The Holiest

by Tresa Stewart 

November 18, 2010

  

The Holiest

As a young child, I always heard about the Sanctuary service, and how important it was, but I never really understood what it meant.  I remember being in church and hearing different people explain it, but I just didn’t get it.  So, I thought if this is really important, and if it has something to do with salvation, then I’m sure that God must want me to understand and know what it means.  So I began to read more about it.  I looked up verses in the Bible that had anything to do with the Hebrew Sanctuary or Temple.  Then one day it started making sense.  This is what I learned…

The Jewish temple, which was built by King Solomon, was a model of the heavenly temple.  It wasn’t just a physical building that was being represented.  It was a plan that represented another plan, or another way of doing things.  The old way of doing things was faulty.  So it needed to be replaced by something better.  The temple on earth was a display of what the actual plan of salvation would look like.  It wasn’t the plan.  It was a portrayal of the plan.  It wasn’t salvation, it only represented salvation.  When Jesus died for us, the actual plan of salvation went into effect, and the model was replaced by the real thing. 

After His resurrection, Jesus went to heaven and assumed his rightful position, at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19).  There in the presence of God, He immediately took on the role of High Priest (Heb. 8:1; Heb. 9:24).

       Jesus is not just priest, He is High Priest.  This is very significant, because in the earthly sanctuary, the high priest played a different role then the other priests.   Only the high priest could enter into the presence of God in the Holiest or Most Holy place of the temple. 

       In the earthly temple, there were two main rooms (the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place).  These two rooms were divided by a veil.  Every day the priests would take their turns performing their duties in the outer court and in the first part of the temple called the Holy Place.  Then once-a-year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest alone went behind the veil, into the Most Holy Place.  This is where the blood of an innocent lamb was sprinkle on the Mercy Seat.  This process would symbolically remove the sins that the people had committed throughout the year. 

       For the people of God, it was a time of mercy and grace.  The penalty for their sins was paid.  They were forgiven.  And their sins were removed, washed away—cleansed.  Now, they did not have to die.  Then, finally, judgment was pronounced on the head of a scapegoat, and the sins were transferred from the people to the goat, which was released into the wilderness to die.  This whole process was repeated year after year, after year, because it could not remove sin forever. 

            Jesus came to replace the old way of doing things.  He gave himself as the atonement for our sins.  Then He became our High Priest, and went into the Most Holy place in Heaven. He went behind the veil into the presence of God—the Holiest of all—and presented himself before the mercy seat (Heb. 6:19, 20; Heb. 8:1). 

More:  Mark 16:19; Rom. 8:34; Heb. 9:24; Heb. 10:19-22

A New Plan

by Tresa Stewart

November 11, 2010

A New Plan

I have to admit, I love to read the Bible.  There is always something in it that inspires me in a new way. It may be something I have already read (a hundred times before).  Then one day, I somehow see it in a different way—a new perspective on the same old truth.  Like one day, I came across a verse in Hebrews 8 that says the Lord made a new agreement with his people.  Because of the new agreement, the old one became obsolete. (Hebrews 8:8, 13)

I decided to read the whole chapter, because I wanted to understand why the old agreement was outdated.  After reading a little bit more, it became clear.  In the old agreement, there were laws and regulations and rituals.  There were processes and procedures.  The people of God were bound by these laws.  These were commandments of God, and His people had to follow every rule, regulation, and procedure if they wanted to be forgiven of their sins.  Then God established the new agreement, and the old way of doing things—the old rules, regulations, processes and procedures—became obsolete.  They were outdated.  They were done away with…and I can understand why.  It must have been a lot of tedious work trying to keep up with all those rituals. 

Under the first agreement there was a temple, with priests, an altar, animal sacrifices, etc.  Under the new agreement, all of these things were replaced by Jesus (in the heavenly temple). Because of Jesus, everything in the old system was moved out of the way.  Everything about the old temple pointed to Jesus, so when He came and died for our sins, the old temple was no longer needed. This is why the veil in the temple was torn away (Matthew 27:51).

Imagine a young child playing with his blocks.  Imagine that each block represents a part of the earthly sanctuary and its services.  The child stacks the blocks one on top of the other until he has a built a very tall structure.  Now imagine that child taking away each block that in some way points to Jesus.  The child carefully moves away the altar, the lamb, the priest, the candlesticks, the bread of promise, the veil, and everything else that is associated with the earthly temple—every feast, new moon, holiday, rule, ritual, procedure, regulation, offering, observance, dress code, standard, curtain, furnishing, and fixture.  Everything!  (Hebrews 8:8, 13; Hebrews 9:1-15.)

Do you know what this means?  Nothing can stand in the way of our salvation. The only thing between us and the throne of God is Jesus.  This new agreement, established by God, became effective the day Jesus died and the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51).

by His Grace

Grace Revealed

by Tresa Stewart

November 7, 2010

When Jesus breathed his last breath, something very significant happened.  It was soon forgotten, but it was probably one of the greatest symbols of all time.  “The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51).

The temple in Jerusalem was the place where God would come to meet with His people. The temple was divided into two rooms—The Holy Place, and the Most Holy Place.  These two rooms were divided by a veil made of fine linen.  (See Exodus 30:6; Hebrews 9:3.)  The glory of God filled the temple when the presence of God came into the Most Holy Place.  Sinful man (the priest) stood on one side of the veil, and the presence of God resided on the other side of the veil.  The veil served as a shield, to protect man from death.  Without it, sinful man would perish in the presence of God. The veil indicated separation from God, but it was a symbol of mercy. 

When Jesus died, the veil was torn away, exposing man to the Most Holy Place in the temple of God. The torn veil was a symbol of grace.  Imagine the priest standing at the altar of incense offering up a prayer, when suddenly, the veil is ripped in two, right before his very eyes—and he is still alive!   Imagine the priest watching in awe, as the division between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place is eliminated, and the two rooms merge into one. The priest now stands in the presence of God.  Imagine he starts to cry out...MERCY!  But before the words can leave his lips, the Lord says…Grace!  “My grace is sufficient for thee!”

Jesus died and took away our sins, forever.  The thing that stood between sinful man and Holy God was removed, so the veil was removed.  It was no longer needed. 

As the two rooms in the temple merged together, man was united with God.  Just as the groom removes the veil of his bride and the two become one, God has removed the veil of separation, so that we can become one with Him.  And it happened in the very moment that Jesus “yielded up his spirit” and the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

(To be continued)