Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Presence of God for Us

Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another-- He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 09:23-26, NKJV).

All of Creation, Heaven and earth, was twisted and cursed at the Fall. Mankind's rebellion disqualified him from being in the presence of God, and in some unfathomable way, sullied all of existence.

We are shown by this the importance we have to God. We are perhaps the primary reason why God created things and beings that were other than Himself in the first place.

So, because of us, the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs until now. This makes sense if it was all made for us.

The priesthood of Israel was established to symbolize the way back into God's presence - through the shedding of blood for purification from sin. This powerful paradigm offends our modern sensibilities precisely because of its primitive rawness. Pools and splatters of cleansing blood are not easily ignored.

But even more offensive is the idea that only sacrifice of the innocent can somehow remediate the break in fellowship between man and God. It seems unfair that the guiltless should be required to pay the blood-debt of the guilty. Such a system automatically undermines our "natural" sense of self worth because it speaks loudly of our culpability. And after all, whatever did all those poor innocent animals do to deserve such a brutal end? Barbarous! 

Yes we are. How else would you describe a sentient species that itself sacrificed all that was glorious and good for the sake of enacting the impossibly futile statement of "my will, not Thy will"?

And that is the point. Sin and its result are just exactly that: barbarous. Having forfeited unfettered access to God, having been rightfully exiled from His pure and holy presence, declares plainly that we are unworthy. And cruel.

And it's not just us. Our sin makes everything else that was made for us unclean, as well. Even Heaven. All of it, every last corner of everything, must be purified in order for that Creator-creature relationship to be restored. It is that, or utter separation from His presence for all eternity - a fate we call Hell.

That needed purification is what Christ accomplished by His death on the Cross. The Book of Hebrews rams this point home unequivocally, over and over again, to both declare the magnificence of Christ's work, and decry the barbarous nature of our sin. While it will always be a noble and heroic picture of the Lord, it will also remain forever a testament to our helplessly depraved self-will.

Having everything, we chucked it away through an insanely toxic act of self-aggrandizement, and by doing so, we cast ourselves from the very source of Life: the presence of God.

Thus, in anticipation of that single momentous restorative death, animal sacrifices were established to provide for mankind an unforgettable picture of how far the Fall took us. Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these all during that long period of grace and mercy whereby God allowed sinners to be born and come to repentant faith in His Son's future sacrifice.

In going steadfastly to the Cross, Christ also accomplished much more than the cleansing of our souls. He also began the restoration of that realm that will be our eternal home. Those heavenly things themselves [were purified] with better sacrifices than [their earthly symbolic counterparts], by our Great High Priest entering that heavenly holy place and sprinkling His own purifying blood. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God… for us.

Beloved, do not overlook that. Christ did what He did... for us.

If you stumble at the thought that the universe was made for our delight, to render back to God our adoration and praise for His power and wisdom and love, then consider how much more He did to enable us to re-enter His presence. He sent His magnificent, worthy, and innocent Son to die.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, NKJV).