From my six part series:
Embracing God: WhyI’m a Seventh-day Adventist
Embracing God: WhyI’m a Seventh-day Adventist
Study 1: Character - Pride Before the Fall vs Humility Before the Cross
Introduction: Two Kings – One Devil. In two different times and places, in the lives of two different kings, two Godly prophets show where prideful power comes from and where it leads.
The King of Tyre – and his guardian cherub
Ezekiel 28:1-10
Who is this talking about?
What positives are revealed about the Prince of Tyre?
What does God have against the Prince of Tyre?
What character trait put this Prince into God’s bad books? (pride)
What will happen to this Prince, according to the prophet? (die)
How does this prove that the Prince of Tyre is not a god?
Ezekiel 28:11-19
The prophet shifts focus from the Prince to the King of all prideful thinking. Who is this?
What positives are revealed about this ‘guardian cherub’ - Lucifer?
What does God have against Lucifer?
What character trait put Lucifer in God’s bad books?
What will happen to this ‘cherub’ according to the prophet? (death in ashes)
How does this prove that Lucifer is not like God?
The King of Babylon – and his shining star
Isaiah 14:3-21 records a song the prophet says the people of Israel will sing about the King of Babylon. Similar to Ezekiel’s prophecy about the King of Tyre, this King also has Lucifer embedded into his story – this time the beginning and end focus on the Earthly King, sandwiching the Devil in the middle. This passage reveals the true nature and agenda of Lucifer.
Isaiah 14:12-15
To what does the prophet compare Lucifer? (a falling star)
What prideful things did Lucifer say to himself?
What will be the ultimate result?
Why do you think prophets juxtaposed Lucifer with evil Kings?
What character traits did they share?
How does pride lead us into a downward spiral and ultimately a pit?
Two Humans – One God
Genesis 3:1-19
Do the words of the serpent sound familiar to the two “King” stories? How?
Who shows up in the middle of this story, just like the two “King” stories?
How did the serpent convince them to eat the fruit?
What does God have against the man? The woman? The serpent?
What results came from their actions?
Genesis 3:15 is called the “protoevangelion” – the first good news. How is this verse the first telling of the good news of what Jesus is going to do?
Pride vs… ?
Have you seen an example of “Pride before a fall” in your life or the lives around you?
What is the answer to pride? How can we defeat it?
James 4:10
How much of what happens in the universe is seen by God?
How much of what happens in the universe is seen by God?
What does this text tell us about being exalted by God? What must we do?
How can we humble ourselves?
Philippians 2:5-11
How is this the opposite of what caused the Fall of both Lucifer, his angels and humanity?
When humans live God’s way who is revealed in their Character? Who shows up in their story?
What did Jesus do for us? Why?
What impact will our lives have when Jesus is in the middle of our story?
Conclusion and Call
The Protoevangelion – the first good news in Gen 3:15 – was that Satan’s head would be crushed. How did Jesus’ action crush Satan’s plan?
Pride > Fall > Humility:
No God = Death (Judas)
vs
Know God = He lifts you up (Peter)
When pride shows up in this world – like in the stories of the two Kings – whose nature and plan is being revealed?
When humility shows up in this world – whose nature is being revealed?
Would you like the humility of Jesus to crush the pride of the Devil out of your life?
Let’s pray now and ask Jesus to fill us with His humility so pride and selfishness have no place in our lives!
Prayer
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