No, Satan's death does nothing to atone for our sins, what it does bring about is the end to sin and he is "punished for the sins that he has caused to be committed." GC p660 As our forgiven sins are placed on the head of the scapegoat, and, as you said, Mark, in the antitype, the sins are completely destroyed at the end of the 1000 years along with Satan.

But, by "His own blood, He entereth once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Heb.9:12 This, of course, is speaking of Jesus, our High Priest, and our Saviour.

Quote by Mark

"If we force fit our own ideas on the testimony of the scripture about the Law, and the Law givers, we are sure to loose our way. This is speculation and it leads to spiritualism."

Mark

I was recently confronted by a warlock, in front of others who also presumed to know what was in my mind...much like you intimate here about one of the participants. His little "trick" failed miserably, and people realized his facade.

This thread is supposed to be about the Atonement; and you would get a lot further with more intelligent presentations of truth.

There are people who do not understand all the points of doctrine you or I do; yet are closer to Christ than we are.

2T.215.001
We should take broader and deeper views of the life, sufferings, and death of God's dear Son. When the atonement is viewed correctly, the salvation of souls will be felt to be of infinite value. In comparison with the enterprise of everlasting life, every other sinks into insignificance. But how have the counsels of this loving Saviour been despised! The heart has been devoted to the world, and selfish interests have closed the door against the Son of God. Hollow hypocrisy and pride, selfishness and gain, envy, malice, and passion, have so filled the hearts of many that Christ can have no room.

John, I want to say thank you to you for joining us here. I am going to wrap up my thoughts now, and like you’ve done above give a short personal testimony. I’m sure others would like to continue the discussion. Again I’m sorry if I’ve been too direct. I hope you can appreciate the fact that I have a burdern for anyone who claims to know Christ as a personal savior but denies that He died for their sins. I hope I haven’t said anything that I would not want someone to say to me if I was in the same precarious position that I believe you are in. Where Chistian tact has been lacking on my part, I hope you’ll pray for me like Job whom God told to pray for his well meaning but misguided friends. Not that my advice is misguided, but I don’t claim to be sanctified in my choice of words or assessment of someone else's spiritual sojourn. I’ll be praying for myself the prayer of Jabaz, Lord don’t allow me to cause needless pain.

………………..

The term ‘heavenly sanctuary’ means that in heaven there is a place of refuge for sinners. Sanctuary means refuge. We need a refuge because we are fallen, guilty beings. So God has met us where we are and provided us with a refuge and a place of meeting. The refuge is from the guilt of sin that if we were left to bear alone would quickly crush out our lives. That the guilt of our sins does not crush us is an ongoing testimony to the grace of God. We know how terrible the load of guilt is from two things - how it crushed out the life of Christ, and how when Christ ends his intercessions, the guilt of sin will be the operative factor in bringing Satan to his end.

We know this from the Day of Atonement. The scapegoat is alive and well until the sins of Isreal are placed on his head. It is not long after this that his life expires. He simply can’t bear the weight of guilt for long.

The Levitical types make provision for the pardon of specific sins, but nothing is said about the consequences or results of sin. It is foreign to the sacrificial system to divide sin from its consequences. Sin is the focus. And because God deals directly with my sin and guilt, there is a close personal connection there. Christ bore my particular sins.

John, you turn this argument around and say the real problem is the results of sin, not the sin itself because sin causes an obliteration of the moral image of God in man. True. But regardless of what you or I say, no matter how the issues are portrayed, sin is still at the root. Facts are stubborn. In this case the fact is that sin is the disease, and the symptoms are what we see all around us.

If Christ did not initially bear our guilt can God hold Satan accountable? If we deny that God cannot put the guilt of our sins on Christ, He cannot ultimately put our sin on Satan. No provision is made for guilt. In effect John, you advocate a very different Law and a very different Law Giver. Your views lead away from the God of scripture and create a different God.

But His own Spirit convinces me that I am guilty. Not just once, and not just repeatedly, but all the more intensely as I grow in grace. I need a Savior from sin, from its thralldom, its chains, its guilt. The only solution is the great exchange. I’m a poor sinner. My prayer is “Lord I stand condemned by your Law. I am as you yourself have said, wretched, miserable, poor blind and naked. My righteousness is filth. But you have a righteousness to cloth me. Remember Lord I pray the blood of Christ your Son, remove my guilt and give me His righteousness. Restore me to the joy of your salvation and cloth me with the garments of praise. Lord, I believe. Now credit my belief for righteousness. You did this for Abraham. Now do it for me. Hear me Lord I pray. Be merciful unto me, a great sinner.”

[ October 06, 2002, 04:29 PM: Message edited by: Mark Shipowick ]

DA.173.006
The Jews whom Jesus had driven from the temple claimed to be children of Abraham, but they fled from the Saviour's presence because they could not endure the glory of God which was manifested in Him. Thus they gave evidence that they were not fitted by the grace of God to participate in the sacred services of the temple. They were zealous to maintain an appearance of holiness, but they neglected holiness of heart. While they were sticklers for the letter of the law, they were constantly violating its spirit. Their great need was that very change which Christ had been explaining to Nicodemus,--a new moral birth, a cleansing from sin, and a renewing of knowledge and holiness.

David wrote:

"I am still waiting for you to address my question re the Desire Of Ages quote you made above. It would be helpful, I feel, to see where you were coming from there."

The Desire of Ages, page 758, paragraph 1
"Christ did not yield up His life till He had accomplished the work which He came to do, and with His parting breath He exclaimed, "It is finished." John 19:30. The battle had been won. His right hand and His holy arm had gotten Him the victory. As a Conqueror He planted His banner on the eternal heights. Was there not joy among the angels? All heaven triumphed in the Saviour's victory. Satan was defeated, and knew that his kingdom was lost."

This quote tells me that Jesus earned the right to own our sin and second death before He laid down His own life. He transferred our sin and second death to the heavenly sanctuary, where they remain to this day. From these thoughts I conclude that it is Jesus' responsibility to eventually eliminate sin and the second death. I believe He will accomplish this by placing them upon the head of Satan, who will perish with them in the lake of fire.

Satan plays an important role in the elimination of sin and the second death. Jesus earned the right to own them when He lived and died and the perfect life and death. But they still exist in the heavenly sanctuary. Without Satan perishing with them in place of the saved Jesus has no way of eliminating their sin and the second death.

The death of Satan in place of the saved has nothing to do with securing their salvation. Jesus did that all by Himself. The "atonement" Satan makes on their behalf is restricted to the elimination of their sin and second death in the lake of fire.

The fact Satan must die with the sins and second death of the saved is evidence Jesus did not do it for them. Instead, it was necessary for Jesus to become the lawful owner (not victim) of sin and the second death, which He did by defeating them before He laid down His own life on the cross, so that now He has the legal right to place them upon the head of Satan at the end of time.

I do not believe this interpretation of the scapegoat betrays the SDA understanding of the plan of salvation. Yes, Jesus had to die in order to secure our salvation. But He did not die the second death. That belongs to the scapegoat.

Peace be with you all

We have been doing some travel in the last two weeks so my answer has been delayed. I would like to answer/comment Mike, Mark, David and others.

David You asked me to explain from scripture how penalty and substitution denigrates God's character.

Since Penalty is not a scriptural term I cannot give you a scriptural definition of it, nor can I explain it to you from scripture.

I understand that penalty means 'an enforcement of an Arbitrary Law'. As the Law is Arbitrary therefore the enforcement is arbitrary. The concept in arbitrary enforcement is, and this is important, 'that the transgressor would not suffer or bear loss if the Authority would not get him and enforce penalty on him'. Further, the penalty deals only with a wrong deed done, but says nothing about the state of the transgressor. That is to say the transgressor sees that he did something wrong in the eyes of the authority, but does not see that he is wrong. The problem the transgressor sees then is the Authority and not himself. If the Authority were not there he would not have any problems. All penalties are exacted upon something that one did and not something that one is. Under arbitrary law to be penalised for what one is would be prejudice. So in effect if one is released from any penalty, such a one is really being set free from the authority. In such a concept a substitute payment of penalty does not alter the fact that one is being set free from the authority.

The point is that in the penalty concept, the sinner does not recognise the source of his problem, therefore the problem perpetuates. Instead he sees it as God's problem and how to appease God. This is why the concept that man would not die if God did not drive him out of the garden. Mike, it is true, sin and death are related, they are of Satan. God first declared the remedy, the crushing of Satan through Golgotha. Then he established the level of life under which conditions it would be possible to be accomplished. So that the scripture may be true which said that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Heb 2: 14-15. Man thinks selfishly, self-preservingly; God thinks salvation, self-denyingly. After all Mike, God gave man time to choose life, He did not give man eternity to suffer death. From this temporary death (which God established) there is a resurrection for everyone. From the spiritual death that Satan established there would be no salvation except through these means. Can we not see God positively? Why did Paul say, What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

In much of the discussion here, the Levitical sanctuary service, particularly the day of the atonement, has been used as a carbon copy of what has, is, and shall transpire. I would like to draw attention to scripture position on this. In Hebrews 10:1 we read, for the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect.

Friends, let us realise what the scripture tells us of the law (of the levitical priesthood services). It says that in those is held a shadow of good things to come. Now a shadow is dark and does not give much information and it varies with the light shining on it. It can be stretched a long way when the sun is low while at high noon it is not to be seen. But what the scripture says next is more significant. I says, 'it is not the very image of the good things to come'. It is not the same image of the good that was to follow. Please give this some thought. The effort of bringing the imagery of the levitical priesthood into the priesthood of Melchisedec is eroneous.

We need to understand the principles upon which the Levitical priesthood is established in relation to those of the priesthood of Melchisedec. The two priesthoods deal with sin on an entirely different basis. This is what makes the first ineffective and the second effective. Hebrews 7:18. For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

The confusion regarding the issue of sin as Mark stated

quote:

---

The Levitical types make provision for the pardon of specific sins, but nothing is said about the consequences or results of sin. It is foreign to the sacrificial system to divide sin from its consequences. Sin is the focus. And because God deals directly with my sin and guilt, there is a close personal connection there. Christ bore my particular sins.

John, you turn this argument around and say the real problem is the results of sin, not the sin itself because sin causes an obliteration of the moral image of God in man. True. But regardless of what you or I say, no matter how the issues are portrayed, sin is still at the root. Facts are stubborn. In this case the fact is that sin is the disease, and the symptoms are what we see all around us.

If Christ did not initially bear our guilt can God hold Satan accountable? If we deny that God cannot put the guilt of our sins on Christ, He cannot ultimately put our sin on Satan. No provision is made for guilt. In effect John, you advocate a very different Law and a very different Law Giver. Your views lead away from the God of scripture and create a different God.

---

In Mark's statement sin is defined as the specific sin (action, deed), while the result/consequence of these sins is defined as an obliteration of the moral image of God in man. There is something here to be understood. While this was true for Adam before he sinned. It is the reverse ever since Sin. Sin is fall from faith, that is: rejection of God's judgment and assertion of ones own judgment. Thus the spirit of God is dismissed and the carnal mind established, and the specific sins are the result. Before action there is thought and for thought there is a source.

Mark is correct when he said The Levitical types make provision for the pardon of specific sins, but nothing is said about the consequences or results of sin. This in essence is the shortcoming of the Levitical priesthood. The Levitical priesthood would have never been, had the children of Israel not said 'Let not God speak to us, lest we die. Let him speak to Moses, and he will tell us, and we will do.' In this request the issues are revealed. They, while being convicted of the Sin within themselves (the condemnation and guilt was so that they felt they would die) would not accept the conviction, and were unwilling to trust God though they had seen that God does speak with man and he liveth. Instead they offered outward obedience, at a distance. Thus the Levitical priesthood deals with outward disobedience. For it was manifest that their hearts were far from Him. A people in whom is no faith.

Deuteronomy 32:20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.
Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

The Levitical priesthood was established on the basis of operation where there is no faith, because there was no faith. Romans 9:32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; Why was then all this established?

Romans 7:13 … that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Hebrews 9:8 The Holy Spirit this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing:

When we look at the priesthood of Christ we see that it is separate from the Levitical priesthood and puts an end to it.
John the Baptist preaches in the wilderness, Luke 3:3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. He is not in the temple and has no part of the sanctuary services, yet he is ministering baptism of repentance for the forgiveness/remission of sins. Further he declared, Matthew 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: ... As we look at the things that Jesus was pointing out to be the problem, we see that he always referred to the condition that man was in, the state of being, rather than the actions/the fruit. When speaking of the fruit he refers to the tree. In his own words he declares his ministry. Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, In all these we see him dealing with the condition of man and not man's specific works. Following scriptures should make that evident.

John 8:34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.Matthew 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
Matthew 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. ...
John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Luke 9:55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.John 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Again, we see that in all of the above scripture it is the state of being, the condition, the root, the tree, that is spoken of as that which is the problem and which he saves us from. He came to break the power of sin. He came to save us from our state.

Romans 8:3,4 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

He reveals that we are of a different spirit than him.

Luke 9:55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.Isaiah 55:8,9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We see that faith/trust is declared and established to be the means whereby the inner cleansing occurs. To trust him and receive his judgment, his spirit to live thereby, to cease to live by self, to abide in him and he in us. Thus Christ is the minister of Faith.

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Christ came to redeem us from the enemy. He came to bring to us the glory of the Father, and to work in us the faith of the son. John 12

27 … but for this cause came I unto this hour.
28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Hebrews 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

He came to make us one with the Father and himself. John 17

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

There is much more that could be said but the thought should be understandable.
In answer to your second question David I wish to say, 'those who have been forgiven much love much'. But how many accept forgiveness? It is amazing how many rather want substitute payment of penalty.
Who has been reconciled to God except that he was first at odds with him? Paul declares that we were enemies of God! For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. He who has seen the enmity that sin puts between man and God, has seen that the carnal mind is at enmity with God, has been crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, and has been raised in the newness of life, he has been reconciled.
All should ask themselves. Have we seen ourselves as enemies of God? If not, then we have never been reconciled. Then one has never seen the love that God commended to us. Man does not realise his condition, except in the light of God's love. Friends let us look at his Love who came and died to save us his enemies. Praying, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Who came to bring to us the glory of the Father that we may be reconciled with God, brought to at-one-ment. That as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. For in that light of love our comeliness is turned in us into corruption, but we are raised by his grace.

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

Yes, indeed we joy in God through our Lord Jesus by whom we have received the at-one-ment. And I wish to join with John in saying, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life. (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;). That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
Shalom

[ October 12, 2002, 11:33 PM: Message edited by: John Boskovic ]

John, thank you for relating those thoughts. But I see a very deliberate connection between God forbidding access to the fruit of the tree of life and the reason why we die. I don't see death as arbitrary. I see it as the result of God disallowing us to eat of the fruit. From my perspective that is a form of punishment.

In a court of law I would be found guilty of murder if I starved my kids to death. Similarly God is responsible for why we die. True, it is a blessing, but it is also a penalty. Death is not the natural consequences of sin. Not eating the fruit is why we die. Even the second death is not the natural progression of sin, rather God raining down fire upon the unsaved is why they die at the end of time. It is the penalty for sin.

Do you see my point?

Mike
What is the point? Let us suppose it is as you say. If death is the penalty for sin, and the death being spoken of is, as you say, the physical death resulting from 'not having access to the tree of life'. Then every one as they die has paid the penalty, and has satisfied the demands of the law, and the law has nothing more on them. Romans 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. Having thus exhausted the penalty what is the point of resurrecting man again and then killing him again. Sounds sadistic to me. As if killing him once is not good enough. Moreover, to say the least, the sacrifice of Christ is then nonsense, since we all die anyway. Either it is penalty or it is not. If it is penalty then our death satisfies it and there is no salvation. If there is salvation then this death is not penalty but is something else. That this is deliberate is not the question, but deliberate what is the question? Mike judge not by appearance but judge righteous judgment.

Now I hope you see and agree that this physical death has a different meaning then penalty, just as the above scripture does not allow for the above meaning to be applied to that verse. For it is speaking of a spiritual death and not physical

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

Mike, really unless we get to the realization of the spiritual issues, the salvation of man becomes meaningless and impossible. 'TIME' has been given to man that his spirit might be restored to oneness with God. That God by his spirit may abide in his blessed place in his children. This TIME is now, not after the resurrection. Today is the day for us to be possessors of eternal life (spiritually). The physical immortality shall be given to those who are possessors of eternal life spiritually. For this purpose and to this end Christ came to redeem us from the power of sin unto the adoption of sons. This is what Christ was talking about in

John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath (present tense) everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

In your thought it appears that all that Christ saves us from is the physical death (which is the penalty for sin, second death I presume). And what shall prevent sin from rising again? Sin is a spiritual act. You mentioned about death being the natural progression of sin. This is not the thought. Death is the immediate reality of sin. When man sinned he immediately fell under the domain of sin and death spiritually, and every one of us born since is born in that domain. In simple terms what that means is that the ultimate arbiter of all righteousness is death. This is the domain of Satan. On the other hand, in God's domain the ultimate expositor of righteousness is life.

In the judgment day it is not sin that has become bad enough to self-destruct that will happen, but it is God who will call all to judgment. It will be the facing of judgment. IN other words 'TIME' is up. Those who are partakers of God's judgment (righteousness) are partakers of the spirit of life and the second death has no power over them because there is no condemnation in them. Those who have refused to be partakers of God's judgment will face their own judgment (righteousness) which is the spirit of condemnation and death, upon themselves. That is wages of sin and not penalty, for it is the reaping of the fruit of one's own righteousness.

Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Luke 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant...


God never called it penalty
Why do we?
None of the prophets ever said it's so
Why do we?
The Son of God never thought it so
Why do we?
The apostles never knew it so
Why do we?

The rise of the Papacy brought it to be
Don't we see?
The dark ages defined it
Why do we?

Shalom

[ October 19, 2002, 09:32 AM: Message edited by: John Boskovic ]

John, thank you. You are right. We must first die spiritually before we can receive the salvation Jesus wrought out for us on the cross. This spiritual death to sin, self and Satan is the most important thing we can say about death. God forbid that I should minimize or ignore this vital truth. Thank you so much for making it a significant part of this thread and dialogue. And most of all, thank you Lord!!!

I also agree with you that the first physical death we experience does not satisfy the demands of the broken law of God or the relationship our sin severed. Our first death has nothing to do with saving our own souls. Only Jesus saves! Only His incarnation, only His life, only His death, resurrection, ascension, intercession and second advent can save us.

However, the connection between death and sin is clearly revealed in the Word of God and the SOP. Yes, many inspired authors have employed death as a metaphor to help explain the plan of salvation. But metaphors are based upon a reality. What is the truth about death? What is the truth about sin? If we can grasp the truth about sin and death then we would be able to grasp the truth about the metaphors.

I believe we die because God will not allow us to eat of the fruit of the tree of life. The reason for this is because He does not want us to have to live eternally in a sinful state. It would be eternal misery even if we never chose to sin again. Death comes as a relief to those who have learned to loathe sin.

This first death, or soul sleep, is part of the penalty for sinning. But it does not secure our salvation. Nor does it completely satisfy the law. Therefore, a resurrection is necessary in order to address the unresolved issues relating to sin. In light of the great controversy, the accusations of Satan and the vindication of God must come to fruition.

However, the plan of salvation prevents us from experiencing the full force of our sin and guilt. Were it not for the life and death of Jesus the human race would not have survived the instant death of Adam and Eve as a result of their sin and guilt. Undiluted guilt kills like a nuclear bomb. The fact salvation protects us from the full force of our sin and guilt is cause for contention between Christ and Satan.

The Devil contends that if mankind were allowed to suffer the full force of their sin and guilt he would curse God and die. Such a reaction, says Satan, would prove the injustice of God and His law. For if the law of God is holy, just and good mankind would lament, not loathe, the full force of sin and guilt.

So the Devil accuses God of fighting unfairly by protecting man from succombing to the full force of his sin and guilt. Which is true. However, God will not allow the great controversy to end in a stalemate. For if Adam and Eve would have died immediately upon sinning the onlooking universe would have misunderstood it and the security of the unfallen worlds would have been jeopardized beyond repair.

But a time must come when mankind revisits his sin and guilt without the protecting shield of salvation. Which is what happens during judgment. The contrast between how the two classes of people (the saved and unsaved) respond as they face the true force of their sin and guilt will disprove Satan's accusations and establish the truth about the law, love and government of God.

However, before we can face our life record in judgment, to the honor and glory of God, we must first experience the salvation of Jesus. We must die to sin and expereince the miracle of rebirth. Otherwise, during judgment, we will confess our guilt, accept our condemantion and then curse God until the flames of hell consume us. It is this second death that satisfies the law, but from which there is no salvation.

What saves us from the second death is the perfect life and death of Jesus, our Lord and precious Saviour. Jesus consumed and conquered our sin and second death in our place, thereby earning the right to transfer them upon the head of Satan, who will be eliminated with them in our place. By facing the full force of the sin and guilt of the entire world Jesus demonstrated that it is possible for mankind to endure the full force of sin and guilt without cursing God to death.

He also proved that only born again believers can face the true force of sin and guilt without copping a death wish. Even if the human race had been allowed access to the fruit of the tree of life they would have rather rapidly annihilated themselves. The tree of life cannot perpetuate the life of a headless man.

But God cannot allow this to happen. He cannot allow sin and death to rule and ruin things. He must show Himself in control, otherwise the great controversy would end in a stalemate. Only God can eliminate sin and sinners and maintain the loyalty of His creatures. Any other outcome would result in cosmic chaos and complete devastation. If God is not in control, then how can He be trusted when He says affliction shall not arise a second time?

Do these thoughts make any sense?

Also, the three fold curse pronounced upon men, women and snakes testifies to the connection between sin, death and punishment.