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GALACTIC NEWS FROM THREE ANGELS #7
WHO WANTS TO KNOW?
Have you ever heard of eldils? Or macrobes? In the
mysterious, galactic worlds created in the science-fiction trilogy by
the late Christian writer C. S. Lewis, eldils was really a word for angels.
Holy beings — some of them in heaven, but others who were assigned to
various planets and stars in God’s vast universe. Macrobes were the dark
angels, fallen angels, who were bent on taking over Thulcandra, or “The
Silent Planet” . . . meaning earth.
And there were other beings. If you read the first book in the trilogy,
Out of the Silent Planet, this man named Elwin Ransom is kidnapped and
taken to Malacandra — or Mars. And there he finds several kinds of rational
creatures: the Hrossa, the Sorns. These weren’t human, but on a par with
them: other kinds of intelligent beings capable of speech, reading, writing,
thinking spiritual thoughts, etc.
And in a sense, the whole battle of sin, of Good versus Evil, happening
down in our world . . . was something they were all watching. They knew
about God, of course. To serve Him was the obvious thing; not one of them
had ever thought of doing anything else. They all knew about Maleldil,
His Son. Even a secular reader soon figures out that’s Jesus. And how
Maleldil went down to Thulcandra, the silent planet, the one place that
is somehow isolated, quarantined, so that He could perhaps rescue that
one lost world.
Well, it’s marvelous reading, and filled with Bible truth from first to
last. But the incredible insight is this. You and I and Adam and Eve and
all of this lost human race is down here. Jesus, the Son of God, is born
down here. Calvary happens down here. The plan of redemption is happening
down here. And in these three admittedly fiction books, it’s suggested
that all of these UNfallen worlds out there are quietly watching. Sin
isn’t just a mess, but a mysterious mess. They haven’t tasted it; they
don’t understand it. All they know is righteousness and peace and happiness,
and so the causes of sin, the results of sin, are something they can only
scratch their heads about from a great, great distance.
In fact, in the first book, this Ransom, the man from earth, has to painfully
explain to the citizens of Malacandra what things like war and murder
are. What prostitution is. And the people there just shake their heads
in confusion.
But do you know something? We’ve been studying about the Judgment for
the past few days, and kind of scratching our own heads about the fact
that God knows every single fact in the universe instantly. The “hard
drive” of His divine mind has so many GIGA-gigabytes that He just knows.
So why does He need to open up books and examine evidence and have a “Judgment”?
If He knows our hearts and minds, instantly, and if He knows if we truly
do or do not have a Calvary relationship with His Son, then make a decision
and be done with it. Two seconds: finished.
Well, friend, I believe that this space trilogy is a huge reason why there
is a Judgment, and why it does take longer than two seconds. In the final
analysis, I don’t think Out of the Silent Planet IS fiction. Our heavenly
Father, Creator of the universe — and I really believe this — has those
silent watchers on many, many worlds. And they are all watching to see
how this war turns out.
Have you ever read the very beginnings of the book of Job? Right in chapter
one, the King James Version says this:
“Now there came a day when the Sons of God came to
present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.”
Here is a council meeting being held in heaven, and
who are the invited board members? The “sons of God.” Remember that Adam
is called in the New Testament genealogy a “son of God.” That’s in Luke
chapter three. The leader of this world . . . until he forfeited that
position. Is it possible that God, whose creative power is unlimited,
didn’t stop with inhabiting just one world, but that He made many of them?
And put a king and queen, an Adam and Eve, in charge of each one? That’s
the scenario, by the way, in C. S. Lewis’ second book in the trilogy,
Perelandra . . . a fantastic book about the battle between good and evil,
God and Lucifer.
Well, the Bible gives us this hint. I can’t give nearly as much weight
to a loose paraphrase like the Clear Word, by Dr. Jack Blanco, but listen
to how he interprets Job 1:6:
“In heaven the representatives of other planets in
God’s created universe came together regularly to meet with Him. One day
Satan also came with them and presented himself for admittance. He came
to accuse God of being partial to Job.” And here’s verse 7, just for interest’s
sake: “God said to Satan, ‘On what basis do you want to attend this meeting?’
The Accuser answered, ‘I represent the planet Earth and have been in charge
there for a long time.’”
So is it possible that there are men and women — Adams
and Eves from great, sinless societies throughout the universe — who have
been watching the Calvary saga on earth with great interest? Well, we
don’t know that for sure. But let me pose a more down-to-earth question.
Aren’t there many billions of angels in God’s kingdom, still loyal to
God, who might have questions about salvation? Lucifer went about heaven
with his lies and managed to seduce away a third of the angel forces.
You can read about that right here in Revelation, just a couple of pages
earlier in chapter 12. But even though the two-thirds group stayed loyal
to God, remained in His service, might the accusations from Satan — notice
the Bible specifically calls him The Accuser — have stuck in their minds?
Is God fair in how He handles this mysterious cancer called sin?
So this is a partial answer to the question we’ve been asking the past
couple of days. The Judgment is actually for those looking on. Angels.
Beings on other worlds. And . . . beings on this world. If Adolph Hitler
was in heaven, would you be interested in finding out how in the world
he got in the front gate? If Timothy McVeigh, who carefully planned and
then bombed to bits 168 innocent victims, were to call a press conference
there on Death Row at Terre Haute, Indiana, and tell reporters: “Surprise!
I’ve found God; I’ve accepted the Christian message,” would you have questions
about whether he should get a mansion in heaven? And how big a mansion?
Would you want to know? Wouldn’t the families of victims in Oklahoma City
especially want to know?
I found an interesting observation in one of the classic old books people
read in my Adventist denomination. It’s entitled The Great Controversy
Between Christ and Satan, and it’s filled with discussions about these
very issues of “who is watching the great war.” And the author, E. G.
White, makes this suggestion about the Judgment:
“In the great day of final atonement and investigative
judgment, the only cases considered are those of the professed people
of God.”
And maybe we’re not sure what to make of that, until
we realize something. There are those who have lived on planet earth who
openly and unequivocally have said NO to God. “I will not have Him as
Ruler of my life,” they said. Calvary and salvation were not something
they wanted; sin was not something they acknowledged to be a reality in
their life.
Of course, God knows that. Instantly, as we’ve been saying. He knows who
are His, and He knows, with regret, those who are not His. And it’s safe
to say that the watching universe knows about those who have specifically
turned their backs on the kingdom of heaven. There’s no need to sift evidence
in those cases, because they are so open-and-shut.
But . . . then there’s us. You, maybe. You’ve claimed that you’re a Christian.
But are you really? “Look at that person!” Satan shrieks to anyone who
will listen. “They keep sinning! I got ‘em 40 times last week.” And the
watching universe wonders: “Hmmm. Has this person really accepted Calvary?
They say so, but talk is cheap. Should they be allowed into heaven for
all eternity? And if so, on what basis?”
Friend, you might get to heaven, and be so grateful to be there. But as
you look around, you can’t help but notice a gap. Mr. Jones — or let’s
say Pastor Jones — of course he should be up here! But he’s not. And you
say to your accompanying angel: “But . . . but . . . he preached every
weekend! He was tremendous! His sermons were masterpieces. He talked about
God incessantly! How in the world can he not be in the Kingdom of heaven?”
And even though God doesn’t need to look through a whole lot of books
to make the right decision about Pastor Jones, all at once you’d like
to examine those books line by line by line.
It reminds me of that Old Testament scenario where Abraham, one of God’s
best friends and defenders, looked right at his Maker and said:
“Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
We read an alternate rendition of this “first angel’s
message” the other day, and it went like this:
“Stand in awe of God and give glory to Him, because
the time as come for Him to clear HIS name and to judge the world.”
And if Timothy McVeigh is standing on the sea of glass,
and Pastor Jones isn’t, clearing His own name in the Judgment might be
the very first thing God has to do.
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