Friday, October 2, 2015

The Atonement - In Prophecy

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.

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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.

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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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