By Herbert E. Douglass
A Comment on the Sabbath School lesson for March 16–22, 2002
The questions are often asked: "If Jesus settled the Great Controversy on the cross, why are we still fighting?" "If Jesus silenced Satan’s accusations in his life and death and resurrection, why does time continue? Why does God stand by and watch the horrors and sadnesses of the past two thousand years, if the war is over?" Nothing trivial about those questions!
And so we ask, "What was still unfinished after the cross?" Jesus helps us as we listen in on his prayer to his Father, "As You have sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world" (John 17:18), and then his commission to his disciples. "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you" (John 20:21). Amazing to contemplate and almost too much to accept!
We often look at Jesus’ words in Matthew for the church’s assignment, and rightly so: "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come" (24:14). But the church through the centuries has failed to connect John and Matthew, chiefly because (1) of a limited understanding of the gospel to be preached (Matthew), and (2) of a foggy understanding of why Jesus came (John).
One of the solutions to our earlier questions that may lift the fog is to look at why Satan was not destroyed at the cross and why time continues. As far as this earth was concerned, the death of Jesus probably didn’t make the obit column in the Jerusalem News. As far as heaven was concerned, "the angels did not even then understand all that was involved in the great controversy. The principles at stake were too 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."1
How would the "good news" of the cross ever get out and the Great Controversy settled? Answer: That is the assignment given to the church. God has put the universe on notice that men and women of faith will write the final chapter in the Great Controversy. What is there about the church’s assignment that will also silence the lies of Satan about the character of God? For until these lies and misrepresentations are forever proven wrong, the controversy will not be settled.
How can the trust of the universe—even that of unfallen angels—be placed beyond question if what Jesus says about the fairness of his government and the power of his promises does not seem to change the lives of his professed followers? In some special way, God needs the church as much as the church needs God!
In answering the charges of Satan Jesus came to tell the truth about his Father. He came to glorify the Father (John 17:4)—that is to reveal his character. In the end-times, the Holy Spirit will implant in the hearts of Christ’s followers "the principles of God’s word,"2 and the Spirit will develop
in men the attributes of God. The light His glory—His character—is to shine forth in His followers. Thus they are to glorify God. . . . It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. . . . The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them. The light of the Sun of Righteousness is to shine forth in good works, in words of trust and deeds of holiness.3
That is how Matthew 24 and John 17 together show us how the core questions in the Great Controversy are finally settled. The truth about God—the glory of his character, which Satan has misrepresented—the truth that will shut Satan’s mouth forever is revealed through Jesus and through his followers. That is the gospel that needs to be seen and heard "in all the world as a witness to all the nations" before God can fairly say "It is done." Although Jesus has placed an eternal weight on his church, he has also promised his presence and the resources of Heaven to guarantee that the assignment shall be fulfilled: "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age [world]" (Matt. 28:20).
1.Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Oakland, Calif.: Pacific Press, 1848), 761.
2.Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1900), 415–16.
3.Ibid.
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