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Before the Ark of the Covenant

 

The reality of the Father’s love through Christ empowers the soul to approach the judgment seat. As we approach the judgment seat, the presence of the law causes us to feel our great need. Our great need causes us to ask for strength to overcome; the life is moulded more by prayer and less by talk.

The work of the mediator takes centre stage for the sinner. Our belief that our petitions are heard rests firmly on our confidence in Christ as our mediator.

 

If we were planning a trip into the jungles of Africa to meet the king of a certain country, would we feel safe in asking our next door neighbour who has borrowed a book about that country from the library to act as interpreter? Obviously, our neighbour’s qualifications to understand the manners and court of the foreign king would not instil in us any sense of confidence.

 

If we travelled to this far country and trusted in one of the king’s officials to act as interpreter, would we feel any more confident? No, because this man who knows the king’s ways very well, knows nothing of our country, customs or needs. Our confidence that this interpreter can understand our requests will be very low.


When we come to the throne of God, we have an urgent need to know that our intercessor really understands both the ways of God and man. The message of Hebrews one and two are especially given for the purpose of revealing Jesus as a mediator who can truly mediate.

 

Let us note carefully:

 

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, (2) Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (3) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (4) Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. Hebrews 1:1-4.

 

In the passage above, can we have confidence that Jesus knows the mind and heart of God? When we realise that Jesus is the express image of His Father and that His inheritance from the Father makes Him so much more qualified than the angels, we can say, “Praise God!” We can be confident that Jesus will be able to represent the Father to us and speak exactly what is on His mind.

 

Then when we turn to chapter two of Hebrews we read:

 

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (15) And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (16) For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. (17) Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. (18) For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. Hebrews 2:14-18.



 

In these words we learn that Jesus took our very nature upon Himself. He was made like us in all things. He knows what it is like to feel very tired and be pressed by many angry people. He knows what it


is like to feel abandoned. He was tempted in all points like we are yet without sin. When we understand that Jesus is truly the Son of Man and truly the Son of God, we can have full confidence that He will deliver our prayers to the Father and in return deliver strength, comfort and encouragement to us from the Father.

 

Most Protestant churches teach that Jesus intercedes for us in heaven. Yet since there is no belief that Jesus moves to the Most Holy Place to do a work of final atonement, there is no need to afflict the soul and put away all sin. This might be likened to leisurely walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. If we believe that Jesus will continue to intercede for sin without ever ceasing this work, then we can indulge ourselves with the thought that we try to live a good life, but we need not be zealous because we can always ask for forgiveness; it will never end.

 

However, the need to put away all sin comes when we see that mediation for sin will cease before the Second Coming of Christ. The need for the Most Holy Place ministry can be explained in this way. This might be likened to traveling across the Niagara Falls on a wire. Once we understand that intercession for sin will cease before the Second Coming, we are like the man who willingly hopped into a wheel barrow and allowed the tightrope walker, Charles Blondin, to carry him across Niagara Falls Gorge. As the story is told, the wire began to sway as they were part way across. Blondin told the man to stand up in the wheel barrow. This required implicit trust, yet the man stood up. Having sat in the wheel barrow for a little time, he had been close enough to Blondin to observe his skill first hand. Blondin manoeuvred the man carefully onto his back and carried him the rest of the way.

 

If you believe the path to heaven is simply a walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, would you need to cling to the back of your mediator for dear life? No! You could walk at 30 feet from him and still suffer no harm. You would not need to get so close to your Saviour, so you would not have such an awareness of your sins or learn more about the Father through the Son. The Most Holy Place experience places before us a wire upon which our Saviour will carry us if we are willing. The Most Holy Place experience will not allow any of self through to the heavenly Canaan. The Most Holy Place experience requires us to rest ourselves fully upon our mediator, trusting Him to intercede for us and give us the strength we need to overcome. As the Bible says:


And I will come near to you to judgment; Malachi 3:5.

 

God will come near to those in judgment to help the true seekers and to discover the false professions of those who despise the way of salvation. The Bible tells us:

 

But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. 1 Corinthians 8:6.

 

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 1 Timothy 2:5.

 

We see that there is one God, the Father, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. If I accept the doctrine of the Trinity, then I am forced to believe that there is one God comprised of Father, Son and Spirit and One Mediator Jesus Christ. This makes the man Jesus both the mediator and one for whom mediation is taking place. Would it be possible for someone to truly mediate when they are also one of the parties in need of mediation? Would not this situation be subject to the charge of bias?

 

If Jesus is God in the same way as the Father, then why does the Father need mediation any more than the Son? How can Jesus truly represent the Father if He does not come from the Father? The mediation can only be symbolic because there is no difference between Father and Son except for the title.

 

A true and effective mediator needs a position of clearly identified distinction from the two parties requiring mediation. The inheritance that Christ received from the Father makes clear the distinction between them. It also allows Christ to fully represent God by nature. He is distinct from God, yet is with God and therefore is truly God by inheritance. As the Son of God who took upon Himself our flesh, He is distinct from us, yet one of us by His inheritance. It is the distinctness of Christ through His dual inheritance from God and man that qualifies Him to be a true mediator between God and man.

 

Once we know these things about our Saviour, we can rest our full weight upon Him and trust that He will give us the aid we need to cross the narrow wire. A real mediator provides real mediation for real salvation. The symbolic mediator of the Trinity provides symbolic representation for the symbolic Father Who provides symbolic power and symbolic salvation which equal death.


 

This is another critical reason why I have chosen my Beloved over the Trinity. Only the begotten Son of the Father can provide true mediation by true representation. My confidence in my sweet mediator strengthens my faith to come before the Father in judgment.

 

The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged. Psalm 37:33.

 

Only my Beloved whom I have chosen has allowed me to walk the whole path through the Sanctuary for He indeed is the only Way to the Father.

 

Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee. (6) Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. (7) Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. Song of Solomon 8:5-7.


 


Date: 2015-12-18; view: 586


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