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The Great Controversy
Theme—the Heart Beat of
Adventist Theology.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Building a bridge between
presentations on the amazing
hurricane of Emerging
Church/New
Spirituality/Spiritual Formation
flooding Protestant churches
and the stout, robust
counterpunch we call the Great
Controversy Theme, the rock on
which the emerging waves are
stopped.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• In brief, the main issue with the
Emerging Church thrust is their
epistemology (how do you know what
you know) On what authority do they
base their world views? Remember, No
emerging church leader says anything
100% wrong! Frankly, I agree with some
of their concerns.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• More concerned about their overall thrust,
their package of ideas, not just some of
them. When we think about the meaning to
life, the Big Picture, there are only two
presuppositions―theirs and ours―and they
can be summed up quickly: CREATION or
CREATURE-CENTERED REASON / FEELING. No
third choice between these two world views!
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• These two irreconcilable
principles―have created the Great
Controversy: Reason, feeling, or hope in
human progress. Creationism—where
basic truth flows from the personal God
who created all life.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• We entered the Great Controversy when
we chose to be “Seventh-day
Adventists.” Jesus called Himself: “the
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning
and the end. . . . I am the First and Last.”
Rev 1:8, 17
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Seventh-day=Alpha: What does
“Seventh-day” say to the world about
God? He is Creator, who made our
world in six days and rested on the
seventh. And He made men and women
“in His own image.” Exodus 20:8-11;
Genesis 1:26.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Adventist=Omega: What does
“Adventist” say about God? The good
news of the gospel is that we are not in
this lousy world that has no end—that
Jesus has an Exit Plan for all of us. We
call it the Second Advent. We tell the
story of the beginning and the end of
the Greatest Story ever told!
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• So, the Alpha of all theology and
philosophy is God as Creator―Our
Jesus! We begin with Jesus.
• The Omega of all theology and
philosophy points to as the Main
Character in this Great Story and how
Jesus truly has the “last word.”
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Without Creation and the Second
Advent, no person has any basis for
finding meaning to his/her brief
existence. Without meaning in our lives,
it is “eat, drink, and be merry, because
tomorrow you die.”
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Remember that haunting song that we often
hear around Easter time! An Israelite father
is explaining the sanctuary service to his
young son: “Watch the lamb, son.” That
phrase is carried throughout the song and it
sends goose pimples all over me! That’s
exactly what I want you to do today, Watch
“the Lamb who was slain from the
foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8)!
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• What caused the Controversy in the first
place?
• God’s Vice president for Press Relations,
God’s Communication Chief, the one
person in the heavenly universe who
knew more about God than anyone else,
had two problems:
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
1) He thought he knew how to run
the universe better than his Chief;
2) He grew jealous of the One whom
the Godhead had called the
Mediator between the Godhead
and all created intelligences.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• What is going on here? God knew
that the only way to make love a
two-way street was to make
Himself really known to those He
created―to angels and to
unfallen intelligences on worlds
everywhere.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• After all, angels can fear and respect
One who called Himself their
Creator—but love? No! Would you
marry someone you only fear, or
even respect?
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Thus, to be what He is, Jesus had to,
from the get-go, not even consider
staying on the level of the Unseen God.
To really love, He had to reveal Himself,
thus: “being in the form of God, [He] did
not consider it robbery [something to be
held onto] to be equal with God [from
the creation’s viewpoint] (Phil. 2:6).
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• What did this mean for the angels? He
“made Himself of no reputation [He
emptied himself]” Phil. 2:7). From the
beginning, God remained God—but one
of the Godhead emptied Himself of
certain divine prerogatives—He became
visible to the angels in such a way that
the angels could relate to Him. He
became their Mediator.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• To the angels, Scriptures indicate
that He was known as their
Archangel (Jude 9, Daniel 10:13; 1
Thess, 4:16, Rev. 12:7).
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Our Lord’s Vice President slowly came to
covet the honor that Jesus had as the
Chief Angel. Lucifer soaked-up his own
“wisdom” and “beauty” (Ezekiel 28:12).
Pride kept him from recognizing Jesus,
the Archangel as God’s Mediator. He
wanted the same respect and adoration
that other angels gladly gave to Jesus.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “Lucifer allowed his jealousy of
Christ to prevail, and became the
more determined.” PP 35.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Developing controversy is beyond
comprehension. God had to respond!
Lucifer’s mighty mind developed a new
view of reality—a world of greater
liberty. A world in which each angel
could experiment with new ways to find
self-fulfillment.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Lucifer was brilliant, he was the first
community organizer. He was so
convincing that a third of the angels
thought that he was worth trusting.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• What was God to do? “Before the great
contest should open, all were to have a
clear presentation of His will, whose
wisdom and goodness were the spring
of all their joy. . . .
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “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.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Such became the Great
Controversy: The Godhead
telling the truth about
themselves and telling the
truth about Lucifer and his
hollow promises.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• What were Lucifer’s lies that
stirred up heaven and that have
been perpetuated and enlarged
to our present day?
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 1. God was unfair to make laws that
created beings could not keep. COL: 314;
FTLB: 114.
•
• 2. God demanded self-denial and
sacrifice from His created beings but
would not Himself exercise such
unselfishness toward His created beings.
PP: 70, 1SM: 341.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 3. God was severe, exacting, and
harsh. SC: 11, 5T: 738.
•
• 4. God was the author of sin, and
suffering, and death. DA: 24.
•.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 5. If God were fair and good, He would
never have permitted created beings to
transgress His law. PP: 131, 132.
•
• 6. God made faulty laws and that for
the good of the universe, those laws
should be changed. PP: 69.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• OK, if you were God, how would you
begin to answer these charges, these
indictments, these lies?
• Yes, we could say that Lucifer is a liar
and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
but does that really answer his lies?
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• After all, 1/3 of the angels did not think
he was lying—which really means, for
them, that God was not telling the
whole truth. And remember also, not
just the angels but the inhabitants of the
other worlds were listening to this
debate! Who was right?
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• So God had a big job on His
hands. The Godhead had to
defend themselves wherever
created intelligences lived. So
He began His defense:
•
• Rock Bottom Principle!
• Does that light switch turn the lights ON or
OFF?
• Obviously, ON. Electricity is already on at the
power station! Switch turns lights off,
otherwise, lights would be on all the time.
• Our decision to follow Jesus does not turn
salvation on. John 1:9—He is the Light of the
world and it is our unbelief, our No to His
Spirit within, that turns off that Light!
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• That’s God! From the moment you were
born, always reaching out, always leaving
the light on, never shutting the front door,
arms outstretched, always hoping to keep a
good relationship with you and if it is
broken, always working to restore a broken
relationship. (Luke 15)
•
• God is showing us how a real, loving Parent
deals with rebellious children!
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• But that Rebellion! “It was His purpose,
not merely to put down the rebellion,
but to demonstrate to all the universe
the nature of the rebellion.” PP: 78..
The Great Controversy Theme—theHeart Beat of Adventist Theology
• The Restoration Plan comes in two parts: 1)
It vindicates the character of God ―He isn’t
what Satan has made Him out to be; 2) It
restores the image of God in repentant
rebels.
• But this Plan meant that He Himself had to
live on the level of a created being in order
to have any hope of being understood.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 1) “The plan of redemption had a yet
broader and deeper purpose than the
salvation of man. . . . but it was to vindicate
the character of God before the universe. . . .
The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of
man would not only make heaven accessible
to men, but before all the universe it would
justify God and His Son in their dealing with
the rebellion of Satan. “ PP: 68, 69.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 2) “The central theme of the Bible, the
theme about which every other in the whole
book clusters, is the redemption plan, the
restoration in the human soul of the image of
God. From the first intimation of hope in the
sentence pronounced in Eden to that last
glorious promise of the Revelation, "They
shall see His face; and His name shall be in
their foreheads" (Revelation 22:4), [cont.]
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “the burden of every book and every passage
of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous
theme,--man's uplifting,--the power of God,
‘which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ.’ 1 Corinthians 15:57. He who
grasps this thought has before him an infinite
field for study. He has the key that will
unlock to him the whole treasure house of
God's word.” Ed: 125, 126.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “The very essence of the
gospel is restoration.” DA:824.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• #1 question that has divided the
Christian church for more than 2000
years: What does God want to
accomplish with His plan of salvation?
The answer to that question determines
how we let the Bible speak to us about
sin, righteousness by faith, the humanity
of Christ and why Jesus has been waiting
for a long, long time.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• When anyone understands this point
that God has only one great purpose on
His mind, and that purpose is to undo
what sin has damaged and restore in
you the image of God—the whole Bible
becomes a great, unified, integrated
play-book of how to frustrate and defeat
Satan.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• The Great Controversy Theme: 1.
Unfolds the playbook that exposes
Satan’s battle plan; 2. Provides God’s
play-book on how to assist Him in
working all sin out of a person’s life.
That play-book: the Bible, not only to
provide comfort but also to clarify how
we are to face Satan who is constantly
“roaring like a lion” to take us down.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
•
“The Bible is its own expositor. Scripture is
to be compared with scripture. The student
should learn to view the word as a whole,
and to see the relation of its parts, of God's
original purpose for the world, He should
gain a knowledge of its grand central
theme, of the rise of the great controversy,
and of the work of redemption.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “He should understand the nature of the
two principles that are contending for
supremacy, and should learn to trace
their working through the records of
history and prophecy, to the great
consummation. He should see how this
controversy enters into every phase of
human experience; [cont.]
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “how in every act of life he himself
reveals the one or the other of the
two antagonistic motives; and how,
whether he will or not, he is even
now deciding upon which side of
the controversy he will be found.”
Ed: 190.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “In order to grow in grace and in the
knowledge of Christ, it is essential that you
meditate much upon the great themes of
redemption. You should ask yourself why
Christ has taken humanity upon himself, why
he suffered upon the cross, why he bore the
sins of men, why he was made sin and
righteousness for us.” ST: Dec. 1, 1890
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Ellen has a way of cutting through
theological fluff and centuries of
theological blather. Knowing about Jesus
is a few light years away from
comprehending His character or mission.
And this brings us back to the Great
Controversy Theme:
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 1. Why did Jesus become a human being?
• 2. What was He really suffering on the cross?
• 3. In what way did He “satisfy” justice and
become righteousness for us?
• 4. Why did He return to heaven encased in
human form?
• 5. What is His primary purpose as our High
Priest?
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Simply an outline for distinctive
Adventist theology. On every one of
those points the Adventist church is
severely divided, especially since the
publication of Questions on Doctrine in
1957. In the opinion of many, getting
the Great Controversy Theme right is the
primary, most urgent obligation, resting
on everyone of us.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Those five questions unfold the Great
Controversy
• Special targets of Satan
• How come the Christian church that tells the
world that Jesus is their Savior—has become
Satan’s best megaphone in providing Satan’s
answers to those five questions?
• Name me a church that gives you the biblical
answer to those five questions.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 1. Jesus, a Human Being. The glory of
God is to reveal Himself and He does
that by “going down,” by “emptying”
Himself—the “mystery of godliness.” He
became an angel and He became a
man—a real cascade of agape love.
Contemplate that, He did it for you and
me.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Not poetry! He became a human
being as every baby has since Cain
was born, nine months in darkness
with angels searching everywhere
for their Archangel. He surely
“emptied Himself.”
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “God permitted His Son to come, a
helpless babe, subject to the weakness
of humanity.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “He permitted Him to meet life's peril in
common with every human soul, to fight
the battle as every child of humanity
must fight it, at the risk of failure and
eternal loss. . . . God gave His onlybegotten Son, that the path of life might
be made sure for our little ones.” DA 49.
See Hebrews 2:17
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Jesus became a human being so that
men and women may have the
confidence that Jesus today
understands/feels “to the uttermost”
what each of us faces today, whatever
the temptation of the Evil One is. Even
the temptations that originate within
our minds as well as from without.
Hebrews 4:14-16.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “Many claim that it was impossible for
Christ to be overcome by temptation. . .
. If we have in any sense a more trying
conflict than had Christ, then He would
not be able to succor us. [cont.]
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “But our Saviour took humanity,
with all its liabilities. He took the
nature of man, with the possibility
of yielding to temptation. We have
nothing to bear which He has not
endured.” DA:117
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Why did Jesus put Himself into such a
trying situation, at the “risk of failure
and eternal lost”? Answer: To prove
Satan was and is wrong: God did not
make faulty laws that created beings
cannot happily obey! Score One on the
great scoreboard of the universe!
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 2. Why and What did Jesus really suffer
on the Cross?
• Did not die in agony to satisfy an
“offended” Father!
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Jesus died to shut Satan’s mouth that God
was selfish and knew nothing of “selfsacrifice.”
• “The victory gained at His death on Calvary
broke forever the accusing power of Satan
over the universe and silenced his charges
that self-denial was impossible with God and
therefore not essential in the human family.”
Selected Messages, bk 1, 341
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Further, the Father Himself was with and
working through Jesus on the Cross,
telling His side of the Story—not waiting
until the last drop of blood was spilled in
some kind of judicial payment (2 Cor.
4:18, 19). The Father “suffered with His
Son” (DA 693).
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Jesus died to shut Satan’s mouth
that sinner’s do die (Genesis 3:4).
Even God chooses not to erase the
consequences of sin.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Jesus died to shut Satan’s mouth that
God’s law could be joyfully obeyed
under even the worst of conditions. He
“demonstrated that obedience to the
law is possible; for all have been made
more than conquerors through Christ?”
Signs of the Times, June 3, 1897.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Jesus died to shut Satan’s mouth
today by opening the door so “that
human beings shall reach the
standard of perfection which Christ
died to make it possible for them to
reach.” In Heavenly Places, 286.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Jesus proved that He was a “whole Savior”
answering many excuses: “We hear many
excuses: I cannot live up to this or that. What
do you mean by this or that? Do you mean
that it was an imperfect sacrifice that was
made for the fallen race upon Calvary, that
there is not sufficient grace and power
granted us that we may work away from our
own natural defects and tendencies, that it
was not a whole Saviour that was given us?”
Selected Messages, bk. 3, 179.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Jesus, face to face with Satan to the
moment of His death, vindicated “the
justice of God settled the controversy
between Satan and the Prince of heaven
in regard to the changeless character of
that law.” Signs of the Times, December 9, 1897.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Jesus silenced those who say that God is
angry against sinners. He showed how
awful the wrath of God was against “the
consequences of man's sin. As man He
must endure the wrath of God against
transgression.” DA 686. “The sins of men
weighed heavily upon Christ, and the
sense of God's wrath against sin was
crushing out His life.” DA 687
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• In other words, God’s wrath was
directed at the consequences of sin,
not against Jesus! “The wrath of God
against sin, the terrible manifestation
of His displeasure because of iniquity,
filled the soul of His Son with
consternation.” DA 753.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• The pain of the Cross was not the
tortured body but the dread of being
separated from God—the awful moment
of the second death awaiting all who
refused God’s offer of salvation. “With
the issues of the conflict before Him,
Christ's soul was filled with dread of
separation from God.” DA 687.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “Christ felt the anguish which the
sinner will feel when mercy shall no
longer plead for the guilty race. It
was the sense of sin, bringing the
Father's wrath upon Him as man's
substitute, that made the cup He
drank so bitter, and broke the heart
of the Son of God.” DA 753.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 3. Our Lord was victorious against the
heaviest of Satan’s temptations in
Gethsemane and Calvary, not because of
anything positive He could see or feel but
because of sheer, unvarnished “faith.” “In
those dreadful hours He had relied upon the
evidence of His Father's acceptance
heretofore given Him. He was acquainted
with the character of His Father;
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “He understood His justice, His mercy,
and His great love. By faith He rested in
Him whom it had ever been His joy to
obey. And as in submission He
committed Himself to God, the sense of
the loss of His Father's favor was
withdrawn. By faith, Christ was victor.”
DA 756.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 4. Only at the Cross was Satan finally
disrobed as the Evil Usurper―for only
then was the essence of God’s glory
really on full display: Jesus showed the
universe that God can be trusted, even
when all physical reasons for hope were
removed, even to the brink of being
utterly God-forsaken. Example as well
as Savior!
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “Not until the death of Christ was the
character of Satan clearly revealed to
the angels or to the unfallen worlds. . .
They had not clearly seen the nature of
his rebellion.” DA 758. “The last link of
sympathy between Satan and the
heavenly world was broken.” DA 761.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• If Satan was defeated, at
the Cross, why isn’t the
war over?
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “Yet Satan was not then destroyed. The
angels did not even then understand all that
was involved in the great controversy. The
principles at stake were to be more fully
revealed. And for the sake of man, Satan's
existence must be continued. Man as well as
angels must see the contrast between the
Prince of light and the prince of darkness. He
must choose whom he will serve.” DA 761
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 5. One of the reasons why the
Controversy was not over on the
Cross was because Christ’s ministry
as our Mediator, the One who
“emptied Himself” was not over.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Our Lord’s death means more than
honoring a crucifix. It was “a means to
an end. The most powerful and
efficacious provision that He could give
to our world, was the means; the end
was the glory of God in the uplifting,
refining, ennobling of the human agent.”
Manuscript Releases, vol. 7, 274.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• In His life and death, “Jesus was earning
the right to become the advocate of men
in the Father’s presence.” DA 745. He
knew that simply dying on the cross
would not change lives but only get their
sympathy. That is why Christ’s job as
Mediator comes with a Dual Job
Description: He is not only the Sacrifice
but also the Priest.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “The intercession of Christ in man's
behalf in the sanctuary above is as
essential to the plan of salvation as was
His death upon the cross. By His death
He began that work which after His
resurrection He ascended to complete in
heaven.” GC 489.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has
been wrought out by the world's Redeemer.
It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure.
Through the Spirit the believer becomes a
partaker of the divine nature. Christ has
given His Spirit as a divine power to
overcome all hereditary and cultivated
tendencies to evil, and to impress His own
character upon His church.” DA 671.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• This Dual Job Description is one of
the pieces in the great theological
puzzle we call the “Great
Controversy Theme.” If Adventists
do not emphasize this piece of the
great picture, the world will never
hear it! The Great Ellipse of Truth
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Let’s summarize this part of our journey:
• 1. The part Jesus plays in the Controversy is
what every Adventist sermon should focus
on.
• 2. Jesus is the Alpha (the Beginning) and the
Omega (the End) of all Adventist theology.
• 3. Jesus, as Creator and as our Eschatological
Hope, sums up, broadly speaking, the
Adventist message.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 4. Our Lord’s “mystery of godliness” (1
Tim. 3:16), of “emptying” Himself, will
be forever our study and wonder and
an Example to reflect.
• 5. Jesus, in life and death and
resurrection, nailed everyone of Satan’s
lies, charges and indictments against
God’s character and His government.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• 6. Jesus as our High Priest has
only one promise—to provide all
the grace (pardon and power)
needed (Heb. 4:14-16) to
overcome all inherited and
cultivated tendencies to sin.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• After all that, we can see more clearly
that whatever is against God’s plan for
our restoration is “sin”: “Therefore, to
him who knows to do good and does not
do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17; 1:15;
John 9:41; 15:22). No one is born a
sinner—sin is a choice.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Jesus had all the inherited
tendencies to sin that other babies
are born with, but He chose, aided
by the Spirit, not to sin. He was not
corrupt because He chose not to be
corrupted.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Getting the nature of sin right helps
us to understand why, in studying the
Great Controversy, you will find God
giving His created intelligences choices.
Freedom even precedes love. Wherever
love is, freedom is its basic environment,
before and after sin entered the
universe.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• That is why when we study sin, and the
humanity of Jesus, and the meaning of
faith, and the purpose of righteousness
by faith—we glide into understanding
why Jesus has delayed His return. The
challenge is to connect the dots!
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• All that leads us into that part of the
Controversy that Jesus has assigned
to His followers. “As you sent Me into
the world, I also have sent them into
the world” (John 17:18, 1 John 4:17).
The Controversy is not over until His
people fulfill their commission.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Paul understood his commission:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God
to salvation for everyone who
believes [has faith]” (Romans 1:16).
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• God does not tell us to repent
without giving us the power to
change: The gospel is a package:
pardon and power. The ellipse of
truth!
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• The Adventist message is simply the
good news about Jesus (with all that
it includes) with the end that men
and women are transformed into
His image and thus safe to save—
the Great Controversy in HD, multicolor!
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Peter never forgot his commission. Listen to
him as he passed it on to the last generation:
“Therefore, since all these things will be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought
you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
looking for and hastening the coming of the
day of God, because of which the heavens
will be dissolved, being on fire, and the
elements will melt with fervent heat?
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “Nevertheless we, according to His
promises, look for new heavens and
a new earth in which righteousness
dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking
forward to these things, be diligent
to be found by him in peace,
without spot and blameless” (2
Peter 3:11-14).
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Peter puts the period on the last
word of the Great Controversy as far
as this world is concerned.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “By giving the gospel to the world it is in our
power to hasten our Lord's return. We are
not only to look for but to hasten the coming
of the day of God. 2 Peter 3:12, margin. Had
the church of Christ done her appointed
work as the Lord ordained, the whole world
would before this have been warned, and
the Lord Jesus would have come to our earth
in power and great glory.” DA 633.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “The world can only be warned by
seeing those who believe the truth
sanctified through the truth, acting upon
high and holy principles, showing in a
high, elevated sense, the line of
demarcation between those who keep
the commandments of God and those
who trample them under their feet.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• To be even more practical, we are
told that a great percentage of
Saturday-keepers will not be
“sealed” and receive the Latter Rain
and participate in the Loud Cry.
What a pity!
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• How does this all work? If anything
is the truth, we should be “the last
generation.” We are all familiar with
electric terms: The Sealing Work,
Shaking, Baptism of the Holy Spirit,
Latter Rain, Loud Cry, etc.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• How do all these terms fit? If God’s
major purpose in finishing up the
Controversy is to give everyone on earth
in one generation, an opportunity to
decide whether they want to trust Him,
the God of Order, or the Prince of
Disorder, then the message to be heard
must make sense and be proven in the
lives of those who proclaim it.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• That message must tell the truth about
God, how He deals with sinners, and the
kind of help He provides for sinners to
escape all temptations that have
appealed to self-gratification.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• God will not forever forgive people
who keep on enjoying the sins that
they want forgiven. Those who are
ready for His return will be
“overcomers.” That is the steady
drumbeat of the New Testament,
echoed strongly in Revelation.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• The Latter Rain falls on sealed
people. Remember the Rain is the
combination of the Early Rain and
the Latter Rain—it is a matter of
growth, advancing in the light of
known duty.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “Not one of us will ever receive the seal of
God while our characters have one spot or
stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy
the defects in our characters, to cleanse the
soul temple of every defilement. Then the
latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain
fell upon the disciples on the Day of
Pentecost.” 5T 214.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Inspiration has given us the time
line: Character
transformation/Sealing—Shaking—
Latter Rain―Loud Cry—Fury of
Satan/Seven Last Plagues.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “Just as soon as the people of God are
sealed in their foreheads--it is not any seal
or mark that can be seen, but a settling into
the truth, both intellectually and spiritually,
so they cannot be moved--just as soon as
God's people are sealed and prepared for
the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has
begun already.” 4BC 1161 (1902), LDE 219.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “God's Spirit has illuminated every page of
Holy Writ, but there are those upon whom it
makes little impression, because it is
imperfectly understood. When the shaking
comes, by the introduction of false theories,
these surface readers, anchored nowhere,
are like shifting sand. They slide into any
position to suit the tenor of their feelings of
bitterness.” TM 112.
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Reality Check: The time is now! We
are long past the time when the
Latter Rain was falling on Seventhday Adventists for more than a
century!
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• In 1896, Ellen White sadly wrote that the
Latter Rain had been falling but God chose to
withdraw His Promised Rain: “An
unwillingness to yield up preconceived
opinions, and to accept this truth, lay at the
foundation of a large share of the opposition
manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord's
message through Brethren [E.J.] Waggoner
and [A.T.] Jones.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded
in shutting away from our people, in a great
measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit
that God longed to impart to them. The
enemy prevented them from obtaining that
efficiency which might have been theirs in
carrying the truth to the world, as the
apostles proclaimed it after the day of
Pentecost
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• “The light that is to lighten the
whole earth with its glory was
resisted, and by the action of our
own brethren has been in a great
degree kept away from the world.”
1SM 234-235
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• What was that “truth” that was
opposed by leadership in the years
after 1888? Essentially, it was the
core principles of the Great
Controversy Theme that we have
reviewed here today.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• Seventh-day Adventists do not have a
dated message. It focuses on Jesus and
why He came to the world as He did. It
focuses on His living words and on His
High Priestly work in our behalf, It
focuses on the kind of people He is
waiting for so He can declare the
Controversy over!
•
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
This blended focus is the New
Testament gospel that needs to be
seen and heard the world over and
reflected in men and women who
validate the truthfulness of their
message.
The Great Controversy Theme—the Heart Beat of Adventist Theology
• That message is as
old as Gethsemane
and Calvary and as
fresh as the
cleansing that Our
High Priest is doing
in and for us today.
•