Self-affliction for the purpose of comprehending that we exist only because God allows us to exist. Self-affliction because we comprehend that our unworthiness of God's mercy is a very real thing. Self-affliction because all glory belongs to God and none to us. Self-affliction because we need the meekness of our Savior which calls for us to live as He lives. As our example, our Savior lived His life in service for others at all times. Our Savior lived self-renunciation. Our Savior lived wholly for the Father.
We live in the existence of a perpetual day of Atonement, begun at a set moment in time only to end at another set time that only God the Father knows.
Prior to Christ's sacrifice, the Israelis lived immersed in a sacrificial system that allowed for them to bring sacrifices to gain atonement. Once a year all the sins that had been placed on the altar of the sanctuary were cleansed.
To cleanse the sanctuary the High Priest made ritual sacrifices with ritual ceremonies on that most holy of days. The people were told to afflict their souls on that day because it was the holiest of days as the power of God to forgive all sin was enacted.
When Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary we weren't left entirely without a time table for future events.
Heb 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us
Christ began His work in the heavenly sanctuary - the same heavenly sanctuary we were told would begin to be cleansed in a prophecy given by Daniel. Without going into that prophecy in depth right now, it works out that in the year 1844 the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began and it was then that the Day of Atonement figure came into effect. For the last 177 years the heavenly sanctuary has been being cleansed. When the cleansing is over, that is when our Savior returns! Jesus has been in heaven for 1,955 years and for the last 177 years of that time He's been carrying out the cleansing of the sanctuary.
More on all of this tomorrow- by the GRACE OF GOD!
No comments:
Post a Comment