The Beginning of the Great

Controversy:
Lucifer and Christ, the Only Begotten
Son of God

Ellen G. White

Compiled by Jutta Deichsel

Maranathamedia.com
 The Beginning of the Great Controversy:
Lucifer and Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the

morning! how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation,
in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:12-14)

The Lord Himself gave to Satan his glory and wisdom, and made
him the covering cherub, good, noble, and exceeding lovely.
Among the inhabitants of heaven, Satan, next to Christ, was at
one time most honored of God, and highest in power and glory.
{TA 28.1,2}

But, little by little, he began to seek his own honor, and to

employ his powers to attract attention and win praise to
himself. He also gradually led the angels over whom he ruled to
do him service, instead of devoting all their powers to the
service of their Creator. This course perverted his own
imagination, and perverted those who yielded implicitly to his
authority. {4SP 317.1}

Before the fall of Satan, the Father consulted His Son in regard
to the formation of man. They purposed to make this world, and
create beasts and living things upon it, and to make man in the
image of God, to reign as a ruling monarch over every living
thing which God should create. When Satan learned the
purpose of God, he was envious at Christ, and jealous because
the Father had not consulted him in regard to the creation of
man. Satan was of the highest order of angels; but Christ was
above all. (3SG 36.1)

Satan was once an honored angel in heaven, next to Christ. His

countenance, like those of the other angels, was mild and
expressive of happiness. His forehead was high and broad,
showing great intelligence. 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)

It is only by a clear discernment of spiritual things that the

original apostasy can be understood. The controversy in heaven
began with selfish strife for position, a desire on the part of
Lucifer to be equal with God. The disaffection of Satan in
entertaining the thought that he should stand as head of the
heavenly order at first seemed a small thing, but by dwelling
upon this thought, it was strengthened. Step by step he
miscalculated the position that had been assigned him by God,
to be maintained only in God, until he finally came to look with
enmity upon everything coming from Jesus Christ. Satan
rebelled against the laws governing the heavenly intelligences;
and by representing these in a deceptive light, by his unbelief
and complaints, he drew others with him into rebellion. {RH
May 30, 1899, par. 3}
The creation of our world was brought into the councils of
heaven. There the covering cherub prepared his request that
he should be made prince to govern the world then in
prospect. This was not accorded him. Jesus Christ was to rule
the earthly kingdom; under God He engaged to take the world
with all its probabilities. The law of heaven should be the
standard law for this new world, for human intelligences.
Lucifer was jealous of Christ and this jealousy worked into
rebellion and he carried with him a large number of the holy
angels. Jesus, the Son of God, was not deceived by Lucifer’s
sophistry. He stood true to principle and resisted every line of
reasoning of Lucifer and all the angels who had taken sides with
him, thus evidencing that as He stood, every angel might have
stood. {Ms43b-1891.3}

Satan ... had been ambitious for the more exalted honors
which God had bestowed upon His Son. He became envious of
Christ, and represented to the angels who honored him as
covering cherub that he had not the honor conferred upon him
which his position demanded. {TA 34.3}

Little by little Lucifer came to indulge the desire for self-

exaltation. The Scripture says, “Thine heart was lifted up
because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by
reason of thy brightness.” Ezekiel 28:17. “Thou hast said in thine
heart, ...I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.... I will be
like the Most High.” Isaiah 14:13, 14. Though all his glory was
from God, this mighty angel came to regard it as pertaining to
himself. Not content with his position, though honored above
the heavenly host, he ventured to covet homage due alone to
the Creator. Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the
affections and allegiance of all created beings, it was his
endeavor to secure their service and loyalty to himself. And
coveting the glory with which the infinite Father had invested
His Son, this prince of angels aspired to power that was the
prerogative of Christ alone. {PP 35.2}

By sly insinuations, by which he made it appear that Christ had

assumed the place that belonged to himself, Lucifer sowed the
seeds of doubt in the minds of many of the angels. {TA 34.4}

Now the perfect harmony of heaven was broken. Lucifer’s

disposition to serve himself instead of his Creator aroused a
feeling of apprehension when observed by those who
considered that the glory of God should be supreme. In
heavenly council the angels pleaded with Lucifer. The Son of
God presented before him the greatness, the goodness, and
the justice of the Creator, and the sacred, unchanging nature
of His law. God Himself had established the order of heaven;
and in departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his Maker and
bring ruin upon himself. But the warning, given in infinite love
and mercy, only aroused a spirit of resistance. Lucifer allowed
his jealousy of Christ to prevail, and became the more
determined. {PP 35.3}

To dispute the supremacy of the Son of God, thus impeaching

the wisdom and love of the Creator, had become the purpose
of this prince of angels. To this object he was about to bend the
energies of that master mind, which, next to Christ’s, was first
among the hosts of God. But He who would have the will of all
His creatures free, left none unguarded to the bewildering
sophistry by which rebellion would seek to justify itself. Before
the great contest should open, all were to have a clear
presentation of His will, whose wisdom and goodness were the
spring of all their joy. {PP 36.1}

The King of the universe summoned the heavenly hosts before

Him, that in their presence He might set forth the true position
of His Son and show the relation He sustained to all created
beings. The Son of God shared the Father’s throne, and the
glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both. About
the throne gathered the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered
throng—“ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of
thousands” (Revelation 5:11.), the most exalted angels, as
ministers and subjects, rejoicing in the light that fell upon them
from the presence of the Deity. Before the assembled
inhabitants of heaven the King declared that none but Christ,
the Only Begotten of God, could fully enter into His purposes,
and to Him it was committed to execute the mighty counsels
of His will. The Son of God had wrought the Father’s will in the
creation of all the hosts of heaven; and to Him, as well as to
God, their homage and allegiance were due. Christ was still to
exercise divine power, in the creation of the earth and its
inhabitants. But in all this He would not seek power or
exaltation for Himself contrary to God’s plan, but would exalt
the Father’s glory and execute His purposes of beneficence
and love. {PP 36.2}

The angels joyfully acknowledged the supremacy of Christ, and

prostrating themselves before Him, poured out their love and
adoration. Lucifer bowed with them, but in his heart there was
a strange, fierce conflict. Truth, justice, and loyalty were
struggling against envy and jealousy. The influence of the holy
angels seemed for a time to carry him with them. As songs of
praise ascended in melodious strains, swelled by thousands of
glad voices, the spirit of evil seemed vanquished; unutterable
love thrilled his entire being; his soul went out, in harmony
with the sinless worshippers, in love to the Father and the Son.
But again he was filled with pride in his own glory. His desire
for supremacy returned, and envy of Christ was once more
indulged. The high honors conferred upon Lucifer were not
appreciated as God’s special gift, and therefore, called forth
no gratitude to his Creator. He gloried in his brightness and
exaltation and aspired to be equal with God. He was beloved
and reverenced by the heavenly host, angels delighted to
execute his commands, and he was clothed with wisdom and
glory above them all. Yet the Son of God was exalted above him,
as one in power and authority with the Father. He shared the
Father’s counsels, while Lucifer did not thus enter into the
purposes of God. “Why,” questioned this mighty angel,
“should Christ have the supremacy? Why is He honored above
Lucifer?” {PP 36.3}

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil.” Cast out

that spirit which one who was jealous of Christ introduced into
the heavenly courts. The trouble in heaven came because
Lucifer, the angel of brightness, was not given the supremacy
over Christ. {Lt146-1901.5}

But Lucifer, the most glorious angel next to Christ, thought

himself equal with God and made the effort, because of his
beauty and glory, that he should be next to God, and then he
could work out God’s plans. Thus Lucifer claimed the position
next to the Creator. But Christ was the only begotten Son of
God. Lucifer made war in heaven and would not take the
position God assigned him, therefore he fell from his high
estate and has been in the world, a warring element against
God’s plans, and has had great power to allure and deceive
souls to ruin them. There have been two parties in the world,
the true and the false. {Lt189-1909.29}

Angels were expelled from heaven because they would not

work in harmony with God. They fell from their high estate
because they wanted to be exalted. They had come to exalt
themselves, and they forgot that their beauty of person and of
character came from the Lord Jesus. This fact the [fallen] angels
would obscure, that Christ was the only begotten Son of God,
and they came to consider that they were not to consult Christ.
{TDG 128.2}

My Brother Cottrell, I have a message for you that you are in the
uttermost danger. Your position is a false one that cannot be
sustained. In our early connection with this work, we went
through all this experience of men claiming infallibility. We had
for years to meet this and were always carried back to the
experience of the first departure from truth in the history of the
fall of Lucifer from heaven. He occupied a special, exalted
position in the heavenly courts. He must have no one higher
than himself. He must be next to God in efficiency. But Christ
was above him, and he claimed he must be above Christ. Christ
was the only begotten Son of God, united with God. {Lt157-
1910.1}

This work of opposition to the law of God had its beginning in

the courts of heaven, with Lucifer, the covering cherub. Satan
determined to be first in the councils of heaven, and equal with
God. He began his work of rebellion with the angels under his
command, seeking to diffuse among them the spirit of
discontent. And he worked in so deceptive a way that many of
the angels were won to his allegiance before his purposes were
fully known. Even the loyal angels could not fully discern his
character, nor see to what his work was leading. When Satan
had succeeded in winning many angels to his side, he took his
cause to God, representing that it was the desire of the angels
that he occupy the position that Christ held. {1SM 222.2}

Lucifer went forth to diffuse the spirit of discontent among the

angels. For a time he concealed his real purpose under an
appearance of reverence for God. He insinuated doubts
concerning the laws that governed heavenly beings,
intimating that angels needed no such restraint, for their own
wisdom was a sufficient guide. All their thoughts were holy; it
was no more possible for them than for God Himself to err.
The exaltation of the Son of God as equal with the Father was
represented as an injustice to Lucifer. If this prince of angels
could but attain to his true, exalted position, great good would
accrue to the entire host of heaven, for it was his object to
secure freedom for all. Subtle deceptions through the wiles of
Lucifer were fast obtaining in the heavenly courts. {EP 11.2}

The true position of the Son of God had been the same from
the beginning. Many of the angels were, however, blinded by
Lucifer’s deceptions. He so artfully instilled into their minds his
own distrust and discontent that his agency was not discerned.
Lucifer had presented the purposes of God in a false light to
excite dissent and dissatisfaction. While claiming for himself
perfect loyalty to God, he urged that changes were necessary
for the stability of the divine government. While secretly
fomenting discord and rebellion, he caused it to appear as his
sole purpose to promote loyalty, and to preserve harmony and
peace. {EP 12.1}
Lucifer pointed to the long-suffering of God as an evidence of
his own superiority, an indication that the King of the universe
would yet accede to his terms. If the angels would stand firmly
with him, he declared, they could yet gain all that they desired.
He fully committed himself to the great controversy against his
Maker. Thus it was that Lucifer, “the light bearer,” became Satan,
“the adversary” of God and holy beings. {EP 13.1}

Rejecting with disdain the entreaties of the loyal angels, he

denounced them as deluded slaves. He would never again
acknowledge the supremacy of Christ. He had determined to
claim the honor which should have been given him. And he
promised those who would enter his ranks a new and better
government under which all would enjoy freedom. Great
numbers of the angels signified their purpose to accept him as
their leader. He hoped to win all the angels to his side, to
become equal with God Himself, and to be obeyed by the
entire host of heaven. {EP 13.2}

Still the loyal angels urged him and his sympathizers to submit
to God; they set before them the inevitable result should they
refuse. They warned all to close their ears against Lucifer’s
deceptive reasoning and urged him and his followers to seek
the presence of God without delay and confess the error of
questioning His wisdom and authority. {EP 13.3}
Many were disposed to repent of their disaffection and seek to
be again received into favor with the Father and His Son. But
Lucifer now declared that the angels who had united with him
had gone too far to return; God would not forgive. For himself,
he was determined never again to acknowledge the authority
of Christ. The only course remaining was to assert their liberty
and gain by force the rights which had not been accorded them.
{EP 13.4}

The heavenly councils admonished Lucifer to change his course.

The Son of God warned and entreated him not to venture thus
to dishonor his Maker, and bring ruin upon himself. But instead
of yielding, Satan represented to those who loved him, that he
had been wrongly judged, that his dignity was not respected,
and that his liberty was to be abridged. {4SP 317.2}
That Christ should regard him as needing to be corrected, and
should presume to take the position of a superior, aroused in
him a spirit of resistance, and he charged the Son of God with
a design to humble him before the angels. By
misrepresentation of the words of Christ, by prevarication and
direct falsehood, Satan secured the sympathy of the angels
under his control, and they united with him in revolt against
Heaven’s authority. {4SP 318.1}

To the last, he refused to acknowledge his own course to be

deserving of censure. When the consequence of his disaffection
became apparent, and it was decreed that with all his
sympathizers he must be forever banished from the abode of
bliss, the arch-deceiver threw the blame wholly upon Christ.
With one accord, Satan and his hosts declared that had they
not been reproved, the rebellion would never have occurred,
thus making Christ responsible for their course. Thus stubborn
and defiant in their disloyalty, seeking vainly to overthrow the
government of God, yet blasphemously claiming to be
themselves the innocent victims of oppressive power, the arch-
rebel and all his sympathizers were at last banished from
Heaven. {4SP 318.2}
While there was no open outbreak, division of feeling
imperceptibly grew up among the angels. Some looked with
favor upon Lucifer’s insinuations. They were discontented and
unhappy, dissatisfied with God’s purpose in exalting Christ.
But angels who were loyal maintained the wisdom and justice
of the divine decree. Christ was the Son of God, one with Him
before the angels were called into existence. He had ever
stood at the right hand of the Father. Wherefore should there
now be discord? {EP 12.2}

We want your faith to grasp the living promise. We want your

faith to walk out so that it will be demonstrated to believers and
unbelievers that your life is hid with Christ in God. Shall it be so?
Will you grieve the Saviour that left the royal courts? What did
He do it for? Well, Lucifer, he was striving; he had glory in the
heavenly courts, but he was striving for Christ’s place next to
God. Next he wanted to be God, but he could not obtain that.
{Ms86-1910.29} Christ was the only begotten Son of God, and
Lucifer, that glorious angel, got up a warfare over the matter,
until he had to be thrust down to the earth. He knows what I
am saying today. He knows whenever there is a company
assembled together as you are here. He knows when we are
making efforts in every way possible to reach out to win the
minds of the people. He has his agencies appointed so that after
this meeting will be over, circumstances will arise and the
enemy will try to gain the victory. {Ms86-1910.30}

The enemy is frequently working your mind. He has endeavored

to implant in your mind the same desires that he cherished
when in the heavenly courts he occupied the position of
covering cherub. Christ is the express image of His Father’s
person, and the angels could see in the Son a perfect
representation of God. Lucifer coveted the honor and glory
given to Christ. He became so self-exalted that he supposed
that he could do anything he desired to do because of his high
position as covering cherub, and he tried to obtain for himself
the position given to Christ. But Lucifer fell. He was cast out of
heaven; and now he works on human minds, tempting them to
follow in his footsteps. He strives to fill minds with feelings of
self-exaltation and to lead them to dishonor God by turning
from their allegiance to the truth and inventing many things not
after God’s order. {Lt55-1903.15}

The records of some are similar to that of the exalted angel who
was given a position next to Jesus Christ in the heavenly courts.
Lucifer was enshrouded with glory as the covering cherub. Yet
this angel whom God had created, and entrusted with power,
became desirous of being as God. He gained the sympathy of
some of his associates by suggesting thoughts of criticism
regarding the government of God. This evil seed was scattered
in a most seducing manner; and after it had sprung up and
taken root in the minds of many, he gathered the ideas that he
himself had first implanted in the minds of others, and brought
them before the highest order of angels as the thoughts of
other minds against the government of God. Thus, by ingenious
methods of his own devising, Lucifer introduced rebellion in
heaven. {4BC 1143.1}
God desired that a change take place, and that the work of
Satan be brought out in its genuine aspect. But the exalted
angel standing next to Christ was opposed to the Son of God.
The underworking was so subtle that it could not be made to
appear before the heavenly host as the thing that it really was;
and so there was war in heaven, and Satan was expelled with
all who would not stand on the side of loyalty to God’s
government. ... {4BC 1143.2}

This condition of things had existed a long period of time

before Satan was unmasked and the evil ones expelled. (Letter
162, 1906)

There was contention among the angels. Lucifer and his

sympathizers were striving to reform the government of God.
They were discontented and unhappy because they could not
look into His unsearchable wisdom and ascertain His purposes
in exalting His Son, and endowing Him with such unlimited
power and command. They rebelled against the authority of
the Son. {SR 15.1}

Angels that were loyal and true sought to reconcile this mighty,
rebellious angel to the will of his Creator. They justified the act
of God in conferring honor upon Christ, and with forcible
reasoning sought to convince Lucifer that no less honor was
his now than before the Father had proclaimed the honor
which He had conferred upon His Son. They clearly set forth
that Christ was the Son of God, existing with Him before the
angels were created; and that He had ever stood at the right
hand of God, and His mild, loving authority had not heretofore
been questioned; and that He had given no commands but
what it was joy for the heavenly host to execute. They urged
that Christ’s receiving special honor from the Father, in the
presence of the angels, did not detract from the honor that
Lucifer had heretofore received. The angels wept. They
anxiously sought to move him to renounce his wicked design
and yield submission to their Creator; for all had heretofore
been peace and harmony, and what could occasion this
dissenting, rebellious voice? {SR 15.2}

Pride in his own glory nourished the desire for supremacy. The
high honors conferred upon Lucifer were not appreciated as
the gift of God and called forth no gratitude to the Creator. He
gloried in his brightness and exaltation, and aspired to be equal
with God. He was beloved and reverenced by the heavenly host.
Angels delighted to execute his commands, and he was clothed
with wisdom and glory above them all. Yet the Son of God was
the acknowledged Sovereign of heaven, one in power and
authority with the Father. In all the counsels of God, Christ was
a participant, while Lucifer was not permitted thus to enter into
the divine purposes. “Why,” questioned this mighty angel,
“should Christ have the supremacy? Why is He thus honored
above Lucifer?” {GC 495.1}

We need to humble our hearts before God. We need to seek for

that humility of mind which forbids selfishness, pride, envy, and
jealousy. It was jealousy that brought sin into our world. Lucifer,
the angel next to Christ in the heavenly courts, gave way to
feelings of jealousy. He aspired to the throne of God. He was
determined to rule independent of God. He sought for
prerogatives which cannot be given to any created being. This
led him to revolt against God. Of this we read, “There was war
in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon;
and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither
was their place found any more in heaven.” [Revelation 12:7,8.]
{Ms78-1901.2}

Christians are engaged in a warfare. The church militant is not

the church triumphant. In his onward march toward heaven,
the follower of Christ must fight at every step. Our adversary is
the one who once stood in the heavenly courts as the first of
the covering cherubs. The ceaseless beams of glory
enshrouding the eternal God once rested upon him continually.
But, not content with his position, though honored above the
heavenly host, he began to covet the glory with which the
Father had invested the Son. Lucifer desired to be first in
heaven. Thus he introduced sin into the universe. Why sin was
permitted, no man can explain. A satisfactory reason for the
existence of sin cannot be given. Nor can any reason be given
for jealousy, evil surmising, covetousness, and idolatry. No man
can reason out such things. {Ms57-1902.4}

Two great powers are now on the field of battle. Satan, who at
one time stood next to Christ in the courts of heaven, has
become the adversary of man. Before the fall of Lucifer, he
aspired for the supremacy that had been given to Christ, who
was one with the Father in the government of heaven. There
was war in heaven, and Satan and all the rebellious angels he
had deceived were overcome. Those who had opposed the will
of God in appointing Christ as the chief ruler were cast out of
the heavenly courts, and since that time they have been warring
against the Most High. {Lt24-1910.4}

During the Pacific Union Conference held at Mountain View last

January, we met with stern opposition to the leadings of the
Holy Spirit. I was given a message for you and for all who were
so confident of the value of their judgment that they felt that
they must never give up the sentiments they had once
entertained, or retreat from a position that they had once taken.
I was bidden to tell you that for you to take the position that
your ideas are never to be given up is to pattern after Lucifer.
The ideas that he wove into his experience in regard to entering
into commercialism he refused to give up or exchange. He
refused to harmonize with Christ and was determined to carry
out his plans. {Lt132-1910.3}

When God would not concede to Satan’s claim to a place

above His only begotten Son, Satan rebelled. There was war in
heaven, and he was cast out. He pressed his claim to be placed
above Christ, but the warfare resulted in his losing his position
in the heavenly courts. {Lt132-1910.4} Satan came to this world
and determined to carry out here the idea that men could be
equal with God. He led men to doubt the Word of God and to
distrust His goodness. Because God is a God of justice and
terrible majesty, Satan caused them to look upon Him as
severe and unforgiving. Thus he drew men to join him in
rebellion against God, and the night of woe settled down upon
the world. {Lt132-1910.5}

Christ volunteered to come to our world and give to men the

true light. God gave His only begotten Son to the world to
reveal the Father as supreme in heaven and in earth. Christ
came in the form of humanity, to meet and overcome the
enemy and his devices. {Lt132-1910.6}

At the birth of Jesus, Satan knew that One had come with a
divine commission to dispute his dominion. He trembled at the
angel’s message attesting the authority of the newborn King.
Satan well knew the position that Christ had held in heaven as
the Beloved of the Father. That the Son of God should come to
this earth as a man filled him with amazement and with
apprehension. He could not fathom the mystery of this great
sacrifice. His selfish soul could not understand such love for
the deceived race. The glory and peace of heaven, and the joy
of communion with God, were but dimly comprehended by
men; but they were well known to Lucifer, the covering cherub.
Since he had lost heaven, he was determined to find revenge by
causing others to share his fall. This he would do by causing
them to undervalue heavenly things, and to set the heart upon
things of earth. {DA 115.2}

Not until the death of Christ was the character of Satan clearly
revealed to the angels or to the unfallen worlds. The
archapostate had so clothed himself with deception that even
holy beings had not understood his principles. They had not
clearly seen the nature of his rebellion. {DA 758.3}

It was a being of wonderful power and glory that had set himself
against God. Of Lucifer the Lord says, “Thou sealest up the sum,
full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” Ezekiel 28:12. Lucifer had
been the covering cherub. He had stood in the light of God’s
presence. He had been the highest of all created beings, and
had been foremost in revealing God’s purposes to the universe.
After he had sinned, his power to deceive was the more
deceptive, and the unveiling of his character was the more
difficult, because of the exalted position he had held with the
Father. {DA 758.4}

God could have destroyed Satan and his sympathizers as easily

as one can cast a pebble to the earth; but He did not do this.
Rebellion was not to be overcome by force. Compelling power
is found only under Satan’s government. The Lord’s principles
are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy,
and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means
to be used. God’s government is moral, and truth and love are
to be the prevailing power. {DA 759.1}
Evil originated with Lucifer, who rebelled against the
government of God. Before his fall he was a covering cherub,
distinguished by his excellence. God made him good and
beautiful, as near as possible like Himself. (The Review and
Herald, September 24, 1901) {4BC 1163.1}

Satan, the chief of the fallen angels, once had an exalted

position in heaven. He was next in honor to Christ. The
knowledge which he, as well as the angels who fell with him,
had of the character of God, of His goodness, His mercy,
wisdom, and excellent glory, made their guilt unpardonable.
{4BC 1163.2} There was no possible hope for the redemption of
those who had witnessed and enjoyed the inexpressible glory
of heaven, and had seen the terrible majesty of God, and, in
presence of all this glory, had rebelled against Him. There were
no new and wonderful exhibitions of God’s exalted power that
could impress them so deeply as those they had already
experienced. If they could rebel in the very presence of glory
inexpressible, they could not be placed in a more favorable
condition to be proved. There was no reserve force of power,
nor were there any greater heights and depths of infinite glory
to overpower their jealous doubts and rebellious murmuring.
(Redemption; or the Temptation of Christ in The Wilderness, 18,
19). {4BC 1163.3}

The casting down of Satan as an accuser of the brethren in

heaven was accomplished by the great work of Christ in giving
up His life. Notwithstanding Satan’s persistent opposition, the
plan of redemption was being carried out. Man was esteemed
of sufficient value for Christ to sacrifice His life for him. Satan,
knowing that the empire he had usurped would in the end be
wrested from him, determined to spare no pains to destroy as
many as possible of the creatures whom God had created in His
image. He hated man because Christ had manifested for him
such forgiving love and pity, and he now prepared to practice
upon him every species of deception by which he might be lost;
he pursued his course with more energy because of his own
hopeless condition (The Spirit of Prophecy 3:194, 195). {7BC
973.10}

The strife for the highest place was the outworking of that same
spirit which was the beginning of the great controversy in the
worlds above, and which had brought Christ from heaven to die.
There rose up before Him (Christ) a vision of Lucifer, the “son of
the morning,” in glory surpassing all the angels that surround
the throne, and united in closest ties to the Son of God. Lucifer
had said, “I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:12,14); and the
desire for self-exaltation had brought strife into the heavenly
courts, and had banished a multitude of the hosts of God. Had
Lucifer really desired to be like the Most High, he would never
have deserted his appointed place in heaven; for the spirit of
the Most High is manifested in unselfish ministry. Lucifer
desired God’s power, but not His character. He sought for
himself the highest place, and every being who is actuated by
his spirit will do the same. Thus alienation, discord, and strife
will be inevitable. Dominion becomes the prize of the strongest.
The kingdom of Satan is a kingdom of force; every individual
regards every other as an obstacle in the way of his own
advancement, or a steppingstone on which he himself may
climb to a higher place. {DA 435.2}

It was Satan’s desire for the supremacy that caused discord

among the angels. The mighty Lucifer, “son of the morning,”
claimed the right to honor and authority above the Son of God;
and this not being accorded him, he determined to rebel
against the government of Heaven. He therefore appealed to
the angelic host, complaining of God’s injustice, and declaring
himself deeply wronged. His false representations won to his
side one-third of all the heavenly angels; and so strong was their
delusion that they would not be corrected; they clung to Lucifer,
and were expelled from Heaven with him. {ST October 25, 1883,
par. 25}

He (Christ) remembered the persistence and malice of Satan,

who had boldly contended with the angels in Heaven that his
sentence was unjust, maintaining that there was no self-denial
with God, and that Satan, in struggling to carry out his
purposes and have his own way, was only imitating the
example of God. If God followed his own will perfectly and
continually, why should not the first sons created in his image
do so? By this argument Satan deceived many of the holy angels.
He complained continually of God’s severity, just as children
sometimes complain of their parents’ severity in restraining
them from carrying out plans destructive to the family
government. Rather than submit to the will of God he turned
from the light of reason, and set himself in opposition to the
divine plans. {3SP 77.1}

Satan is the prince of demons. The evil angels over whom he

rules do his bidding. Through them he multiplies his agencies
throughout the world. He instigates all the evil that exists in
our world. (SDA Bible Commentary, volume 6, p. 1119)

It was the marvel of all the universe that Christ should humble
Himself to save fallen man. That He who had passed from star
to star, from world to world, superintending all, by His
providence supplying the needs of every order of being in His
vast creation—that He should consent to leave His glory and
take upon Himself human nature, was a mystery which the
sinless intelligences of other worlds desired to understand.
When Christ came to our world in the form of humanity, all
were intensely interested in following Him as He traversed,
step by step, the bloodstained path from the manger to
Calvary. Heaven marked the insult and mockery that He
received, and knew that it was at Satan’s instigation. They
marked the work of counteragencies going forward; Satan
constantly pressing darkness, sorrow, and suffering upon the
race, and Christ counteracting it. They watched the battle
between light and darkness as it waxed stronger. And as Christ
in His expiring agony upon the cross cried out, “It is finished”
(John 19:30), a shout of triumph rang through every world and
through heaven itself. The great contest that had been so long
in progress in this world was now decided, and Christ was
conqueror. His death had answered the question whether the
Father and the Son had sufficient love for man to exercise self-
denial and a spirit of sacrifice. Satan had revealed his true
character as a liar and a murderer. It was seen that the very
same spirit with which he had ruled the children of men who
were under his power, he would have manifested if permitted
to control the intelligences of heaven. With one voice the loyal
universe united in extolling the divine administration. {PP 69.3}

By his own course of action Satan has forged a chain by which

he will be bound. The inhabitants of the heavenly universe will
bear witness to God’s justice in his destruction. Heaven itself
has seen what heaven would be, if he were allowed to remain
in it. All the unfallen beings are now united in regarding God’s
law as changeless. They support the government of Him, who,
to redeem the transgressor, spared not His own Son. His law has
been proved faultless. His government is forever secure. The
Father, the Son, and Lucifer have been revealed in their true
relation to one another. God has given unmistakable evidence
of His justice and His love. {ST August 27, 1902, par. 15}

But the time has now come when the rebellion is to be finally
defeated and the history and character of Satan disclosed. In
his last great effort to dethrone Christ, destroy His people, and
take possession of the city of God, the archdeceiver has been
fully unmasked. Those who have united with him see the total
failure of his cause. Christ’s followers and the loyal angels
behold the full extent of his machinations against the
government of God. He is the object of universal abhorrence.
{TA 293.3}

Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for
heaven.... 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 of truth and error in the longstanding controversy
has now been made plain.... {TA 293.4}
 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum,
full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every

precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz,
and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper,
the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold:
the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was
prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have

set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God;
thou hast walked up and down in the midst
of the stones of fire.

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou
wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled
the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned:
therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the
mountain of God: and I will destroy thee,
O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty,

thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy
brightness: I will cast thee to the ground,
I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of

thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore
will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall
 devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon
the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.

All they that know thee among the people shall be

astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror,
and never shalt thou be any more.

(Ezekiel 28:12-19)
 The Beginning of the Great
Controversy:
Lucifer and Christ, the Only Begotten
Son of God

Christ is the express image of His Father’s person, and the

angels could see in the Son a perfect representation of God.
Lucifer coveted the honor and glory given to Christ. He became
so self-exalted that he supposed that he could do anything he
desired to do because of his high position as covering cherub,
and he tried to obtain for himself the position given to Christ.
{Lt55-1903.15}

By his own course of action Satan has forged a chain by which

he will be bound. The inhabitants of the heavenly universe will
bear witness to God’s justice in his destruction. Heaven itself
has seen what heaven would be, if he were allowed to remain
in it. All the unfallen beings are now united in regarding God’s
law as changeless. They support the government of Him, who,
to redeem the transgressor, spared not His own Son. His law has
been proved faultless. His government is forever secure. The
Father, the Son, and Lucifer have been revealed in their true
relation to one another. God has given unmistakable evidence
of His justice and His love. {ST August 27, 1902, par. 15}