Thou from primeval nothingness didst call First chaos, then existence; Lord, on Thee Eternity hath its foundation; all Sprung forth from Thee,--of light, joy, harmony, Sole origin,--all life, all beauty Thine; Thy word created all, and doth create; Thy splendor fills all space with rays divine; Thou art and wert and shalt be! Glorious! Great! Light-giving, life-sustaining Potentate!
The Fall Of Satan. "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Luke 10:18.
"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for _the devil sinneth from the beginning_." 1 John 3:8.
NOTE.--Without the Bible, the question of the origin of evil would remain unexplained.
2. From what time has the devil been a murderer?
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. _He was a murderer from the beginning_, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him." John 8:44.
3. What is the devil's relationship to lying?
"When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for _he is a liar, and the father of it_." Same verse.
"Thou wast _perfect_ in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, _till iniquity was found in thee_." Eze. 28:15.
NOTE.--This, and the statement in John 8:44, that he "_abode_ not in the truth," show that Satan was once _perfect_, and _in the truth_. Peter speaks of "the angels that _sinned_" (2 Peter 2:4); and Jude refers to "the angels which _kept not their first estate_" (Jude 6); both of which show that these angels were once in a state of sinlessness and innocence.
5. What further statement of Christ seems to lay the responsibility for the origin of sin upon Satan and his angels?
"Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, _prepared for the devil and his angels_." Matt. 25:41.
6. What led to Satan's sin, rebellion, and downfall?
"_Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty_, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy _brightness_." Eze. 28:17. "Thou hast said in thine heart, _I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ... I will be like the Most High_." Isa. 14:13, 14.
NOTE.--In a word, pride and self-exaltation led to Satan's downfall, and for these there is no justification or adequate excuse. "Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Prov. 16:18. Hence, while we may know of the origin, cause, character, and results of evil, no good or sufficient reason or excuse can be given for it. To excuse it is to justify it; and the moment it is justified it ceases to be sin. All sin is a manifestation of selfishness in some form, and its results are the opposite of those prompted by love. The experiment of sin will result finally in its utter abandonment and banishment forever, by all created intelligences, throughout the entire universe of God. Only those who foolishly and persistently cling to sin will be destroyed with it. The wicked will then "be as though they had not been" (Obadiah 16), and the righteous shall "shine as the brightness of the firmament," and "as the stars forever and ever." Dan. 12:3. "Affliction shall not rise up the second time." Nahum 1:9. See reading on "Origin, History, and Destiny of Satan," page 499.