February 28, 2023
Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. Hebrews 8:1-2
The Son of God is in the “business” of saving sinners. The goal is to present them holy and blameless to His Father. His perfect standard, transgressed by every one of us, is unchanging. The process of separating people from their sins is the same process whereby an intimate relationship between God and individuals is restored.
The tabernacle in the wilderness that God instructed His newly saved children to construct (Exodus 25:8) had meticulous specifications; every detail of it and its services were laid out to illustrate the work of God Almighty to forgive and to save all who would come to Him in repentance. Its symbolism is designed to reveal to us the course of action ordained for salvation. All those who, during the year, brought their confessions to the tabernacle had to slay a spotless lamb themselves, showing their understanding that their own sin had contributed to the death of the Lamb of God who was to come. The priest then took the lamb’s blood and “recorded” the confessed sin in the sanctuary at the altar of incense. The annual Day of Atonement was a reminder that pointed to the once-and-for-all-time cleansing of the sanctuary. It was a demonstration of removing the record of confessed sins.
Beloved, God is able to separate you from your sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), but you must bring them to Him to take away. Our part in this process includes voluntarily bringing our confession to Him and allowing Him to lift the burden of sin—through faith in His sacrificial death—followed by a close walk with Him for the essential sanctification process to fit us for heaven. Forgiveness and cleansing!
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
This cleansing of the sanctuary is an object lesson to show us God’s determination to remember no more (Hebrews 8:12) the sins committed against Him. His plan is to blot out all sin from His remembrance. According to the timeline given to Daniel (Daniel 8:14), this crucial part of the sanctuary service in the heavens is underway now, having begun in 1844. The eternal fate of everyone who has ever lived is being determined. We are living in the time of the end, rapidly leading to the Day that our Savior will return to take His people to heaven. Jesus will know, before He returns, exactly who He is coming to claim.
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.” Revelation 22:12