BIBLE TEACHINGS MADE PLAIN part 24 – Jesus in the Heavenly Sanctuary

BIBLE TEACHINGS MADE PLAIN part 24

Jesus in the Heavenly Sanctuary

This lesson is about the question what is Jesus doing in heaven? A very important question, because if we do not know, why do we worship Him, why believe in Him, why do we need Him? It also deals with the questions, why did He come down to earth, why did He die on the cross, for what purpose did He return to heaven? These questions can only be answered properly through the sanctuary. We read in Psalms 77:13 that God’s way is in the sanctuary. And in Isa.55:8 we read that God’s thoughts and ways are different and according to verse 9 they are different from ours and so far apart as heaven is from earth..

But read also Isa.55:7 that God will abundantly pardon or forgive. Why do we need pardon or forgiveness? The answer is in Rom.3:23 all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. When Adam and Eve sinned they lost the glory of God which covered them and as a result they saw their nakedness, Gen.3:7. To cover their nakedness they made themselves coverage from fig. leaves. However this was not good enough as far as God was concerned and He made them coverage from animal skin, most likely from a lamb, Gen.3:21.

We learn a few lessons here. First sin equals nakedness. Second we cannot cover ourselves; we cannot cover our sins by our human effort or means. Third God has to cover us, take our nakedness, our sin from us His way. We read in Rev.3:17 that self boasting is like being naked and in Rev.16:15 we have to watch ourselves that our nakedness not be seen.

Before we deal with God’s way of pardon we have to settle the question of sin. When Adam sinned, his character and personality was changed. Something like a virus entered his life. This sin virus he has passed on to his offspring and now we are all contaminated with sin, not the actual sin Adam committed, but the nature of sin. Read Rom.5:22, sin and death is passed on to all of us. However we are not guilty before God for what Adam did but for our own wrongdoings. We are all individually responsible before God. Read Ezekiel 18:20. The father is not guilty for what the son did and the son is not for what the father did.

What is sin? The answer is in 1John 3:4 transgressions of the law and also in Rom.14:23 what is not done by faith is also sin. We may keep the law correctly but not because of our faith in Christ who has saved us, then it is also sin. If we keep the law correctly but not for reason that we are saved by Christ, it is legalism which means we try to earn heaven ourselves, by our own doing and our own effort. So all have sinned, and there is nobody who does not sin, 2Chron.6:36, and as a result we are all in need of salvation, pardon or forgiveness. God freely offers this, read Ex.34:6, 7; Isa.1:18; 55:7. The Bible calls this also redemption; we are in bondage of sin and in need of being redeemed. Eph.1:7; Col.1:14. To redeem means to buy back which means a ransom has to be payed and Christ is that ransom, Matth.20:28.

When Adam and Eve transgressed God’s law they transferred their loyalty from God to the Devil and became his servants in bondage, Rom.6:16. From God’s side they fell under the death penalty the curse of the law, Gen.2:16, 17 and Rom.6:23. This is death as a penalty, not the death we all die now which is the consequence of sin for everybody, saint or sinner, but from where there is a resurrection of all for life or eternal death, John 5:28, 29; and 1Cor.15:22. All who die now will be made alive but not all for eternal life.

Now we are in bondage we cannot free ourselves. God has to do something and He did. Instead of executing the death penalty over Adam and Eve He revealed His plan of salvation, or redemption to buy us back but not in the human way but His way which is different, read again Isa.55:8. Divine pardon or forgiveness means that God bears our sins and guilt and penalty. That’s different from the way we forgive. We do not bear the offender’s guilt or penalty. Sin has caused a rift between God and us, Isa.59:1, 2. That rift is in need of repair or healing as some people call it. It needs to be bridged. Only God can do that and He has done it by way of atonement which means to cover. God did not change His law and taking away the death penalty. God is unchangeable and so is His law, immutable, His law is a description of His character, James 1:17; Mal.3:6; Ps.89:34.

To cover our sins, take them away, make atonement through Jesus Christ His Son, God bears our sin, guilt and penalty. That’s why we read in 2Cor.5:21 that Christ was made sin while He himself never sinned, but our sin was transferred on to Him. Read also 1Pet.2:22. So when Christ died, He died as a sinner in our place, as our substitute.
Now God offers this to us for our salvation individually, we accept and are saved we reject and we remain lost for ever. John 3:16; 1Pet.1:18, 19; and again read Eph.1:7; Col.1:14; Isa.1:18 and Lev.17:11. It is God’s free gift to us. Grace is free for us, a gift but it was costly for God through the atoning sacrifice on the cross of His son Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour or healer; Christ is the Lamb of God., John 1:29, 36.
But remember well God’s gift has to be accepted. Nobody will be forced to accept it. God still respect our freedom of choice. If we reject God’s gift we have to accept the consequences and loose life for ever.

Now we turn to the Old Testament Sanctuary where the plan of salvation was acted out on a daily and yearly basis till Christ the real sacrifice would come to earth. We will try to follow it step by step and start with Lev.1:3, 4. Here we learn that a sinner would take an animal, often a lamb, to the sanctuary before the priest. He would put his hands on the head of the animal as a symbol of making confession of his sin and transferring it to the innocent animal or lamb. Then the sinner would take a knife and kill it. The priest would take the blood into the sanctuary and make atonement before God. The sinner could go home assured of being atoned for and forgiven by God. You may read the same in Lev.4:20, 26 and 35

By way of blood of the sacrificial animal sin is transferred into the sanctuary which causes the sanctuary to become contaminated and in need of cleansing. This cleansing of the sanctuary took place annually on the tenth of the seventh month and was called the Day of Atonement. This was the day where sins were blotted out and done away with for ever and ever from the sanctuary. It’s all explained in Lev.16; notice in particular verse 31 and 23:27. If the person of Israel had faithfully confessed his or her sins and they have been transferred into the sanctuary, they had nothing to fear on the Day of Atonement. It was for them a day of judgment, but not to fear. If they had not humbled themselves before God, afflicted their soul as it read they would be cut off. Read Lev.23:29.

All this happened year after year and after year as a type or illustration of better things to come because in reality the blood of animals could not exact atonement, Hebr.10:1-4. Christ the real Lamb of God and His blood are needed to bring about real atonement and pardon and cleansing of the sanctuary. Christ is that BETTER of which Hebrews speaks so often. By way of our prayers our sins are transferred into the heavenly sanctuary where Christ is our High Priest, but at the same time it contaminates the heavenly sanctuary which becomes in need of cleansing, read Hebr.8:1-3 and Hebr.9:23. It is done with the blood of Christ the real Lamb without blemish, 1Pet.1:19. He is the BETTER Lamb which “bare our sins” 1Pet.2:24 as the animal lamb did in the Old Testament Sanctuary. Have also a good read of Isa 53 the iniquities of us all laid on Him, and He was wounded for our transgressions.

So Christ suffered and died in our place as a sinner and baring our guilt and penalty we deserve. But He could not be kept in the grave, because He himself had never sinned so he rose from the grave the third day. 1Cor.15:3, 4. His death was for our atonement, His resurrection secured our justification, Rom.4:25. If he had not risen we would still be lost. Now He is our high priest in heaven, Hebr.8:1, 2. He has entered there by His own blood, Hebr.9:12 and by which He has obtained eternal redemption for us. He is in heaven also as our advocate 1John 2:1, 2 and as our Mediator 1Tim.2:5 and Hebr.8:6; 12:24.
Our prayers are important they are the medium by which we come into the heavenly sanctuary, read Rev.8:3; 5:8; Ps.88:2 and 141:2. Always remember that without blood, the blood of Christ there is no remission or forgiveness of sins, Hebr.9:22; 1John 1:7-9 Also the blood of Christ is shed only once, not regularly as in the OT Sanctuary, Hebr.9:26-28.

We mentioned based on Hebr.9:23 that the heavenly sanctuary also is in need of cleansing, when does that take place? The answer is in Dan.8:14 after 2300 days and nights or years according to the day for a year principle in prophecy. We know from Dan.9:24 that this period of time would start in 457BC and terminate AD1844. (For a study in detail go to the Daniel section and study chapter 7 and 9) In that year ,1844,the anti-typical Day of Atonement started and will terminate when Christ leaves the sanctuary to make Himself ready to come down to earth in His second coming with all His angels in glory,Matth.25:31. Since 1844 we live in our Day of Atonement or judgment hour. We must remember that we all have to appear before God in judgment, Rom.14:10; 2Cor.5:10. But we have nothing to fear if we walk with God and have our sins by prayer transferred into the heavenly sanctuary, if Christ is our personal saviour and mediator. Daniel 7 is the prophetic chapter of the last judgment and it reads in 7:22 (NKJV) that the judgment will be in favour of the saints. And who are saints we learn from Rom.1:6, 7 and 1Cor.1:2. Those who are in Christ and are sanctified by faith in Christ, they are called saints, Acts 26:18.

Because God does nothing on earth without any warning, Amos 3:7 we should have a special message in the scriptures warning us about that hour of judgment which is now. Yes we have such a warning in Rev.14:6-11 a message of three angels. The first one in 14:6, 7preaches the Everlasting Gospel, which is the Good News about Jesus and announces the hour of judgment and makes a call to fear or reverence God, to worship God the Creator and give glory to Him. The second message in 14:8 announces that nothing can be expected from this world of Babylon which is fallen deeply and the third angel in 14:9-11 warns that those who do not worship God but His opponent will be lost for ever and ever.

Dear reader, in the name of Christ accept this message today. Go on your knees and commit yourself to God, accept God’s free offer to cleanse you from your wrong doings and accept salvation by faith in Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Seek baptism without delay and be united with Christ and start your walk with God as Enoch walked with God, Gen.5:24 Then you as Enoch will be taken up in Glory with all God’s saints.
God bless in making this decision now, today, without delay.

Commitment: By God’s grace and faith in Jesus I will commit myself to God and confess Jesus as my Saviour and High Priest in the Heavenly Sanctuary, I will also seek baptism to seal my commitment to God.