Participants: Chris Holland
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201611A
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00:01 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy
00:05 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:10 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:15 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:20 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:26 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:31 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 00:36 IIW --- Star Wars- The Birth of the Controversy 01:31 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time. 01:34 God's book, The Bible 01:38 Still relevant in today's complex world 01:44 It Is Written 01:46 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 01:58 In 1975 a young director by the name of George Lucas began to conceive and write the story of 02:07 a young boy by the name of Anakin Skywalker. As he wrote more and more, his idea became a 02:13 full script of 6 movies - two trilogies. He presented his idea to many studios, almost all of 02:22 them rejectied his idea as silly, one studio, 20th Century Fox, however, went out on a limb 02:30 to support his idea. Work immediately began on the second trilogy and in May of 1977, Star 02:39 Wars: A New Hope was released. It became the highest grossing film of all time, at the time. 02:47 The second movie followed in 1980 with the Empire Strikes Back and then the third movie, 02:54 Return of the Jedi debuted in 1983. The Star Wars trilogy became a timeless classic 03:03 appealing to all ages. It was so successful because it depicted the classic battle of good 03:11 verses evil, Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vader. Toys, games, comics all came exploding the 03:22 growth of the brand. Then in 1999 after 16 years the prequel trilogy debuted giving the 03:30 history of the birth of evil. In 2015 after ten years and the sale of LucasFilm to Disney the 03:41 sequel trilogy began with The Force Awakens. And in 2016 began the anthology films. 03:53 Make no mistake about it, this classic battle of good versus evil falls into the movie genre 04:01 of Science Fiction and that is exactly what it is - fiction And by using the illustration of 04:07 these movies and sharing the title with this series I am in not suggesting that you view any 04:13 of these films. Because the reality friends, is that we do not need to watch some film to 04:18 experience "Star Wars".each and every day we all live star wars as the battle of good versus 04:28 evil is played out in our lives. There is a constant struggle between right and wrong, and the 04:36 events unfolding before us are a demonstration of that battle between good and evil that 04:44 happens every day. Many questions arise as we talk about good and evil.one, when did it 04:49 begin.how will it end.what is my role in this whole situation.and most importantly who or what 05:03 will be victorius? Over the next several weeks we will delve behind the scenes and explore 05:10 the foundational event of history that defines the battle of good versus evil and its 05:17 impact, not only for each of us personally and globally, but also for the universe at large. 05:28 First we must clearly identify who the players are in this battle of good versus evil. Now 05:36 the Bible gives clear evidence to the rise of evil and the development of the battle 05:41 between good and evil. Someone watching It Is Written for the first time, might ask, how can I 05:46 trust the Bible? I'd encourage you to go to our website, It Is Written Canada dot ca and there 05:52 you can go to our archives and find the program, The Book that Couldn't Be Silenced or go to 05:58 our YouTube page and find it there. This Book can be trusted and it tells the story of good 06:08 in evil. Who are the players in the great battle of Good and evil. Jesus Himself defines 06:15 clearly who is good and the author of all good things, in 06:22 Matthew 19:17 he says, 06:33 Psalm 52:1 furthers testifies that reality, 06:44 Psalm 145:9 goes on to state that 06:56 While James 1:17 promises that 07:17 And in one of the most quoted passage's of the Bible, 1 John 4:16, 07:39 The Bible is crystal clear, God is good, He is holy and He is love. We could spend the entire 07:47 show delving further into the depths of God's love and goodness, but today I am looking 07:54 want to simply establish that God is good. Yet there is also evil in the world. How did that 08:04 happen? 08:07 The book of Revelation tells the story.a tragic story. Somehow and someway there was war in 08:15 heaven. When did this all come to be? Revelation 12 beginning in verse 7. 08:31 Just that phrase alone should raise our eyebrow. How could there be war in heaven? We'll 08:35 talk about that in just a moment. The versse continues 08:47 There's war in heaven. There's Michael. There's a dragon. Angels fighting. Verse 8 goes on 09:11 In a fascinating turn of events, the Bible says that there was war in heaven. Why was 09:18 there war in heaven and where did this dragon come from? Tonight, friends, we will look 09:23 and answer the question of why. Why do bad things happen to good people? We are going to talk 09:30 about this dragon. Who is this dragon that the Bible calls a serpent, the devil, and Satan? 09:39 Who is the devil? where did he come from? How is he in heaven. Ezekiel 28 gives us the history 09:51 of this being. Beginning in verse 11 11:23 The first question that comes to mind as we read this passage is: what in the world does the king 11:31 of Tyre have to do with the battle of good versus evil? As we look at this passage brothers 11:39 and sisters, we will become aware that everything is not as it seems. Let's look at the 11:45 passage: The first two verses tell us very quickly that this is a word from the Lord and it 11:50 is directed to the King of Tyre. Tyre was one of the main city-states of the Phoenician 11:56 empire. It is found in the area of modern day Lebanon. Tyre was known for its abundance of rich 12:05 merchandise The king of Tyre supplied king David with the cedars of Lebanon to build the 12:12 palace. 12:16 Yet with all there rich merchandise they worshiped many god's including Baal. Jezebel, 12:23 herself, was the daughter of the king of Tyre. And so a word of the Lord has come to Ezekiel and 12:30 he is to take up a lamentation The word lamentation here means a poem. It is a poem that tells 12:37 of the impending destruction that is about to come. And as we read further, we must begin to 12:44 wonder about the identity of this King of Tyre. As this lamentation is brought against 12:51 the King of Tyre, we see clearly some of the characteristics of the king of Tyre revealed. The 12:59 text outlines plainly: He was the seal of perfection He was full of wisdom He was perfect in 13:05 beauty He was in the Garden of Eden Every precious stone was his covering He was the anointed 13:11 cherub who covers He was on the mountain of God Now friends, I must ask you - does this sound 13:18 like a human being to you? Going from the last description to the first. We see that he was on the 13:24 mountain of God and He was the anointed cherub who covers. Throughout the Old and New 13:31 Testament, the phrase "mountain of God" refers to God's kingdom or dwelling place. Did the 13:37 literal King of Tyre live in heaven? And the text states he was the anointed cherub who 13:43 covers. A cherub is a special classification of angelic being And this cherub is the one who 13:51 covered the throne. In the instructions of Exodus 25:18, given to Moses to build the 13:59 earthly wilderness sanctuary and specifically the ark of the covenant we find a description 14:06 of two cherubim that were to cover the ark of the covenant and specifically the mercy seat. 14:14 Scripture tells us that the earthly sanctuary is symbolic of the heavenly sanctuary where God 14:21 does dwell. Is the literal King of Tyre an angel? 14:30 The being talked about here in Ezekiel 28 is a very special being, the language used is 14:35 symbolic. Symbolic to describe the history of the war of good versus evil. - This symbolic 14:44 story tells the events of the history of the battle. The birth of the the dragon. He was one of 14:55 the two covering cherubim and he walked in the midst of God's throne. And not only that but 15:03 this angelic being was the seal of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty and walked in 15:11 the Garden of Eden. This angel was important. It is here we learn a very important principle 15:20 of prophecy, that is sometimes, God uses earthly situations to symbolize heavenly realities. 15:29 Friends this is clearly symbolic of a heavenly angel. And this heavenly angel is important for 15:38 he was one who covered the throne of God According to Psalm 104:4 that it is God who created 15:49 the angels. So this important angel is working with God and is beautiful in stature. But 15:59 something terrible happens. Verses 15 and 17 tell of a terrible happening, 16:25 This angel was perfect until iniquity was found in him. The word iniquity in the Hebrew 16:31 means injustice or wrongdoing. Somehow his perfection is marred. Verse 17 reveals what 16:42 his iniquity, what his injustice was, 16:51 The pride of his beauty and wisdom had corrupted him. Who is this angel, who is this one who 17:03 was perfect and then became prideful? We look to Isaiah 14:12-14 and find further 17:14 insight into this tragic story. 17:49 This angel who's name is Lucifer, who was perfect, who was beautiful in stature, who 17:55 was full of wisdom and who stood next to the throne of God is now a sinner who has allowed pride 18:05 to enter his heart. He has actually thought himself to be above the almighty God 18:15 Friends we see now with clarity that Lucifer, an angel created by God, was the seal of 18:23 perfection, He was full of wisdom, He was perfect in beauty, He was in the Garden of 18:26 Eden, Every precious stone was his covering, He was the anointed cherub who covers, and 18:36 He was on the mountain of God. Pride entered his heart and he thought himself to be above God. 18:44 And because of his sin and rebellion it spread throughout the heavens like cancer and a 18:52 third of the angels end up following him and wage war in heaven. It is then that Michael 19:00 the archangel of God. We can see through a careful study of scripture that Michael the 19:09 archangel is actually Jesus, taking the form of the creature he is trying to save - It is He 19:18 and the remaining angels that stay faithful and wage this war and win this war and cast 19:26 Lucifer, who now is Satan, the Devil, the father of lies he along with imps are cast out of 19:34 heaven and to this earth. The conflict began this way. But many ask another question, and 19:42 it's another "Why" question. Why did God create Lucifer with the ability to make wrong choices? 19:50 Why did God create him with the ability to disobey? What we will see, friends, is that God, the 20:00 very, very essence of the character of God, as outlined in First John, is that God is love. 20:09 And in order for love to be love, love gives you the ability to say yes, but love also gives 20:20 you the ability to say no. 20:26 One of the riskiest propositions that's faced by any human being is when a decision is made to 20:31 bring a child into the world. When your child was brought into this world, your child was 20:37 brought into this world with what's called free will. Your child could accept you, or your 20:42 child could reject you. And God, in the same way, when God creates beings, the very essence 20:50 of the government of God is love, God wants people to love Him because they want to love 20:57 Him. God doesn't want to simply create robots. Imagine for a moment that that is in fact how 21:03 life worked, that when your child was born, your child was nothing more than a mere robot. 21:09 That was programmed to be obedient and love you. I want you to think more deeply about 21:19 the ramifications. while there may be the beauty of having a child that listened all the 21:24 time, think more deeply, that at some leve is the reality that your child loves you because you 21:32 programmed it to love you, not because your child wanted to love you. See, this is why God, 21:40 when He created, He creates us not as robots or puppets, but He creates us with the ability to 21:46 say yes or say no. Lucifer wasn't satisfied with the freedom of choice he had been 21:53 provided. The Bible says that he desired something more. Not only did he want to sit on the throne 22:00 of God, but he actually wanted to sit above the throne of God. My dear friends, if we could 22:07 understand this verse and what it means, it would resolve some of life's greatest problems. The 22:14 greatest problems in life are faced when we make a decision that our way is better than 22:18 God's way. And in essence, what happened in heaven is Lucifer said in his heart, "Wait a 22:26 second, I think I can govern better than God. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Why do I have to 22:32 follow all these rules? I certainly know how to rule better than God. I could be 22:36 above God." And in that moment, Lucifer begins to transition. Lucifer, not being satisfied 22:43 with his opposition to God, began to sow seeds of discord in heaven, and he began asking 22:48 questions. "Don't you think that I could rule better than God?" And he began sowing the seeds. 22:59 You see, Lucifer desired a higher position. He desired an exalted throng. He desired 23:06 rulership and dominance. Lucifer questioned God's very authority and he questioned God's 23:13 fairness. And I want you to think about that now. It's the ultimate catch 22. You are not 23:19 just and you are not fair, so how does God demonstrate His justice and how does God 23:30 demonstrate that He's fair? You see, Lucifer didn't see God as his friend, but he viewed God as 23:33 a rival. So how would God face this challenge of Lucifer? Why wouldn't God just destroy evil 23:43 before it had the chance to spread?" 23:51 Let's paint a hypothetical picture. Let's just pretend for a moment that the local MP 23:57 accused the prime minister of embezzling money. Then the next day, after his accusations were 24:04 made public, soldiers, sent by the prime minster showed up at his home.They went in and they 24:12 handcuffed the MP. They took the MP out of his home, and there in the street, while the cameras 24:17 were rolling, they executed the MP. So let me ask you a question: Would you trust the 24:24 prime minister after that? In fact, you would have bigger questions about the prime 24:30 minister? It would raise questions amongst many people that, well, maybe the prime 24:36 minister had something to hide. You see, if God simply destroyed Satan on the spot, 24:45 then the questions arise, "Well, maybe God isn't very fair. Maybe God's justice isn't really 24:55 just." So God had to answer the question of Lucifer. And the only way to answer that 25:01 question, unfortunately for us, is time. You see, in the moment that Lucifer made a decision to 25:10 disobey God, to leave God's governance, to create war in heaven, Lucifer transformed 25:16 himself from Lucifer the perfect angel created by God, to Satan the arch-deceiver, the great 25:23 devil, the serpent of old. In that very moment, he went from God's creation to the creation 25:30 of his own. God did not create Satan. God created Lucifer who was good, perfect, full of 25:38 beauty, the covering cherub. Satan made himself through his own choices. 25:50 For a few weeks we'll explore the history of this war. We will look at this Star War and see 25:56 what it means for us today. Although our study explored a conflict that began thousands of 26:03 years ago, it is a conflict that wages on today. 1 Peter 5:8, 26:28 Friends there is hope for today, it is found in Revelation 12:11, 26:47 The war has been won by Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, there is 26:55 hope, so place your trust in him today. 27:08 Heavenly Father, even though there is a wile foe the devil raoming about this world like a 27:15 roaring lion seeking whom he may devour we have the hope in Your son Jesus the one who overcomes 27:23 the devil the one who overcomes the roaring lion. Today, may we place our faith and trust in 27:30 Jesus, may we give our hearts to Him that we might enjoy the safety of His arms the one who 27:38 has overcome may we enjoy victory in Him we pray in Jesus name amen. 27:50 Friends the beginning of the great epic Star Wars it's happening in the universe today. 27:57 is a fascinating development of the battle between good and evil. Today I want to offer you 28:03 the magazine "The great controversy of Good and Evil is nearly over". As you peruse the 28:10 pages of this magazine, you'll see chapters like "War in heaven", "God's rescue plan" and 28:16 "The final Conflict". You'll want to read this magazine. It will give you hope and joy for 28:24 this time. here's the information you need to receive today's offer. 29:28 My dear friends in the great battle of good versus evil the testimony of the scriptures is 29:34 this, Jesus wins, good wins. encourage you to choose Jesus today. I hope you enjoyed the 29:42 program today I invite you to join us again next week. Until then remember, it is written man 29:48 shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. |
Revised 2017-01-11