4. When did Lucifer’s perfection become corrupted? Ezekiel 28:15.
NOTE: ‘Sin originated with him, who, next to Christ, stood highest in the favour of God, and highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of Heaven. Before his fall, Lucifer was the covering cherub, holy and undefiled. The prophet of God declares, “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.” [Ezekiel 28:15.] Peace and joy, in perfect submission to the will of Heaven, existed throughout the angelic host. Love to God was supreme, love for one another impartial. Such was the condition that existed for ages before the entrance of sin. But over this happy state there came a change. Says the prophet, addressing the prince of evil, “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” [Ezekiel 28:17.] Though God had created Lucifer noble and beautiful, and had exalted him to high honour among the angelic host, yet He had not placed him beyond the possibility of evil. It was in Satan’s power, did he choose to do so, to pervert these gifts. He might have remained in favour with God, beloved and honoured by all the angelic throng, presiding in his exalted position with generous, unselfish care, exercising his noble powers to bless others and to glorify his Maker. But, little by little, he began to seek his own honour, and to employ his powers to attract attention and win praise to himself. He also gradually led the angels over whom he ruled to do him service, instead of devoting all their powers to the service of their Creator. This course perverted his own imagination, and perverted those who yielded implicitly to his authority.’ Spirit of Prophecy, volume 4, pages 316-317.
5. How did this corruption manifest itself? Ezekiel 28:17, first part. Compare Isaiah 14:12-14.
NOTE: ‘Being “perfect in beauty,” he began to look upon himself, to honour himself, and to glorify himself because of this perfect beauty, instead of glorifying Him that gave it. He began to attribute to himself the honour and the merit, and to think that there was not shown to him the preference that was his due, and that the place which he held was not such as fitly became one so glorious. Then he said in his heart: “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north; . . . I will be like the Most High.” Isaiah 14: 13, 14.’ A. T. Jones: Present Truth, February 11, 1892.