August 26, 2022
“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12
Because of His strong and abiding love for each of us, our sin hurts God deeply. When I come to Him in recognition of the pain I have caused Him, I am confessing my personal contribution to the death of His Son. Yes, our sin causes our own suffering, whether or not we choose to acknowledge it, but the greatest suffering by far is that which our loving God endured in order to redeem us from the sentence of eternal death. Even as we recognize our own sin, its gravity eludes us. For us to be told “sins . . . I will remember no more” really is too wonderful for us to fully grasp!
God gave Moses the blueprint for the earthly tabernacle/temple as an illustrative demonstration of the Plan of Salvation: His perfect plan to completely and permanently free each of us from sin and its ill effects. Our participation in acknowledging our own sin is vital in bringing a balm to His pain. To be in agreement with Him over my sin immediately moves me to the next point of decision: will I allow Him to cleanse me of erroneous thinking that would otherwise lead to future sins? It is a fact that He cares what I think. The question is, do I care what He thinks? Do I care that He is wounded by my sin? A love relationship with Him will open the door to dimensions of healing defects in our character about which we know but little.
The tabernacle’s beautiful structure, a tiny model of the massive and majestic heavenly sanctuary, serves as a three-dimensional object lesson that we might gain an understanding of how the Lord deals with sin and its aftereffects for the benefit of all; for sin, in and of itself, has a blinding effect upon us as to its harmful, lingering, and destructive nature. At the outset, guilt can be so debilitating that the weight of it can crush our spirit. But the other extreme is just as horrific: a seared conscience that renders one incapable of sensing guilt. Both of these effects of sin are meant by our arch-enemy to cause us to be lost for eternity. In the days ahead, we will learn to sharpen our “radar” for sanctuary language in the word of God. He wants to bless each of us so that we may bless others. This, beloved, is our opportunity to bless Him!
Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? Psalm 77:13