Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Ezekiel 28:1, 2, 11-17; Genesis 3:1-7; Revelation 12:1-17; Romans 8:31-39; Revelation 14:12.
Memory Text: “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17, NKJV).
The cosmic controversy, sometimes called “the great controversy”, is the biblical worldview. It forms the background in which the drama of our world, and even of the universe, unfolds. Sin, suffering, death, the rise and fall of nations, the spread of the gospel, last day events — these all occur in the context of the cosmic controversy.
This week we will look at a few crucial places where the controversy took hold, beginning somehow, mysteriously, in the heart of a perfect being, Lucifer, who brought his rebellion to earth through the fall of other perfect beings, Adam and Eve. From these two “pivot points”, the fall of Lucifer and then of our first parents, the great controversy took root and has been raging ever since. Each one of us is a part of that cosmic drama.
The good news is that one day it will not only end, but it will end with the total victory of Christ over Satan. And the even better news is that because of the completeness of what Jesus did on the cross, all of us can share in that victory. And as part of that victory, God calls us to faith and obedience now, as we await all that we have been promised in Jesus, whose coming is assured.
