The Trial of God 

(Click here if you do not see a timeline above in a few seconds.  -  To understand this timeline you may need to study the Gospel Timeline also.)

This timeline answers questions like:  "Why?", "What's the purpose of life?", "If God is really in control, why is there so much suffering?",  "Will there ever be an end to suffering and death?", "What's in all of this for me?".  

 

The Trial:    (Why?  What's the purpose of life?)  You may be asking yourself, how can God possible be placed on trial, by anyone?  The answer is that if someone accuses another of wrong doing it must be proven who is telling the truth and who is telling a lie and the only way to do that is to look at the evidence.  Of course we call this a trial.  Lucifer has accused God of some pretty bad things and these accusations automatically put God on trial.  We know that Lucifer is going to be judged someday, but in reality so is God.  We, the jury, will see that God, the Judge, is right in what He is about to do.  (This is a real trial and we, along with the angels, are all part of the jury.) 

Lucifer's claim was that God was not allowing His created beings real freedom, because everyone had a Law that they had to follow.  Lucifer claimed that no one needed any law and that if there weren't any laws God's created beings all would be truly free.  He claimed that God's Law could not be followed anyway and that even God Himself could not follow the Law.  (For further study, read Satan's Enmity Against the Law.)

After humans first sinned Satan claimed control of this earth and so God is giving him ample time during the "Trial Period" to prove whether his accusations against God and His Laws are true, or not.  God must be sure that the whole universe sees what really happens when His Laws are not followed so that sin will never return after the wicked are destroyed.  (According to the Bible, we are right at the end of the trial period as shown in the timeline above.  See the Daniel 12:4 Timeline.)

All of God's created beings, including the angels of heaven, have been watching (just like at a trial).  When Satan showed how much he hated God by instigating the killing of God's Son on the Cross (See a parable of Jesus & the story of Job),  it became very obvious that Satan's accusations against God were total lies.  When Jesus allowed Himself to be killed by wicked men, who were operating under the same principle of hate as Satan, Jesus showed that God does love us, that God could keep the Law and that God's Laws are needed for our freedom.  The Trial of God actually ended at the Cross of Jesus.  Still, Satan is being given a little more time to allow the whole universe to see the actual end result of breaking the Law's of God, of sin.

  • "It was God's purpose to place things on an eternal basis of security, and in the councils of heaven it was decided that time must be given for Satan to develop the principles which were the foundation of his system of government. He had claimed that these were superior to God's principles. Time was given for the working of Satan's principles, that they might be seen by the heavenly universe."  The Desire of Ages, page 759

    A simple illustration of how laws are needed can be found in our own highway system.  As long as the rules/laws of the road are followed we have freedom to move about as we wish, but if we choose to disobey the rules and drive on the wrong side of the road or fail to stop at a red light, someone will get hurt.  These rules/laws actually give us freedom, without them there would be total chaos.  (To see God's Laws, click here.)

    If God is really in control, why is there so much suffering? 

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    Many people have wondered, "If there is a loving God, why does He allow so much suffering and pain?  Why does He allow bad things to happen to good people?"  The fact that there is so much suffering, pain, sickness and death in this world shows that all of God's created beings need His Laws in order to be truly free and happy.  As seen in the timeline above, God is being very fair and very loving by allowing the whole universe to see the end results of sin (sin is the breaking of God's Law).  The whole earth is infected with sin and the whole universe MUST see this end result or there would be no end to sin, which means that there would be no end to suffering and death.  If God were to immediately destroy all those who disobey Him, created beings would serve Him because they are afraid of Him rather than serving Him because they love Him, but God wants our love.  He wants us to admire who He is and what He is. 

    The fact is that God does hates sin (Psalms 45:7) and what sin does to His creation or He would not have paid such an enormous price to save us from it and to rid the Universe of it.  God wants us to hate sin too, and the only way that we will come to hate it as much as He does is if we are allowed to see the results of sin:  loneliness, disease, pain, suffering & death.  When we compare the results of living by God's Laws with the results of living without God's Laws we will come to love God more.  We will begin to really trust Him and we will come to actually love His Laws.

    God wants our attitude to be like His!

    "...tradition and misinterpretation have obscured the teaching of the Bible concerning the character of God, the nature of His government, and the principles of His dealing with sin."  The Great Controversy, page 492

    (For further study, read  It Is Finished & The Origin of Evil.)

    Jury Deliberation:  After the "trial period" is over, when Jesus comes to take His people to heaven, God will allow the righteous saved to be the "jury" and for 1,000 years they will go over the "books of heaven" to be sure in their own minds that no one will be punished unjustly.  God wants these saved people to serve Him because they love Him not because they are afraid of Him.  He wants them to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He is just in what He is about to do.  He wants them to know that everything that could have been done to save each and every person has been done and that, for the good of the entire Universe, He has no other option but to destroy those who refuse to obey His Law.

    The Sentencing:  After the "jury" has finished looking into all that has been done it will be seen that God is not only being fair but just.  (At this point in time, God has not completely destroyed the wicked yet.  Jeremiah  4:27 says, "For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.")  All the wicked will be raised from death and will receive their sentencing and the punishment that they have chosen by not trusting in nor believing in Jesus.  At that point it can be said:

       "Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy has now been made plain. The results of rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes, have been laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The working out of Satan's rule in contrast with the government of God has been presented to the whole universe. Satan's own works have condemned him. God's wisdom, His justice, and His goodness stand fully vindicated."                        

    The Great Controversy, page 670

    The Punishment of the Wicked:  ("Will it ever end?")  The punishment of the wicked includes what is commonly known as Hell Fire, but that is not all.  The Bible says that the fire will eventually go out.  Nothing will be left of the wicked except ashes and smoke.   God has said, "the wages of sin is death" and so it will be.  They will never live again, they have vanished.  (If this is new to you, ask the Lord to keep you from believing something that is not true and to impress you with what is true, then study this subject in your own Bible, or you can use the Bible Search Tool provided here if you like, and just look up words like: death, hell, ashes, smoke, judgment, stubble, burn, fire and "Lake of Fire".  Or just use the texts below and those found on the Death and Hell Timeline to help you get started in your study.)

    Here are just a few texts related to the punishment of the wicked:

     Speaking specifically of Satan and his punishment, the Prophet Ezekiel wrote in Ezekiel 28:13-19:

    The Reward of the Righteous:  ("What's in it for me?" ) 

    The Bible says that those who put their trust in Jesus will live forever in a universe without sin.  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  John 3:16   This is considered to be the most well known verse in the Bible, yet many do not realize that God is reminding us that the righteous will LIVE and that the wicked will PERISH.  Living forever in heaven will not be a life of doing nothing, or just sitting on a cloud and playing a harp all the time.  In fact, God says that the righteous will plant, eat, build and enjoy the work of their hands.  People enjoy doing things, making things, thinking about new things and because we know that God wants us to be happy we also know that we will be doing, making and thinking about things that we can't even dream of knowing and doing now.  We have God's promise that it will be a life better than we can even imagine.  One more of the known rewards that will be enjoyed for eternity is the Holy City which Jesus is "building" for you right now. 

     Trust Him! 

    For further study read: 

     

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