For many, to hear of Christ's sanctuary ministry is almost like opening up a new world. Many readily believe that Christ ascended to heaven after His earthly life, but they have a nebulous idea of what He might be doing there. Is He on leave or vacation? Is He still resting up after His arduous task accomplished on earth? If He is working, what kind of work does He need to do? Didn't He finish His work of atonement when He died on the cross?
The word "High Priest" applied to Him describes His office and therefore the work that He is doing now, but the term usually conjures up an ecclesiastical image remote from the everyday life where our problems are. What is the sanctuary where He is working? Is it a stained-glass retreat, dim and shadowy where mysterious ritual and religious mumbo jumbo go on in a heaven farther away than the Milky Way? Have the Father and the Son retired from involvement with human activity on this planet?
The Bible is so replete with references to Christ's high-priestly ministry in a heavenly sanctuary that endless books could be written about it. We can look only briefly.
Israel's ancient sanctuaries built by Moses, Solomon, Ezra and Nehemiah, and finally Herod were never the real thing. They were only a type of "the true tabernacle set up by the Lord" "in heaven." Hebrews 8:1, 2, NIV. All the blood of the countless animals offered in the earthly sanctuary could never suffice to wash away the stain of even one human sin. When David committed his monstrous sin of adultery and a cover-up murder, he knew well enough that no animal sacrifice could help him in the least. He prayed, "You do not delight in [such] sacrifice, or I would bring it. ... The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart." Psalm 51:16, NIV. The only effective sacrifice was always that offered by "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." John 1:29, NIV. The earthly priests were only a "shadow" of Him as High Priest. The entire setup was a kindergarten lesson to illustrate Christ's work as Saviour. The "shadow" was as close as human consciousness could then come to envisaging the reality. See Hebrews 10:1.
The famous enemy of Christ (the antichrist), whose slimy trail weaves in and out through Christian history, has almost succeeded in eclipsing Christ's priestly ministry. Daniel foresaw this monstrous imposture in the vision he described in the eighth chapter of his book. His "little horn" is the same as John's "Enemy of Christ," the historical antichrist that "cast down the truth to the ground" and "prospered." Verse 12. This has been Satan's supreme achievement— corrupting the gospel message from within. For Daniel's benefit an angel inquired, "How long ... the vision, ... the transgression of desolation, to give both the [heavenly] sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?" Verse 13. The answer came in the famous 2300 day-year prophecy— "Then shall the sanctuary be cleansed [vindicated, justified, put right]." Verse 14. In other words, then shall the full truth of the gospel be set free to accomplish its God-intended work in preparing a people for the coming of Christ, a work to be done on earth which is parallel to and consistent with Christ's high-priestly ministry in heaven.
The heavenly sanctuary is the great nerve center, or if you please, military headquarters, where Christ directs His final battle against Satan to its ultimate victory. It is impossible to sense the meaning of life today except in the light of that sanctuary ministry. It is vital to a correct understanding of righteousness by faith. And, as we shall see, it is the only way to distinguish between the enemy's extremely clever counterfeit of the gospel and the truth concerning it. The sanctuary is the stage where the final great conflict of the ages will be decided and God's government vindicated.
Perhaps the most effective way of moving into this vital truth is by asking a few questions:
1. Why is Jesus called our High Priest? When we grasp what is involved, the term becomes an intimately endearing one. A high priest is all the following, comprised in one person:
A. Counselor. The ancient high priest was looked up to as the wisest man in Israel. Your heavenly High Priest is your personal Counselor who will never give you wrong advice. "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor." Isaiah 9:6. "If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault." James 1:5, NIV.
B. Friend. Christ is always "the friend ... of sinners." You will never again be lonely if you believe the gospel. Matthew 11:19; cf. John 15:15.
C. Physician. He is the One "who healeth all thy diseases." Psalm 103:3.
D. Psychiatrist. Everyone needs the services of this Psychiatrist who alone has power to restore in us our "right mind." Mark 5:15.
E. Business and finance manager. "He shall direct thy paths." "So shall thy barns be filled with plenty." Proverbs 3:6, 10. "I will ... open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Malachi 3:10. If He cares about feeding the birds, won't He see that you have all the material advantages you need? See Matthew 6:26; Psalm 145:16.
F. Defense lawyer, advocate. "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 2:1.
G. Intercessor, Friend at court. "Because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest meets our need." Hebrews 7:24-26, NIV. The Enemy of Christ is also our own personal enemy standing at our "right hand" to "resist" us. Zechariah gives a vivid picture of this court scene before the throne of God. But since "all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13), what Zechariah saw of Satan accusing us in "court" also reveals his present activities in trying to discourage us personally day by day. The "court" battle for our souls between Christ and Satan goes on both in the heavenly sanctuary and in our hearts here. See Zechariah 3:1-7. Christ is our Intercessor at the heavenly court; the Holy Spirit is our Intercessor in the same way here on earth right now. He intercedes between you and Satan, between you and etched neural patterns of the brain—providing the enabling grace to resist temptation and sinful habits. And the two scenes—heavenly and earthly— are interrelated, parallel, and consistent.
H. Elder Brother. Those who have been fortunate to have a brother who has always been a friend can sense a little of what Christ is to us. There is a tie that binds one to such a brother even more intimately than to a father. Scripture speaks of our High Priest as being our Brother. See Hebrews 2:11; Matthew 28:10.
Please note that all this is what Christ is to us today, in genuine reality. All that is needed on our part to realize these priceless advantages is faith.
2. How does the sanctuary truth illustrate the meaning of justification by faith in Christ? One brief example will shown the effectiveness of "faith in his blood."
When the sinner brought his innocent victim to be offered at the earthly sanctuary, he was required to take the knife and slay the animal himself. After leading the innocent victim all the way to the sanctuary, the sinner could not do this deed without a pang of remorse. The sight of the warm, flowing blood of the unresisting creature that had to die for his sin brought vividly to his mind the thought of Another who must die for him. Thoughtful Israelites always knew full well that "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." Hebrews 10:4. "Without shedding of blood is no remission [of sin]." Hebrews 9:22. In other words, sin can never be "remitted"—that is, removed from our guilty hearts—except through the contrite realization that it was our hand that slew the divine Victim.
As surely as we all have by nature a "carnal mind [that] is enmity against God" (Romans 8:7), so surely has that enmity blossomed forth in the murderous deed of the ages, for "whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer" (1 John 3:15). The murder of the innocent Son of God was the full dimension of our sin. And through "faith in his blood" we have justification, including the healing of the enmity.
If the High Priest finished His work 2000 years ago, the entire sanctuary ministry is redundant, and Hebrews, with its emphasis on the heavenly sanctuary, has no right to a place in our New Testaments. If He has retired and the Holy Spirit alone is carrying on the work, the incarnation is rendered meaningless, for the ancient Levitical sanctuary service would in that case still suffice as a mere object lesson of what the Lamb of God did for us when He was "slain from the foundation of the world." Revelation 13:8.
But it is specifically as a High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary that Christ does His work of saving "them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." And justification by faith is the actual saving! It is the subject matter of His ever living "to make intercession for them." Hebrews 7:25. Hebrews therefore discloses the intimate relationship of justification by faith in its fullest sense to the sanctuary ministry.
3. What is the ' 'atonement'' provided through the sanctuary ministry? Atonement is simply reconciliation, being at-one-with God. It is not that God is reconciled to us, for He already so loved the world that He gave His Son to die for us.
"Be ye reconciled to God" is the message of the gospel. 2 Corinthians 5:20. The sacrifice of the cross providing the basis for man's salvation was complete and final, but not yet can it be truly said that the practical effects of reconciliation are complete. Since the atonement is reconciliation with God, it is obvious that those who still have "the carnal mind" are not yet reconciled to Him, for such a mind is still in a state of "enmity against God." If Paul, writing years after the cross, could say to the Corinthians, "Ye are yet carnal" (1 Corinthians 3:3), he meant that they had not yet truly "received the atonement" (Romans 5:11).
The legal or forensic justification provided at the cross is based on God's offering and gift for "all men"; but not until the sinner hears the good news and believes does he experience justification by faith. So the atonement must be not only provided legally by God, but received by the sinner through faith.
This makes clear the need for a final atonement in the sense of a culminating growth of faith which heals all latent or buried enmity against God in the heart and mind of the believer. This is the work that the enemy of Christ, the antichrist, has determined to oppose to the bitter end, for if he can succeed in nullifying the final atonement, by retrospect he can nullify the atonement provided at the cross, and thus even yet win the final battle of the conflict of the ages.
This invests with solemn significance the message of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. The Scripture doctrine of atonement itself is vitally involved and it is nullified if there is no cosmic Day of Atonement as prophesied in Daniel 8 and 9 and taught in type by the sanctuary service.
Are Adventists not commanded to be foremost in uplifting Christ before the world? But such a witness is not to be merely a "me too" echo of an evangelical chorus that sets forth a very limited view of justification by faith. The final great battle between Christ and Satan is a death grapple with the fundamental realities of how God deals with sin itself, and a special witness is imperative. To destroy the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is to destroy Calvary, for the former is the logical necessity and unveiling of the latter.
This basic relationship between Christ's work on the cross and His work in the heavenly sanctuary is well summed up in the following quotation: "The intercession of Christ in man's behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross. By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven."—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 489.
The almost universal acceptance of the pagan-papal teaching of natural immortality has all but eclipsed selfless New Testament agape, so that the cross for millions is robbed of its true glory and power. Modern history has demonstrated that it is only through the conception of the second-apartment ministry of the High Priest that this New Testament concept of love revealed in the cross is restored. The work of unveiling "the breadth, and length, and depth, and height" of "the agape of Christ" as the infinite giving of Himself to the equivalent of "the second death" is associated with the heavenly High Priest's work of final atonement. The magnificent results are to be seen in a people who sense the constraint of that love to the fullest, demonstrating that indeed agape is the fulfilling of the law. This is to be a beautiful and welcome sight to the heavenly universe, and the actual finishing of the gospel commission.
Ellen White seems to offer the profound insight that the concept of agape is best understood when Christ is clearly perceived as our High Priest in the Most Holy Apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. See Early Writings, pp. 55, 56.
4. Why the final Day of Atonement? In the ancient "shadow" service of the earthly sanctuary, the Day of Atonement closed the annual cycle of reconciliation ministry. It symbolized the ultimate conquest of sin and its effects as well as the destruction of its impenitent originator and perpetrators.
Since the lair of sin is the "flesh" or sinful nature of fallen man, it is impossible that the real Day of Atonement can bring the reign of sin to an end until the problem of continued sinning in those who believe the gospel is solved. A purely and exclusively legal declaration of justification without a justification by faith that reconciles the believer's heart to God's righteousness would defeat the entire sanctuary ministry.
It's as if a cosmic chess game were being played out in the realm of salvation. Satan would like to make a move that will checkmate Christ, and this he can accomplish if he can ensure that sinning is perpetuated. Paul makes this clear: "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 righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:3, 4.
Satan may be willing through force of circumstances to concede that Christ in His incarnation "condemned sin in the flesh," but his checkmate strategy is to block "the righteousness of the law" from being "fulfilled in us." His device for accomplishing this is a counterfeit version of justification by faith.
The heavenly Day of Atonement and Daniel's cleansing of the sanctuary (Daniel 8:14) are one and the same thing. As the sins of the ancient Israelites were symbolically or typically transferred to the sanctuary, so in reality all the sins of those who profess faith in Christ are loaded on the government of God. He assumes the guilt of them all. Satan challenges Christ to dispose of the problem. No legal fiction can ever conclude the great conflict of the ages. Unless Christ's people cooperate with Him in the final disposition of sin, the heavenly sanctuary can never be cleansed or vindicated or put right.
Part of the Enemy's clever strategy seems to be to label all concern for overcoming sin as the heresy of "perfectionism," a subtle attempt to preserve the status quo of Satan's supposed triumph. He boasts that he has invented a device that is more than a match for God: sin, which in fallen human nature he claims is unconquerable. Hence the attempt to prove (a) that Christ could not have conquered Satan's invention of sin if He had taken on Himself our fallen nature, and (b) that it is impossible for any believer in Christ to overcome sin itself so long as he still possesses his fallen nature. The best he can do is to try to be "less sinful," while the principle of sin is left intact. These are two sides of one coin, both in conflict with the Bible concept of the cleansing of the sanctuary.
In spite of numerous "scholarly" denials, Scripture is clear that the Old Testament Day of Atonement ministry vitally concerned the Israelite believers, for "on that day ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord." Leviticus 16:30. The antitypical Day of Atonement likewise involves God's people especially since 1844. God's promise is that He will have a people of whom He can say in all honesty, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12. The full context indicates that this will be the practical fruitage of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary.
5. How is justification by faith related to the vindication of Christ in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary? God's people grow "from faith to faith" and thus reveal and make possible the full scope of the gospel unto salvation. Romans 1:16, 17. Always Christ's righteousness, His doing and dying, remains the only basis of their justification (that is, their righteousness); never do they acquire even a trace element of merit in themselves. But their appreciation of the sacrificial love involved in His doing and dying grows to the point where they become mature in Christ. And since they cooperate with their High Priest in His cleansing of the sanctuary, they do so through a complete reception of His righteousness. They are truly justified by faith.
It's like a woman who loves a man. She becomes mature in understanding and appreciating him so as to stand by his side in marriage. The denouement of the great drama of the ages is the marriage of the Lamb. This is the great plot of the Bible itself, which reaches its climax in Revelation 19. The Father, Christ, and all the holy angels have been "ready" for a long time; at last it can be said that "his wife hath made herself ready." Revelation 19:7. Then can come the vindication of Christ, because any reticence on the part of His bride to commit herself to Him in the complete surrender implied in marriage involves not only immaturity, but at least a partial rejection of Him. And this is to His shame as a Bridegroom.
In other words, the childish motive prevents "the marriage of the Lamb" from taking place. Such an idea in respect of Christ becomes a tool of the enemy's strategy.
If the great unnumbered hosts assembled at the final assize of the ages must watch Christ's bride-to-be push Him from her while she reaches for the cake and ice cream that come with the wedding, they would be horrified. Not that it is wrong for the little flower girl to reach for the cake and ice cream; but the tragedy of the ages would be for the bride of Christ to be so immature that she is insensitive to His maturity of love and has no mature appreciation for His sacrifice. This would become at last the ultimate unbelief or nonfaith and, of course, a contradiction of justification by faith.
In her poem "The Ninety and Nine," it is one thing for Elizabeth Clephane to say,
"But none of the ransomed ever knewBut it is another thing for His bride, His ransomed one who must meet Him at the wedding, to be content not to appreciate "how deep" those waters were. The pathetic spectacle that greets heaven and earth today is the sight of a "bride" who has very little appreciation for the depth of her Bridegroom's character of love. She is engrossed with the materialistic and sensual pleasures of the world that she offers her Bridegroom the barest minimum of devotion. Her heart is absorbed in this world's cares and amusements, not on pleasing her Lover. Such non-faith is entirely inconsistent with justification by faith.
How deep were the waters crossed,
Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost."