Spectrum Online Commentary

Marco,
Really enjoyed your commentary. Gave me some food
for thought!!
Di

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[[Where did sin originate? Heaven, more specifically, in the very presence of God. I can hear one of my sixteen-year-olds protesting: "Pastor Marco—I was told that sin can’t live in the presence of God." Valid question, right? What would you say to this teenager? Does it not sound ridiculous to say that sin can’t live in the presence of God, but that it can originate in the presence of God?

Whatever sin is, it obviously does something to change our perceptions about God—not God’s perception of us. You bet sin can live in the presence of God, because if it can’t then how are my youth supposed to go to God to get the solution for sin? We say, "go to God," and in the next breath we suggest, "but don’t get too close."]]

Interesting problem, Marco. It makes me wonder whether Satan new the truth about God and lied about it to draw attention to himself, or whatever motive he had. Or whether he just mistrusted God because there was some mystery about God that wasn't revealed until the cross.

""His form was perfect; his bearing noble and majestic. But when God said to His Son, "Let us make man in our image," Satan was jealous of Jesus. He wished to be consulted concerning the formation of man, and because he was not, he was filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred. He desired to receive the highest honors in heaven next to God. {EW 145.1}

The question is, is there a real issure about our creator that needed to be cleared up, or is this just a case of exposing the decptions of Satan, who really knew all along what God was like, but became addicted to the exhilaration he got from the admiration of the other angels by tearing God down? I suspect the later.

Then did Jesus come here to reveal what God was like or expose the lies. With all the lies exposed, maybe there would be no reason not to love and be in harmony with God and all of His creation.

Would Satan have ever committed a sin if he had never tried to influence another to rebel? If Satan had just become sin and God seperated from him without any evidence of the condition, God wouldn't have looked to good.

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