The Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world. This tells me immediately that God knew what was going to happen, and we know this because He has declared the end from the beginning see Isaiah 46:10, it's that easy.
God is going to destroy the wicked when He comes, they dont torch eachother, they dont strangle eachother, but they will not be able to stand in God's presence and we know this beccause Moses Himself had to be put in the cleft see Exodus 30:20-22. We see these things clearly outlined in the Bible.

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Romans 6:16
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

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What part of the english language do people not understand by sin unto death, the wages of sin is death? Make a choice either the winning team, or the losing team the choice is yours. God made us all with the option of choosing, you can either accept it, philosophize about how unfair it seems to want to be independent but have to burn because you want "freedom", or that God didnt really mean it when He clearly says that the wicked will be cast into the lake of fire a real fire, not an symbolic place designed by ILM to look like fire, or vice versa or whatever. We are in for the long haul people I sugggest we get past the formalities, stick to what the Bible says and stop trying to make God out to not know what He is doing, or that He is spineless. Thats what the devil wants......................................to confuse you.

Will, the Spirit of Prophesy says:

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In all who submit to His power the Spirit of God will consume sin. But if men cling to sin, they become identified with it. Then the glory of God, which destroys sin, must destroy them. ...The light of the glory of God, which imparts life to the righteous, will slay the wicked. {DA 107.4}

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It is the glory of God which destroys the wicked. Note that this same thing gives life to the righteous.

The wicked die because of their own choice. It is sin that results in their death, not God. This is an important point to understand.

MM: You did not answer my question, so I'll reask it. When Lucifer rebeled God, was he carrying out God's plan, or was he instituting a plan contrary to God's plan?

I understand that Tom. I dont understand how anyone mixes up the fact that God is active in the destruction of the wicked. He does not want anyone to perish cause He sent His only begotten Son, so that we may all have life, but when Jesus comes let the filthy remain filthy, let the Holy remain Holy etc etc. We see that the wrath of God will be poured out and the wicked will die. Its not the first time this has happened.
God Bless,
Will

John, where does it say that God had a plan in place just in case men or angels sinned? What is about the wording of the quotes posted above that implies God wasn’t absolutely sure Lucifer and mankind would sin and rebel?

Phil, foreknowledge has everything to do with control. Also, I have never used the word “manipulate” to describe God’s control of the great controversy. We manage our own choices, but God controls and manages the outcome. We can personally refuse to be saved, but we cannot choose to derail His corporate plan to win the great controversy. And, no, Satan has never accused God of being too involved, for caring too much. Quite the opposite is true. Satan has accused God of being indifferent, selfish, and self-serving, and for passing laws that not even He is willing or able to obey.

Will, of course, I agree with you. However, I must also admit that I have learned much about the glory of God from studying this topic with Tom and the others.

Tom, no, God’s plan did not require sin and rebellion. Yes, He foresaw it, but He did not require it, or make it happen. That is, He did not create Lucifer or mankind in such a way that they would eventually sin and rebel. Sin is not the result of a design flaw. Yes, God created the potential for sin and death when He created free moral agents. But He did not force them to sin.

But, by choosing to create them anyhow, knowing in advance that they would sin, God indirectly created an environment where a great controversy was inevitable. Remember, sin and death were not possible until after God created beings capable of sinning and dying. God’s vision did not, and still does not, include sinning and dying. His backup plan is the plan of salvation, and its purpose is to get things back on track, to help restore God’s vision – a universe full of free moral agents who give and receive His love unconditionally.

I know what you are saying MM, and it is definitely one of learning, but what does it profit? what I am saying by this is that we can't be divided on issues regarding who is in control, nor can we be divided about the destruction of the wicked, or a lake of fire, nor about the Second Coming of Christ.
I guess I need to have more faith that God will make us all like the early church in which they agreed on everything.
God Bless,
Will

MM: You still haven't answered my question, so I, being patient, will ask it again. My question is if Lucifer instituted a plan which was contrary to God's plan? Or was Lucifer carrying out God's plan? Your answer seems to be implying the former, but I'm not 100% sure.

Also you're contradicting yourself when you speak of God 100% sure what would happen but having a "back-up" plan. These two concepts don't go together. You spoke of God creating an environment where sin was "inevitable." If sin was "inevitable" then no "back up" plan would be possible.

Will:I understand that Tom.

Tom: I assume "that" is that the same thing that gives life to the wicked results in the death of the wicked. You say you understand this, yet I don't see anything in the rest of your response which demonstrates any understanding of this principle. Perhaps you could explain to me how the view you are advocating harmonizes with the idea that the light of the glory of God, which gives life to the righteous, slays the wicked, because I am not understanding how your view incorporates this thought.

Will: I dont understand how anyone mixes up the fact that God is active in the destruction of the wicked.

Tom: I don't think anyone is advocating the position that God is not active in the destruction of the wicked.

Will: He does not want anyone to perish cause He sent His only begotten Son, so that we may all have life, but when Jesus comes let the filthy remain filthy, let the Holy remain Holy etc etc. We see that the wrath of God will be poured out and the wicked will die. Its not the first time this has happened.

Tom: Nobody has died the second death, so it will be the first time (and only time) that it will happen when it does. The only person who has experience the second death up to the present time is Jesus Christ, so if we would learn of the principles involved in death, we would do well to study the cross. Indeed, it is in the context of discussing the implications of Christ's death that EGW presents what appears to me to be the most cogent view of the destruction of the wicked that I have read (the finishing paragraphs of "It Is Finished" in "The Desire of Ages").

Will, I think mainline Adventism is in harmony on the great controversy, God's foreknowledge and control, the punishment and destruction of the unsaved in the lake of fire, and the second coming of Christ. There is apparently a small element of believers who disagree, who also would have us believe their views represent mainline Adventism. The issue regarding the glory of God, and how it relates to the punishment and destruction of the unsaved, is an insight especially unique to the SOP that is probably unfamiliar to most Adventists, at least, that's what I'm assuming.

Hi Tom,
This is my understanding. When God comes for His people they will be saved from the destruction that will fall on the wicked and from thewrath of the Lamb.
I notice 2 distinctions though when He comes, and this is where I think the confusion either on my part, or on both sides occurrs.
While God is to the wicked a consuming fire (they will be destroyed), He is to His people a Sun and Shield. (pg.489 GC)
God Bless,
Will

Tom, good point. The expression “backup plan” doesn’t accurately reflect the truth about the plan of salvation. Since God knew in advance that men and angels would sin, His plan to go ahead and create them anyhow must have necessarily included the great controversy and the plan of salvation. But this insight does not imply God created men and angels to sin and rebel to fulfill His ultimate plan for the universe. Sin and rebellion were not necessary in order to safeguard the universe against a repetition of rebellion in the future. The following is the best we can say about why men and angels chose to sin and rebel:

GC 492, 493
It is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give a reason for its existence. Yet enough may be understood concerning both the origin and the final disposition of sin to make fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all His dealings with evil. Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture than that God was in no wise responsible for the entrance of sin; that there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine grace, no deficiency in the divine government, that gave occasion for the uprising of rebellion. Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is that given in the word of God; it is "the transgression of the law;" it is the outworking of a principle at war with the great law of love which is the foundation of the divine government. {GC 492.2}

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Did Lucifer institute a plan which was contrary to God's plan? Or was Lucifer carrying out God's plan?

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My answer to these questions should be obvious by now, however, to avoid trying your patience any further than is necessary, not that you would run out, let me make it as clear as I possibly can. Lucifer didn’t do anything more or less than what God foresaw. And, neither has he done anything, nor will he do anything, more or less than what God foresaw before He created him. Yes, Lucifer did something God wished he hadn’t done, namely, sin and rebel. However, according to the quote posted above, we cannot make heads or tails out of why he chose to sin and rebel. We know God foresaw the fall of men and angels, but we do not know why they fell.

God’s plan for the universe, from eternity, obviously included (i.e., took into account or accommodated) the great controversy and the plan of salvation, therefore, Satan did not ruin God’s plan. Nor was it God’s plan for Lucifer to sin and rebel. It’s just way it is. Yes, he broke God's heart. Lucifer is acting out the part God foresaw, but we cannot explain why. It is an unexplainable, unaccountable mystery.