The Conflict of the Ages series by Ellen G. White begins and ends with the words “God is love.”1 God’s love is an eternal, self‑existent, inner‑history of reciprocal love, in which the three Persons of the Godhead love one another. “‘God is love.’ 1 John 4:16. His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be. . . . Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The sovereignty of God involves fullness of blessing to all created beings.”2 The Godhead’s love overflowed into every created being, including Lucifer. All created beings were given freedom of choice. They reveled in a deepening love from the Godhead. This joyful experience imaged the reciprocal love in the Godhead: love to God and love for one another.

God’s love knows no partiality (Mal. 2:9; Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11). David said, “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Ps. 145:8, 9, NKJV).3 At Calvary, Christ became the substitutionary sacrifice for all humankind (John 3:16, 17), “a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:6a), dying for the sins of “the whole world” (1 John 2:2).

Unchanging Love of the Godhead

Blessings flooded Lucifer from Christ his Creator, until one day this angel decided to no longer love anyone—except himself. More than that, he began to hate Christ, worked to replace Him, take control, yet cunningly pose as loyal. “The great apostasy originally began in a denial of the love of God, as it is plainly revealed in the Word.”4 Lucifer used deception and doubt to promote his campaign for change. Pride had fully replaced love. In utter contrast, the Godhead would reveal Their selfless love for all created beings. “The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a demonstration of God’s unchanging love.”5 Angels and humans did change, and open rebellion, never before known, invaded the atmosphere of divine love.

But the Godhead remained unchanged in mutual love that reaches out to love every created person. “The Godhead was stirred with pity for the [human] race, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit gave Themselves to the working out of the plan of redemption. In order fully to carry out this plan, it was decided that Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, should give Himself an offering for sin. What line can measure the depth of this love? God would make it impossible for man to say that He could have done more. With Christ He gave all the resources of heaven, that nothing might be wanting in the plan for man’s uplifting. Here is love―the contemplation of which should fill the soul with inexpressible gratitude! Oh, what love, what matchless love!”6

This “matchless love” involves the omniscience of the Godhead: (1) They fully knew the future, that sin would arise and be conquered; and (2) the “The humanity of the Son of God trembled in that trying hour [at Gethsemane],”7 and “never was criminal treated in so inhuman a manner as was the Son of God”8 in His trials and on the C. This second perspective of the cosmic controversy gives insight into the agony of Christ’s human life.

The Universe Watched the Agony of Christ’s

Human Life

Isaiah prophesied of Christ: “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (53:4–6).

Entering Gethsemane Christ “seemed to be shut out from the light of God’s sustaining presence. Now He was numbered with the transgressors. The guilt of fallen humanity He must bear. Upon Him who knew no sin must be laid the iniquity of us all. So dreadful does sin appear to Him, so great is the weight of guilt which He must bear, that He is tempted to fear it will shut Him out forever from His Father’s love.”9 “Christ’s soul was filled with dread of separation from God. Satan told Him that if He became the surety for a sinful world, the separation would be eternal. He would be identified with Satan’s kingdom, and would nevermore be one with God.”10

“Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him” (Luke 22:43). In overflowing love for His beloved Son, the Father sent the greatest angel, Gabriel, to Christ “with the assurance of the Father’s love. He came to give power to the divine-human suppliant. He pointed Him to the open heavens, telling Him of the souls that would be saved as the result of His sufferings. . . . He would see of the travail of His soul, and be satisfied, for He would see a multitude of the human race saved, eternally saved. Christ’s agony did not cease, but His depression and discouragement left Him.”12 Compare this visit of Gabriel to Christ in Gethsemane with Ellen White’s 1858 vision on the Great Controversy: “The news of man’s fall spread through heaven. Every harp was hushed. The angels cast their crowns from their heads in sorrow.”13

Then the universe focused on Christ’s trials and crucifixion. “All heaven suffered in Christ’s agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God.”14 Calvary wrenched the Godhead. No one loved so deeply as the three Persons in the Godhead. From eternity the love of the Godhead for one another cannot be compared to the love of created persons, whose love had a beginning. All three Persons of the Godhead suffered at Calvary infinitely beyond the suffering of anyone else.

Cosmic Impact of Calvary

Many consider Calvary as Christ dying for us so that we can go to heaven. It is that. But there’s more. The more has to do with the larger cosmic worldview of Scripture. The Book of Colossians documents that Christ created all things “that are in heaven and that are on earth” (1:16), and that “in him all things consist” (vs. 17). “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (vss. 19, 20). Therefore, Christ said about His death, “‘Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out’” (John 12:31). “‘The ruler of this world [Satan] is judged’” (John 16:11).

Christ “created and upheld the unnumbered worlds through the vast realms of space.”16 In what way could Calvary reconcile people throughout the universe? Given that Satan caused the death of Christ, this exposed him for what he really is—a devil. By utter contrast, because Christ allowed Himself to be crucified, the universe saw Him for who He really is—a God of love (1 John 4:8, 16). Calvary influenced the unfallen angels who remained in heaven and did not join in the rebellion. They perceived a deeper revelation of God’s love on the Cross as they witnessed Him who knew no sin becoming sin for the human race (2 Cor. 5:14–21).

Calvary, and what it did to the church, impacts the universe. Calvary stands revealed as far more than the price for human salvation, and the church as far more than the company of the saved. Calvary and church have a far wider impact. What took place at the Cross influences the whole universe. Paul said, “For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men” (1 Cor. 4:9).

Paul added: “In Him [Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, . . . that . . . He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him” (Eph. 1:7–10). Consider the following commentary on Ephesians 1:10:

“‘All things’” (ta panta) is literally ‘the all’ (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3) and includes the whole creation. Everything in heaven and on earth will be subsumed under Christ (1 Cor. 15:24–28; Phil. 2:10, 11). The verb anakephalaioo (‘to bring together’) means to sum up together again (Rom. 13:9). It is derived not from kephale (‘a head’) but from kephalaion (‘a summary, or sum total’). When a column of figures was added up, the total was placed at the top. At the end of the age everything will be seen to add up to Christ. This recognition of his preeminence will ensure that the original harmony of the universe is restored (Rom. 8:18–21). The mission of Christ extends beyond the human race and assumes cosmic dimensions.”17

“The angels ascribe honor and glory to Christ, for even they are not secure except by looking to the sufferings of the Son of God. It is through the efficacy of the cross that the angels of heaven are guarded from apostasy. Without the cross they would be no more secure against evil than were the angels before the fall of Satan. Angelic perfection failed in heaven. Human perfection failed in Eden, the paradise of bliss. All who wish for security in earth or heaven must look to the Lamb of God. The plan of salvation, making manifest the justice and love of God, provides an eternal safeguard against defection in unfallen worlds, as well as among those who shall be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.”22

The leaders from every planet, throughout the vast universe, are called “the sons of God” (Job. 1:6); whereas the leader of the fallen Planet Earth is called “Satan” (vs. 7), meaning “adversary.” These meetings of leaders were held outside of heaven; because Satan and his rebel angels were cast out of heaven (Rev. 12:7–9). “The whole universe must see the deceiver unmasked.”24 These meetings were held to allow the Godhead to reveal the truth about Themselves, and allow Satan to expose the truth about himself. This demonstrated the freedom God gave created beings to decide about the controversy, based on evidence. This is contrary to predestination, which wrongly questions God’s love.

Final Demonstration

Toward the end of the millennium, Satan claims that he resurrected all the wicked. He consults with great generals of history, and they organize a massive army. Satan states that their army will gain an easy win, because their numbers are far greater than those in the New Jerusalem. They surround the city.27 Suddenly their attention is riveted above the city. The coronation of Christ as King of kings takes place. As Christ looks upon the wicked, “they are conscious of every sin which they have ever committed. . . . Above the throne is revealed the cross.”28 “And now before the swaying multitude are revealed the final scenes―the patient Sufferer treading the path to Calvary; the Prince of heaven hanging upon the cross; the haughty priests and the jeering rabble deriding His expiring agony. . . . The awful spectacle appears just as it was. Satan, his angels, and his subjects have no power to turn from the picture of their own work.”29 “All see that their exclusion from heaven is just. By their lives they have declared: ‘We will not have this Man [Jesus] to reign over us.’

“As if entranced, the wicked have looked upon the coronation of the Son of God. They see in His hands the tables of the divine law, the statutes which they have despised and transgressed. They witness the outburst of wonder, rapture, and adoration from the saved; and as the wave of melody sweeps over the multitudes without the city, all with one voice exclaim, ‘Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints’ (Revelation 15:3); and, falling prostrate, they worship the Prince of life.”30

“Before the universe has been clearly presented the great sacrifice made by the Father and the Son in man’s behalf. The hour has come when Christ occupies His rightful position and is glorified above principalities and powers and every name that is named. It was for the joy that was set before Him—that He might bring many sons unto glory—that He endured the cross and despised the shame. And inconceivably great as was the sorrow and the shame, yet greater is the joy and the glory. He looks upon the redeemed, renewed in His own image, every heart bearing the perfect impress of the divine, every face reflecting the likeness of their King. He beholds in them the result of the travail of His soul, and He is satisfied. Then, in a voice that reaches the assembled multitudes of the righteous and the wicked, He [Christ] declares: ‘Behold the purchase of My blood! For these I suffered, for these I died, that they might dwell in My presence throughout eternal ages.’”31 All created beings respond to the crucified Creator! They agree that Christ died for all. Every person had the same choice: accept or reject the greatest gift that has ever been offered.

In spite of accepting Christ’s supremacy, Satan’s “character remains unchanged. The spirit of rebellion, like a mighty torrent, again bursts forth. Filled with frenzy, he determines not to yield the great controversy.”32 But Satan’s “power is at an end. . . . The [rage of the] wicked is kindled against Satan.”33 “In his last great effort to dethrone Christ, destroy His people, and take possession of the City of God, the archdeceiver has been fully unmasked. . . . He is the object of universal abhorrence. Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven.”34

Calvary Assures Cosmic Peace Forever

“The science of redemption is the science of all sciences; the science that is the study of the angels and of all the intelligences of the unfallen worlds; the science that engages the attention of our Lord and Saviour; the science that enters into the purpose brooded in the mind of the Infinite—’kept in silence through times eternal’ (Romans 16:25, R.V.); the science that will be the study of God’s redeemed throughout endless ages. This is the highest study in which it is possible for man to engage. As no other study can, it will quicken the mind and uplift the soul.”35 Study of the Cross will bring an ever-deepening love of God to all created beings, with a growing understanding of the enormous sacrifice paid to redeem humans and restore the universe. This growth from and about the Godhead is endless throughout eternity. There’s no graduation. Calvary‑study will be an ever‑opening and sharing of the hearts of God’s inexhaustible love.