16
From Eternity Past
the Lord God: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in
beauty... . 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.”
Little by little, Lucifer indulged the desire for self-exaltation.
“Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted
thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness”
Ezekiel 28:12-15, 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 hon-
ored above the heavenly host, he ventured to covet homage due alone
to the Creator. This prince of angels aspired to power that was the
prerogative of Christ alone.
Now the perfect harmony of heaven was broken. In heavenly
council the angels pleaded with Lucifer. The Son of God presented
before him the goodness and justice of the Creator and the unchanging
nature of His law. 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 resistance. Lucifer allowed his jealousy
of Christ to prevail, and became the more determined.
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
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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, “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.”
Revelation 5:11
. Before the inhabitants of heaven, the King declared
that none but Christ could fully enter into His purposes and execute
the mighty counsels of His will. Christ was still to exercise divine
power in the creation of the earth and its inhabitants.
The Battle in Lucifer’s Heart
The angels joyfully acknowledged the supremacy of Christ and
poured out their love and adoration. Lucifer bowed with them; but in
his heart there was a strange, fierce conflict. Truth and loyalty were
struggling against envy and jealousy. The influence of the holy angels