Ever wonder why the world is so full of violence and disease and suffering? Why the innocent suffer and evil goes unpunished? Why people must sigh and cry and die? Why we humans seem to be constantly at war with each other, and with ourselves. Why?
Well, to find the answer we’ve got to go all the way back to another war, the universal war, the Great War behind all wars – a true Cosmic Conflict.
Star Wars? Think bigger. This is a far wider war – the stakes include control of the universe. The Great War centres around a titanic struggle between two awesomely powerful leaders.
One stands for love and truth and life. The other champions selfishness and lies and death. It’s a cosmic war that involves a conflict between right and wrong, between light and darkness, between God and a rebel angel, Lucifer. Surprisingly, this crisis, this war, started in heaven of all places. You can read all about it in the Bible.
Lucifer, who became Satan or the Devil through pride and jealousy, wanted to take the place of God. He wanted to take over and take control. He thought he could run the universe better than God. So, he started a rebellion, a war in heaven – the Universal War – a cosmic conflict. But Satan lost the battle against God, and he and his army of rebel angels were expelled from heaven and cast to this world.
And so, planet earth became the arena, the battlefield, of the Universal War, this war between two opposing systems – between good and evil, God and Satan. It’s all about who should rule the world – God or Satan. And there’s evidence everywhere of the opposing and contrasting activities of these two great spiritual powers. All around the world we see love and hate, peace and war, joy and pain, happiness and suffering.
But it wasn’t always that way. Originally, God created a perfect world for our first parents Adam and Eve. There was no sin, pain, suffering or death. But Satan deceived them into disobeying God and joining his rebellion.
This disobedience and rebellion brought sin into the world – and with it, came selfishness, pain, suffering and death. Sadly, sin infected Adam and Eve and all their descendants and totally wrecked their relationship with God.
Now, we’re all born with a sinful nature and so commit sins because we are sinners by nature. And we are not only sinners by nature but also by practice, by choice. That’s why we often find ourselves doing things that are selfish and wrong, when we really want to do the opposite. Why? Well it’s because there’s an evil force in the world who’s trying to influence us and win over our allegiance.
The invisible enemy, the devil, works to deceive us and make people sin and do wrong things. The effects of sin are seen in the pain and suffering that is evident in our world today. It is the Devil, Satan, who is ultimately responsible for the pain and suffering we see all around us. It’s all part of this cosmic conflict.
It seemed that Satan had won the battle for Planet Earth in the great Universal War, this cosmic conflict. All humanity sinned. And sin has consequences. The penalty for sin, or rebellion against God, is death.
So, because we’re all sinners by nature, choice and practice, we’re all condemned to death. We’re doomed. But God still really loves us. He doesn’t want us to die. He wants to save us and have a close relationship with us again. So, God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sins, to die in our place.
Two thousand years ago on a hill called Golgotha the critical battle in the great Universal War took place. And when Jesus died on the cross it appeared that Satan had defeated God and won the war. But then, Jesus overcame death and emerged victorious from the grave.
So, at the cross the Devil was decisively defeated. At the cross, Satan was fully exposed for who he really is – a deceiver, a liar, and a murderer. There he revealed his true character by influencing people to murder the innocent Son of God.
Everybody, the entire universe, could clearly see how senseless and cruel sin really is and that Satan’s alternative system is a disaster. His way leads to suffering and death. The cross also revealed who Jesus Christ really is. Jesus is our Saviour. He loves us and died in our place. And if we accept Him, and believe in Him, our sins are forgiven, and we have eternal life.
And so, because Jesus has paid the penalty for your sins, whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you’ve done, your guilt can be healed and your sins forgiven. But you have to decide. You have to make a choice. You have to make that decision. You have to believe in Jesus and accept Him as your Saviour. Yes, the war that began in heaven is still going on in our world and in our hearts.
We’re all involved in this continuing Universal War. There’s a battle going on right now for your heart and mine. Both sides are battling for our allegiance. And here’s the good news. Jesus’ death on the cross made the removal of sin and Satan from the universe an absolute certainty.
By accepting Jesus as your Saviour, you can be on the winning side. You see, the great crisis, the Universal War, the war between good and evil, between God and Satan, is just about over.
The same Jesus who gave His life on the cross and rose again, is soon to return as King of Kings and Lord or Lords. The great controversy between good and evil is just about be over. Sin and evil will be destroyed and eradicated from the universe forever. And this earth will be restored to its original perfect condition – a place of joy, peace and happiness. That’s the kind of world I want to live in, how about you?
So, here are 10 Bible facts about the Cosmic Conflict.
1. Lucifer, a leading angel, rebelled against God and started a war in heaven.
The Bible says: “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angles fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So, the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev.12:7-9)
2. The war continued on Planet Earth and Adam and Eve disobeyed God and joined Satan’s rebellion. With their disobedience and rebellion sin entered the world.
The Bible says: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12)
3. Sin infected Adam and Eve and all their descendants. Now everybody has sinned and joined Satan’s rebellion.
The Bible says: ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ (Romans 3:23)
4. Sin separates people from God and brings death. So, we’re all doomed.
The Bible says: ‘For the wages of sin is death…”. (Romans 6:23)
5. But God loves us. He doesn’t want us to die. He wants to save us and have a close relationship with us again. So, God sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sins, to die in our place. The Bible says: ‘But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Romans 5:8)
6. Even though we have rebelled against God and sinned, Jesus is our Saviour. He loves us and died in our place to pay the penalty for our mistakes. And if we accept Him, and believe in Him, our sins are forgiven, and we have eternal life. The Bible says: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
7. The great Cosmic Conflict is still raging. It’s still going on in our world, and in our hearts. So, we have to make a choice. We have to decide whose side we are on – God’s or Satan’s. The Bible says: ‘Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.’ (1 Peter 5:8)
8. If we accept Jesus as our Saviour and believe in Him, we will be saved, we’ll be on the winning side in the Cosmic Conflict. The Bible says: ‘He who believes… shall be saved.’ (Mark 16:16)
9. When we accept Jesus and draw near to Him, the Devil flees from us. The Bible says: Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
10. Jesus is coming soon to eradicate sin and Satan and end the Cosmic Conflict. Finally, He will restore this earth to its original perfect condition. The Bible says: ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes: there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ (Revelation 21:4)
