2000 Jul XXXIII 7(00) -- THE FINAL ATONEMENT -- Part 3 -- Editor's Preface -- (William Grotheer) -- With this issue we close the series of three studies on "The Final Atonement."
The Final Atonement encompasses all that is understood under the terminology of "the Investigative Judgment," and the more recent designation of "Pre-Advent Judgment."
The main thrust in these studies has been to seek an interpretation of the "investigative judgment" in harmony with the fact that Jesus declared that the Father had committed all judgment into His hands inasmuch as He had become a Son of man.
It must be remembered that only those whose names are found in the Lamb's Book of Life receive the gift of life eternal; not those whose records are preserved in the books opened before the Ancient of days.
We must understand the issues when the great controversy began and the objective God had in the creation of man in His own image. Then realizing that the judgment must begin where sin began, the prophetic scene in Daniel 7:9-10 becomes pregnant with new meaning and significance. Add to this the factor of God's omniscience, as well as the fact that God will never place a creature in double jeopardy, but will honor the Judgment of the Son of man. Light and truth break forth to be considered.
The Final Atonement -- Part 3 -- In concluding the previous essay on the Final Atonement, we quoted the observation of Keil & Delitzsch in regard to the two lots cast over the goats presented for sacrifice on the typical Day of Atonement.
They stated: The words, one lot for Jehovah, and one for Azazel, require unconditionally that Azazel should be regarded as a personal being in opposition to Jehovah (Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 1, p. 398).
This indicates a controversy in the universe of God between Himself and one designated as Azazel.
Further, the services as outlined for the Day of Atonement indicate that God resolves this conflict through:
(1) a sacrifice representing Him; (2) by the ministration of the high priest; and (3) the sacrifice provided by the high priest in conjunction with the sacrifice on His behalf; in other words, Jesus the Messiah.
This controversy is the theme of the Scriptures in the unfolding of salvation history, and can well be designated as the Great Controversy between Christ and Satan. The issues involved and their resolution are basic to understanding the judgment in all of its aspects as revealed in the prophecies of both Daniel and Revelation.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians speaks of "the eternal purpose" of God which was to be accomplished in Christ Jesus (3:11).Literally the text reads - "the purpose of the ages" (proqesin twn aiwnwn ).From "the counsel of peace . . . between the Two of Them" (Zech. 6:13 Heb.) came the determination, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen. 1:26).
However, there was another being who said in his heart, "I will be like the Most High" (Isa. 14:14).The announcement of God's intent was the spark that ignited open rebellion at the very throne of God because Lucifer was one of the "covering cherub(s) that covereth" (Eze. 28:14). Of the conflict that followed Jesus could well say to the "seventy," "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke 10:18). After the creation of man in the image and likeness of God, this other being, Lucifer, Azazel, "the Devil, and Satan" whatever one calls him, disrupted the purpose of God through leading man to make a wrong choice.
In making man in His image and likeness, God created him to be only "a little while inferior" to the angels. (Heb. 2:7, margin)The Greek here is bracu ti and can be applied to either rank or time. The same words are used regarding Jesus in verse 9, where both rank and time blend together. For after the condescension, which was but a brief interlude against the backdrop of eternity, Christ was highly exalted (Phil 2:8-9). In Christ is the hope of man. Condescending to man's level, He "taste(d) death for every man" (Heb. 2:9). Resurrected and returning to the courts of heaven, He sits "in heavenly places" as a Man, for man (Eph. 2:6). In Him, we perceive "the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints" is to be (1:18).
Inasmuch as the issue which ignited the rebellion was God's creation of man and His objective for man, on that point the judgment must begin.
An angel dissatisfied with his position, and desiring to be "like the most High," challenged God. Not being included in the "counsel of peace" his jealousy overwhelmed him. His enmity caused him to focus on man and he succeeded in the depravation of man.
Two alternate questions face us: 1) is God going to forget His "purpose of the ages"? or 2) Does God intend to carry it through to realization?
Other considerations are also involved. "Affliction shall not rise up the second time" (Nahum 1:9). Will the angelic host accept this plan under the new circumstances? The man whom God planned to exalt has fallen far below the level that was his at creation. Though forgiven, he is still a sinner saved by grace. Will the angels be satisfied with such a creature being so enthroned; using the words of Jesus, "to sit with Me in my throne, even as I ... am sat down with my Father in His throne"? They rejoiced at the exaltation and enthronement of Jesus as He returned to the Courts of heaven (Ps. 24:7-10). With the full picture of time before them, they must confirm the decision of God's intent. (This is not conjecture in the light of the revelation the book of Daniel gives as to how God operates His heavenly government. See Daniel 4:17.)
Dan. {4:17} This matter [is] by the decreeof the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holyones: to the intent that the living may know that the mostHigh ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it towhomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest ofmen.
This is the setting of the prophetic portrayal of the judgment in Daniel 7:9-10. The angelic host is gathered, and the books are opened, the books which they helped to write (Eccl. 5:6). Well do they know its contents. But now comes the moment of final angelic decision - a decision by creatures with a free will. "The hour of the judgment of Him is come."
What is God's plea? Here enters the meaning of the services of the typical Day of Atonement - a day of At-one-ment. But this at-one-ment will not only involve man and God, but also the angels and God, for in the final execution of the plan, they will see annihilated forever, their comrades from "days of old." The final execution of judgment will be traumatic for all rational beings who have been involved.
First on that typical day, after the incense was brought into the most holy place, the blood of the bullock followed.This the high priest provided for himself and his house.As the great antitypical session begins, the great High Priest steps forward, and before the angelic hosts shows anew the scars of His hands and His pierced side. (Hab. 3:4, margin) Well do they remember the scenes of Gethsemane and of Calvary. He asks, "Have I given enough so that those who accept me can be with Me where I am?" (See John 17:24).
{17:24} Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast givenme, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory,which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before thefoundation of the world.
Then the Ancient of days asks - "Have I given enough?"
Again the darkness of Calvary comes to those angelic minds, when in that darkness, the Father gave the Son that bitter cup. There was a sundering of the Divine powers. Into outer darkness, Jesus went bearing the sins of the world. The "heart" of God was also rent as He was "in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself" (II Cor. 5:19).
{5:19} To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the worldunto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; andhath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
In the silence of that moment, and in the answer given to the questions asked, the second great eternity is secured.
Only one condition appears to have been attached; those exalted must accept the terms of the Gospel. The First Angel who announces "the hour of His judgment is come" brings with him, "the everlasting gospel" (Rev. 14:6-7).
When Christ returns after the completion of the judgment, He takes vengeance on those "that obey not the gospel." (II Thess. 1:8)
{1:8} In flaming fire takingvengeance on them that know not God, and that obey notthe gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
From the books, names are transferred to the one book, and those already entered are retained in "the book of life of the Lamb" (Rev. 13:8).
{13:8} And all that dwell uponthe earth shall worship him, whose names are not written inthe book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of theworld.
Their records in the "books" are blotted out. The decision rests with Him unto whom all judgment is committed. The chosen ones pass from death unto life; they do not come into judgment nor do they come under the condemnation that awaits those whose works remain recorded "in the books" (John 5:24; Rev. 20:12).
{5:24}Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, andbelieveth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, andshall not come into condemnation; but is passed from deathunto life.
{20:12} And I sawthe dead, small and great, stand before God; and the bookswere opened: and another book was opened, which is [thebook] of life: and the dead were judged out of those thingswhich were written in the books, according to their works.
The final work can now commence.
It must be kept in mind that the prophecy of Daniel 7 is based on a continuum, events following in succession.
It was not until after hearing "the voice of the great words" (v. 11)
{7:11} I beheld thenbecause of the voice of the great words which the hornspake: I beheld [even] till the beast was slain, and his bodydestroyed, and given to the burning flame.
...that Daniel saw "one like unto the Son of man" come before the Ancient of days to receive "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom" (v. 13).
It is not by accident that Christ is pictured as "the Son of man" because He was to announce that His authority to execute judgment would be based on the fact that "He is the Son of man" (John 5:27). In Daniel 7 He is portrayed as having completed His work, and is brought before the Ancient of days to receive power, glory and the kingdom.
The parenthesis in the prophecy of Daniel is filled by the details of the typical service as given in Leviticus 16.
The final judgment is no more a stationary scene than was the services of the typical Day of Atonement.
On that day, there was movement from the Most Holy apartment to the Court, where the final cleansing took place, and the scapegoat sent to a land uninhabited.
Another prophecy conveys the same picture of movement.
Ezekiel 9, pictures a man "clothed in linen," and this designation is emphasized throughout the chapter, verses 2, 3, 11. Keep in mind that the high priest on the typical day of atonement can be identified as "a man clothed in linen" (Lev. 16:4).
In Ezekiel, the man clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side, receives a commission from One who being in the Most Holy Place arises from the cherub and goes to the "threshold of the house." After the completion of His work, the angel clothed in linen reports back to the "God of Israel," saying, "I have done as Thou has commanded me" (v. 11). The work accomplished was the placing of a "tau" upon the foreheads of all those who sighed over the declension of Jerusalem (9:4 Heb.). Inscript, the Hebrew "tau" resembles the form of a cross. Those so marked identify with their Lord even as He wept over a doomed city. They choose to follow the Lamb withersoever He goeth.
The book of Revelation presents in prophetic symbolism the same three steps taken by the High Priest on the Day of Atonement.
At the time of the hour of God's judgment, three mighty angels are dispatched, the first carrying the everlasting gospel combined with a message of what was taking place in the heavenly sanctuary, and calling man to true worship. The second followed with a corporate announcement - Babylon is fallen. (It was in the first apartment where the confession of the corporate sins of Israel were recorded through the year, and where the second act on the typical Day of Atonement occurred. See Lev. 4:13-18; Ex. 30:10; 16:16b) The third angel follows with an individual message, "if any man worship the beast and his image" (14:9). It is this worship which is the defining test as to whether one's name is placed in the Lamb's book of life (13:8).
A further factor emerges in the book of Revelation. Resulting from these final messages of the Three Angels is a people of which it can be said - "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (14:12). It does not say, "'trying to keep" or that they " believe they should be kept" but they "keep" not only the commandments of God, but also the faith of Jesus. It is this latter ingredient that is missing in the teachings and the experience of "historic" Adventism today. The picture becomes critical when the fact is conveyed in the book of Revelation that prior to the coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven as King of kings and Lord of lords, His High Priestly intercession has ceased, and the final wrath of God is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation. (15:8).
This means in simplest terms, that sinning has ceased in the lives of those sealed, and whose names are retained in the Lamb's book of life.
*******
We're going to pause here. I find it amazingly interesting how it all falls into place.
The type and anti-type.
It's happening right now.
Right now.
We have never lived without God's plan unfolding in our lives. We might not think about it, we might not be aware but it's not because we aren't allowed to be aware. Nothing is hidden from us. For those who wish to see and understand the way is there to understand.
While we go about our day to day lives the heavenly plan is unfolding, everything is happening in its time and the end of sin will also happen. Sin had a beginning and it will have an end.
Remember this verse--
Luke {21:34} And take heed to yourselves, lest at any timeyour hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, anddrunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day comeupon you unawares.
Cares of this life.
What other life is there?
Obviously another.
1 Tim. {1:16} Howbeitfor this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christmight shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to themwhich should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
Believe on him to life everlasting.
There is a life everlasting.
We all know that's not this life. Death is a part of our everyday life. People die all around us and we know one day we too will die. Life everlasting without end.
We can't be overcome with the cares of this life or we will miss out on life everlasting. If our focus is here on this life we don't look at the bigger picture, the everlasting picture.
We can see it, we can be part of it, we can claim eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. He died so we could have eternal life. We need to grasp hold of Him, of His love. We need to confess our sins and repent so we can be cleansed from all unrighteousness by Jesus our Savior. May God help us all by His grace and mercy may we seek Him and care about life beyond this one.
Amen.
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