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If God won the War,

If God won the War,


Why isn't It Over?
Table of Contents
Title Page

1. Judging the Judgment


2. A Problem with Many Sides
3. God's Multiple Remedies
4. The Cross: Turning Point, Not End
5. Who Needs an End-Time Judgment?
6. The Role of a Pure People in the Judgment
7. The Final Judgment in Symbol and Reality
8. A Distinctive Message about Judgment

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If God won the War,

If God won the War,


Why isn't It Over?
by Dick Winn
edited by Allen Roy
Originally published by
Pacific Press Publishing Association
Mountain View, California, 1982
The content of this book has been edited in the following
ways:
1: Modified for Adobe Acrobat format
2: This book was originally written for a fairly small
audience. It has had some parts deleted or modified which
would only be understood by those of that small audience
who have a shared experience, but which is uninteligible to
the world in general.
3: Biblical quotes are changed to the NIV.

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If God won the War,

If God won the War, Why isn't It Over?

Judging the Judgment

There are certain issues about the judgment which have not
received adequate attention.
For whose sakes is the judgment held?
Does God need to make up His mind on some matters?
What aspects of the sin problem are being dealt with now
that were not dealt with at the cross?
Having been justified apart from works (RO 3:28 For we maintain that a
man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. RO 4:5 However, to the man who does not work
, why is the
but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.)
believer and the record of his works brought up for
consideration in the judgment ? (2CO 5:10 For we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body,
whether good or bad. RO 14:10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on
your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. 1CO 4:4 My conscience is clear, but that
does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 1CO 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the
appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will
expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.)

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If God won the War,

Who are the protagonists in the judgment?


What are the real, central issues being debated in this cosmic
courtroom?
In the following pages, we will seek an understanding of
these larger issues. These brief chapters may at best serve
only as thought-stimulators. But it is this author's conviction
that our great need is to place the judgment in the midst of a
larger theological framework in which it makes absolutely
good sense and does not conflict with what we already
understand of God and how He works. Other matters -- the
date for the judgment, the exact architecture of the heavenly
sanctuary, and Jesus' physical location during the final
atonement -- can all be better understood after this basic
framework is settled. The far more crucial matter is to see the
final, pre-advent judgment as a necessary and soundly
Biblical part of God's plan to end the sin problem in the
universe.
Next Chapter

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If God won the War,

If God won the War, Why isn't It Over?

A Problem with Many Sides

The activity of God since Lucifer's rebellion in heaven has


had but one goal: to eradicate sin from the universe. And all
of the activitiey of God's sanctuary -- illustrated by the eartly
and carried out in the heavenly -- has been in service of that
same goal.
But sin is a problem with many sides. To see the sin problem
as too simple is to expect too simple a solution. Our study of
the final judgment will only frustrate us unless we see it in
the context of all that God is doing to eradicate sin. And in
order to do that, we must have a clear picture of the nature of
the sin problem.
At its very core, sin is a problem of relationships -- broken
relationships between God and His people. but in only one
way can Satan either cause or maintain a broken relationship
between free, thoughtful creatures and their Creator. And that
is to deceive them about the character of their wonderful
God. The fundamental activity of Satan is to lie, to delude, to
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mislead minds. And his primary focus of attack in on the


frontal lobes of the brain.
Jesus labeled him a liar by nature -- indeed, the very father of
all lies (JN 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire.
He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies,
he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.) His power over the
nations has been through deceit. (REV 20:3 He threw him into the Abyss, and
locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years
Satan drew away more
were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.)
than a third of the angels of heaven, misleading them into
choosing his tyranny rather than God's fairness. (REV 12:9 The great
dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world
Using the very same
astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.)
method -- implying untruths about God, that he might tear
down their faith in Him -- Satan enticed our first parents into
rebellion. (1TI 2:14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived
and became a sinner. Compare Gen 3:1-7 note the way Satan imputes restrictive, self centered unfairness
Seven times in the book of Revelation,
to God in His dealings with men )
Satan's last-day activity on this earh is identified as
deception.(REV 12:9 The great dragon was hurled down--that ancient serpent called the devil, or
Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. REV 13:14
Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of
the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and
yet lived. REV 18:23 The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and
bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell
To know God is to love Him and trust
all the nations were led astray.)
Him. Satan therefore fears nothing more than that people
might come to a knowledge of the truth. (2TI 3:7 always learning but never
able to acknowledge the truth.) Not "truth" in the abstract, but truth about
a Person. Sin, therefore, has both its origins and its continued

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If God won the War,

power in deception about God.


To help us keep track of these various parts of the sin
problem, let us consider the first element of a diagram which
we will continue to develop in this chapter:
The Sin Problem

Satan's
deceptions
about God

When deception reaches its target -- the minds of God's free


creatures, and they choose to believe it -- the result is a
shattered relationship. Trust in God gives way to skepticism,
loyalty to rebellion, and intelligent submission to defiant
independence. That dignified, mutual relationship between
God and His people is known as "faith," and Satan's
deceptions fracture faith. No longer seeing God as One
whom they can trust with the lordship of their lives, His
prodigals strike out to set up separate sovereignty over their
oen lives. Their resulting stupid and self-destructive
behaviors are not the real sin problem. They are but the
result. The real sin problem, the very heart of the matter, is
the broken faith relationship.

The Sin Problem

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Satan's Deceptions
About God ----> Broken Faith Relationship

More than anything else, it is the broken faith relationship


with His creatures which has greived the heart of our God.
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would convince the
world of this great sin, "because men do not believe
me."(John 16:9) Paul asserts that what ever a person does,
even good deeds, apart from a faith relationship with Jesus
Christ, is sin, "for everything that does not come from faith is
sin." (Roman 14:23) The broken faith relationship causes
three distinct -- through, of course, related -- results. We will
look at them separately, since they each call forth a different
part of God's healing work.
God Told Adam and Eve that maintaining the vital faith
relationshp with Him was so essential that sould they ever
break it (as symbolized by eathing from the forbidden tree),
the result would be death. (GE 2:16, 17 And the LORD God commanded the man,
"You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of
Notice that God did not
good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.")
threated to kill them, as in revenge. Rather he shared with
them a profound and accurate truth about the results of
separation from the Lifegiver. (PR 8:36 But whoever fails to find me harms
himself; all who hate me love death." EPH 4:18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated
from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.)
Notice, too, that the death which is the inherent consequence
of alienation from Life is a death of eternal separation from
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God. The Bible terms it "the second death." (REV 20:6 Blessed and holy
are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will
be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. REV 21:8 But the cowardly,
the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the
idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.")
But when Adam and Eve did choose another master, God
immediately interposed, holding off what would have
otherwise resulted in their immediate destruction. God has
never wanted "anyone to perish"; instead He desires
"everyone to come to repentance," (2 Pet 3:9) And bringing
one to repentance takes time -- time to replace error with
truth and distrust with confidence.
Yet even though God had purchased for them time to repent,
still they knew that they deserved to die. This rightful
sentence of death, properly hanging over the heads of all
humanity, is passed because of our guilt.
The Sin Problem
Satan's Guilt:
Broken Faith
Deceptions ----> Relationship ----> Deserving the
About God Second Death

Guilt is not just a feeling of remorse -- though such feelings


are involved. Guilt is an accurate, legal status. It does not call
forth God's anger or His personal rejection of us as sinners.
Indeed, the fact that we are alive (even though guilty) rather
than eternally dead is proof of God's loving compassion for
sinners. But not even God can change the facts, the reality, of
the situation: separation from Life will result in death. To be
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guilty is to be deserving of death.


But a broken relationship with God changes more than my
legal status. It changes me! Perhaps far more than I may
recognize, estrangement from God directly affects how I
view myself and thus how I view others. Adam and Eve
immediately became defensive of themselves and accusing
towards others. (GE 3:7-13 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized
they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man
and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day,
and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man,
"Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I
hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded
you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me--she gave me some fruit from the
tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman
Alienation from God devastates
said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate.")
my self-worth, making me utterly self-centered. All of my
values become grasping, distrustful, exploitive. I become
totally unfit to live in heaven's society. Were Christ, by some
miracle of grace (and contrary to His own wisdom) to
transport me to the heavenly realms, I would be totally out of
place there. Being still duped by Satans's deceptions and thus
a rebel at heart, I would surely start the sin problem all over
again in heaven.
So another aspect of the sin problem must be addressed.
The Sin Problem Selfish
Character and
Values

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Satan's Guilt:
Broken Faith
Deceptions ----> Relationship ----> Deserving the
About God Second Death

The third consequence of a broken faith relationship is the


damage which sin does to this organism in which I live. Even
though it is sometimes difficult to draw clean lines between
this body in which I live and the things I do while in this
body, there is value in speaking of them as distinct aspects of
the sin problem. (One of the times we see the value in
speaking of them in this way is when we consider the
humanity of Jesus. He was born in a body just like ours, (PHP
2:7, 8 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature* of a servant, being made in human likeness. And
being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a
cross! HEB 2:17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might
become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for n the
sins of the people. HEB 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.
HEB 10:5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not
yet that body presented no ultimate
desire, but a body you prepared for me;)
deterrent to His living a life of perfect submission to the will
of His Father.)
Paul is refering to this sin-damaged organism when he
discusses sinful flesh. (RO 7:25 Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So
then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. RO
8:6-13 The mind of sinful man n is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the
sinful mind n is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the
sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if
the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to
Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of
righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if

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you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of
Because Satan has had such great success in
the body, you will live,)
perverting the normal drives of the body and in taking
advantage of hunger, weariness, and pain, the body can
indeed be viewed as a "source" of sin. More precisely, it is a
"door of access" through which Satan most often gains
control over the mind. But God's plan must reckon with it.
The Sin Problem Selfish Character
and Values

Satan's Guilt:
Broken Faith
Deceptions ----> Relationship ----> Deserving the
About God Second Death

Sinful Flesh:
The Sin-damaged
Body

Keep in mind not only the different parts of the sin problem
as illustrated here, but also their sequence. For we would
expect that God's solution must match the problem in every
particular.

Next Chapter

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If God won the War,

If God won the War, Why isn't It Over?

God's Multiple Remedies

During the brief years of His mission, Jesus was moved by


one overriding desire: to reveal to a darkened world the light
of truth about His Father. With godly exasperation, He
chided His disciples for failing to see that His life was a
revelation of the Father. (JN 14:7-11 If you really knew me, you would know n my
Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the
Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have
been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say,
`Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I
say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me
when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the
More than 227 times in John's Gospel alone,
miracles themselves.)
Jesus makes specific references to the Father. Indeed, the key
to eternal life itself is in knowing the Father as revealed in
the life of Jesus. (JN 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.)
"Righteous Father," Jesus cries out, "the world does not
know you." (John 17:25) He can think of no greater tragedy
than that the One who most deserves to be known and loved
has been monstrously maligned by the enemy. And so would
we not expect that Jesus would want to strike right at the
heart of the sin problem?

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Paul recognized that the best news our sin-blinded minds


could comprehend was "the light of the gospel [good news]
of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Cor 4:4)
He rejoices that God has made "his light shine in our hearts
to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Christ." (2 Cor 4:6)
God's Remedies Selfish Character
and Values

Truth about God


in Jesus' Life and Guilt:
Broken Faith
Death ----> Relationship ----> Deserving the
Second Death
Satan's
Deceptions About God

Sinful Flesh:
The Sin-damaged
Body

It is an unbroken theme, from Genesis to Revelation,


repeated hundreds of times: The nowledge of God shatters
Satan's deceptive power and is the foundation for all of God's
redemptive work for mankind. Indeed, the truth about our
God is what wins our hearts, reconciling us to Him. In Christ
"God was reconciling the world to himself." (2 Cor 5:19)
God takes the initiative, God sends truth in His Son, who
alone can fully reveal God. And the glad, free response of the
now-enlightened heart is known as faith.

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If God won the War,

God's Remedies Selfish Character


and Values

Truth
about God Faith:
in Jesus' Reconciled to
Life and God in Love, Guilt:

Death
----> Trust, and ----> Deserving the
Second Death
Obedience
Satan's
Deceptions About Broken Faith Relationship
God

Sinful Flesh:
The Sin-damaged
Body

Faith is a personal friendship with God, characterized by love


and trust. Faith becomes more mature as one comes to know
God more fully. Yet one of the first truths God wishes us to
know is how He views that death sentence hanging over our
heads. In His own Son, He has borne that sentence in our
place that we might fearlessly have the right of free access to
His presence. (JN 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, n that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. HEB 10:20-22 by a new and living way
opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of
God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to
Complete
cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.)
pardon, justification, forgiveness, acquittal -- call it what
wever we will -- expresses one overpowering truth: past sins
are no barrier to present fellowship with our Lord. That is
His settled attitude toward all who have faith in Him. Not
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because any of us have deserved it by our performance but


because He loves us. The only requirement: faith. Faith in a
Person. Not even faith in the cross, but faith in the Jesus who
died on the cross and thus in the Father who gave Him for us.
(RO 4:5, 20-22 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith
is credited as righteousness. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but
was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do
what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." RO 8:32 He who did not
spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us
all things?)

God's Remedies Selfish Character


and Values

Truth
about Faith: Justification:
God in Reconciled to Pardon; Viewed
Jesus' God in Love, as Righteous,
Life and ----> Trust, and ----> Accepted
Death Obedience
Guilt:
Broken Faith Deserving the
Satan's Second Death
Deceptions Relationship
About God

Sinful Flesh:
The Sin-damaged
Body

Faith not only changes our legal status from "guilty" to


"innocent," it also gives God dramatic new access to change
radically our inner selves. Just as alienation from God
devastated our self-worth, so now the assurance of present

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acceptance by God rebuilds it. The ego-centered coping


mechanisms which Satan had used to control us virtually at
will are now stripped of there power. Christ's perfect love for
us has cast out all fear of rejection by other. (1JN 4:18 There is no fear in
love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not
Our deep inner need for love being daily met by
made perfect in love.)
our loving Saviour, we are able to turn outward and become
truly loving, unselfish persons. (1JN 4:19 We love because he first loved us.)
This growth in Christlikeness of character (which we often
call sanctification) is not growth toward God's acceptance; it
is growth within that acceptance. God does not love us
because we are becoming more like Him; we are becoming
more like Him because we already know He loves us! (RO
8:31-39 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did
not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give
us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right
hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble
or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake
we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." n No, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons, n neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
God's love is a changing power.
Lord.)

God's Remedies A New Heart:


That Loves
Righteousness
and Hates Sin
Selfish Character and Values

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Truth
about Faith:
Justification:
God in Reconciled to
Pardon; Viewed
Jesus' God in Love,
as Righteous,
Life and ----> Trust, and ----> Accepted
Death Obedience
Guilt: Deserving the Second
Satan's Broken Faith Death
Deceptions Relationship
About God

Sinful Flesh:
The Sin-damaged Body

Now let's examine God's remedy for the problem of our


sinful flesh. True, we will live in this sin-damaged body until
death or until the moment of the second coming of Christ,
when we shall all be changed and given immortal bodies. (1CO
15:51-55 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed-- in a flash, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with
immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."
But while living in
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?")
these weakened bodies, we still need not be mastered by
them. As was the case with Jesus, we may joing Paul in
saying. "The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith." (GAL
2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the
The
body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.)
enlightening, strenthening power of the Holy Spirit has set us
free from the power of sinful flesh. (Rom 8:1-13)

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God's Remedies A New Heart:


That Loves
Righteousness
and Hates Sin
Selfish Character and Values

Truth
about Faith: Justification:
God in Reconciled to Pardon; Viewed
Jesus' God in Love, as Righteous,
Life and ----> Trust, and ----> Accepted
Death Obedience
Guilt:
Broken Faith Deserving the
Satan's Second Death
Deceptions Relationship
About God

Controlled by the
New Spirit-led
Mind
Sinful Flesh: The
Sin-damaged Body

In considering the preceeding diagram, it might be worth


noting that the word "sin' applies most appropriately to the
second circle -- the broken faith relationship. If that problem
is being solved and one is walking in faith, would it not seem
strange to point to the existence of the sinful flesh and say
that because it remains until the second coming one will
therefore be a sinner until translation? Is "sin" a function of
the mind and loyalties, or of weakened blood vessels and
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tired muscles? The problem of relationship can be fully


solved in this life, even though the problem of sin-damaged
flesh remains. And that is part of what Jesus came to
demonstrate to us.

Next Chapter

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If God won the War,

If God won the War, Why isn't It Over?

The Cross:
Turning Point, Not End
So far we have discussed sin and salvation in the abstract,
using diagrams and words. Now let's look at the actions of
God as He moves into the realm of humanity and time to win
us back.
But first some distinctions. To ignore these is to lose the flow
of the rest of this book, so note them carefully.
. There is a difference between the winning the battle
between Jesus and Satan and the the ending of the battle.
Age-old arguments between a "complete atonement" and
an "incomplete atonement" have missed this distinction --
with those who hold our far a complete atonement trying
to say that Jesus won the victory on the cross, and those
who stress and incomplete atonement trying to explain
why the rebellion goes on more that 1900 years later.
Thus we suggest the phrase "atonement in progress to
better describe what God has been doing since the cross."
B. There is a similar difference between the necessary

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response for my personal salvation and the distinct


privileges of cooperating with God in ending the battle --
the great controversy. In the Bible, human performance is
not set forth as the basis for salvation, but is urged as a
necessary condition for helping God out. Perhaps much
of our confusion on the matter of Christ-like behavior
stems from the fact that we seem most interested only in
our own salvation.
C. Again, we must maintain a sharp distinction, in
discussing the sin problem, as to whether we are
discussing God's attitudes about man or discussing man's
attitudes about God. Too often we assume that the sin
problem is wrapped up in God's opinion of man. ("Does
He regard me as guilty, or innocent?" "does He love
me?"). It was man -- Adam and Eve, -- chaning his
opinion of God, who broght sin into the world. And it is
our opinions which must be changed before sin can be
eradicated from the planet.
And now our attention focuses on the cross. How could we
improve on Paul's summary of praise to this, the grand
turning point in the history of the universe? "God forbid that
I sould boast about anyghing or anybody except the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, which means that the world is a dead
thing to me and I am a dead man to the world." (1)
Since virtually every Christian knows what happened on the

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cross of Calvary, let us concentrate on the meanings of the


cross in the overall plan of atonement. Two qustions: What
was settled at the cross? And, What remained yet to be
settled after the cross?
What was Settled at the Cross?
1. The consequences of sin were at last fully revealed. God
had truthfully warned Adam and Eve that sin would
cause a terrible death, bringing total separation from God,
Satan immediately refuted the warning, saying that it
would not. (2) Who was telling the truth -- God or Satan?
Strictly on the basis of available evidence, it might have
seemed that Satan had the edge on truth. After all, for
some 4000 years, God has "passed over" those sins, (3)
not allowing that final death to take place. Of course, had
anyone suffered that deserved death, he would not have
been around to benefit from the demonstration of God's
truthfulness. So in His mercy, God held back the full and
final consequences of sin. But then came that awful
moment when all those consequences, for all of
humanity, realized their full expression -- in one Man!
And He cried out, "My God, My God, why have you
forsaken me?" (4) In that moment "mercy and truth ...
met together." (5) It was mercy in that Jesus died rather
than us. It was truth in that Jesus died as God had said
sinners would. Thus, one purpose of the cross "was to
prove at the present time that he himself is righteous." (6)
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That is, you can count of God always to tell the truth,
even if the truth is costly. (What is more, He is even
willing to bear the cost!)
2. On the cross, the nature and extent of God's totally
self-giving love was fully revealed. the impact of that
extreme sacrifice for undeserving rebels was electrifying
through the whole universe. Angels, perceiving its
meaning more quickly than men, were entralled. (7) It
shattered the last link of sympathy between Satan and the
heavenly hosts. Having seen the malicious hatred of
Satan toward their loving Commander in stark contrast
with Jesus' compassionate forgiveness toward His
murderers. the heavenly hosts would never again be
duped by Satan's lies about God. And the record of those
events was preserved for us humans to ponder, that --
with the Spirit's aid -- we might come to the same
conclusions.
3. Having died in our place, Jesus won for us all the right to
stand free from all guilt when we are joined to Him by
the bond of faith. (8) This is the great truth of
justification by faith: that God is eager to view us all as
though we had never sinned. The sentence of death which
we have borne is not only repreived, it is fully cancelled.
Nor is this because we have done anything which would
deserve a different treatment. It is entirely an expression
of God's gracious love to the prodigals who have come
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home. And it is theirs as long as they stay home! (9)


Forgiveness is a concrete expression of God's attitude
toward all sinners. He offers it freely to all sinners who
will accept it by trusting Him. As repentant, loyal
members of God's family, we can be sure we are
forgiven, because we can be sure of the Forgiver.
Forgiveness is more a statement about God than about
me. The good news is not just that I am forgiven, but that
God is the Forgiver -- that it is an inherent part of His
nature to treat me that way! That is the basis for my
assurance. It is grounded in who God is, rather than in
anything that I am or ever can do.
In the strictest sense, forgiveness deals with one's legal
right to return to fellowship with God. But at the pratical
level, that gracious expression by God does more than
just open the door for me to return to God; it tugs me
throug that door! What thoughtful person could resist
those open, extended, pierced hands?
4. The cross of Christ guaranteed the victory of Christ in the
great controversy. No longer was the ultimate outcome in
question. From that moment, Satan was a defeated foe,
and Jesus was Victor. Though it sounded to the onlookers
like a moan of defeat, Jesus' cry "it is finished" was the
victor's shout. (10) The Son of man had met the prince of
this earth on his own ground and came away undefeated.
throughout eternity, as the redeemed join the myriads of

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heaven in singing, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,"


(11) they will know that He was willing to even die for
His creation.
That Jesus is victor in the great controversy is assured. Only
two questions remain: Who shall share the victory with Him?
When shall He claim that victory?
What Remains to Be Settled After the Cross?
The Cross was the turning point in the great controversy. But
it was not the end. The very fact that Jesus did not destroy
Satan on resurrection morning and take home His band of
loyal followers is evidence that some aspects of the
atonement are still in progress. To identify some of these
aspects is not to depreciate the cross in any way. Rather, it is
to acknowledge that the cross was intended for the winning
of the controversy, but not, by itself, for the ending of the
controversy.
Notice these additional factors:
1. The world's inhabitants did not yet fully know or
understand the saving revelation of God in Jesus. The
truth about God is of value only when it gets into th4e
inds of the people whom God wants to win back. This
message He has entrusted into the hands of His people,
His continued body on earth. (12) And He has asked that
we share it with the whole world, for He loves the whole

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world. (13) God intends that no person should ever make


a decision about Him without a clear picture of who is
being accepted or rejected. "You will know the truth,"
Jesus promised, "and the truth will make you free." (14)
2. The world needs to witness sin's ultimately
self-destructive nature. Indeed, whtn God leaves sinners
to reap the final consequences of their rebellious choices,
this seems so out of character with His patient love that it
is called His strange deed, His alien work. (15) Had God
destroyed Satan and his followers when they first
rebelled, even the angels of heaven would have viewed it
as an act of arbitrary power and would have served God
from fear. Paul describes how that in contrast to the clear
portrayal of the truth about God, there will also be a
fuller manifestation of Satan's character and work in the
final days before Jesus returns. (16) Again, the purpose
of this fuller revelation is not so that God can view
sinners any differently, but so that mankind can
understand why God views them as He does. They need
to see why God views them as unfit for heaven's
fellowship.
3. The universe needs to know whether God's methods of
restoration really work. They have seen that He can
indeed forgive sinners. But forgiveness, relatively
speaking, seems the easier part. Ithas to do with God's
attitude toward man; and God is the stable, clear-thinking
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One. But what about man's attitude toward God? That


has always been the trouble spot. His thinking always
seems so prone to poor reasoning -- so vulnerable to bad
information. Yet God has proposed to bring these
wayward minds back into informed, settled, unchanging
loyalty to Himself, solely through a living revelation of
Himself. No "spiritual magic" to be worked on our
brains. No loyalty-by-restructured-neurons approaches.
Just truth, freedom, time -- and love.
But will it work? Satan can no longer validly argue that
repentant sinners do not have the right to return to
fellowship with God. He knows the meaning of the cross.
But now he charges that rebels cannot be made ready to
remain in heaven's fellowship. (17)
And that's a fair quston! Even as we rejoice in the present
assurance of God's forgiveness, we know enough about
ourselves to wonder if we caould be trusted with the
perfect, endless freedoms of that pure place without
"messing it up" all over again. Many have set that
readiness as their goal, yet have died enroute, knowing
precious little about the principles of the kingdom and its
resulting life-style. But they have known heaven's Lord,
and thus He has reserved the right to complete their
readiness process "in residence." (18)
But God is proposing that He is indeed able fully to
prepare a people to relocate directly into the kingdom
without seeing death. (19) The issue is not that such
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persons are required to attain some higher degree of


righteousness to deserve salvation! It is not a matter of
what they can do for God, but of what God can do for
them -- if they are willing to accept the privilege. For a
number of reasons (to be discussed later), heaven longs
for such people. (20) For such a people Paul pleads:
"Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and
make holiness perfectly in the fear of God." (21)
4. All living, thinking persons must have an informed basis
for making a final, total decision for or against God. The
heavently angel told John that a time would come when
people would no longer be changing sides in the great
controversy -- that even though they are alive, they would
not be changing their minds. (22) Time for choosing
(probationary time, we call it) would be no more. Not
because God has arbitrarily shut it down, but because it
would no longer be needed. Everyone will have made a
final, unchageable choice for the lordship of Satan
(described as receiving the "mark of the beast" (23)) or
they will have made an unchanging decision for the
gracious lordship of Jesus (referred to as the "seal of
God" (24)). No more middle ground. No more undecided
persons, pleading "Well, I really don't know which way
to go." The issues will be starkly clear: Christ and His
character versus Satan and and his character.

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And this is the whole point: It would be contrary to every


aspect of the way God woks for Him to bring the world to
the point of this finaly choice without giving them adequate
information upon which to base their choices. Thus Jesus
said the gospel "will be preached throughout the whole
world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will
come." (25) Truth will be a final, confronting evidence,
bringing the whole world to the point of decision.
Were God to say today to the world, "Choose you this day
whom you will serve," (26) most of the world would have to
say, "Who is the Lord? What is He like?" Forced to make
decisions about Jesus, many would understandably choose
against Him, because the picture they have of Him is Satan's
picture. and God won't force such a choice.
And so we wait. God took the time to win the great
controversy in such an impeccably fair way that none could
challenge it throughout eternity. We can trust Him to end it
in the same way. Even if it takes more time. God's intense
desire to bring the universe to oneness again is exceeded only
by His desire to do it in such a way that it can never be
questioned throughout eternity. For this reason, the work of
at-one-ment is still in progress.

Next Chapter
--------

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1. Galatians 6:14.
2. Genesis 3:4.
3. Romans 3:25.
4.Matthew 27:46.
5. Psalm 85:10.
6. Romans 3:25.
7. 1 Peter 1:12.
8. Romans 8:1.
9. 1 John 5:11-13; Romans 6:23; John 5:24.
10. John 19:30.
11. Revelation 5:12.
12. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20.
13. Matthew 29:19, 20.
14 John 8:32.
15. Isaiah 28:21.
16. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.
17. Zechariah 3:1-7 (see also Psalm 24:3-5; 1John 3:2, 3, 8-10).
18. Remember the promise made by Christ to the dying thief: LUke 23:39-43.
19. 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55.
20. Romans 8:18-24.
21. 2 Corinthians 7:1.
22. Revelation 22:11.
23. Revelation 13:16 and chapters 17 and 18.
24. Revelation 7:3.
25. Matthew 24:14, emphasis supplied.
26. Joshua 24:15.

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If God won the War, Why isn't It Over?

Who Needs
an End-Time Judgment?
Most of the negative comments one hears about the concept
of an ent-time judgment are reactions against what can only
be viewed as a caricature of the judgment. This distorted,
confused scenario of the judgment suggests some very
strange ideas about God and how He works, and as such it
deserves to be questioned by thoughtful people. In its various
forms, this view of the judgment goes something like this:
God simply cannot make up His mind about whom to save in
the judgment. So He must convene a court in order to
reexamine the evidence before casting a decision. The books
of recrd, listing the good and bad works of each person, are
opened and examined. As the lists of sins are reviewed, the
Father's face darkens, and the verdict looks doubtful for the
individual in question. Bu then Jesus steps froward, and in
the true adversary fashion typical of earhly courts, pleads the
gracious merits of His blood over against the stern justice of
the Father. Perhaps if the believer has registered enough
good works on his record, Jesus can win his case.

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Ths caricature continues by suggesting that, as each case is


settled in the courts of heaven and marked as "accepted" or
"rejected," that person's probation is closed. The divine
Magistrates then go on to the next -- apparently in
chronological order. When the entire list of repentant
believers has thus been examined, then judgment is over and
the second coming is next on the agenda. Thus, it is the
heavy case load in the heavenly courts or the long processing
time which (according to this view) accounts for the delay in
the second coming of Jesus. "What's the matter?" one young
boy asked in all seriousness, "Is God short of secretarial
help?"
Wouldn't we agree that such views of God and the final
judgment deserve to be challenged? But what, then, is the
more accurate view? The Bible does indeed speak of a final
judgment. What is being decided? Let's look at several
aspects of the heavenly court scene.
Who Are the Key Personalities?
Daniel 7 names most of the key personalities involved in the
judgment. (1) In the "jury bos" we see a vast array of holy
angels, intensely interested in the decisions about their future
neighbors. On the judge's bench is, of course, the Father,
described with all the dignity befitting His office. Then
Jesus, clothed, we notice, in His humanity, is brought into fill
the role of defense attorney.

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We must note right at the start that in all decisions relating to


the redeemed, Jesus and His Father are not adversaries. To
the contrary, they stand totally united, on the side of the
redeemed! (2) In fact, Jesus even went so far as to say that
He would not pray to the Father on behalf of His deciples,
(3) lest they missunderstand and think that the Father needed
to be coaxed into granting their requests. There is no
disunion in the Godhead -- least of all on this matter!
Who, then, holds the position of prosecuting attorney -- the
adversary against God and His plan to redeem mankind?
Who else, but the adversary himself, (4) the accuser of the
brethern, (5) the one who has always stood by to challenge
God's elect and to argue with God about His choice of
redeemed ones? (6) Satan is the antagonist in the courtroom
of heaven.
Annoying as Satan's continual objections are (because of his
prejudiced motives against the Judge), God still treats his
chares with respect. It has never been God';s method to "pull
randk" on the enemy -- to order him into silence by His own
superior status. Nor does God ever erase the evidence against
His people as a means of winning His case. Because, as you
recall, the primary issue at stake in the great controversy is
not the destiny of individual persons but the character and
methods of the Judge Himself! Satan cross-examines each of
God's decisions, not so much because he desires one more or
less person to join him in the lake of fire, but because he
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hopes to catch the Judge Himself in an unfair act -- an


indefensible verdict. This has always been his goal.
What Are the Issues in the Judgment?
Perhaps no part of Scripture better illustrates the issues in the
judgment than does the book of Job. Surprising as it may
seem, some of us feel that this book's primary goal in the
Bible is not just to bring comfort during times of trial (since
Job really didn't get much of that), but rather to help us
perceive the cosmic issues in the judgment. Since we are
already familiar with the basic narrative, let us note the
following insights observed in the book:
1. The setting for the book is a brisk disagreement between
God and Satan regarding one man. The evidence of Job's
behavior is open to both and is not seriously questioned.
Rather, the inner motives of the heart are disputed.
2. Satan is, in effect, charging that there is no such thing as
genuine faith; that if God is going to get followers, He
has to do it by purchasing their loyalties. No one, Satan
claims, will serve God for God's sake alone, but rather
for the things they can get out of HIm. Genuine,
God-centered faith, he insists, is a myth and can be
exposed as such under pressure.
3. As such, the charge is really against God rather than
against Job. Satan is simply willing to use Job to prove

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his point that God's methods of winning loyalty won't


work. Satan intends that the outcome of the trial, though
initially reflecting badly on Job, will ultimately reflect
badly on God Himself. It will expose God as having
misplaced His confidence, as having trusted methods that
are really untrustworthy. (It is in this sense that the final
judgment, through it centers on the cases of indificuals, is
actually a judgment of God! The cry of the first angel,
"The other of his judgment has come." (7) thus has a
double meaning: though He is dealing with individual
cases, it is His own case that will ultimately result in His
exoneration, by the way in which He deals with those
cases! More on this later.)
4. God is the One who nominated Job's name for judgment.
(8) This was HIs statment of confidence that He believed
Job would stand from under the intense trial by fire. God
put forward Job's name for cross-examination, not
because He wanted to make up His mind about Job, but
because He had already made up His mind about Job, and
He believed that others would concur that His confidence
had been rightly placed.
This is a vial concept for understanding the final
judgment. The judgment is not a time for God to decide
who are his. The Lord already knows who are His. (9)
Rather it is a time for Him to defend the decisions He has
already made. It is a time when He can say both to Satan

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and to the onlooking universe, 'I believe in My people


and in the reality of genuine faith. I believe that they have
been fully restored to unshakeable loyalty and can be
trusted with eternity without need to furhter alter their
characters. I am confident that they will stand true even
under the most severe test." (10) And to emphasize his
confidence, He will stand up and leave the sanctuary
from which He has ministered forgiveness for their
specific sins. "(11) For He knows that they will not fall
back into distrust and rebellion again.
5. Jobe remained loyal to God and was in the end
commended by God because of one fact: he trusted God.
There was no evidence that Job ever understood the
reason for the calamities that were happening to him. His
four friends urged him at length to accept an
interpretation that that would have portrayed God as
working on the reward-for-goodness,
punishment-for-badness philosophy. He rejected this
interpretation, because he knew God better than that!
And through he had no surer interpretation to offer in
return, he trusted God anyway. Such will be the
experience of those whom God will put forward as
evidence of His restoring power in the final judgment.
(12)
What is the Evidence Used in the Judgment?

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The Bible speaks frequently of Books of record in heaven


which well be used in the judgment. (13) And it is certain
that a person's actions, deeds, or works are part of that record
and will be considered in judgment. (14) Some have found
this a puzzleing matter in view of two other questions: Why
does God need records -- does He not have a perfect
memory? And what is the point in keeping track of works --
doesn't the Bible say that we are saved apart from our works?
The answer to the first question might be suggested in the
words of the Lord to Samuel as he was trying to evaluate
which of Jesse's sons would make the best King: "The Lord
sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks on the heart." (15) God remembers
perfectly and evaluates the evidence accurately. But
remember, the judgment isn't really for God's sake. It is for
the sake of all those lesser beings in the Universe who cannot
rad the hear and who must therefore be convinced on the
basis of evidence that makes sense to them: the outward
appearances of deeds and acts.
Regarding salvation apart from works: to be more precise,
the Bible says God "saved us ... not in virture of our works."
(16) That is, man's works never have been and never will be
the meritorius basis for salvation. Gods desired response
from us is not that we sork to earn His favor, but that we
respond in loving trust to favor already given. Now, in God's
mind, genuine faith and the works which grow from faith are
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one and the same. He can judge one or the other and come up
with the same answer. But the apostle James voiced a
familiar complaint -- that many people were simply giving
lipservice to faith. (17) He urged the right to see real live
works as an evidence of faith -- a request which God sees as
still falid in the judgment. Theus, for everyone else's sake,
He keeps track of works. He has nothing to hide. He has no
intent to nominate for judgment anyone whose faith cannot
be vindicated by his works.
Once again, it is man's opinion of God, not God's opinion of
man, which needs to be changed before the great controversy
can end. Thus the purpose of the judgment is not for God to
form an opinion of man, but for man to see God dealing so
fairly, so livingly in the settling of the final issues that man
will form an unchangingly loyal opinion of God!

Next Chapter
-------
1. Daniel 7:9-13.
2. Notice Romans 8:33, 34 and Micah 7:7-9.
3. John 16:26, 27.
4. 1 Peter 5:8.
5. Revelation 12:10.
6. Zechariah 3:1-7.
7. Revelation 14:7.
8. Job 1:8.

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9. 2 Timothy 2:19.
10. See Zechariah 13:8, 9.
11. Daniel 12:1.
12. Job 13:15; 23:6. 7, 10; 27:2-6; Zephaniah 3:11-13.
13. Daniel 7:10; Exodus 32:32; Psalm 56:8; 69:28; 139:16; Malachi 3:16.
14. Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10.
15. 1 Samuel 16:7.
16. 2 Timothy 1:9,
17. James 2:14-24.

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If God won the War, Why isn't It Over?

The Role of a Pure People


in the Judgment
"Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of
persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,
waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God! ...
Therefore, beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be
found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace." (1)
And so Peter echoes a familiar theme: a pure and holy people
are somehow related to these final events. And since these
final eventa are close at hand, spare no effort to be ready for
them.
But why? Is God suddenly "elevating HIs standard" of
salvation for those unlucky enough to be living in the ast
days? Hardly! Look at it this way:
What Does Holiness Mean?
It doesn't mean arriving at some level of goodness beyond
which there is no more room for growth. (2) Indeed, since
growth into Jesus' image will occupy the redeemed
throughout eternity, He wants us ready and eager for that
growth even now. Some have described this as "perfect

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teachableness," or as constant willingness to say Yes to


whatever God offers to us. It means being all done with our
rebellion, that He might teach us ever more fully HIs ways
eternally. Holiness, as one author expresses it, is wholeness
for God.
Holiness in Not to Impress God ...
The Christian seeks holiness, not so that God will think
better of him; for he knows that ge is already "accepted in the
beloved," (3) God's opinion of the Christian is identical to
His opinion of His beloved Son, and there is absolutely
nothing man can do to improve upon that!
But to Inform the World ...
The Christian seeks holiness of life, not so God will think
better of Him, but so that the world will think better of the
God they see through him. The Christian detests sin in his
life, not because he fears that God will think less of him, but
because he fears that his friends will think less of God
because of his sins. He knows that some people will actually
decide whether or not to glorify the Father based on how he
lets his light shine. (4) He joins Paul in admitting (soberly,
yet joyously) that "we are ambassadors for Christ, God
making his appeal through us." (5)
John's Gospel, in recording Jesus' prayer for His disciples,
contains a compelling line of logic. At the end of His earthly

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ministry, Jesus gratefully reports that He has "accomplished


the work which thou gavest me to do." (6) And what was that
work? "I have manifested thy name to the men thou gavest
me." (7) In fact He even says, "I am glorified in them." (8)
But now comes a transition: "Now I am no more in the
world, but they are in the world." (9) Since He is leaving, He
forwards to them (as HIs corporate body) the continuation of
HIs same mission: "As thou didst sned me into the world, so
I have sent them into the world." (10)
For this very reason, the Christian consecrates himself to live
the truth, just as Jesus consecrated Himself in truth. (11) And
for this very reason, Paul prays that the believers might "be
filled with all the fulness of God." (12) Because Paul know
that "through the church the manifold wisdom of God might
now be mad known to the principalities and power in
heavenly places." (13)
And to demonstrate God's Restoration Powers
Christians sing, "There is power, power, wonder-working
power ... in the precious blood of the lamb." And Satan
taunts darkly from his corner, "There's no power in the
blood! Look at the way they live!"
Who is telling the truth? Could you decide by doing a survey
among professed Christian?
Satan taunts Jesus with our sins. The enemy taunts the One

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we love! The angel promised that Jesus would save us from


our sins. (14) But the old snake laughs and says, "If He saves
you at all, it will have to be in your sins." And some
Christians slink sadly to their corners, sighing, "Oh well, I
guess forgiveness is about all I could expect, anyway."
For reasons known best in His heart of infinite love, God has
been willing to be embarassed by His people's unwillingness
to live the Christ life. He longs for a people who will get
their attention off themselves and recognize that they are "a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own
people, that [they] may declare the wonderful deeds of him
who called [them] out of darkness into his marvelous light."
(15)
The Motives of a Holy People
"For the love of Jesus controls us, because we are convinced
that one has died for all ... that those who live might no
longer live for themselves but for him." (16) This is a
turn-around verse! But so few Christians turn around. Let me
explain.
A life of love is a life moved by unselfishness. Yet sin has
made us all desperately self-centered. We are incapable of
living unselfishly until our own needs are met first. We
cannot love until we know that we are loved. And so, in the
death of Christ, God sends an enormous love-message to us.
On the cross, He says, "That's how valuable you are to me!"
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God intends that the cross-message should heal my


self-centeredness -- that it should so thoroughly meet my
needs that it sets me free to live no longer for myself but for
Him.
But even "Christians" can continue to live for themselves --
for their own blessings, their own secure spot in heaven, their
freedom from trials. A key identifying mark of God's final
grneration, however, will be that they are so sure of God's
opinion of them that they are set free to live entirely for Him.
Their consuming desire is that their wonderful God be made
known to the world. With paul, they will be able to endure all
manner of persecution and trial "so that the life of Jesus may
also be manifested in our bodies." (17)
For, you see, only the unselfish motive will lead one to be
trule unselfish. Only the one who, for Christ's sake, wishes to
be like Jesus will reflect His character to others. Those who
wish to turn Christlikeness of character into a selfish
grasping for God's approval, will -- by the very selfishness of
the motive -- fail to experience the unselfishness they seek.
Those who would use Christian growth as a selfish means to
earn God's approval will never understand the Unselfish One
who has already given His approval.
A Christian who does not "turn around" and live for God's
glory will never understand the place of good works in the
life of the believer. Every time he hears about victory,
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overcomeing, perfection of character, sanctification, or any


other growth-related term, he will turn it inward and see it as
a basis for achieving standing or approval with God. Seeing
his inadequacies in this department, he will then doubt God's
forgiveness and acceptance. This will only reinforce his
selfish insecurities, thus giving rise to even more sinful
behavior. Thus he will know only failure. He will then either
scrap Christianity altogether or will settle for a "forgiveness
only" form of it, since that's all he has been seeking anyway.
In brief, motives are profoundly important for God's
last-days people.
Groundless Fears About Holiness
Speaking about a holy people always seems to raise the fears
of some people. For example, "Isn't this the heresy of 'sinless
perfectionism'?" There's nothing unbiblical about being
sinless, so long as we understand it. It doesn't (at least it
shouldn't) mean "incapable of sinning." Rather, it describes a
people who have turned decidedly from the delusions of
Satan, who are all done rebelling, and who find sin to be
repulsive because Jesus has given them a new set of values.
The word perfectionism, as often referred to in a scornful
sense, implies man's perfection inplace of, or added to, the
perfection of Jesus Christ as the basis for acceptance by the
Father. such a view deserves to be scorned. And some may
actually believe that way. But the holy people described
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above would not find that to be a problem.


Other worry that to speak of a holy people is to open the door
to that old heresy of "holy flesh." (We might observe that if
we avoided every Biblical teaching which someone earlier
had used as a springboard for error, there wouldn't be much
left to talk about!) The "holy flesh" problem grows out of the
belief that sin has its primary focus in the flesh and that Jesus
can only solve the sin problem by doing something
miraculous to the flesh. Once He has done it, then, sin is no
longer possible.
But remember our development of the sin problem in
Chapter 2, in which we emphasized that sin is a function of
the mind and loyalties, not of the physical body. In fact, Paul
often stressed that "the life of Jesus may be manifested in our
mortal flesh." (18)
Still other worry that to speak positively of a holy people will
produce an arrogant group of self-acclaimed, self-satisfaied
snobs. They quote passages such as this in support of their
concern: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves."
(19) And it's a valid concern. But as you think about the holy
people described in thei chaper, keep this thought in mind:
there is a big difference between a people focused on their
own performance -- for their own sakes -- and a people so
captivated by the lovely Jesus that they are lost in Him. God
has always named His people; they never name themselves.

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Job would not have suggested himself as ready for the trial,
but God named him because he was indeed ready. (So also
Isaiah and John the Baptist. (20))
The beauty of holiness is its utter selflessness. Oh, the
privilege of being thus transformed by our selfless Lord!

Next Chapter
-----------
1. 2Peter 3:11-14
2. Philippians 3:12,13
3. Ephesians 1:6
4. Matthew 5:16
5. 2 Corinthians 5:20
6. John 17:4
7. v. 6
8. v. 10
9. v. 11
10. v. 18
11. v. 17
12. Ephesians 3:19
13. v. 10
14. Matthew 1:21
15. 1 Peter 2:9
16. 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15
17. 2 Corinthians 4:10
18. v. 11 also Glatians 2:20

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19. 1 John 1:8


20. Isaiah 6:1-9; John 1:26-34

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If God won the War, Why isn't It Over?

The Final Judgment


in Symbol and Reality
The Jewish calendar of temple celebrations was a
chronological symbol of the history of the atonement. Every
twelve months it retold the full story of God's work to
eradicate sin from the universe. The daily sacrifices were
intended to revela to the sinner the great provision made for
his own personal salvation. Building on that same theme, the
annual calendar took in the cosmic scope of the atonement
plan.
Each spring, Israel gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the
Passover. This feast looked back to their deliverance from
Egypt and forward to the sacrifice of the Messiah as their
true passover Lamb. As such, it typified the beginnings of the
Christian era. This was reinforced by the offering of the
firstfruits several days later -- a promise of the harvest which
the gospel would surely produce.
Fifty days later, the Feast of Pentecost marked the time of
rejoycing for the abundant harvest. Its New Testament
'fulfillment' in the ourpouring of the Holy Spirit (1)
illustrated its anticipation of the final maturing of the harvest

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in the end of time.


But it is the fall celebrations, coming at the end of the
liturgical calendar, which are of most interest to us at this
point in the study. They began with the solemn blowing of
trumpets, stirring the throughts of the people toward the
finality involved in these symbols. The fall series of feasts
ended with the Feast of Tabernacles, a joyous festival
recalling the first permanent dwelling of God's people in
Canaan after many years of wanderings. What better symbol
of the permanent heavenly homes to be enjoyed by the
redeemed! Pilgrims on earth, but not forever!
Between the blowing of the trumptes and the Feast of
Tabernacles came a one-day ceremony recognized as the
most solemn of the year -- the Day of Atonement. The entire
camp of Israel prepared for this day with unusual searching
of heart. (2) They recognized it as dealing with sin in some
very final way. Notice these cluse to its meaning:
Its position in the liturgical calendar -- following the warning
tones of the trumpets, yet preceding the final rejoicing of
being at home at last -- identifies it as a final act in dealing
with sin.
The use of two goats, each dealt with in an entirely different
way, prefigures a final showdown between the two great
protagonists in the cosmic controversy. The Hebrew word for
scapegoat, Azazel, was commonly understood to denote an
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evil one.
In marked contrast to the way virtually every other animal
was dealth with in the sanctuary, the scapegoat was not
sacrificed. Instead, it was carried away from civilization,
never to return. (3) Clearly, the people understood this to be
a promise that the time would come when sin would be more
than forgiven; it would be removed forever from the
universe.
But remember: God has always had but one way to remove
sin -- only one method to eradicate sin from the universe. He
does not strong-arm Satan out of reach, for power is not the
issue. He does not command Satan into silence, for authority
is not the issue. Rather He exposes Satan for the fraud that he
is and fully reveals the more than adequate basis for trust in
Himself, for truth is the issue!
The Day of Atonement is a promise that the time will come
when Jesus -- in His role as High Priest -- will step forth
from the supreme court of heaven and, in the presence of the
entire universe, declare what the evidence has
overwhelmingly shown: Satan is the father of all lies, there is
not one tiny reason to distrust God, and the vote of the jury is
unanimous. Every decision which God has made -- about
Satan, the redeemed, even the lost -- has been fair beyond
question. This is how sin is removed from the universe.
Throughtout the year, as individual worshpers have brought
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their sin offerings to the altar, the priest has carried a portion
of the blood inot the sanctuary, sprinkling it before the veil.
This represents the fact that, though he as accepted the
Sacrifice to be made on his behalf and is thus forgiven, some
aspect of the sin problem remains to be solved. It doesn't
mean (as some have suggested) that the Father is uncertain
about accepting the Son';s sacrifice as ade1quate to secure
forgiveness. Rather, by accepting that blood into His most
holy place, the Father is saying that He will assume
accountability to see to it that Satan is ultimately shown to be
the cause of that sin.
Repeated by Daniel
This same fina;-judgment motif is repeated in the prophecies
of Daniel 7 and 8, which is connected to leviticus 16 by far
more than just the word cleansed (Daniel *:14, ), as some
have suggested. The similarities between the Daniel and
Leveticus accounts are striking:
. Both accounts describe the judgment as happening in the
presence of a vast assembled throng. In the eartly type,
the whole camp of Israel was intensely involved. (4) In
Daniel's view of the heavenly antitype, he beheld a
virtually numberless throng. (5) Thus the pre-advent
judgment is no private affair, taking place in the
seclusion of some forbidden chamber.
B. The setting portrays an ultimate showdown between the
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two heads of great opposing forces. The two goats of


Leviticus -- one honored in sacrifical death, the other
banished forever to a desolate place -- clearly typify
Christ versus Satan. Daniel sees the little-horn power as a
type of Satan, most clearly identified by his accusing
attack upon God himself.(6)
C. The results of the two judment accounts are also
identical. Just as Satan and all he stands for is banished
symbolically in Azazel,(7) so Daniel foresees that all
Statn's kingdom will be taken away from him and
awarded to Christ and His kingdom.(8)
D. All of this happens, not at the time of Christ's first
coming, but just prior to the setting up of His eternal
kingdome, (9) Thus it is an end-time judgment.(10)
Daniel and Moses are each telling the same story, but from a
different persepctive. Daniel sets the final judgment in the
flow of secualr history -- the rise and fall of earhly nations
and the setting up of an eternal kingdom. Moses, on the other
hand, is speaking in the context of God's covenant people,
with a special emphasis on their involvement and on the
spiritual issues necessary to the setting of the great
controversy.
Even though William Miller and the other advent preachers
of the 1840s were alerted to the connection between
Leveticus 16 and Daniel 7 and 8, because of the word
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cleansed in Daniel 8:14, (compared to its frequent use in


Leviticus, they apparently felt comfortable in making the
connection between the two final-judgment accounts because
of the larger context.
So when the timing of this grand event became vital to know,
they felt free to use the 2300-day prophecy of Daniel 8 and
nail it down in history. And so should we!
Daniel recognized in the little-horn power of Daniel 8:9-14
the same archenemy who had been assaulting Christ and His
people in Chapter 7 and whose reign was sure to end at the
time of judgment. So when Daniel sees that same power
surface again in chapter 8 -- this time destroying great truths
of redemption as revelaed in the sanctuary -- he is deeply
distressed! Daniel understood the meaning of the sanctuary
services. He recognized the saving truths revealed about God
and His atonement work, and nothing could trouble him
more than to see 'truth cast down to the ground.'(11)
A sympathetic angel stnading nearby cried out on Daniel's
behalf, How much longer will all this go on? When will truth
-- as revelaed in the sanctuary -- again emerge victorious?
And the firm promise came back, "For two thousand three
huyndred evenings and mornings; then the Holy Place shall
emerge victorious."(12)
This prophecy was fulfilled in 1844. (13) We see this as the
time when God began to bring the world to final
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confrontation with truth so that the great controversy could


be ended and Christ Jesus could receive His kingdome. It is
not a time when Jesus and the FAther go into hiding inorder
to make up their minds about who to save -- and we have
been waiting ever since for Them to finish Their deciding!
Rather it is a time when the angelic forces are calling the
world to "fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his
judgment is come"(14) -- and God has been waiting ever
since for a people who will carry that message to the world
with such convincing power that the earth will be lightened
with its glory.(15)
Only in this context can we speak meaningfully about a
'delay' in Christ's coming. This does not mean that Jesus'
timing has been faulty, but rather that the essential conditions
have not yet been met. It means that, as a people, we must be
less concerned about the nearness of His coming thatn we are
bout the world knowing the One who is coming! For He can
only have a people who "have loved his appearing"(16) when
He has a people who intelligently love, and properly
represnt, Him who shall appear.

Next Chapter
-------------
1. Acts 2:1-4, 14
2 Leviticus 16:32; 23:27-29
3. v. 20-23

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4. Leviticus 23:28-31
5. Daniel 7:10
6. v. 25
7. Leviticus 16:20-22
8. Daniel 7:22, 26, 27
9. v. 22, 27. note in Leviticus 23:26-33 that the day of atonement come immediately fefore the Feast of
tabernacles.
10. Daniel 8:17
11. v. 12
12. v. 14
13. see book
14. Revelation 14:7,
15. Revelation 18:1-4
16. 2 Timothy 4:8

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If God won the War, Why isn't It Over?

A Distinctive Message
About the Judgment
Since its very beginning, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
has been enthralled with the theme of final judgment. And
not without good cause! It is a message which makes
astonishing good sense when seen in its fullness. Like a
golden thread of internal logic, it weaves together soteriology
(beliefs about final events) and eschatology (beliefs about
final events). It is a motivator for action and a guard against
indifference.
But more than that, it is the judgment message which -- to a
large degree -- comprises the Seventh-day Adventist's
distincitive message as a Christian group to the rest of the
world. In addition to all that we share with other Christians,
Seventh-day Adventists have something special which we
are persuaded needs to be said to the worlds before the end
can come. And this distinctive message can well be
organized around the theme of final judgment.
We can look at that distinctive message under the following
five heading:
A. Judgment Is Good News!
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The mighty angel of Revelation 14 who announces the time


and importance of the judgment is described as having "the
everlasting gospel."(1) We know that the word gospel means
simply 'good news' -- a message thoughtful people will be
glad to hear.
And thoughtful people will be glad to hear the message of
judgment for at least two reasons. First, those who are on
God's side in the controversy will rejoice when judgment is
given "in favor of the saints of the Most High."(2) God's
people, having experienced the brunt of Satans's accusations,
will be delighted to see the time come when, before the
whole universe, "he pleads my cause and executes judgment
for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I shall behold his
deliverance."(3)
But on an even grander scale, the judgment is good news
because this is when the Judge Himself is exonerated from
all Satan's charges. It means the ending of all conflict -- the
entire universe being brought back into complete oneness
with God. Thus the at-one-ment will be complete, and
rebellion will be no more.
When the judgment is over and the now-peaceful universe
gathers to celebrate its outcome, it is worth noticing the
words to the song which the redeemed will sing:
"Great and marvellous are thy deeds,

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O LORD God, sovereign over all;


Just and true are thy ways,
Thou king of the ages.
Who shall not rever thee, LORD,
And do homage to thy name?
For thou alone art holy.
All nations shall come and worship in thy presence,
for thy just dealings stand revealed."(4)
No wonder the saints whohave died for thir faith cry out with
a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long
before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who
dwell upon the earth."(5)
B. Judgment Reveals How God Sin-Proofs the Universe!
It will be an infinite, eternal thrill to see a universe secure
against the possibleility of sin ever rising up again. But what
will be even more thrilling will be to see how God does it!
Indeed, it is the method which God uses to end the sin
problem which makes it secure.
The final judgment is a statement that God will end the
controversy by revealting truth rather than by exercising
power. It puts the focus on the free, thoughtful response of
persons created in God's image and thus able to make sense
out of spiritual realities. The judgment presents a picture of a
people choosing to set their loyalties upon God forever,
because they have come to know him as He is. It sets
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forward a conviction that people's characters will be restored


into perfect readiness for heaven because God has used the
methods of truth, love, and freedom -- rather than recreating
those characters by divine fiat.
The Adventist understanding of the judgment emphasizes
that the sin problem is located in man's opinion of God rather
than in God's opinion of man. Thus the focus is not a
dreadful "What does God think of me when my name comes
up in the courts of heaven?" Rather, it is a positive "what do I
think of God in the our of His judgment?" And also "What
does the world think about my God because of what they
have seen in me?"
C. Christlikeness of Character -- Privilege, Not Duty.
The Adventist understanding of the final judgment puts a
wholly new context around the Christian's concern for
holiness of life -- for Christlikeness of character. Never again
is the attitude of perfect submission to God's will seen as
some staggering duty, exacted from us as the reluctant price
to be paid for admission to the kingdome. Instead, the
Christian's heart thrills to each new call to holiness, to each
deeper convicting of the Spirit to "come up higher" in
personal piety. For it is our privilege to "give glory to
him"(6) in the hour of HIs judgment. We count it the highest
honor to let our lights shine in such a way that people will,
through what they see of God through us, give glory to the

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Father.(7) The deepest longings of our hears center in being


ready to respond to that call to go forth with trimmed and
fully fueled lamps to prepare the way for the coming of the
Bridegroom.(8) At a time when thick darkness covers the
earth (darkness of the misunderstanding of God's character),
we believe the noble commission is ours to "arise, shine; for
your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon
you."(9)
Dismal, self-centered, anxiety-ridden concerns are gone!
Who has time for them? God has given us higher reasons to
liver -- to life for Him who for our sakes died and was
raised.(10)
D. Final Judgment is a Clearer Message About God.
Seventh-day Adventists see a sensible, overriding purpose to
every detail of their life-style -- and it is judgment-related!
If God's will is an expression of His wonderful character,
then every aspect of that will, lived out fully in our lives, will
allow some aspect of His character to shine attractively to
others. And everytying we stay or do which reveals His
character helps someone prepare for judgment. For example,
we get excited about principles of health, for we see in them
such wise, sensible, powerful, God-ordained methods for
fighting disease and staying well. When they are lived, they
make God look so good! We get excited about God's detailed
plans for education, because they tend to produce such
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capable, secure, Christlike young men and women, able to


serve as Jesus served when He came to reveal the Father.
And others looking on are better able to make informed
decisions about God in the great final showdown of the ages.
And so it continues with principles of family life, business
ethics, community service -- no part of life is excluded. The
totality of what we are lends credibility to what we say about
our God. And for this reason, we long to gladly, fully
embrace all that God has offered us. For it is all a revelation
of Himself -- to us, then through us. And the world needs
nothing so much as a full, accurate revelation of the character
of God, that they might make an informed choice in the time
of judgment.
E. A Message that Completes the Purpose for Israel's
Call!
Some contemporary authors have wondered if Adventism
might be failing in its attempt to complete the Protestant
Reformation (in the full preaching of justification by faith.)
Upon closer examination it becomes clear that Adventists
have never claimed to be rooted in a sixteenth-century
movement. Indeed, the purposes God sought to accomplish
on earth are better defined by Moses and his movement than
by Luther and his movement. God calls Israel "the people
whom I formed for myself that they might declare my
praise."(11) He intended that through them His wonderful

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character might be demonstrated to all the surrounding


nations.(12) His ideal plan was that they sould know their
God so well that, when he came to them in humanity to die
as their Saviour, they should accept Him and carry the
message of His life, death, and resurrection to the whole
world. Very shortly, then, would the world be brought to
judgment and God's eternal kingdom established.
But as a nation, the Jews never seemed to understand their
God,(13) much less His plan for them. And so all that God
intended to be accomplished through literal Israel became the
privilege of spiritual Israel.(14) Now God's design is that
"through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now
be made known to the principalities and powers in the
heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose
which he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord."(15)
Seventh-day Adventists believe that God's desire for us and
for all Christians who would join in this privilege is the same
as it was for Israel:
"Then they will be my people,
and I will be their God.
I will give them a single purpose in life:
To honor me for all time,
For their own good
and the good of their descendents."(16)
The End
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If God won the War,

---------------------
1. Revelation 14:6
2. Daniel 1:22
3. Micah 7:9
4. Revelation 15:3, 4
5. Revelation 6:10
6. Revelation 14:7
7. Matthew 5:16
8. Matthew 25:1-13
9. Isiah 60:1
10. 2 Corinthians 5:15
11. Isiah 43:21
12. Deuteronomy 4:5-8
13. Hosea 4:1, 6; 5:4; 6:1-3
14. Galatians 3:14-16, 29; 1 Peter 2:9-12
15. Ephesians 3:10, 11
16. Jeremiah 32:38, 39

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