High Priest -Christ

 

Christ For Us In the Heavenly Sanctuary.

 The sanctuary we must now all enter to understand… the heavenly sanctuary. How do we enter that sanctuary? Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Because we are His, He has entered the heavenly sanctuary for us. Do we comprehend our Savior in the heavenly sanctuary? We need to, may God help us to this end.

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The earthly sanctuary was no longer valid, and the heavenly sanctuary resumed its prominence as Christ ascended and took His place there as our High Priest.

Mar 16:19  So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. 

Act 7:55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 

Act 7:56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 

1Pe 3:22  Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. 

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

Rom 8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 

Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Heb 8:1  Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 

Heb 8:2  A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 

To be continued by the grace of God

Safety In the Sanctuary.

  'We can find true happiness, contentment and peace now but ONLY in the hope of the eternal world. 

The sanctuary shows the way of eternity.' (From yesterday)

Psa 77:13  Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? 

Sanctuary. 

You've heard of people asking for sanctuary, what is it they are asking for? Safety. They want to be safe from anything trying to harm them in any way. 

God's sanctuary, the safest place for everyone.

God's sanctuary, the place of redemption.

God's sanctuary, the mercy seat of God.

God's sanctuary, salvation's manifestation. 

God's sanctuary, where God meets man.

God's sanctuary exists today! And just as Christ- God's mercy- was found in the earthly sanctuary, it is found in the heavenly right now!  Yes, the earthly sanctuary was destroyed as Christ said it would be…

Mat 24:1  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 

Mat 24:2  And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 

This also happened in the sanctuary as Jesus died…

Mar 15:37  And Jesus having uttered a loud cry, yielded the spirit, 

Mar 15:38  and the veil of the sanctuary was rent in two, from top to bottom,

The dividing veil separating the holy place from the most holy place was torn in half. The earthly sanctuary had served its purpose and was no longer needed. The need to keep the most holy place hidden from all but the high priest was gone because God would no longer be found in the sanctuary upon earth or any of its services. The sacrifices were needed no longer because they all pointed towards the ultimate sacrifice and once that sacrifice was made it ended all that represented the future sacrifice that would end all sin once and for all-  His heel was bruised and Satan's head was bruised. 

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. 

The earthly sanctuary was no longer valid, and the heavenly sanctuary resumed its prominence as Christ ascended and took His place there as our High Priest.

More tomorrow by the grace of God.

The sanctuary shows the way of eternity.

The sanctuary shows the way of eternity.

Psa 77:13  Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God? 

God's way is where?

In the sanctuary.

Is it any wonder then that the way of understanding the end of man is found in the sanctuary?

Psa 37:37  Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. 

Psa 37:38  But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. 

This goes hand in hand with this verse-

Psa 73:17  Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 

The sanctuary - God's way.

The sanctuary - everything about the sanctuary reveals God desiring to protect man and give man an existence in eternity along with Him- completely unoppressed, completely loved and able to love. 

Right now we long for a life that we cannot possess fully. All of us live with longing. The longing is manifested in many ways but all of us hope, or hoped for it just in the fact we live our lives with many undertones of dissatisfaction. We recognize that no matter what - whether we possess millions of dollars or no money at all, we are never fully satisfied. Problems exist for the richest and the poorest people- different problems, but problems nonetheless. While the poor long for money to solve their problems, the rich long for their money to buy happiness which often falls far short of expectations, and there is no real satisfaction to be found. We want something we don't possess and Satan would have us believe it exists in the temporal world when in truth it only exists in the eternal with Christ Jesus, with God the Father, and with the Holy Spirit. Try as we might, this life, no matter how good a life it may be, is meaningless without eternal redemption.

We can find true happiness, contentment and peace now but only in the hope of the eternal world. 

The sanctuary shows the way of eternity.

To be continued by the grace of God. 

 

Your End.

 Do you want to understand your end? And by end I mean your ultimate existence or non-existence.  

There are things eternal and things temporal.

We live knowing others lived before us, and that others will live after us. We live knowing we only live a short span of time in a world that has existed for thousands of years. We live knowing our living as we are doing right now- as we read this - is only temporary. 

All around us we witness life and death. We are witness to the living things around us dying. From leaves on a tree, to insects, small animals, to fish, birds and so on, we grow up with life and death. We have the knowledge that those things which die do not return to life. We have a whole slew of dead relatives behind our existence. At 57 years old my parents are among the dead relatives. I only have three aunts and two uncles left, the rest have died. Living and dying, we know what it is to live our temporary life, but do we know what dying is in all reality, beyond our knowledge as the living knowing the physical facts of death? So many believe it is a complete mystery, but it isn't. Faith allows us answers.

To understand the end…

Psa 73:17  Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 

Here a person was lamenting the wicked who were prospering over the righteous. The lamenting led him to the realization that the end of the wicked is eternal non-existence. 

We need to go into the sanctuary to understand the end of the wicked and subsequently the end of the righteous. There are only two ends and everyone will meet one or the other. If you do not meet the end that the wicked are to meet, you will meet the end the righteous meet. 

The question is, do you want to understand your end?

To be continued.

Contingency

 The Sanctuary.

Why is the sanctuary STILL important? 

1st Heavenly Sanctuary

2nd Earthly Sanctuary

3rd Return to the Heavenly Sanctuary

The above is the progression of the Sanctuary's existence. We don’t know when the Heavenly Sanctuary came into being, however I'd like to propose a theory. 

1Co_2:7  But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory

2Ti_1:9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began

Tit_1:2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began

Before the world.

Before the world began.

A contingency plan was put into place before the creation of the world, and mankind. The world was created for mankind, and mankind created for the pleasure  of God.

Because our uniqueness as being created in the image of God, God was taking a unique chance with us… one we still can't fully comprehend. Our unique creation called for a plan to be put into place should we take our God given power of choice and abuse it. The only other course of action would have been instant extermination and God, being love, could not take that path. The plan of salvation called for the creation of the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary - a place where God dwells.  The sanctuary -a revelator of God.

When Moses was given the plan for a sanctuary clearly all things pointed towards the work of reconciliation of man with God. Man was given a visual, physical symbolic structure to interact with God. The structure symbolized the ultimate reconciliation pointing towards the promised Savior.

I propose that the sanctuary was created along with the contingency plan for mankind's existence- before the world began.

More tomorrow by the grace of God. 

Sin's Eradication.

 Clearly, Christ as our high priest ministers in the heavenly sanctuary…  RIGHT NOW. Right this very moment our Savior ministers for us. He has ministered there since His return to heaven after His death and subsequent resurrection. The Heavenly Sanctuary exists, it existed first and will exist until our Savior's ministry there is over. Just as the high priest ministered in a specific way for specific purposes, Jesus Christ our High Priest has been and continues to minister in a specific manner. 

The earthly high priest worked year round and under him other priests. The high priest had a very important work to do - he was responsible for cleansing the sanctuary of all the sins placed there throughout the year- and he did this only once a year. 

When Christ as our High Priest cleanses the heavenly sanctuary it will be cleansed once and then never again.  The ultimate cleansing resulting in sin's complete eradication. Let that sink in. 

More on this tomorrow by the grace of God.

Jesus--High Priest

We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens

Jesus--Minister of the Sanctuary

A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. 

Jesus--Mediator of a Better Covenant

Heb 8:6  But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises

Christ - High Priest

Heb 9:11  But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building

Jesus - by his own blood

Heb 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for 

us.

 

Christ through the eternal Spirit -- Mediator 

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 

Heb 9:15  And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 

Christ -- in the presence of God for us

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