IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:00:01.00\00:00:05.27 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:00:05.60\00:00:10.51 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:00:10.87\00:00:15.18 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:00:15.51\00:00:20.25 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:00:20.58\00:00:25.85 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:00:26.15\00:00:30.86 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:00:31.16\00:00:35.83 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:00:36.16\00:00:41.07 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time. 00:01:31.75\00:01:34.49 God's book, The Bible 00:01:34.92\00:01:37.43 Still relevant in today's complex world 00:01:38.66\00:01:42.36 It Is Written 00:01:44.20\00:01:45.57 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 00:01:46.37\00:01:50.17 In 1975 a young director by the name of George Lucas began to conceive and write the story of 00:01:58.98\00:02:07.06 a young boy by the name of Anakin Skywalker. As he wrote more and more, his idea became a 00:02:07.16\00:02:13.46 full script of 6 movies - two trilogies. He presented his idea to many studios, almost all of 00:02:13.56\00:02:22.50 them rejectied his idea as silly, one studio, 20th Century Fox, however, went out on a limb 00:02:22.60\00:02:30.28 to support his idea. Work immediately began on the second trilogy and in May of 1977, Star 00:02:30.38\00:02:39.75 Wars: A New Hope was released. It became the highest grossing film of all time, at the time. 00:02:39.85\00:02:47.00 The second movie followed in 1980 with the Empire Strikes Back and then the third movie, 00:02:47.10\00:02:54.34 Return of the Jedi debuted in 1983. The Star Wars trilogy became a timeless classic 00:02:54.44\00:03:03.85 appealing to all ages. It was so successful because it depicted the classic battle of good 00:03:03.95\00:03:11.45 verses evil, Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vader. Toys, games, comics all came exploding the 00:03:11.55\00:03:22.16 growth of the brand. Then in 1999 after 16 years the prequel trilogy debuted giving the 00:03:22.26\00:03:30.81 history of the birth of evil. In 2015 after ten years and the sale of LucasFilm to Disney the 00:03:30.91\00:03:41.75 sequel trilogy began with The Force Awakens. And in 2016 began the anthology films. 00:03:41.85\00:03:52.99 Make no mistake about it, this classic battle of good versus evil falls into the movie genre 00:03:53.86\00:04:01.07 of Science Fiction and that is exactly what it is - fiction And by using the illustration of 00:04:01.17\00:04:07.08 these movies and sharing the title with this series I am in not suggesting that you view any 00:04:07.18\00:04:13.31 of these films. Because the reality friends, is that we do not need to watch some film to 00:04:13.42\00:04:18.65 experience "Star Wars".each and every day we all live star wars as the battle of good versus 00:04:18.75\00:04:28.63 evil is played out in our lives. There is a constant struggle between right and wrong, and the 00:04:28.73\00:04:35.90 events unfolding before us are a demonstration of that battle between good and evil that 00:04:36.00\00:04:44.48 happens every day. Many questions arise as we talk about good and evil.one, when did it 00:04:44.58\00:04:49.55 begin.how will it end.what is my role in this whole situation.and most importantly who or what 00:04:49.65\00:05:02.90 will be victorius? Over the next several weeks we will delve behind the scenes and explore 00:05:03.00\00:05:09.94 the foundational event of history that defines the battle of good versus evil and its 00:05:10.04\00:05:17.08 impact, not only for each of us personally and globally, but also for the universe at large. 00:05:17.18\00:05:26.35 First we must clearly identify who the players are in this battle of good versus evil. Now 00:05:28.39\00:05:36.03 the Bible gives clear evidence to the rise of evil and the development of the battle 00:05:36.13\00:05:41.34 between good and evil. Someone watching It Is Written for the first time, might ask, how can I 00:05:41.44\00:05:46.74 trust the Bible? I'd encourage you to go to our website, It Is Written Canada dot ca and there 00:05:46.84\00:05:52.78 you can go to our archives and find the program, The Book that Couldn't Be Silenced or go to 00:05:52.88\00:05:58.75 our YouTube page and find it there. This Book can be trusted and it tells the story of good 00:05:58.85\00:06:08.30 in evil. Who are the players in the great battle of Good and evil. Jesus Himself defines 00:06:08.40\00:06:15.07 clearly who is good and the author of all good things, in 00:06:15.17\00:06:21.11 Matthew 19:17 he says, 00:06:22.54\00:06:28.48 Psalm 52:1 furthers testifies that reality, 00:06:33.29\00:06:38.33 Psalm 145:9 goes on to state that 00:06:44.63\00:06:49.30 While James 1:17 promises that 00:06:56.91\00:07:03.28 And in one of the most quoted passage's of the Bible, 1 John 00:07:17.20\00:07:25.14 4:16, The Bible is crystal clear, God is good, He is holy and He is love. We could spend 00:07:39.92\00:07:47.13 the entire show delving further into the depths of God's love and goodness, but today I am 00:07:47.23\00:07:54.80 looking want to simply establish that God is good. Yet there is also evil in the world. How did 00:07:54.90\00:08:04.18 that happen? 00:08:04.28\00:08:05.98 The book of Revelation tells the story.a tragic story. Somehow and someway there was war in 00:08:07.52\00:08:15.82 heaven. When did this all come to be? Revelation 12 beginning 00:08:15.92\00:08:25.63 in verse 7. Just that phrase alone should raise our eyebrow. How could there be war in 00:08:31.84\00:08:35.48 heaven? We'll talk about that in just a moment. The versse 00:08:35.58\00:08:39.45 continues There's war in heaven. There's Michael. There's a dragon. Angels fighting. Verse 8 00:08:47.62\00:08:53.80 goes on In a fascinating turn of events, the Bible says that there was war in heaven. Why was 00:09:11.91\00:09:18.15 there war in heaven and where did this dragon come from? Tonight, friends, we will look 00:09:18.25\00:09:23.49 and answer the question of why. Why do bad things happen to good people? We are going to talk 00:09:23.59\00:09:30.37 about this dragon. Who is this dragon that the Bible calls a serpent, the devil, and Satan? 00:09:30.47\00:09:37.67 Who is the devil? where did he come from? How is he in heaven. Ezekiel 28 gives us the history 00:09:39.54\00:09:51.12 of this being. Beginning in verse 11 00:09:51.22\00:10:02.23 The first question that comes to mind as we read this passage is: what in the world does the king 00:11:23.85\00:11:31.35 of Tyre have to do with the battle of good versus evil? As we look at this passage brothers 00:11:31.45\00:11:39.59 and sisters, we will become aware that everything is not as it seems. Let's look at the 00:11:39.69\00:11:45.00 passage: The first two verses tell us very quickly that this is a word from the Lord and it 00:11:45.10\00:11:50.81 is directed to the King of Tyre. Tyre was one of the main city-states of the Phoenician 00:11:50.91\00:11:56.61 empire. It is found in the area of modern day Lebanon. Tyre was known for its abundance of rich 00:11:56.71\00:12:05.09 merchandise The king of Tyre supplied king David with the cedars of Lebanon to build the 00:12:05.19\00:12:12.69 palace. 00:12:12.79\00:12:14.66 Yet with all there rich merchandise they worshiped many god's including Baal. Jezebel, 00:12:16.40\00:12:23.41 herself, was the daughter of the king of Tyre. And so a word of the Lord has come to Ezekiel and 00:12:23.51\00:12:30.08 he is to take up a lamentation The word lamentation here means a poem. It is a poem that tells 00:12:30.18\00:12:37.52 of the impending destruction that is about to come. And as we read further, we must begin to 00:12:37.62\00:12:44.19 wonder about the identity of this King of Tyre. As this lamentation is brought against 00:12:44.29\00:12:51.47 the King of Tyre, we see clearly some of the characteristics of the king of Tyre revealed. The 00:12:51.57\00:12:58.91 text outlines plainly: He was the seal of perfection He was full of wisdom He was perfect in 00:12:59.01\00:13:05.38 beauty He was in the Garden of Eden Every precious stone was his covering He was the anointed 00:13:05.48\00:13:11.65 cherub who covers He was on the mountain of God Now friends, I must ask you - does this sound 00:13:11.75\00:13:18.29 like a human being to you? Going from the last description to the first. We see that he was on the 00:13:18.39\00:13:24.63 mountain of God and He was the anointed cherub who covers. Throughout the Old and New 00:13:24.73\00:13:30.97 Testament, the phrase "mountain of God" refers to God's kingdom or dwelling place. Did the 00:13:31.07\00:13:37.85 literal King of Tyre live in heaven? And the text states he was the anointed cherub who 00:13:37.95\00:13:43.62 covers. A cherub is a special classification of angelic being And this cherub is the one who 00:13:43.72\00:13:51.46 covered the throne. In the instructions of Exodus 25:18, given to Moses to build the 00:13:51.56\00:13:59.40 earthly wilderness sanctuary and specifically the ark of the covenant we find a description 00:13:59.50\00:14:06.57 of two cherubim that were to cover the ark of the covenant and specifically the mercy seat. 00:14:06.68\00:14:14.22 Scripture tells us that the earthly sanctuary is symbolic of the heavenly sanctuary where God 00:14:14.32\00:14:21.52 does dwell. Is the literal King of Tyre an angel? 00:14:21.62\00:14:28.63 The being talked about here in Ezekiel 28 is a very special being, the language used is 00:14:30.93\00:14:35.84 symbolic. Symbolic to describe the history of the war of good versus evil. - This symbolic 00:14:35.94\00:14:44.28 story tells the events of the history of the battle. The birth of the the dragon. He was one of 00:14:44.38\00:14:54.99 the two covering cherubim and he walked in the midst of God's throne. And not only that but 00:14:55.09\00:15:03.67 this angelic being was the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty and walked in 00:15:03.77\00:15:11.27 the Garden of Eden. This angel was important. It is here we learn a very important principle 00:15:11.37\00:15:20.58 of prophecy, that is sometimes, God uses earthly situations to symbolize heavenly realities. 00:15:20.68\00:15:29.82 Friends this is clearly symbolic of a heavenly angel. And this heavenly angel is important for 00:15:29.92\00:15:38.53 he was one who covered the throne of God According to Psalm 104:4 that it is God who created 00:15:38.63\00:15:49.58 the angels. So this important angel is working with God and is beautiful in stature. But 00:15:49.68\00:15:59.02 something terrible happens. Verses 15 and 17 tell of a terrible happening, 00:15:59.12\00:16:07.30 This angel was perfect until iniquity was found in him. The word iniquity in the Hebrew 00:16:25.71\00:16:31.29 means injustice or wrongdoing. Somehow his perfection is marred. Verse 17 reveals what 00:16:31.39\00:16:41.93 his iniquity, what his injustice was, 00:16:42.03\00:16:45.07 The pride of his beauty and wisdom had corrupted him. Who is this angel, who is this one who 00:16:51.74\00:17:03.45 was perfect and then became prideful? We look to Isaiah 14:12-14 and find further 00:17:03.55\00:17:14.20 insight into this tragic story. 00:17:14.30\00:17:16.93 This angel who's name is Lucifer, who was perfect, who was beautiful in stature, who 00:17:49.53\00:17:55.24 was full of wisdom and who stood next to the throne of God is now a sinner who has allowed pride 00:17:55.34\00:18:04.98 to enter his heart. He has actually thought himself to be above the almighty God 00:18:05.08\00:18:14.39 Friends we see now with clarity that Lucifer, an angel created by God, was the seal of 00:18:15.89\00:18:23.00 perfection, He was full of wisdom, He was perfect in beauty, He was in the Garden of 00:18:23.10\00:18:26.63 Eden, Every precious stone was his covering, He was the anointed cherub who covers, and 00:18:26.74\00:18:36.01 He was on the mountain of God. Pride entered his heart and he thought himself to be above God. 00:18:36.11\00:18:44.15 And because of his sin and rebellion it spread throughout the heavens like cancer and a 00:18:44.25\00:18:52.73 third of the angels end up following him and wage war in heaven. It is then that Michael 00:18:52.83\00:19:00.24 the archangel of God. We can see through a careful study of scripture that Michael the 00:19:00.34\00:19:09.68 archangel is actually Jesus, taking the form of the creature he is trying to save - It is He 00:19:09.78\00:19:18.82 and the remaining angels that stay faithful and wage this war and win this war and cast 00:19:18.92\00:19:26.16 Lucifer, who now is Satan, the Devil, the father of lies he along with imps are cast out of 00:19:26.26\00:19:34.00 heaven and to this earth. The conflict began this way. But many ask another question, and 00:19:34.10\00:19:42.34 it's another "Why" question. Why did God create Lucifer with the ability to make wrong choices? 00:19:42.44\00:19:50.69 Why did God create him with the ability to disobey? What we will see, friends, is that God, the 00:19:50.79\00:20:00.70 very, very essence of the character of God, as outlined in First John, is that God is love. 00:20:00.80\00:20:09.27 And in order for love to be love, love gives you the ability to say yes, but love also gives 00:20:09.37\00:20:20.42 you the ability to say no. 00:20:20.52\00:20:24.99 One of the riskiest propositions that's faced by any human being is when a decision is made to 00:20:26.35\00:20:31.43 bring a child into the world. When your child was brought into this world, your child was 00:20:31.53\00:20:37.60 brought into this world with what's called free will. Your child could accept you, or your 00:20:37.70\00:20:42.04 child could reject you. And God, in the same way, when God creates beings, the very essence 00:20:42.14\00:20:50.08 of the government of God is love, God wants people to love Him because they want to love 00:20:50.18\00:20:56.92 Him. God doesn't want to simply create robots. Imagine for a moment that that is in fact how 00:20:57.02\00:21:03.49 life worked, that when your child was born, your child was nothing more than a mere robot. 00:21:03.59\00:21:09.06 That was programmed to be obedient and love you. I want you to think more deeply about 00:21:09.16\00:21:19.14 the ramifications. while there may be the beauty of having a child that listened all the 00:21:19.24\00:21:24.85 time, think more deeply, that at some leve is the reality that your child loves you because you 00:21:24.95\00:21:32.22 programmed it to love you, not because your child wanted to love you. See, this is why God, 00:21:32.32\00:21:40.03 when He created, He creates us not as robots or puppets, but He creates us with the ability to 00:21:40.13\00:21:46.80 say yes or say no. Lucifer wasn't satisfied with the freedom of choice he had been 00:21:46.90\00:21:53.54 provided. The Bible says that he desired something more. Not only did he want to sit on the throne 00:21:53.64\00:22:00.82 of God, but he actually wanted to sit above the throne of God. My dear friends, if we could 00:22:00.92\00:22:07.49 understand this verse and what it means, it would resolve some of life's greatest problems. The 00:22:07.59\00:22:14.00 greatest problems in life are faced when we make a decision that our way is better than 00:22:14.10\00:22:18.83 God's way. And in essence, what happened in heaven is Lucifer said in his heart, "Wait a 00:22:18.93\00:22:26.51 second, I think I can govern better than God. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Why do I have to 00:22:26.61\00:22:32.25 follow all these rules? I certainly know how to rule better than God. I could be 00:22:32.35\00:22:36.42 above God." And in that moment, Lucifer begins to transition. Lucifer, not being satisfied 00:22:36.52\00:22:43.22 with his opposition to God, began to sow seeds of discord in heaven, and he began asking 00:22:43.32\00:22:48.13 questions. "Don't you think that I could rule better than God?" And he began sowing the seeds. 00:22:48.23\00:22:59.04 You see, Lucifer desired a higher position. He desired an exalted throng. He desired 00:22:59.14\00:23:06.35 rulership and dominance. Lucifer questioned God's very authority and he questioned God's 00:23:06.45\00:23:13.76 fairness. And I want you to think about that now. It's the ultimate catch 22. You are not 00:23:13.86\00:23:19.56 just and you are not fair, so how does God demonstrate His justice and how does God 00:23:19.66\00:23:30.87 demonstrate that He's fair? You see, Lucifer didn't see God as his friend, but he viewed God as 00:23:30.97\00:23:33.64 a rival. So how would God face this challenge of Lucifer? Why wouldn't God just destroy evil 00:23:33.74\00:23:43.35 before it had the chance to spread?" 00:23:43.45\00:23:48.09 Let's paint a hypothetical picture. Let's just pretend for a moment that the local MP 00:23:51.13\00:23:57.03 accused the prime minister of embezzling money. Then the next day, after his accusations were 00:23:57.13\00:24:04.57 made public, soldiers, sent by the prime minster showed up at his home.They went in and they 00:24:04.67\00:24:12.28 handcuffed the MP. They took the MP out of his home, and there in the street, while the cameras 00:24:12.38\00:24:17.02 were rolling, they executed the MP. So let me ask you a question: Would you trust the 00:24:17.12\00:24:24.59 prime minister after that? In fact, you would have bigger questions about the prime 00:24:24.69\00:24:30.50 minister? It would raise questions amongst many people that, well, maybe the prime 00:24:30.60\00:24:36.54 minister had something to hide. You see, if God simply destroyed 00:24:36.64\00:24:45.25 Satan on the spot, then the questions arise, "Well, maybe God isn't very fair. Maybe God's 00:24:45.35\00:24:55.19 justice isn't really just." So God had to answer the question of Lucifer. And the only way to 00:24:55.29\00:25:01.80 answer that question, unfortunately for us, is time. You see, in the moment that 00:25:01.90\00:25:10.31 Lucifer made a decision to disobey God, to leave God's governance, to create war in 00:25:10.41\00:25:16.28 heaven, Lucifer transformed himself from Lucifer the perfect angel created by God, to Satan 00:25:16.38\00:25:22.92 the arch-deceiver, the great devil, the serpent of old. In that very moment, he went from 00:25:23.02\00:25:30.03 God's creation to the creation of his own. God did not create Satan. God created Lucifer who 00:25:30.13\00:25:37.90 was good, perfect, full of beauty, the covering cherub. Satan made himself through his 00:25:38.00\00:25:47.28 own choices. For a few weeks we'll explore the history of this war. We will look at this 00:25:50.38\00:25:56.85 Star War and see what it means for us today. Although our study explored a conflict that began 00:25:56.95\00:26:03.79 thousands of years ago, it is a conflict that wages on today. 1 00:26:03.89\00:26:16.77 Peter 5:8, Friends there is hope for today, it is found in 00:26:28.68\00:26:36.69 Revelation 12:11, The war has been won by Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of 00:26:47.77\00:26:54.98 the world, there is hope, so place your trust in him today. 00:26:55.08\00:27:07.26 Heavenly Father, even though there is a wile foe the devil raoming about this world like a 00:27:08.89\00:27:15.66 roaring lion seeking whom he may devour we have the hope in Your son Jesus the one who overcomes 00:27:15.76\00:27:23.07 the devil the one who overcomes the roaring lion. Today, may we place our faith and trust in 00:27:23.17\00:27:30.68 Jesus, may we give our hearts to Him that we might enjoy the safety of His arms the one who 00:27:30.78\00:27:38.12 has overcome may we enjoy victory in Him we pray in Jesus 00:27:38.22\00:27:44.79 name amen. Friends the beginning of the great epic Star Wars it's happening in the universe today. 00:27:50.77\00:27:57.24 is a fascinating development of the battle between good and evil. Today I want to offer you 00:27:57.34\00:28:03.75 the magazine "The great controversy of Good and Evil is nearly over". As you peruse the 00:28:03.85\00:28:10.32 pages of this magazine, you'll see chapters like "War in heaven", "God's rescue plan" and 00:28:10.42\00:28:16.49 "The final Conflict". You'll want to read this magazine. It will give you hope and joy for 00:28:16.59\00:28:24.13 this time. here's the information you need to receive 00:28:24.23\00:28:29.14 today's offer. My dear friends in the great battle of good versus evil the testimony of the 00:29:28.70\00:29:34.54 scriptures is this, Jesus wins, good wins. encourage you to choose Jesus today. I hope you 00:29:34.64\00:29:42.21 enjoyed the program today I invite you to join us again next week. Until then remember, it is 00:29:42.31\00:29:48.15 written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of 00:29:48.25\00:29:54.42