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think, reason , form conclusions,
make decisions. scl CHOICES.
The Supreme Accompllshment
Now as Creator. what was 1he
most
important
crea1ion 1ha1 God could
make? Was il the angels? Was it the
heavens and the earth-lhe whole
universe? Or was ít man himself?
lt
was
none
of 1hese 1hings!
The supreme achievement of cre–
ation is righ1eous. holy. perfect CHAR–
ACTER.
1
define it as the ability in a
separate entity with mind and free
moral agency to CHOOSE the right:
one who, seeing the way 10 both good
and evil ,
voluntarily chooses
the good,
even againsl stronges t temptation
and pressures and desires to choose
evil, and who
wills,
against strongesl
opposing pressures, todo good. These
crealed beings- lhe angels- did
not
have perfect character at creation.
Charactercannot becreatedautomati–
cally and instantaneously
by
fiat.
Characler (whether good or evil)
musl be developed in separate en–
lities possessing thought processes
and minds able lo lhink. 10 know. lo
reason. 10 make independent con–
clusions and choices. And that risks
development of evil character. Of
course. thi s righteou . ho ly and per–
fect characler must of necessity COME
FROM
the original perfect Beings,
yet
as a result ofthe
independent
thinking,
reasoning. knowing. and actual
choice and desire of the recipients.
Who ls God?
l t is vital , at lhis point, ·to know
something more of God. So now
consider. God is Crcator, Desígner,
Educator, RuLER. God has SUPREME
MIND! He ts perfect , holy and righ–
teous character.
The Eterna! God is not only Cre–
ator of all thal is, but is also RULER
over all He creates. He is also Educa–
ter. He reveals knowledge basíc and
vital to know- knowledge otherwíse
inaccessible to man and sorne o f it
even to the angels (see
1
Peter
1: 1
2).
What God creates He
maintains.
What He creates, He creates for a
purpose. He ínlends ít 10 be put toa
use-a
right
use that
preserves
and
improves.
This use. maintenance and
ímprovement ís con tro lled by the
GOVERNMENT OF Goo!
The
PLAIN TRUTH August 1978
Just what is God? He is Creator!
But He maintains and preserves
what He creates . How? By His gov–
ernment- the government ofGod!
Now the tremendous supremacy
of these two great God-beings was
exhíbited at thís poínt. They had in
mind a tremendous objective for the
angels- a purpose supreme. This re–
quired the creation of a new sub–
stance. MATTER, which comprises the
whole vast universe.
So now we finally come to Gen–
esis
1:
l . The first four words o f the
Bible are: " ln the beginning
God ...." Since in the Bible God
reveals Himself as Crea1or of ALL–
the entire universe with its galaxies.
its suns, planets and moons- this
places God (as we have previously
seen from John
1:1-3)
in exislence
before
all else. The next word te lis us
what God did: He "created." God
is, first of all, Creator! And what did
He create at this
time- ajier
lhe cre–
alion of the angels? " ... lhe
heaven[s] and the earth" (Gen.
1: 1).
The King James Version renders
the word "heaven" in the singular.
but the original Hebrew is in the
plural-"heavens"- as it should be
translated.
It
is so rendered in the
Revised Standard Version, Moffatt,
and other modern translations. Gen–
esis
1:1
is speaking of the
original
creation of matter- the entire uní–
verse, including our earth. The origi–
nal Hebrew words imply a perfect
creation. God reveals Himselfas Cre–
ator of perfection, light and beauty.
Every reference in the Bible describes
the condition of each phase of God's
creation as "very good"- perfect. It is
a perfect creation, beautiful to the
eye. God is a perfectionist!
Creation Not Finished!
Even though God is perfect- and
He is a perfectionist, having created
everything perfect-He often does
not
complete His creation all at
once. This was true of the angels.
The second stage of the angelic cre–
ation was the development of char–
acter-whether good or evil.
This earth, as only few know,
originally was populated by angels.
God had a great purpose in mind
for them. Great accomplishment
was planned for them. God pur-
posed that the angels utilize the raw
materials and the many properties
built into the matter of the earth to
complete its creation-for God is the
Author of beauty, harmoby. peace.
joy, perfection and glory.
This, of course, demanded law
and order- harmony-and that all
the angels pull together for their
grand accomplishment. So the Cre–
ator set over them a GOVERNMENT–
His government, with His cons.titu–
tion and Iaws. God's LAws were–
and are- a way of life; the way of
love- outgoing concern for the wel–
fare of others; the way of peace,
harmony, helping, serving, sharing.
The government of God is a way
of life.
lt
is the way that develops
righteous, holy, perfect character. I t
is the way that produces peace, har–
mony, happiness, joy, abundance. l t
is the way of !ove. It is love to God
in implicit
obedience,
adulation.
worship, reliance, and faith - know–
ing that
God Himselfis !ove!
So God established on earth a
throne 10 administer His govern–
ment. On it , He placed a super–
archangel named Lucifer. This great
Lucifer was
original/y
a bringer of
light and truth. He was perfect as
created. Next to God, this super–
angel was the most powerful and
most mighty being that it was pos–
sible for God to create. He was
per–
Ject
in all his ways
until iniquity
(lawlessness) was found in him of
his own free choice (Ezek. 28: 15).
The Flrst Rebels
This Lucifer led his angels (one–
third of all the angels-and it is pos–
sible that it was the same third that
populated the earth under Lucifer)
into sin- t ransgression of the laws of
God's government. God had wisely
chosen to make angels, and later
humans,Jree moral agents-with
free
choice. Otherwise neither angels nor
humans could attain God's holy,
perfect , righteous character. God
gave the angels minds of their own.
And He made them immortal-they
never die. They were each individ–
ually created. They do not repro–
duce themselves.
God bestowed upon angels minds
possessing
great knowledge-supe–
(Continued on page 41)
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