$ • • • tbey sball
bring
!bee
down
to lhe pir, and rhou shalr
die the deaths of lhem thar are slain
in
t.be
mjdst ofrhe
~"
(Ezek.
28:2-8).
What a Super Btiog!
But at tbis point,
as
i_.n
lsaiab 14, the tesser
human rype lifts
10
a grealer spiril anritype.
This
is
tbe same Lucifer.
Et.ekiel the prophet tontinues:
"Moreovr!t, !he word of tbe Lord carne
unto
me, saying. Son of man, take up a
lamentation upon rhe kiog ofTyrus. and say
unto him. Tbus
sai1h
tbe Lord God: Tbou
seales1 up the sum, fuU of wisdom, and per–
fect in beauty" (verses 11·12).
Please read thar agaiol God would ncver
say anything tike lhar of a human
m~n.
This
super); spiril beiog fiUod up tbe sum t
0
r.aJ
of
wisdom_, perfection and beaury. He was che
supreme pinoacle, rhe masterpieoe, of God's
creation, as an individually created being.
~~s;~:~~~ne
in !he
almi~ry
power of
"Thou hast beeO
in
Eden the
garden of
God" (verse 13), yel h e had inhabHed tbis
~arth.
His
lhrone was here.
uEvc.ry
prec-ious
slooe was tby covering ... !he workmansbip
of thy rabrcts and of thy pipes was prepared
in tbee in the day that tbou wast created"
(verse 13). He was a creatod being - not
bom human.
He
was a spirit being - not
human ftesh. Great genius add skill in music
we.-e
aeatod
in
bim.
Now that he
has
become
perverted in all thinking, aeting
and
being,
be
is
che
reaJ autbor of
modem
perverted
music - of discordañt moans, squawk.s,
sbrieks. wails - . unhapp)',
djscoa.ra~ed
rnoods.
Thin.k
of aUihe supreme talent.. abil–
ity; a.nd poteotial in a being creared with
sueh é:apacities. And
all
perverted!
All
gone
sour -
al!
dissipaled, tumed lo
h~tred,
de–
struction, bopelessnessl
Ye~
&ake
courage. The awesomc human
14
potenlial, ifwe
care
enoug.h about
it
tO
resist
Sat.an•s
wilcs
and
cvils
and
disoouragements
and to persevere in
God's
way,
is infinitely
superior and hig.her than L.ucjfer's- even as
creatod,
before
he rumed 10 rebellion aod
iniquity!
But oontinWng
this
panicula_r revelation
of tbc eruciaUy important missing
dimensio.n
in
k.oowledge:
;··rbou an
the anointed
cherub
lhat oovereth; and 1 bave sc:L thee
so," says God of <his Lucifer. This rakes us
baek to rhe 25th ebaprer of Exodus, wbere
God gave Mooes lhe paltem for 1he
Ark
of
tbe Covenant The deseription begins wilb
ver$(:
10,
and verses
18-20
show,
in
the mate·–
ñal pattem, lhe two
cherubs who were sta–
tioned at each eod of
the
very lhrone ofGod
in heavcn - the throne
of
the govemment of
God
over
thc entirc únivene. The
wing.s
of
Lhe
tWO
cberubim covered the throoe of
God.
- --
-;.:...-=-~--=-
'emmcnt.
But, once thrown out of
the
erate,
been offered the awesome potential of popu-
they eannor do any more damage ro Jhose in
latiog aod earrying out • tremendous cre-
the crate.
atlve program througbout the en.tire
But
think
how long
it
must ha
ve
taken tbe
un.iverse. When
they tumed ttaitor on earth.
soured and cmbittered Lucifer to tum mil-
tbeir sin must have also · J:>roug.lu
physical
lions of holy angcls into rcsentment, biuer-
destruction to lhe otber
planets
througbou1
ness,
disloyahy,
and finally
opcn and vicious
tbe
universe,
wbictl
were
potentially
and
rebeUion.
lt
could have
ta.ke_n hundreds,
eooditiona.lly puE
in
subjeeüo·o
to
1hem.
thousands, or millions of years. This was aU
As
God surveycd this catacly.smic tragc<ly.
before the
first
human
man was
created.
he
must ha
ve realiz.ed
that
since the
higbest,
AU
rhis happened after !he original ere-
most perfect being wi1hin his almighry
ation of rbe earth; described in verse 1 of power had tumed ro rebeltion, it left God
Genesis
·1. Verse 2 of this
"crcation" chapter
himself as the only being who
would not
and
describes a condition
resultfng
fto'm. this sin
cannot sin.
of the angcls. The events deseribed in verse
And
God is the falber of lhe d.ívine
God
2,
thererore.. may have occurred millioos of family.
years
ajler
rhe original crearion ofthe eartb.
Notiee Jobn 1:1-5. Tbe "Word" who was
The earth, therefore, may have been
ere-
"made ftesh (verse 14) has exisled always -
ated miUions of years ago.
Bu
e
continue
this
from etemity - with thc Father. Ood the
passage in Ezekiel 28: "By the'multirude of Farbcr has crearod all lhings - the entire
thy
mercbandise they have filted the
midst
of
uni
verse - by
him
who became Jesus
Christ
·
thee with violence, and thou hasl sinned:
(Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16-17).
Trai:Ded at
UoiYersc
the(efore I
wiU
c.ast tbee as profane out of
When Jesus'
wu
on earth, he prayed to
Headquarters
• the mountain of God: and
1
wiJI destroy
God,
bis
falher in heaveo. The Father spoke
Tbis Lucifer, lhen. had beeo stationed at
(remove) thce, O covering cherub, from the
of _Jestis
as
' 'my beloved son, ih wbom
1
am
tbe
very
throne of God.
He
wa.S
trained and
midst of the ston.es of fire. Thine hean was'
well ple-ased.'' Jesus lived on
earcb
as a
expericnccd in the administration of the
lifted up because of thy
beauty,
thou hast
human. tcmpted
in
all points
as
wc are. yct
govemment of God. God choSe such a
torrupted tby wisdom b'y reason of lhy
wíthout sin.
being,
~eU-experieneed
and lrained, lo be
brightness: 1wiU
easr
thee lo !he grou.nd . . .
n
The fourtb word in
aU
!he Bible
is
"God"
the cbief exeeutive in tbe administration of (verses 16-17). A< lhis poinl lbe oonrexl re-
(Gen. 1: 1). And !he original Hebrew word is
Lbe
gove-mrnent
ofOod over tbc a.ngels who
tums to the
soon·to-appcar,
human,
reli-
" -Eiohjm,"
a uni-plural noun like lhe word
inhabirod the wbole eartb.
gious-political ruler - of whom the prince of
family. ehureh, or group. The family
is
God.
Continuc: ••.• • tbou waSt u
pon
tbe holy
ancient Tyre
was a
foretunoer.
There
is
onc God - tbc onc famjly. but
mountain ofGod; thou hast walked up and
Earlier i.n lhis installment, ·
.l
showed you
mo.re than one person.
down in tbe midst of the srones offire." This
how physical destruetion, uglíness, and dark-
God saw thar no beiog less !hao God, in
is not talking about any human
being.
But
ness bad covered the
jau
of the eartb,
3.s
tbe
the God famHy, oouJd be
certalnly
relied on
conlinuc:
result of the sio of Lucifer (who is now thc
ne.ver to
sin -
to
be
Uke Ood - wb.o cannot
"Thou wast perfect
in
tby
way.t
from !he
Devil) and these "angels thar sinnod" (now
sin. To fulfill his purpose for tbe enlire vast
day lhat thou wast ereared, riU iruquiry [law,
demons), and how in six days God had re-
universe, God saw lhat notbing less rha.n
lessness} was found in tbec' ' (Et.ek. 28:
IS).
newod !he faee oftbe
earth
(Gen. 1:2· 25).
himself
(as
<he God family} could be abso-
Hc bad complete knowledge. understa.nding
~
But why did God createman on the eartb
lutely relied upon to
carry
out that supreme
·
.1ili,"'· •
. <9e,_e" l :a§J?
~·-:-
·="""-,-- _ , -
.P..'\rpose
!O-
the:-eo•i{~~'!•·
..Ood¡;thcJT_
sions,~
·
.LOolhn
ibiS'-struaoon-
as .;()Odl~oes.
G-ód -
purpose<,l
to
repto<!u
ce_
bim.self,':'íhro~-
this
~rore-
há'S g_iven us human minds. ·lhe mind of humans•.made in bis image and likeness., but
knowledgc - even of re$u hs and con· God. only inferior aod limited.. God made
madc fina from material fiesh and b1ood,
sequenccs - this superb being. the bighest
us in his imagc, aftcr bis Ukeness (fonn and
subject
to death
it
there
is
sin therc - · yet
lha! even God could creare. turncd to rebel·
shape}, onJy composed of rnatter instead of with the pos.sibi.lity
of
being born into thc
lion again.\1 hls
ma.k:er -
against
the
way
tbac
spíriL
Bul
God says..
uLct
tbis
m.ind be in
divine family fathered by God
tbe
Father.
produces every good. He tumed ro law·
you, which was
also
in Christ Jesus" (Pbil.
God saw how Ibis oould be done by
le$$oess. He had beco tnHned
in
the admin- 2:5). We can. to sorne de,gree. thi.nk even as
Christ,
wbo
gave bimselffo.r that purposc:.
istrarion of perfecr law and order.
As
long as
God lhioks. How musr God have looked ar
And !ha¡ is wby God pul man on lhe
Lucifer conti.nued in lhis peñec1 way, lhere
the siruation, as
~e
started renewing tbe face
earth.
Thac
is what caused God 10 do lhis
was happiness and joy unspeakable
S1._Vet
thc of thc earth - afier thc coloss.aJ debacle of mos·t colossal, ttemen.dous thing evcr under·
wbole eartb. There was glorious peaee -
lhe angels?
taken by the supreme, almighty God.
~autiful
hannony, peñect Jove, coopera-
He had created a beautiful, perfect ere-
In Pan V will appear an eye-opening, sur-
uon. Tbe govcmment of God produced a
ation in the carth. He populated it witb holy
prising explanation of thc super-<olossal
wondcrfully happy state- as long as Lucifer
angels - probábly millions of rhem. He put
PURPOsll!
o
•
was Joya! in <he oonduct of bis administra·
over rheg, as kings, on
an
earthly lhrone, rhe
tiOn.
archangel - the chcrub Lucifer. Lucifer was
Wbat Causod Angels' SiD?
What caused Lhe angels on earth
to
sin, to
tum to Jawlessness? Certainly tbe ordinary
angels did not persuade
Ibis
great super·
being to tum traitór. No, it was in
him
that
iniquiry was found. Bul, after how long? We
don't
know.
God does not reveal t.bat! lt
could
bave
beco any ·nu.mber of years from
one or less to miiJions times millioJlS..
And
liten~
evcn after LuCifer himsclf
made the decision to rebcl a.nd
try
to
invade
God•s beaven
lO
take ovcr tbc u.n.iverse.
it
is
not revealod how long it took bim to per–
suade all of !he angels
10
rum tni.Íio'r and
followbim.
1 know lhe melhod he used. He uses the
same metbod stiJI today in leading deeeived
humans inro disloyalty, rebell ion, and self·
eeotered opposition against God's. govern·
menL First. he tumed one or two
10
cnvy,
jealousy, a.nd resentment
over
an imagined
fnjustiee - then inro disloyalty. Then he
uses
lhat o.ne or two.likc a rottcn apple
in
a
<:rat~
lO Slir up resentmeot, feelings of self-piry,
dislo)"'l')' and rebellíon in olhers P<lll lo
them.
Ao<f.
as c¡acb rottcn apple rots lho.M:
ncxt to
it
until thc whole crate
is
roucn, so
Sar.an proceods.
lf, in
the govemment of God IOday, lhe
"roueo appleg"' are not ihrown our early
cnough. they would destroy tbe wbole gov-
the supreme masterpieee of God's creative
s• ·ooo¡v
BAB" BANNED
powcr as a single separately ereated spirit
L.:
'1
•1
being. He was tbe mos1 perfecl in beauty,
power, mind, k:nowledge, intelle<:L, wjsd:om,
wilbin the almigbly power ofGod to creare.
God
can
create no hjgher
or
more
perfcct.
Yet this great being, koowled_geable,
trained and experienced at· God's own
lhrone in hea.ven over lhe unjversr; and the
administtation of thc govemment of God,
had rejected tbat govemment, corrupr io bis
owo way. rebelled ag¡ti.nst administering or
even obeying iL He had led
al!
bis angels
astray and into the sin of rebeiJion and d i.s.–
h>yahy. .
Now consider furtber. Apparently the en–
tire univcrse had beco created also at tbe
time of
the
earth's creation.l Tbere is no evi–
dente either in God's reveaJed Word, nor in
scicnce: lhat any of tbe planets: in endJess
outer space had been inhabited witb
any
form of Ufe. 8ut God does nothing in vain.
He always has a purpose.
Apparently
all
sucb phlnets in !he entire
uniyerse
Now are
waste and empry
(tohu
¡ nd
bt>hu)
lik~
!he
eanll
was,
;u
d*ri~cl
in
Gcnesis 1:2.
But God did
not
crcate them
in
sucb oonditioos of decay - Uke our mooo.
Evidently
if
tbe angels had mainlainod !he
eartb in its·original beautiful oondition,
i.tl)–
provcd
il,
ca.rried out God's iostructioos, and
obeyed his .govenunent, lhey would have
The Mareh 31 oover of
Newsweek
maga–
zine dCpictcd a severely injuud Vietnamese
baby in lhe arms of i!S mothcr. Althougb !he
sex of lhe child was not
immedlately obvi ..
ou's. newssurnds in Dalias chose
tO
cover
it
up as
if it
were
Playbo¡
or
Penthquse.
But whicb
was tbe truc
obsceniry. the
cbild 's nudity or tbe smeared blood, eakod
dir~
painful burns. and opeo wounds on the
baby's nude
body?
Could the good denizens
of
Dalias
eall lhis ebild "obseene" bur lhe
war whicb injurcd
it
not
obscene?
Appar.·
ently so.
This upside-down morality
is
also evi·
dent
in
movie ratings and textbook bum–
iogs. A movie showing lbe female form is R–
rated; if a maJe caresses that form,
it
i.s
X·
ratod; bu!
if
he ehops her apart with sword
or knife. il's G-ralcd.
ft
scems America's
love'aJfair with violencc is exeeeded only by
its violent reaction to lovc atfairs.
Jt's time we reevaluate the"' 01eaning_ of
9bjceni1y, How
abo~! thj~
aeOni¡ion;
"01>–
sccnity, ooun; tbat idea. word,
or
actlon
wbicb burts anolhtr human
being.'· Bul
since most ofus would rather make war than
love, "'obsccoity"
will
continue to mean
naked
bodies
and four-leuer words - like
B-A-B-Y.
O
.
WEEK ENDINO APRIL 19, 1975