It's Not Over

Christ's victory on the cross was not the final stage of the battle between the Lamb and the Dragon. The great battle of Armageddon is yet to be fought . We must seek diligently to understand why time has tarried so long since Jesus' victory at Calvary . "Yet Satan was not then destroyed [at Calvary] . The angels did not even then understand all that was involved in the great controversy . The principles at stake were to be more fully revealed ."-Desire of Ages, p . 761 .

Since the cross is the light that comprehends all light, it is apparent that even the angels did not fully understand the greatness of Christ's victory on the cross . Much less did man . Then how would God make "all* . . . see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath *Men is a supplied word. All refers to the entire universe . 12 :13), and seeks to oppose Christ through thwarting His plan for His people . Flattering himself that he may be successful here, he thinks to make of none effect the victory of Calvary . Let us see how he has worked :

"God's love has been expressed in His justice no less than in His mercy . Justice is the foundation of His throne, and the fruit of His love . It had been Satan's purpose to divorce mercy from truth and justice . He sought to prove that the righteousness of God's law is an enemy to peace . But Christ shows that in God's plan they are indissolubly joined together; the one cannot exist without the other.

`Mercy and truth are met together ; righteousness and peace have kissed each other' (Psalm 85 :10). "By His life and His death, Christ proved that God's justice did not destroy His mercy, but that sin could be forgiven, and that the law is righteous, and can be perfectly obeyed . Satan's charges were refuted. God had given man unmistakable evidence of His love .

"Another deception was now to be, brought forward. Satan declared that mercy destroyed justice, that the death of Christ abrogated the Father's law . Had it been possible for the law to be changed or abrogated, then Christ need not have died . But to abrogate the law would be to immortalize transgress- been hid in God"? He would do it through the church! ". . to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3 :9-11) .

The victory of Christ on Calvary must be made effectual in the experience of God's people . The glory of Calvary will be magnified by the product it produces . God called man into existence that through him He would bruise the head of Satan . It is true that God's purpose for humanity is fulfilled in Christ, but we must not imagine that Christ's victory as the Man and the Seed of the woman releases God's people from the privilege and obligation of conquering the powers of darkness . Christ must share His victory with His people . His utter defeat of Satan must be made effectual in the experience of the church. The remnant of the

woman's seed must utterly vanquish the remnant of Satan's seed . This final stage of the war over the law of God is what is called the great battle of Armageddon (See Revelation 16 :16) .

Robert D. Brinsmead.