“God is love.” His nature, His law, is love. It always has been, and it always will be. Every use of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The history of the great conflict between good and evil from the time it first began in heaven also reveals God’s unchanging love.
The King of the universe was not alone in His work of doing good. He had an associate who could appreciate His purpose and share His joy in giving happiness to created beings (see John 1:1, 2).
Christ the Word was one with the eternal Father, one in nature, in character, in purpose. “His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). His “goings forth are from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2).
The Father worked by His Son in the creation of all heavenly beings. “By Him all things were created ..., whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers” (Colossians 1:16). Angels are God’s ministers, speeding to carry out His will. But the Son, the “express image of His person,” “the brightness of His glory,” “upholding all things by the word of His power,” holds supremacy over them all (see Hebrews 1:3, 8).
God wants the service of love from all His creatures—service that springs from an appreciation of His character. He has no pleasure in forced obedience. He grants freedom of will to everyone, that they may freely give Him service. So long as all created beings were loyal through love, there was perfect harmony throughout the universe of God. There was no note of discord to mar heaven’s harmonies.
But a change came over this happy situation. There was one who wrongly used the freedom that God had given to His creatures. Sin began with him who, after Christ, had been the most honored of God and was highest among all those in heaven. Lucifer, “son of the morning,” (Isaiah 14:12) was holy and undefiled. “Thus says the Lord God: ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. ... You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you. You were upon the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of the fiery stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.’”
Little by little, Lucifer indulged the desire to exalt himself. “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor” (Ezekiel 28:12-15, 17). “You have said in your heart ... ‘I will exalt my throne above the stars of God ... I will be like the Most High’” (Isaiah 14:13, 14). Though honored above the heavenly host, he dared to covet worship due only to the Creator. This prince of angels wanted power that was the right of Christ alone.
Now the perfect harmony of heaven was broken. In heavenly council the angels pleaded with Lucifer. The Son of God presented before him the goodness and justice of the Creator and the unchanging nature of His law. In departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his Maker and bring ruin upon himself. But the warning given in infinite love and mercy only aroused resistance. Lucifer allowed his jealousy of Christ to prevail, and he became even more determined.
The king of the universe called for the heavenly hosts to come before Him, that in their presence He might explain the true position of His Son and show His relationship to all created beings. The Son of God shared the Father’s throne, and the glory of the eternal, self-existent One surrounded both. The holy angels gathered around the throne, “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (Revelation 5:11). In front of everyone in heaven, the King declared that no one but Christ could fully enter into His purposes and carry out the mighty counsels of His will. Soon Christ was to exercise divine power in the creation of the earth and its inhabitants.
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