Patriarchs and Prophets Chapter One - An Examination

In the light of persistent  misrepresentation about what I believe by church members I would like to examine the first chapter of Patriarchs and Prophets to try to identify what was happening, when it was happening and what was the substance of the events.

•   When were the events of Chapter 1 occurring?

“The Son of God had wrought the Father's will in the creation of all the hosts of heaven; and to Him, as well as to God, their homage and allegiance were due. Christ was still to exercise divine power, in the creation of the earth and its inhabitants. {PP 36.2}” The first question is easy to answer as God tells us that it was before the creation of the earth and it inhabitants.

•   What was happening?

“The King of the universe summoned the heavenly hosts before Him, that in their presence He might set forth the true position of His Son and show the relation He sustained to all created beings. {PP 36.2}”.  Again the question is easy to answer as God tells us that he had summoned the universe before him to set forth the true position of His Son and and show the relation He sustained to all created beings.

•   Why was this happening?

“There had been no change in the position or authority of Christ. Lucifer's envy and misrepresentation and his claims to equality with Christ had made necessary a statement of the true position of the Son of God; but this had been the same from the beginning. Many of the angels were, however, blinded by Lucifer's deceptions.  {PP 38.1}”  Three things had caused the King of the universe to summon such a meeting.

(1)    Lucifer was envious of the position and authority of Christ

(2)    Lucifer had been misrepresenting the truth about Christ

(3)    Lucifer was claiming equality with Christ

•   How was Lucifer claiming equality with Christ?

There are only two possible answers to this question.

(1)    Lucifer was saying that he was identical to Christ or

(2)    He was saying Christ was identical to him.

To identify which of the two stated above was actually happening we need look no further than what the King stated. Either Lucifer was claiming that he too was “Begotten of God” or he was claiming that Christ was a created being like himself. If Lucifer  was saying he was “Begotten of God” then the King would have said that Lucifer was not begotten but created. Look at what the King actually said . “Before the assembled inhabitants of heaven the King declared that none but Christ, the Only Begotten of God, could fully enter into His purposes, and to Him it was committed to execute the mighty counsels of His will. {PP 36.2} “. So the other option was that Lucifer was claiming that Christ was equal to himself in that he was a created being. This is the only logical claim that Lucifer was making given that the King needed to “set forth the true position of His Son and show the relation He sustained to all created beings. {PP 36.2}”

There are a few other facts that are worthy of noting.

The King of the universe summoned the heavenly hosts before Him, that in their presence He might set forth the true position of His Son ” It must follow that the King is another name given to our heavenly Father as he refers to His Son. This is confirmed in the next sentence “The Son of God shared the Father's throne.”

“the glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both” Here we see that it is the Father that is self existent and it is the Fathers Glory that encircled both. This is a consistent theme as we can see from the following “Never before had angels listened to such prayer as Christ offered at his baptism, and they were solicitous to be the bearers of the message from the Father to his Son. But, no; direct from the Father issues the light of his glory. The heavens were opened, and beams of glory rested upon the Son of God, and assumed the form of a dove, in appearance like burnished gold. {2SP 60.2} “

“The Son of God had wrought the Father's will in the creation of all the hosts of heaven; and to Him, as well as to God, their homage and allegiance were due. Christ was still to exercise divine power, in the creation of the earth and its inhabitants. But in all this He would not seek power or exaltation for Himself contrary to God's plan, but would exalt the Father's glory and execute His purposes of beneficence and love.  {PP 36.2}“ 

Here we see that it was Christ's objective to exercise the Father's will, exalt the Father's Glory and execute His purposes of beneficence and love. Here we see the Divine example for harmony and happiness – submission to the Father's will.

I wrote this blog because I am told repeatedly that if I believe that Jesus is the begotten Son of God then what I believe is that Christ was a created being and therefore not Divine. I wanted to point out that this statement originated with Satan and he is still repeating it today. Only difference is that today he is using the voice of Adventist Pastors to execute his will. Remember the warnings given by our heavenly Father through his servant – “A complete offering has been made; for "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son,"-- not a son by creation, as were the angels, nor a son by adoption, as is the forgiven sinner, but a Son begotten in the express image of the Father's person, and in all the brightness of his majesty and glory, one equal with God in authority, dignity, and divine perfection. In him dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  {ST, May 30, 1895 par. 3}” and “Angels were expelled from heaven because they would not work in harmony with God. They fell from their high estate because they wanted to be exalted. They had come to exalt themselves, and they forgot that their beauty of person and of character came from the Lord Jesus. This fact the [fallen] angels would obscure, that Christ was the only begotten Son of God, and they came to consider that they were not to consult Christ.  {TDG 128.2}“

Fallen angels are still today trying to obscure the fact that Christ is the only begotten Son of God.