Christ in the Temple of God
At the close of his ministry, after saying to the Pharisees, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate,” we are told that “Jesus went out, and departed from the temple.” And concerning that magnificent building in which was performed the ancient and elaborate ritual of the sanctuary service, he declared to his disciples, “Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” When the true sacrifice was offered on the cross, “the veil of temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom,” indicating that the new and living way had been “consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.” When the risen Saviour ascended to the right hand of the Father, he entered the temple of God in heaven, of which the sanctuary of old was “a copy and shadow.” “For Christ entered not into a holy place made with hands, like in pattern to the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear before the face of God for us.” Heb. 9: 24. Therefore the assurance is given to us that “we have — who sat down on 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 pitched, not man.” Heb. 8: 1, 2. This is the basis of “the hope set before us: which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil; whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Heb. 6: 18-20. On these facts are based the exhortation given to us, “Having then a great high priest, who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest that can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that hath been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help us in time of need.” Heb. 4: 14-16. Thus it is clearly revealed that the typical service has found its fulfilment, and that Jesus, having made the true offering, now pleads the efficacy of that sacrifice for sin in the sanctuary above, the temple of God in heaven, and that as our great high priest he ministers to us the benefit of his mediation in our behalf. Thus is the blood of Christ applied to cleanse from sin, and thus are we enabled to lay hold of his merits and righteousness. The Law in the Earthly Sanctuary
The earthly sanctuary consisted of two apartments. The first was called the holy place. “Beyond the inner veil was the holy of holies, where centered the symbolic service of atonement and intercession, and which formed the connecting link between heaven and earth.4In this apartment was the ark, a chest of acacia wood, overlaid within and without with gold, and having a crown of gold about the top. It was made as a depository for the tables of stone, upon which God himself had inscribed the ten commandments. Hence it was called the ark of God’s testament, or the ark of the covenant, since the ten commandments were the basis of the covenant made between God and Israel.” “The law of God, enshrined within the ark, was the great rule of righteousness and judgment. That law pronounced death upon the transgressor; but above the law was the mercy-seat, upon which the presence of God was revealed, and from which, by virtue of the atonement, pardon was granted to the repentant sinner. Thus in the work of Christ for our redemption, symbolized by the sanctuary service, ‘mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.’” The Law in the Heavenly Sanctuary
In holy vision “in the isle that is called Patmos,” John was permitted to look into the heavenly sanctuary, and there he saw in the first apartment “seven lamps of fire” corresponding to “the seven lamps” of the “candlestick of pure gold” in the first apartment of the tabernacle. Of his view of the second apartment, the holy of holies, he writes: “And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant.” Thus again it is evident that the earthly sanctuary was “a copy and shadow” of the one in heaven, “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.” The service of the ancient sanctuary had special reference to the law of God on the tables of stone in the ark of the covenant. In bringing an offering to the tabernacle to be slain in his stead, the penitent sinner acknowledged himself a transgressor of that law, and that he was therefore under the condemnation of death, but he also professed his faith in “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” The whole ritual service was a great object-lesson, constantly setting forth the need and the provision for the forgiveness of sin, and “the obedience of faith.” “Important truths concerning the heavenly sanctuary and the great work there carried forward for man’s redemption were to be taught by the earthly sanctuary and its services.” In the heavenly service Christ is both the sacrifice and the priest, and his ministry is with reference to the broken law. “Now once at the end of the ages hath he been manifested to put away sin [‘the transgression of the law’] by the sacrifice of himself.” And he has not merely paid the penalty for sin, but he has made provision to save from further sin by the ministry of his own life of obedience to every believing soul. Of his experience in the flesh the psalmist prophesied thus: “Then said I, Lo, I am come; in the roll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” He himself spoke to the same effect when he said, “I have kept my Father’s commandments.” By his life of obedience Jesus Christ wrought the law of God into sinful flesh, and thus made it possible that he might minister that same law to us as “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” In this way transgressors of the law are transformed into keepers of the law. “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” This ministry is further described in these words: “But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises. . . . For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also will I write them.” The psalmist thus speaks of the man for whom such a work has been done: “The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” That this is the experience of righteousness by faith is shown by the word of the Lord through the prophet Isaiah: “Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law.” Thus the same law which in the service of the earthly sanctuary was written on tables of stone and deposited in the ark, is by the ministry of the heavenly sanctuary written on the heart and deposited in the mind. There is a great and widespread misapprehension of the true relation between the law and the gospel. In the gospel the law of God has been neither abolished nor changed. In his sermon on the mount, which is simply another giving of the law, Jesus said, “Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy but to fulfil.” Matt. 5: 17. In his teaching he corrected the misinterpretations of the law which the Pharisees had put in place of the law, and set aside the traditions which they had added to the law, but the law itself was in his heart and revealed in his life. “Through Satan’s temptations the whole human race have become transgressors of God’s law; but by the sacrifice of his Son a way is opened whereby they may be enabled to render obedience to the Father’s law. Thus in every age, from the midst of apostasy and rebellion, God gathers out a people that are true to him, — a people in whose heart is his law.” By his work Christ did not abolish the law, but he “abolished death,” which is the result of a transgressed law. Christ did not change the law, but he made provision that we might be “changed into the same image from glory to glory.” Christ did not destroy the law, but he hung on the cross, that “through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Through the gospel, which is “the power of God unto salvation,” and in which “is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith,” death is abolished, the devil is destroyed, and we are changed into new creatures in Christ Jesus, but the immutable and unchangeable law of God remains to all eternity. The liberty of the gospel is not the liberty to transgress the just and holy law of God, but the freedom from the condemnation of the law, through the ministry of power for “the obedience of faith.” And so the psalmist writes: “Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thine ordinances. So shall I observe thy law continually forever and ever. And I shall walk at liberty; for I have sought thy precepts.” This is the liberty of the gospel.