What Is the Great Controversy in the Bible?

Children starving. Helpless civilians caught in the crossfire of war. A loved one dying of cancer.

Clearly, something is wrong in our world. There seems to be a perpetual conflict between good and evil.

How often do we find ourselves thinking, This isn’t right! This isn’t how life should be!

The Bible agrees. It shows us how this was not God’s original plan. Instead, this conflict is the result of a behind-the-scenes war between Christ and Satan. A war that began in heaven when Lucifer, a high-ranking angel, decided to rebel against God.

And as created beings with freedom of choice, we’re involved in it too.

Seventh-day Adventists call this spiritual war the “great controversy” between Christ and Satan.

To understand it better, we’re going to look at:

• What is the great controversy?
• Who was Lucifer?
• How did Lucifer become Satan?
• How does Satan wage war against God on this earth?
• How will the war between Christ and Satan end?

Let’s start by defining the great controversy.

What is the great controversy theme?

The great controversy is a cosmic war that has enveloped our world. It is ultimately between Jesus Christ and Satan. It’s a conflict that began in heaven when an angel named Lucifer rebelled against God’s law of love and selflessness, choosing to instead be driven by sin, which is rooted in selfishness and pride.

God had no choice but to cast Lucifer—together with the angels he convinced to follow him—out of heaven. From there, Lucifer, now known as Satan, came to this earth where he deceived the first humans and has been working to hurt God by hurting people in every way imaginable—war, disasters, murder, illness, and more.

But even though it seems like Satan is successful right now, he won’t always be.

God is giving him time to show the whole universe his true colors. At the same time, God has revealed His selfless law of love through Christ’s life and death. In the end, Christ will be victorious over Satan, destroying sin and evil forever.

But let’s pause for a moment and get the backstory to this controversy.

It all began with Lucifer…

Who was Lucifer?

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Lucifer was an angel of light who lived in heaven (Isaiah 14:12). In the original Hebrew, his name means “light bearer,” “shining one,” or “morning star.” He was a special kind of angel called a covering cherub or “guardian cherub.”

Notice what Ezekiel 28:12-13 tells us about his beauty and high position:

“You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created, they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God” (ESV).

A covering cherub is a special kind of angel that stands by God’s throne. We know this because Psalm 99:1 tells us that God “dwells between the cherubim” (NKJV).

The sanctuary built by the Israelites indicates something similar because it reflected the throne room of heaven (Hebrews 8:1-2, 5). The ark of the covenant—which was a container that held The Ten Commandments—had the presence of God over it and represented His throne. Above it were two cherubim with their wings covering it (Exodus 25:8-22).

Just like The Ten Commandments were inside the ark of the covenant, so God’s law of love is the foundation of His government. And the role of the covering cherub was to guard that law.

Thus, Lucifer had one of the most honored positions in heaven. Yet Isaiah 14:12 tells us that he fell from heaven. What happened?

How did Lucifer become Satan?

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Lucifer was a perfect angel, but he allowed pride to creep into his heart. He wanted to exalt himself above God, and eventually, this rebellion led him to become Satan (a name that means “enemy”). He is an enemy of God, which means warring against God’s unchanging law of love. And when Christ was on earth, Satan targeted Him because He kept this law and had a very close relationship with God the Father.

According to Ezekiel 28:15, Lucifer was “perfect in [his] ways from the day [he was] created, till iniquity was found in [him]” (NKJV).

Iniquity is another word for disobedience or rebellion against God.¹

Lucifer began to think a bit too highly of his beauty and position (Ezekiel 28:17). It made him discontent with what he had and jealous of God’s position. His ambition was this:

“I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13-14, NKJV).

Why did a perfect angel begin to feel this way?

That’s what the Bible calls “the mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:7, NKJV). It’s something we can’t explain.

Ellen White—a leader in the Adventist Church and one of the most prolific female writers of her time—comments on this in her book The Great Controversy:

“Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is that given in the word of God; it is ‘the transgression [breaking] 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.”²

Here’s what we do know:

God is love—meaning selfless love is the very core of who He is (1 John 4:8; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8). And every aspect of His government is based on this kind of love. His law—expressed in The Ten Commandments—has love for God and love for one another at its foundation (Exodus 20:2-17; Matthew 22:37-40). Thus, because God’s character doesn’t change, His law of love can’t change either.

But love can’t exist without a choice.

And with choice also comes the freedom to not love, to do evil.

Because God cares so much about the freedom to love Him or not to love Him, He gave all His created beings that choice. Lucifer, unfortunately, chose not to love. He decided he wanted to do things differently than God—to exalt himself rather than be selfless.

And it was this choice that resulted in Lucifer becoming Satan—the enemy of God, which also made him and enemy of love.³ He attacked God by attacking His character of love and law of love.

Why were Satan and his angels cast out of heaven?

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Though Lucifer’s rebellion began in his heart, it soon turned into open rebellion. He spread his ideas so that other angels sided with him. The Bible tells us that “war broke out in heaven” as Michael the archangel and his angels fought against Satan and his angels (Revelation 12:7, NKJV). Because Satan’s principle of pride went against the grain of selflessness in heaven, God expelled him and his angels.

Jesus Himself later commented, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18, NKJV).

So what kind of war was this?

When we think of war, we usually think of combat between armed soldiers, complete tanks, bombs, etc.

But the war in heaven was different.

In Revelation 12, the underlying Greek word for war is polemos (where we get the English word polemic). This word can mean a physical war, but it can also refer to a dispute or a war of words and ideas. Whether the war in heaven was a physical one, we don’t know. But we can gather that it was a war between opposing principles—good versus evil, or love versus selfishness.

Because Satan and his angels were living by the principles of evil, selfishness, and pride, they could no longer stay in an environment where the highest values were goodness, love, and humility. There “was no place found for them in heaven any longer” (Revelation 12:8, NKJV).

Why didn’t God destroy Satan and his angels immediately?

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If Satan and his angels were ruining the atmosphere of heaven, we’d think the easiest solution would have been to zap them out of existence. But to do so would have painted God as a tyrant who destroys anyone who dares to oppose Him. It would’ve contradicted His character of love. Thus, God gave Satan time to show who he really was. Both angels and people needed to see God’s character versus Satan’s character so that they could truly choose who to follow.

To understand why, consider what might have been going on in the minds of the other angels.

They admired Lucifer as one of the highest angels in God’s kingdom. When he began spreading his rebellion, he would have been sneaky, making it seem as though he wanted the best for the angels.

So, if God had destroyed Lucifer immediately, the other angels would have wondered, Maybe Lucifer was right after all!

They might have rebelled too. Or if they continued serving God, they would have done so out of fear rather than love.

And remember, God wants His kingdom to operate on love!

Thus, He knew that the universe would need time to see the contrast between Him and Satan, love and selfishness. Everyone needed to be convinced in their hearts. They also needed the opportunity to choose for themselves whether to follow God or follow Satan.

That’s why we still see the battle between good and evil raging today.

Ellen White summarizes this biblical concept in the following words:

“Evil must be permitted to come to maturity. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages, Satan must more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings, that the justice and mercy of God and the immutability [unchanging nature] of His law might forever be placed beyond all question.”⁴

How does Satan wage war against Christ on this earth?

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When Satan was cast out of heaven, he found other ways to take jabs against Christ. He started by tempting Adam and Eve and painting God as a selfish liar (Genesis 3:1-5). When Christ came to this earth, He constantly faced the attacks and temptations of Satan. And because Satan failed to bring Christ down, he continues to try to hurt Christ by hurting His people.

No wonder Revelation 12:12 says, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time” (NKJV).

Another verse tells us that “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8, ESV).

In the Garden of Eden, Satan (through the serpent) tried to plant doubts about God’s character in Eve’s mind. He painted God as a selfish liar for holding back the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:1-7).

And he has continued to use deception and lies about God’s character to turn people away from Him (John 8:44).

He has also persecuted God’s people (Revelation 12:17) and wreaked all kinds of havoc—suffering, death, and disease (Job 1-3).

Here are a few samples of how this has played out throughout history:

• Satan led the people before the flood into darkness and evil (Genesis 6:5-6).
• In the time of the judges and kings of Israel, Satan tried to turn God’s people away from Him and to idols (Judges 2:11-19).
• Satan targeted Jesus during His time on this earth but failed to make Him fall. (See the next section for more on this.)
• During the time of the early Christian church, Satan used persecution to try to hurt the influence of God’s followers (Acts 7:59; 8:1).
• The persecution lessened during the time of the Dark Ages, but Satan led many in the church to compromise their faith instead. Most lost sight of Bible truths, and only a small group of people remained faithful to God.
• During the Protestant Reformation, great reformers—such as John Wycliffe, Huss and Jerome, and Martin Luther—uncovered forgotten truths through Bible study. As this happened, Satan revived persecution against God’s people.⁵
• In the end times, Satan will make war against those who “keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17, NKJV).

If God were to prevent the bad things Satan desires to do, Satan would cry “unfair” and argue that God is afraid to let him carry out his manner of government. So to a certain extent, God must let Satan show his method of ruling. The result is sorrow and pain today on earth.

But thankfully, God will not allow Satan to do his dirty work forever.

How will the war between Christ and Satan end?

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Though Satan has worked hard to cause evil and suffering in our world, he has not been successful in his battle against Christ. While on this earth, Christ came out victorious, giving us the guarantee that Satan will meet his demise in the lake of fire.

When Christ came to this earth, His mission was to destroy the power of Satan (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8) and to set free those “who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38, ESV). Satan had attacked God’s unchanging character and law of love, but Jesus came to uphold and live out that law (Matthew 5:17-18). He lived a perfect life—free from sin—and then died on the Cross, taking humanity’s penalty for breaking God’s law.

Yet, it was an agonizing struggle for Christ because Satan attacked and tempted Him in every point that we’re tempted in (Hebrews 4:15). But Jesus triumphed because He refused to let go of His heavenly Father (Matthew 4:1-11).

Notice how 1 Peter 2:21-24 describes it:

“For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth; when He was insulted, He did not insult in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten but entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed” (CSB, emphasis added).

On the Cross, He gave the ultimate demonstration of God’s love by sacrificing His life. As He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30, NKJV), the victory over Satan was complete.

Jesus’ victory gives us victory over Satan too.

Revelation 12:10-11 puts it this way:

“Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren [Satan], who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (NKJV).

Jesus, by His death, destroyed the power of the devil and foreshadowed his ultimate demise.

At the end of this world, when all are convinced of the goodness of God’s government, Satan himself will die in the lake of fire prepared for him and his angels (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:10).

Evil, suffering, and death will be gone for good, and we will live in the new earth that will be governed by God’s law of love.

The kingdom of love will prevail

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Since Satan’s fall to the earth, our world has only grown progressively worse. On the news, we hear stories of murder, abuse, and war. Pain and evil plague our lives too: terminal cancer, a nasty divorce, the death of a child…

Now we understand where this war between good and evil—Christ and Satan—began. Satan, the enemy of God, wants nothing better than to bring ruin.

And we also know how it will end.

Though we don’t fully understand why Lucifer chose the rebellious path he did, we can still see how God is love, and how that love is, by its very nature, unconditional. He has pursued the very best plan to both preserve freedom of choice and end sin—a plan that involved the death of Jesus Christ so that He could take our sin upon Himself and demonstrate to us the extent to which self-sacrificing love will go.

And because of His sacrifice, it won’t be long before Satan meets his end.

Then, with this great controversy over, we can live forever in a perfect kingdom of love, in God’s presence, finally experiencing what we’ve always longed for at our very core.

1. “Iniquity,” Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon [↵]
2. White, Ellen, The Great Controversy (Pacific Press, Mountain View, CA, 1911), p. 492. [↵]
3. Strong’s Concordance [↵]
4. White, The Great Controversy, p. 498. [↵]
5. The History of Protestantism, volumes 1-4, by James Wylie, is an in-depth look at the Protestant Reformation and the persecution that happened during that time. [↵]