Right now was are
studying prophecy though it may not appear to be so. In the Books of Revelation
and Daniel we are given the sanctuary message and that message is all about
making atonement- AT ONE MENT -
man with God. Mankind estranged
itself from its Creator-God and rather than destroy mankind, the Creator-God
made a way for mankind to once more be reunited with Him. However sin has only ONE punishment- DEATH.
Either we would have to die the eternal death or another would have to die for
us, another would have to die in our place. Death- the penalty for sin would
have to be paid one way or another. And then God the declared Heavenly Father,
with God the declared Only Begotten Son of the Father, enacted the plan of
salvation and that plan included the ATONEMENT.
A figure on earth, a type on earth of what would be needed in heaven-
ceremonial laws were given, people were taught to comprehend in the example of
the figure of the true to come.
We need to know all
we can about the sanctuary (earthly and heavenly), and all we can about the
atonement (earthly and heavenly). What
our Savior is doing in the heavenly sanctuary is immensely important to us
because this is the work He is undertaking right now, right up until the moment
He stands up and declares the work finished, and He returns to earth to gather
His people of whom we desire to be among.
So let's continue our study on the atonement, seeking God's TRUTH
through the Holy Spirit's guidance, let our eyes of understanding be opened,
may we be spiritually enlightened all by the GRACE and MERCY of our SAVIOR,
JESUS CHRIST.
*******
1981 May-- XIV 5(81)
-- LET'S TALK ABOUT THE ATONEMENT - I
Author William Grotheer
(((continued from yesterday's blog study))))
This second aspect
of the atonement - man becoming one with God begins at the same point - the
Cross.
Here his healing
begins for in the Cross he comes to see the real significance of where his
mental derangement will lead. If God had only the judicial aspect of the
atonement in mind to effect the redemption of man - justification - Gethsemane
would have sufficed. There the cup was accepted, and there the blood first
touched the ground. (Luke 22:44) Thus Gethsemane could have become the
antitypical Altar. Why then the Cross? THE CROSS BRINGS TO OUR POOR DERANGED
AND DULL SENSES THAT SIN IS THE WILL TO KILL GOD. Jesus had told the Jews that
the lusts of their father the devil they would do. Being a murderer from the
beginning - desiring to kill the Immortal Potentate, Satan would have them do
that very thing to God's Son in whom all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt.
(John 8:44) When we truly perceive what sin really is, our thinking is
rearranged, and we see in Him whom we have pierced, our Sacrifice and
Substitute.
However, with the
healing of our thought processes, we are still short of the glory of God. We
are still just as unable to meet the judicial requirements of God as stated in
His law, as we were before we found our place at the foot of the Cross. But He
who became our Sacrifice and Substitute speaks to us, and says I will be your
Mediator - your Priest. I will accomplish your atonement with your God. And so
"of Him are [we] in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." (I Cor. 1:30)
"Wisdom" - for by the Cross we see the real meaning of sin;
"righteousness" for by His righteousness God is able to declare
"the remission of sins that are past." (Rom. 3:25);
"sanctification" for by His sanctification the truth is to be
inwrought in our lives (John 17:19); and "redemption" for by that
redemption our vile bodies shall be changed into the likeness of His
"glorious body" (Phil 3:21); - yea all this is for us by Jesus Christ
that "in all things He might have the preeminence." (Col. 1:18) But
in this divine process whereby we become atone with God and see His face again
(Rev. 22:4), there are specific acts to be performed on both the part of the
priest and the individual. These conditions were outlined in the types of the
earthly sanctuary which foreshadowed the work and ministry of our great High
Priest as He makes atonement for us in the sanctuary of the heavens.
In the Court --
The principle
article of furniture as far as the individual was concerned was the Brazen
Altar. On this Altar was offered the sin offering. While the disposition of the
blood varied with the status of the sinner, the process by which it was
presented, and the ultimate result reflecting back on the sinner was the same.
The one presenting the animal of the sin offering must bring it "to the
door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord." (Lev. 4:4)
Then he would "lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering and slay the
sin offering" before the Lord. (Lev. 4:29) With this ritual the
participation of the sinner ceased. But in his participation, he had performed
two very meaningful acts.
p 4 -- First, he had
presented a substitute to meet the demands of justice, and secondly, he himself
slew the substitute.
At the point when
the victim was killed, the priest took over. He either ministered the blood
directly before "the veil of the sanctuary" (Lev. 4:6), or he partook
of the flesh of the sin offering. (Lev. 10:17) Through the priestly act,
atonement was made, and forgiveness was extended to the sinner. (Lev. 4:20)
Again this ritual tells us something. The atonement of man with God was not
made until after the sacrificial substitute was offered. The result of the
atonement was forgiveness - judicial in its results, because the sinner had
just as much a potential to sin after the sin offering was presented as he had
before its presentation. The forgiveness extended had only one effect upon him
- he could rest in the consciousness of freedom from the guilt caused by his
sin. He stood before his God as though he had never sinned. The victim had
borne his sin, and had been accepted in his place.
The Hebrew word
translated "atonement" in describing the ritual of the sanctuary is
kah-phar. It means literally "to cover." Its first use in Scripture
had to do with Noah's ark. There God commanded Noah - "Make yourself an
ark of gopher wood, and cover it inside and out with pitch." (Gen. 6:14
RSV) In the sanctuary service as pertaining to the sin offering, the priest
made the "covering." The sin of the sinner was open - he confessed,
and was deserving of death, but had presented a substitute. By the means of the
blood of the substitute, the priest had in turn "covered" his sin. In
the reality, Jesus became both Substitute, and Priest, one following the other.
As the great High Priest over the house of God, He has effected the judicial
atonement - whether individual or corporate - covering the sins of all who
"come unto God by Him seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for
them." (Heb. 7:25)
If in the sanctuary
service, the ritual of the Court had been all that was to be performed, and the
first apartment into which the priest went with the blood of the sin offering
was a vacant vestibule, then we might conclude that the "new theology"
had some merit. But the Scripture plainly teaches that beyond the judicial
atonement was MUCH MORE to be performed by the priests on behalf,of the sinner
directly effecting his final atonement with God. There was the Holy Place, not
vacant and meaningless, and the Most Holy Place, where the final decree
regarding sin and sinners was prefigured each year in the great Day of
Atonement. These we shall discuss in the next thought paper, God willing.' - End thought paper excerpt.
********
You see, we need to
comprehend that there is MORE than Jesus dying upon the cross, more than His
resurrection, more than His ascent to heaven and stopping there. HOW pointless would it be, seriously, how
pointless would it be for our Savior to return to heaven recently resurrected,
to only sit there as a figurehead with nothing else to do at all but let
thousands and thousands of years go by watching the ongoing suffering of
mankind whom He died to save. Sure, some
will argue that He is in heaven greeting the thousands that die every day, but
DEATH IS A SLEEP, not some ticket to heaven redeemable upon breathing your last
fleshly breath. Our Savior is our great high priest.
Heb_4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest,
that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
profession.
And our great high
priest is our priest for a reason. As typified in the earthly example, a priest
had priestly work to undertake, and our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, was NO
different.
We are going to
continue with this sanctuary/atonement study tomorrow, learning more and more
about the work of our Great High Priest.
Prophecy tells us
that our Savior, our Great High Priest will FINISH His work…
Dan 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the
great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be
a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same
time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be
found written in the book
When our Great High
Priest is finished with His heavenly work then His people are delivered,
everyone found written in the book of life!
Shouldn't we want to
know all we can about our Heavenly High Priest and His work in the heavenly
sanctuary? Yes, we should want to know
all we can and by the grace of God we will.
All in the love and
mercy of our Lord and Savior, our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord now
and forever!
Amen!
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