Series: The 7 Phases of the Atonement
Your Intercessor
Pastor Rod Thompson
Midland SDA Church
August 25, 2018
If you take the word atonement and you change the emphasis of the word it would be At-one-ment which is an expression of the divine intention of God to destroy sin that has ruptured the universe. Restoration to oneness was not consummated at the cross. The sin problem has not yet been fully resolved. Yes it is true that the cross was a complete work and provided for man’s redemption, but it was only one facet, phase, or step of God’s efforts toward final reconciliation.
You will remember that we have already seen that the first phase of the atonement was God informing man how he could be redeemed, reconciled, restored to a relationship with God. In other words, how atonement can be achieved. We saw how God promised a redeemer, someone who would pay the penalty for man’s sin.
In this way, and only in this way, could the justice of God be met and at the same time, the life of man spared so that man could have a relationship with his creator.
Then, in the second phase or step of the atonement process we saw that God sent His Son, the promised redeemer. He came to this world, born of a virgin, He lived a perfect life in harmony with the law of God, He revealed the love of God, proved that the law of God could be kept by His power, took the sins of the world upon Himself, defeated the devil and provided a way of escape from the penalty of sin.
You’ll remember how, in that second phase of the atonement, we saw that the sanctuary service was designed by God to point people to the ultimate Lamb of God, who would take away the sins of the world.
Read Hebrews 10: 1-4
In this passage we see that the blood of the sacrificed animals couldn’t do away with sin, but they only pointed forward to the promised redeemer who would come and lay down His life, making the payment for sin, once and for all.
Question
What is more valuable, 100 computers, or the person who made them? Logic should dictate to us that the person who made the computers is much more valuable that the computers themselves, right? Because there has to be greater value in the one who created rather than in the creation.
And so it is with Jesus Christ. He is the creator of all things. John tells us that all things were made for Him and by Him. So it is possible that the creator could lay down His life and pay the penalty for all His creation and it would be an acceptable price because His life is infinitely more valuable than all of His creatures.
But you’ll remember from the second phase of the atonement that the sanctuary service had a twofold purpose. On a daily basis the priests ministered in the holy place bringing forth the morning and evening sacrifice and performing the service in behalf of individuals, helping the repentant sinner to transfer his sins to the innocent animal. The animal was then slain by the sinner and the blood was carried by the priest into the holy place.
Thus the sins of man were “transferred into the sanctuary:” This meant that a second ministration was essential to remove the sins from the sanctuary. God had commanded that atonement also be made for the sanctuary. And we saw that in Leviticus 16: 16 & 33
So, not only does man’s sins need to be atoned for, but, because the sins were transferred into the sanctuary now, once a year on the day of atonement the sanctuary needed to be cleansed as well.
Read Leviticus 16: 30
So to make atonement for you is the same as cleanse you, it’s just saying it a different way. He’s going to make atonement for you or cleanse you so you’ll be clean from all your sins before the Lord.
Read Leviticus 16: 32-33
So this cleansing is an atonement. On the Day of Atonement the sanctuary was what? Cleansed.
Now let me show you this as it happened on the Day of Atonement. There were two goats that were chosen on the Day of Atonement. One was the Lords goat and the other was the scape goat. The Lords goat was sacrificed and its blood was carried into the sanctuary as usual, only there was a little bit of a difference.
On the Day of Atonement the high priest, and only the high priest, not the other priests, but the high priest, there was only one, had to be the one to go in. And he didn’t just go into the holy place, he went into the Most Holy place.
Now what’s interesting about this sacrifice was that no sin was confessed over the sacrifice. What that means is, is that when the blood was captured, which represents life, what type of life did it represent? An innocent life, not a sinful life like those that had polluted the sanctuary all through the year, but a sinless life. And that blood was taken not just into the holy place but all the way into the Most Holy place.
And the priest sprinkled the blood of that sacrifice over the broken law seven times. Right over the arc of the covenant. Then he actually came out of the Most Holy place and he put his hands on the other goat. What was the other goat? The scape goat. And the scape goat was taken off by a fit man to die in the wilderness.
Now let me give you a picture of what’s happening here. The high priest goes in, cleanses the sanctuary, he comes out and he puts all the blame on the scape goat. The scape goat is symbolic of the devil. He then takes him to the wilderness to die. That’s symbolic of the millennium for the devil is left for a thousand years and ultimately is destroyed at the end.
This is a picture of the plan of salvation. By going through this process of bringing the clean life into the Most Holy place and coming out and putting the hands on the scape goat the sanctuary is cleansed.
Now I want you to think about this picture of the cleansing of the sanctuary on the Day of Atonement for a moment. What do we see here? We see the high priest going in before God in the Most Holy place. We see the law of God, the standard of the judgment, right there in the Most Holy place and we see angels, cherubim overlooking it, on top of the arc of the covenant. Isn’t that right? That’s what we see in that scene. Now Turn with me to Daniel 7
Read Daniel 7:9-10
Who do you think the thousands are? The bible says in Revelation 5:11, Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.
This is a picture of the angels. The Ancient of Days is seated and then the angels, ten thousand times ten thousand, thousand thousands. Do you know how many if you were to calculate that out. Do you know how many that is? A lot.
I don’t know, it’s billions of angels and their all gathered around this scene and then something happens. The bible says the court was seated and the books were opened. Then we have this little scene on earth and then were taken back to this picture in verse 13 where it says
Read verse 13
Now we usually think the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven is talking about His coming to this earth, right? But what does it say? He came where? To the Ancient of Days and they brought him near before Him.
Here’s the picture friends, it’s the exact same picture of the Day of Atonement. Our high priest, Jesus Christ, comes in before the Ancient of Days, into the Most Holy, for the judgment, the court is seated.
There is the law of God by which we will all be judged and the cherubim over the arc of the convenient are just symbolic of the billions of angels that are there for the literal judgment and the literal Most Holy place of heaven’s sanctuary.
This is a powerful scene. And where does it happen? It happens in heaven. Let me show you in Hebrews 8:1, it’s where the Ancient of Days is, God the Father.
Read Hebrews 8:1
Remember the earthly sanctuary was symbolic of a heavenly sanctuary. The earthly symbols were symbolic of a very real reality that would happen in heaven and this is giving us the picture of when the Day of Atonement which was given on earth as a symbol would be fully realized in its actual sense, the true judgment in heaven, before the coming of Christ.
So where does this take place? – in heaven!
So what we see here? We are seeing the twofold purpose in the sanctuary service. First we see the animals that were slain, that symbolically represented Christ and His sacrifice for us in laying down His life. That was the second phase of the atonement.
Then on the yearly Day of Atonement. We see the High Priest who was symbolic of our heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ going in to the most Holy place and presenting His blood before the Father.
Now we are still not ready to talk about Christ going into the most holy place and the judgment that takes place there. That will be in our next phase of the atonement. But we do see from this that the High priest of the earthly sanctuary was symbolically pointing forward to Jesus as our heavenly High Priest. And we also see that the priests who were ministering in the holy place throughout the year also represented Christ.
They were there in the holy place ministering on behalf of the people, sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice before the veil, offering incense to God and pleading with God on behalf of Israel.
Read Hebrews 7: 11-16 & 25
So this is the third phase of the atonement. Christ entering the heavenly sanctuary and interceding on our behalf.
Forty days after His resurrection, Christ ascended to heaven where He entered the heavenly sanctuary to continue the atonement process. The third phase of the atonement includes the beginning of His priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, the antitype that the earthly sanctuary priestly type pointed forward to.
Here He intercedes on behalf of man, and “applies the benefits of the atoning sacrifice to the individual sinner. It wasn’t until after He had shed His blood on the cross and ascended to the heavenly sanctuary, that He was able to plead His blood and actually represent sinful man before the Father. Following His ascension, He became our representative before the throne of God.
This is the same process that took place in the earthly sanctuary service by the Levitical priests. It would have availed nothing for the priest to go into the sanctuary if he had no blood to offer. So Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary and His mediation work could not begin until after His blood was spilt on the cross.
By virtue of His Sacrifice He intercedes on our behalf. His blood justifies, reconciles, redeems and sanctifies those who are being saved.
Notice that in Luke 19:10 Jesus says, “The Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost.”
According to C. H. Watson, in his book, The Atoning Work of Christ p26, the sequence of His statement is important. The seeking had to take place first and then the saving, and the seeking was the accomplishment of the reconciliation that was obtained at the cross which was accomplished so that man might be saved. But notice that in and of itself, His death did not bring automatic salvation. In other words, we are first being reconciled to God by His payment for our sin on the cross but then through the next phase of atonement, namely His priestly ministry, He sets about to save us. That’s why Paul is able to say in Romans 5:10, “Having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
In the typical sanctuary service, the passing on of the sin of the sinner to the innocent lamb did not mean that the sin was cancelled. It was simply transferred to the sanctuary.
“By the offering of blood, the sinner acknowledged the authority of the law, confessed his guilt in transgression, and expressed his desire for pardon through faith in a redeemer to come, but he was not yet entirely released from the condemnation of the law.”
The same must then be true of the antitype. Christ’s blood was shed on the cross so that we might be restored to a relationship with Him. He is pleading His blood before the Father on our behalf and reconciliation, “effected by His death … becomes effective in us individually only as we accept Christ as our substitute, and accept His death in payment of the penalty for the sins which alienate us from God.”
So I ask you brothers and sisters - Do you see that the death of Christ on the cross was essential for your redemption, your atonement, but that atonement was not completed at His death. He died for everyone but the bible is very clear that not everyone will be saved. There is another phase to the atonement that is essential. Only through His resurrection and ascension to heaven and the heavenly sanctuary could He then plead with the Father on your behalf
But our sins are not yet cancelled. In this phase of the atonement Christ is there in the heavenly Sanctuary but our sins are still there in the sanctuary defiling it.
So brothers and sisters, I ask you – do you see this third phase of the atonement and how it is necessary that Christ not only died for your sins but that it was necessary for Him to return to heaven and enter the heavenly sanctuary and there intercede on your behalf?
It is also essential that you and I repent of our sins and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us our sins and to pay our penalty for us. I ask you, have you asked Jesus to be your Lord and your savior, to plead His blood on your behalf before the Father
Is that the desire of your heart?
If so pray with me now!