Page 5 - Our God of Love, Mercy, and Justice

Why Sin Was Permitted
"God is love." 1 John 4:16. His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever
will be. "The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity," whose "ways are
everlasting," changeth not. With Him "is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning." Isaiah 57:15; Habakkuk 3:6; James 1:17.

The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began
in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a
demonstration of God's unchanging love. PP 33.
It is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give a reason for its existence.
Yet enough may be understood concerning both the origin and the final disposition of
sin to make fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all His dealings

with evil. Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture than that God was in no wise
responsible for the entrance of sin; . . . Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no
reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it is to defend it. . . .
Our only definition of sin is that given in the word of God; it is "the
transgression of the law;" it is the outworking of a principle at war with the
great law of love which is the foundation of the divine government.
Before the entrance of evil there was peace and joy throughout the universe. All

was in perfect harmony with the Creator's will. Love for God was supreme, love for
one another impartial. Christ the Word, the Only Begotten of God, was one with the
eternal Father,--one in nature, in character, and in purpose,--the only being in all the
universe that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. . . . and to Christ,
equally with the Father, all heaven gave allegiance. GC 492, 493.
The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of

all intelligent beings depends upon their perfect accord with its great principles of
righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love--service that
springs from an appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced
obedience; and to all He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary
service.
So long as all created beings acknowledged the allegiance of love, there was
perfect harmony throughout the universe of God. . . . But a change came over this

happy state. There was one who perverted the freedom that God had granted to His
creatures. Sin originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God
and was highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Lucifer, "son of
the morning," was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled. He stood in the
presence of the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glory enshrouding the

eternal God rested upon him. "Thus saith the Lord God; . . . Thou wast perfect in thy
ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee."
Ezekiel 28:15.

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