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The First Angel’s Message

God’s Plan to Save the World – Restored
Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to
preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and
people— saying
with a loud voice, “Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His
judgment has come;
and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
Rev 14:6,7.
The Gospel Restored
The revelation of Jesus Christ in His various roles is the gospel restored by the
first angel’s message.
As Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, the gospel also has never
changed. The gospel
needs to be restored because a counterfeit had hidden the work of Christ
during the dark ages. This counterfeit is revealed by the second angel’s
message.
The Everlasting Gospel
The everlasting gospel reveals the various roles of Christ. As Creator He is
worthy of our worship and
obedience and also has power to recreate us into His image. As Michael, He is
the leader against
Satan’s rebellion and our deliverer. As Messiah, He reveals the love of God
and develops a perfect
human character. As the Lamb He pays the price of our sins. As the
Resurrection and Life, He
guarantees our eternal life. As our Priest, He intercedes for us and imparts to
us His righteous
character. As Judge, He acquits us and as King He delivers us from this world.
To Every Nation
The first angel’s message is proclaimed to every person on the planet and
therefore is the absolute
truth of God for these last days. The destiny of souls depends on their
acceptance of this message.
Those who reject this message, reject Christ and His Father and therefore
forfeit eternal life.
Give Glory to Him
The call to give glory to God is a call to an intimate relationship with God in
the context of son and
daughtership. It is the voice of Elijah turning hearts toward sacred family
relationships. It is finding
identity and value solely in the love of our heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus
Christ. (Jer 9:23,24).
When we accept the first angel’s message and Christ is reflected in our lives,
then Christ is revealed to
the world and is glorified. (John 17:5,21-23). Accepting this message is much
more than simply our
salvation; it is the vindication of God’s character.
The Hour of His Judgment Has Come
The announcement that the hour of judgment has come invites us to
understand the doctrine of the
sanctuary. The sanctuary provides context and timing for the various roles of
Christ. This
announcement also warns of the imminent return of Jesus Christ and calls for
heart preparation for this
most glorious event.
Worship Him who Made Heaven and Earth
The call to worship God who made Heaven and earth is a call to recognise
God as the source of life
both physically and spiritually. The recognition of God as the source of life
shows us that we have no
inherent power in ourselves to do anything and prepares the way for God’s
power to be demonstrated
in our lives without us claiming that power as originating with us.
Let us begin our journey. We start with Christ as Creator and Sustainer of all
creation and trace each

role as revealed in Biblical history. 68

The Second Angel’s Message

Humanity’s Desire to Save Itself – Revealed
And another angel followed, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great
city, because she
made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. Rev 14:8.
Babylon – The State
Nimrod founded the city of Babylon. He was the first man to create his own
kingdom. Rejecting the kingdom of
God, which is based on parental authority, he created a state system. Each
person that resided in a designated
territory became his subject and owed allegiance to him. Power and control
became the essence and heart of
Babylon. This desire for conquest and control spread through the whole
world. Many kingdoms have risen and
fallen – Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Roman and the “Holy”
Roman Empire. Identity and
value was found not in intimate relationship with our Father God but rather,
each person creates their own
identity and is valued by their achievements and performance.
Babylon – The Church
To turn the hearts of people from God to himself, Nimrod created a new
religion: A worship of the “inherent”
power in nature. When Nimrod died, his wife said that Nimrod was now
embodied in the sun and they must
worship the sun. Sun worship became almost universal throughout the world.
Worshipped as Ra in Egypt; in
Caanan as Baal, Moloch; in Syria as Tammuz; in Moab as Baal-peor and
Chemosh; in Babylon and Assyria as
Bel; in Perisa as Mithra; in Greece as Adonis, Apollo, Bacchus and Hercules;
and in Rome as Bacchus, Apollo
and Hercules. The essence of this religion teaches the inherent immortal
power of man. The nature of this
religion is one of force and control by means of the state, to deny
individuality and to control the spirit of
humanity. Before the arrival of the “Holy” Roman Empire the state controlled
the church and its functions but in
the Papacy we see a new and diverse kingdom emerge – the church
controlling the state. This new kingdom used
religion as its prime mode of warfare (“holy wars”) and sought to fully
possess mind as well as body.
Is Fallen
From the time of Christ until the end of the first century, the Christian church
was sustained by the power of God
and not a worldly government. As time moved on and persecution raged, the
church fell into a trap of false
peace. In the fourth century, Emperor Constantine, to gain political unity,
welded the religion of sun worship to
the Christian church. The church let go of its hold on God and trusted human
power to safeguard her. This was
no less than spiritual fornication. In A.D. 533 Emperor Justinian signed a
decree handing all the power of the
Roman Empire into the hands of the church, and soon the most despotic
power ever witnessed became the last in
the line of kingdoms to use the principles of Babylon to form a government.
Wine of her Fornication
The wine of Babylon is her belief in the inherent power of nature as reflected
in the teaching of the immortality
of the soul and the principle of the state to enforce its dogma’s. The wine of
Babylon is also reflected in the
assumption to change and annul the laws of God as reflected in Sunday
observance while at the same time
claiming to be the bride of Christ. The fornication of Babylon is reflected in
the church’s intimacy with the state
and a rejection of God’s government and rulership.
The Objective and Subjective Cry of Babylon is Fallen
The objective cry “Babylon is fallen” unveils this shameless harlot and
reveals the abomination of her filthiness
in assuming the position of God and establishing an idolatrous system of
worship that is based on self. It reveals
the fact that Satan has counterfeited the work of Christ and deceived the
world. The cry “Babylon is fallen” is
Elijah revealing the prophets of Baal as false prophets before the multitude.
The subjective cry “Babylon is
fallen” reveals the tendency of every human heart towards this false worship.
The cry “Babylon is fallen” in the
context of Jer 51:8 is a victory cry of its destruction. When as individuals, we
see the fallen condition of Babylon
in our lives, we are then able to come out of this system and Babylon is
destroyed in us. In this sense “Babylon is
fallen” is a cry of freedom for the individual. It is important to note that only
those who have subjectively
experienced the fall of Babylon can preach with power and Christlikeness the
objective cry “Babylon is fallen”.
We trace the story of Babylon during the Christian era. We see how Christ’s
heavenly ministry is obscured by an
earthly counterfeit. We firstly identity this power and then examine its
activities.

Creator
Isa 43:1-3; Col 1
Rev 12:7-9; Ex 23:20; Josh 5:13-15
Messiah
Matt 1:21; John 1:29
Judge
John 3:17; 5:22; Isa 33:22
Priest
Rom 5:10; 1 John 2:1;Heb 7:25
Life
1 Cor 15:17-20; Gal 2:20; John 14:6
King
Isa 33:22; Rev 19:16