GOD is the Creator. God has existed from eternity. WHO and WHAT God is we learned in the last lesson. In John 1:1 we read: “In the beginning was the Word..." that is, the Personage called the Word. He is the Spokesman. “And the Word was with God…" God, then, is another Personage. There are actually two persons revealed in John 1:1. But notice further:
“And the Word was God.” The Word also is God and “all things were made by him…" (verse 3). In the Word was LIFE (verse 4).
These verses in John 1 speak of none other than the two eternal members of the GOD KINGDOM. There is “God” who became the Father, and the “Word” who became Christ. They have life inherent. And they lived with each other. How did they live? The way of LOVE!
God loved the Word. He said of the Word after He became Jesus the Christ: “My beloved Son….” And the Son loved and obeyed the Father. This love – this WAY OF LIFE – was the attitude that guided what they both did.
What did the God Family DO? What is their occupation? God is CREATOR. But even before creating the physical universe, God first created angels.
As both members of the God Family have eternal LIFE inherent within themselves, so the Word imparted life to the angels when He created them. They have life inherent – self-contained eternal life. The angels served at the throne of God in heaven. Two of them, with the rank of cherub, were trained at the headquarters of God in heaven and spread their wings over God's very throne (Ezek. 28:14). One of those two was Lucifer.
Later the Word created the earth at the same time as the rest of the universe (Gen. 1:1). Over the earth God set His government. He placed under Him angels, apparently a third of them, on our planet (Job 38:4-7; Isa. 14:14; Rev. 12:4) to develop, beautify and complete the creation.
But how were these angels to accomplish their purpose on earth? How were they to get along successfully with one another and be happy? What was to regulate their conduct toward their Creator and toward each other? God's government over them!
Since God is Creator, God governs, rules, and determines the way of life of created intelligent beings. God's government directs those under it into His way of life, which is love, cooperation and outgoing concern for others. To administer God's government on earth, He set the great archangel Lucifer on a throne over the whole earth (Isa. 14:12-14).
All government is based on a foundational law or constitution. And the constitution or basic law of God's government is the Law of God – the way of life by which the two members of the God Family live! God's government is simply the administration of God's WAY OF LIFE.
God's Law can be summed up in the one word love (Rom. 13:10). This is because God's very nature is LOVE (I John 4:16), and God's Law reflects His loving character. And so the government of God is the application of the PRINCIPLE of LOVE.
The love of God is outflowing toward others. God is concerned about the good and the welfare of others. God's love is the attitude of cooperation, serving, helping. It is the way of “give” instead of “get.”
God has always loved the Word and the Word has always loved God. The Father, as we have noted, said of the Word when He became Christ, “This is my beloved Son” (Matt. 3:17). The Son loves and obeys the Father who has always been in charge (John 8:28-29; 15:10). The two have lived in harmony from eternity (John 10:30). The LOVE they have for each other – this WAY OF LIFE – is the attitude motivating everything the God Family does.
The Law of God applies in principle to angels the same as to man. The principle underlying God's Law remains the same – love toward God and love toward one another.
The Bible clearly tells us that the angels who were placed on earth abandoned the way of love and sinned (II Peter 2:4). Sin is the transgression of God's Law of LOVE – the way of peace, cooperation and harmony – the way of giving as opposed to the way of getting.
Lucifer allowed VANITY to lead him into the attitudes of coveting, envy, jealousy, competition. He began to live the way of “get” instead of God's way of “give.” So Lucifer rejected God and His Law of love. Thus the government of God ceased to be administered on earth.
Lucifer finally organized a third of God's angels into an army and ascended to heaven in an attempt to “take” rulership of the universe away from God. But they were repelled and cast back to earth. As a result, the earth became “without form and void” (Gen. 1:2). It became a darkened, ruined planet!
Let's learn the full story of what happened and the steps God is taking to restore His government – His way of life – to the entire earth. Then we'll see what the righteous angels are doing today and how we can be protected from the wiles of the Devil and his demons.
But before we begin this important study, get your Bible so you can turn to all the scriptures given in answer to the questions in this lesson. You will also find it very profitable to copy these verses into a notebook. This will not only enable you to review your studies at any time in the future, it will also help make these scriptures become a part of your very being.
Now let's begin this lesson!
