Lesson 185. The First Sin

Envy and pride are the very first sin that arose in the sinless Universe. One of the holy angels, who had been anointed by God and placed above all others, began to envy his Creator and dream of His throne. That angel was named Lucifer. He was the covering cherub and one of those who revealed God’s plans to all the inhabitants of Heaven.

There was none like him in the entire Universe, but because of his mighty intellect and his perfect beauty, this angel became proud and began to dream of the higher position held by God’s Son. And Lucifer did not want to be like God in love. He desired to have unlimited power and to reign over the entire Universe, deciding how everyone should live and what they should do.

And in order to accomplish his plans, this cherub began secretly spreading gossip about God among the holy beings. The spirit of discontent and envy spread to those who had been happy with God and had never considered a different relationship.

God understood what had happened and where it would lead, but He did not suppress this rebellion at its very beginning. He allowed all the angels to decide in their hearts whom they would worship.

The Lord chose love and truth as His strategy in this new conflict. Debates began, in which Satan presented his arguments, while God warned all the inhabitants of Heaven about where this rebellion would lead. But Lucifer’s envy gave him no rest, for the goal he had set for himself was very precious to him, and he dreamed of occupying God’s throne and proving to everyone that his rule would be better. He promised everyone bright prospects if they made such a choice.

All the plans of the evil one were very skillfully disguised, and many who supported or sympathized with him did not even suspect where this rebellion would lead.

In the spirit of truth and love, God, in His mercy, offered His sons repentance and forgiveness, explaining the grave consequences of their sin. But they dreamed of an imaginary freedom apart from God and could not accept such an offer, considering it deeply humiliating to repent before everyone and acknowledge their mistakes, while sin drew them so enticingly toward itself. Its terrible consequences were unknown to them.

And there was war in Heaven. Michael, the Son of God, together with the angels faithful to Him, fought against the dragon and those who supported this rebellion. And the fallen inhabitants of Heaven were removed from God’s presence, but they did not lose their power and remained alive.

Seeds of evil had been sown among the faithful angels, and they could spring up at any moment and neutralize God’s influence. The Lord removed the source of evil from the Heavenly dwellings. Satan did not expect such a turn of events. It did not fit into his plans, but he could no longer change anything. Satan and his angels had gone very far.

But God’s enemy was permitted to seek a place for his further habitation and to develop his ideas wherever he would be accepted.

If God had destroyed the devil and the fallen angels immediately or a little later, fear would have taken hold of all intelligent beings, for they did not yet know all the sorrowful consequences of sin, were concerned about their banished brother, and did not understand his true plans and purposes. And if Satan had been killed, many would have concluded that perhaps he had been right in accusing God of dictatorship and cruelty and offering in return freedom from God and the Heavenly law. Therefore, the enemy of souls was given more time, and he sought those who would support him.

When our beautiful world was created, Satan’s envy gave him no rest, and he patiently waited for the moment when the innocent people would enter forbidden territory and violate God’s command. Oh, if that happened, Lucifer could become the prince of this world and establish his own order in it! And the entire new planet would become his kingdom, and the whole Universe would learn how wonderful it was possible to live far from God, doing whatever the sinful soul desired.

Unfortunately, the first people fell under Satan’s spell, and the enemy of man became what he desired to be. But God did not abandon fallen humanity to the mercy of the evil one; He gave them a power called grace so that, through God’s support, they could resist the influence of evil and withstand temptations.

But the enemy spread his influence over the descendants of Adam and Eve very skillfully, and few were able to resist these temptations.

God promised a Savior from the power of sin and death, and the sacrificial service was established as a reminder of this. But people chose sin and did not desire to follow God. And the Earth became so corrupt before the face of the Creator that He decided to destroy all who lived upon it, for He saw that they would never repent or turn from their evil ways.

But even in that troubled time, God had a faithful remnant. Noah and his family believed that the Lord would destroy the Earth with a flood, and according to God’s plan they began to build an ark in which they would be able to survive the coming catastrophe. One hundred and twenty years passed, the ark was ready for its long voyage, the time of grace for that world ended, and Noah and his family entered the ark, inviting anyone who wished to join them, and the doors were shut. Humanity had made its choice. No one believed that anything terrible would happen.

Mist watered the ground, the climate was the same everywhere, and no one understood what rain from heaven meant.

But the day of the Lord’s wrath came, and God’s justice was revealed to all people. The Earth opened its deep, and the water within it burst forth. The windows of heaven were opened, and the water that had surrounded the Earth, creating a greenhouse effect, poured down upon this world as a deluge, covering and destroying everything in its torrents. The people’s terror knew no bounds. The catastrophe was so terrible that even Satan and his angels began to fear for their lives. But only fallen human beings perished.

The entire surface of the Earth was covered with water, and only the ark rocked peacefully upon the waves, awaiting what would happen to it.

God dried the Earth, gathering all the water into seas and oceans and concealing most of the land beneath them. He buried the floating trees in the depths of the Earth, making them sources of coal and oil for the last days. The saved people came out of the ark and continued life on this Earth.

We are all children of Adam and Noah, brothers and sisters according to the flesh, but God divided us into languages and nations and scattered us over the whole face of the Earth.

When the Savior was born into the world, Satan looked intently into the face of this Infant, Who had been born to bring an end to the kingdom of darkness and sin, and he could not understand this Love of God, Which gave His beloved Son to save fallen humanity. Such a Sacrifice was unknown to him, but it happened. The Son was born into the world; God became Man. Horror and fear gripped the hearts of the fallen angels, but their nature did not change; they continued to tempt and destroy.

Jesus grew up and accomplished that for which He had been born. He left us an example of love and revealed to us the true character of God the Father, tearing the mask from Satan. The enemy of souls became the murderer of God, and the entire Universe saw where this rebellion would have led if the enemies of the Creator had been permitted to remain in Heaven.

But we have been warned that in the last days it will be as it was in the days of Noah. People will go about their activities and will not think. And now that time has come. The world is coming to an end.

Sin brazenly holds up its ugly head and defiantly points its finger toward Heaven, seducing all people to its side.

God’s Love is revealed to all people. And what will I choose? Whom will I follow?

And God waits.

1. What new things did you learn in this lesson?

2. Where, when, and why did the first sin arise? Who originated it?

3. How does Lucifer differ from Jesus Christ?

4. Why was this angel permitted to develop his principles on Earth?

5. Could he not have been destroyed immediately?

6. What strategy does God use in this war? What was offered to the fallen angels?

7. What did God devise in order to save humanity from sin?

8. Whom will you choose? God waits.

9. Please read Revelation 12:7–10; Matthew 24:37–39; Genesis 3:15; 6:5–7; Ezekiel 28:12–18; Isaiah 7:14–15; 14:9–20; Daniel 7:25; 8:11–12; Revelation 13:15; Jude 24–25 in the light of our lesson.