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ties in directly with the existence or
presence on earth of man- the
meaning and purpose of human
life- and actually involves tremen–
dous significance to human destiny.
In the Bible-the Book of books–
God reveals Himself as CREATOR OF
ALL,
not merely the earth and man,
but the
entire limitless universe.
On a
cloudless night one may marvel a t
the awesome dimensions of our star–
studded sky. The Maker of mankind
is also the Creator of
al/ that
is- a ll
that can be seen by the human eye.
Js it possible that there is an un–
realized connection between the
vast galaxies
(now
apparently life–
less and totally uninhabitable) and
man? Actually the true connection
is the mos t exciting, most wonder–
ful, hope- inspiring truth tha t cou ld
be revealed.
In the first installment of this se–
ries of articles (August
Plain Trurh),
1 explained that in the very begin–
ning- before this physical universe
was created-there existed
on!y
the
two Superbeings-God and the
"Word."
As the
Translator's New Tesra–
ment
.Puts it: "When everything be–
gan
rhe Word already existed.
The
Word was with God and shared his
nature" (John 1: 1-2).
In briefest summary, I further ex-
· -plained that these two Superper–
sonages in space
jirsr
created angels,
composed solely of spirit.
before
any
physical matter was ever produced.
The Bible strongly indicates that the
angels were made
before
the cre–
ation of the earth (see Job 38:4, 7)–
and most probably
prior
to the ma–
teria l universe itself.
lt
may come as
a surprise to many to leam that ang–
els inhabited this earth
before
the
creation of man. But the Bible
plainly reveals it in this and other
passages.
"Angels That Sinned"
J
a lso explained that these angels
were
not
created with perfect char–
acter- their creation was not yet
complete.
Can you imagine God's holy ang–
els becoming
sinning
angels? Yet
that is precisely what happened!
Angels were created with powers of
thought, of decision and of choice-
The
PLAIN TRUTH October-November 1978
else ttley would have no individ–
uality or character. Since the New
Testament reveals that sin is the
transgression of God's law
(1
John
3:4), these angels (apparently only
those that were placed on this earth)
rebelled against God's
/aw- which is
the very basis ofGod's government.
Sin carries penalties! When the
angels rebelled against the govern–
ment of God, the preservation of
the physical earth and al! of its orig–
inal beauty and glory ceased- and
physical destruction to the surface
of the earth resulted.
With this very brief, high-spot
summary, the account of the super–
sin committed by the angels brings
us, chronologically, to tha t point in
time where the first installment of
this series of articles ended.
But the far-reaching implications
of this angelically induced earth–
wide cataclysm of destruction are
not
confined to the planet Earth and
its immediate environs. The penalty
of sin by the angels was
not
death–
for God had made them
immorta/
spirit beings who cannot die. God
gave them this earth as their abode
and, more importantly. its rule asan
opportunity to qualify to possess
and beautify
the entire universe.
Their immediate penalty was dis–
qua li fication-forfeitu re of their
grand opportunity- and perversion
of mind as well. Of course. at the
helm of this angelic rebellion was
Lucifer-the superarchangel who
had led the o ther angels into sin–
into total rebellion against God's
governmenL He was originally cre–
ated as a bringer of light, but now
he
became
the author of darkness,
error. confusion, evil and destruc–
tion.
So the rebellion of Lucifer and his
angels brought this extreme cata–
clysm to the eart h. And in a ll proba–
bility
it did more!
Whatever God creates (as 1 ex–
plained in Part One) is created in a
perfect condition.
lt
is impossible to
believe that the other planets in our
solar system were created as dead
hulks of waste and empty decay.
Every evidence from our unmanned
space flights indicates that these as–
tra l bodies are in a state of total
decay. Now God is
not
the author of
confusion, waste, decay and destruc–
tion. But Satan is!
1t
is apparent therefore, based on
what is revealed in the Bible, that a
similar ca taclysm of destruction
happened to the surface of our
moon and the o ther planets of our
solar sys tem- perhaps extending to
all of the astral bodies in the uní–
verse. And a ll of this was caused by
the rebellion of Lucifer and his ang–
els.
Satan and his angels were then
disqualified
lo administer God's gov–
emment over the earth. But it is a
principie of God that a govemment
must never be without a head. Con–
sequently Satan was to be left here
on earth until his successor, who has
already been qualified to rule,
is in –
ducted into office.
Now notice what God did next.
Renewlng the Earth's Surface
God did not leave the earth in a
state of rack and ruin. God had
planned ahead! He knew
before
the
creation of the earth that angels,
with
independent
powers of thinking.
reasoning, choosing, forming opin–
ions and making decisions,
could
re–
be! and turn to sin and destruction.
He had devised a fail-safe system.
As a result of the ange lic destruc–
tion wreaked upon this earth, the
earth carne to be in the condition
described in Genesis 1:2, with water
covering the whole face of an earth
in darkness. Notice the brief de–
scription. "And the earth was [be–
carne]
without form, and void
[Heb.
tohu
and
bohu,
meaning "chaotic, in
confusion, waste and empty"); and
darkness was upon the face of the
deep. And the Spirit of God moved
upon the face ofthe waters."
Notice that it was dark.
It
speaks
only of a fluid surface-oceans- no
dry land showing. In Psalm 104:30.
we read: "Thou sendes t forth thy
spirit , they a re created: and thou
renewest
the face of the earth." And
here in Genesis 1:2, God had sen t
forth His Spiri t in order to renew
the surface of the earth .
Notice verse 3: "And God said.
Let there be light: and there was
light." Satan is the very symbol of
darkness,
evil. sin and ugliness. This
(Continued on page 45)
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