THE CROSS OF CHRIST: A COVENANT OF ETERNAL LIFE

A Presentation made @LIVING WATER COMMUNITY, ST. DAVID’S, CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS, March 2, 2013

CHRIST IN THE TABERNACLE: THE TABERNACLE POINTED TO THE WORK OF SALVATION THROUGH THE DIVINE UNION OF GOD WITH MAN [IMMANUEL—GOD MAKING HIS DWELLING WITH HUMANITY].     

Ø  The Cross of Christ, symbolized by the arrangement of the Tabernacle furniture (six stations at the Tabernacle), made this divine union possible. 

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THE PATTERN OF SALVATION WAS IN THE TABERNACLE: a symbol of God’s Kingdom on earth

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ENTERING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN THROUGH THE WAY OF THE CROSS

There were three sections:

1.       Outer Court

2.       Holy Place

3.       Holy of Holies

SECTION ONE: OUTER COURT

A.      Enter through The Door of the Outer Court:

The door of the Tabernacle, on the east side, was the only way in. This signifies Christ as the only way to God. "I am the door" Jn.10:9; "Enter His Gates with thanksgiving … and His Courts with praise" Ps.100:4.

B.      Accept The Sacrifice:

The very first thing that you came to when entering the Tabernacle's Outer Court was the Brazen Altar of blood sacrifice. Notice the altar is at the foot of the Cross in the diagrams above. The very first place that we need to go after coming to Christ is the foot of the Cross. It is here, that we first experience the baptism of Christ’s precious blood. Isaiah announces,

Who has believed our message

    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

    and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,

    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain

    and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

    stricken by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

    each of us has turned to our own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,

    yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

    and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

    so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

    Yet who of his generation protested?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

    for the transgression of my people he was punished.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

    and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

    and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

    and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11 After he has suffered,

    he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,

    and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

    and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

    and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

    and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isa.53)

This IS "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" Jn.1:29.

C.      Washing of The Word:

Before entering the Inner Court of the Tabernacle, the Priests were to wash their hands in the Brazen Laver. This signifies our role as members of the Royal Priesthood. After coming to Christ and accepting Him as our sacrifice and laying our own lives down as a living sacrifice for Him, we then need to allow the Word of God to wash our hearts and minds with His truths. "You have already been cleansed by the Word that I have spoken to you" Jn.15:3; "Through the washing [water] of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" Titus 3:5.

SECTION TWO: INNER COURT/HOLY PLACE:

D.      Fellowship in The Light:

Once the Priest has entered into the Inner Court, he came to the Golden Menorah Lampstand, on the left/south side. The Lampstand was the only source of light within the Inner Court. Christ is The Light and His light illuminates our path and affords us fellowship one with another in unity of Spirit. "I am the light of the world" Jn.8:12; "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" Mat.3:11; "In front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God" Rev.4:5 and Isa.11:2,

i.     Spirit of the Lord

ii.    Spirit of Wisdom

iii.   Spirit of Understanding

iv.    Spirit of Counsel

v.     Spirit of Might

vi.    Spirit of Knowledge

vii.   Spirit of the Fear of the Lord

"The seven lampstands are the seven churches" Rev.1:20,

i. Ephesus

ii. Smyrna

iii. Pergamum

iv. Thyatira

v. Sardis

vi. Philadelphia

vii. Laodicea

E.       The Bread of Life:

On the right/north side of the Inner Court was the Golden Table of Showbread/Bread of His Presence. This bread was for the Priests to eat. Jesus is The Bread of Life. We are to partake of Him and His Word which gives us communion one with another and with Christ. "I am the bread of life" Jn.6:48. "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh" Jn.6:51.

F.       Offerings of Worship Pleasing to God:

The Priests were to ensure that The Golden Altar of Incense never ran out. The Altar of Incense, on the west side, burned before the Veil of the Most Holy Place, which ascended to Heaven as an aroma of worship pleasing to God. We too, as holy Priests are to perpetually offer sacrifices of praise and worship before God through, not only our lips, but also through our actions and the motivations of our heart. "The smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God" Rev.8:4; "He always lives to make intercession for [us]" Heb.7:25.

SECTION THREE: HOLY OF HOLIES:

G.     The Presence of God:

Unlike the laws of the Levitical Priesthood, we as holy Priests through Christ have an open door to the very throne of God. In the OT only the High Priest could enter into the Most Holy Place, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, with a blood sacrifice. However, when Christ died on the Cross the Veil that separated the Inner Court from the Most Holy Place was torn in two. We now have free access to the Throne Room of God. Indeed, this was free for us, but it cost Christ everything. Under the New Covenant, all are afforded free access to the Throne of God, through the torn Veil of Christ’s Flesh. "The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom" Mat.27:51; "We have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God" Heb.4:14; "A new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh" Heb.10:20.

H.      The Ark of the Covenant:

God’s presence was above the Ark, the Lid was called the MERCY SEAT. Two Cherubs were on top, bowing and worshiping God. Inside the Ark were the Jar of Manna, Aaron’s Rod that Budded and the Tablets of the Covenant; these signifying the First (Old) Covenant. Christ offers a new and living way through the Cross. "This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever" Jn.6:58; "I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing" Jn.15:5; "You show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts" 2Cor.3:3. The first FOUR commandments govern the relationship between God and humans. The next SIX commandments govern public relationships between people. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" Mat.22:37-40; "For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”" Gal.5:14.

A FINAL WORD:

What is most noticeable about the pattern of the Cross in the Tabernacle, is that as soon as we enter through the door into the Outer Court, we come face to face with the foot of the Cross and the sacrifice that was made. We must find ourselves there before we can go any further. No one dared enter the Inner Courts, without first offering a sacrifice and washing their hands. God’s presence remained in the Tabernacle and years later, the Temple, for hundreds of years more. While the earthly temple was destroyed in 70AD, Jesus said something very amazing, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (referring to His Body) Jn.2:19. Though the earthly temple was destroyed, the Heavenly Temple still stands today!

Through Jesus, we can always come "with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace for help in time of need" Heb.4:16. Owing to the existence and reality of the Cross of Christ, people always have access to God. No one goes to God without following The Cross all The Way. As the Apostle Paul reminded the church at Corinth, "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed. But it is the power of God for those of us who are being saved" 1Cor.1:18. Christ’s admonition to all who will follow Him still stands, "let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me" Lk.9:23. Find yourself at the foot of the Cross, wash yourself clean with His Word, eat of His Body and drink of His Blood and then you will find fellowship with Christ and one another (Jn.6:53-59; Acts 2:36-47).

COME TO THE CROSS! THERE’S ROOM AT THE CROSS FOR YOU!

There's room at the cross for you,

There's room at the cross for you,

Tho millions have come, There's still room for one

Yes, there's room at the cross for you.

OOW
2013