ETERNAL TREASURE - EXPERIENCING THE INCARNATION OF GOD

 

“. . .  though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

THE GREATEST EXCHANGE in history was God’s love demonstrated in three incredible ways through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, to save the world from sin and death (John 3:16):

(1) Jesus took our sins and gave us his righteousness. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

(2) He took our curse and gave us the blessing of Abraham. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:13-14).

(3) He took our death penalty for sin and gave us eternal life. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). 

Reading about “The Greatest Exchange” in history helps us to better understand Paul’s statement. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15). It is not what we have done or will do that we are righteous before God and have received the gift of eternal life. It is what Jesus Christ did for us in his birth, life, death, and resurrection—the Gospel which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

The LORD gave Moses instructions for building a tabernacle, a tent, including the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26:1-37). The Holy of Holies was the LORD’s dwelling place among his people. It was a type of heaven. God was present in the cloud, the Shekinah glory, that rested upon the Holy of Holies. Priests entered the Holy Place daily to minister, but into the Holy of Holies the high priest entered once a year to offer the blood of a sacrificial animal for his sins and the sins of the people (Leviticus 16:1-34).

When Jesus was crucified and resurrected, the tabernacle with its contents and the sacrificial system became obsolete (Hebrews 10:1-18). After the resurrection of Jesus, the body of the person justified by faith becomes the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). And the purified heart of the justified becomes the Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of the Great High Priest who offered Himself one sacrifice for sin forever (Hebrews 10:12).

Jesus Christ living in our heart is both the High Priest and the “ἱλαστήριον” (hilasterion).  “Hilasterion” is translated "atonement cover" in Hebrews 9:5 NIV and "mercy seat" in Hebrews 9:5 KJV and NKJV. The SEPTUAGINT, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, translates “ίλαστήριον” as "mercy" in the phrase "mercy seat" in Exodus 25:17.

Being justified by faith is far more than being right before God so we can go to heaven when we die. We are righteous through faith in Jesus Christ (justification) in order to live a life of righteousness which is obeying the commandments of  Jesus living in us (sanctification).

John wrote about both justification and sanctification in Revelation 1:5-6. “To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Jesus washing us from our sins in His own blood is justification. Jesus the Great High Priest, the atoning sacrifice, and mercy seat is preparing the justified to be the temple of God and Holy of Holies for his dwelling place (Revelation 1:5). Being kings and priests unto God and his Father is sanctification (Revelation 1:6 KJV and NKJV).

New Testament priests offer their body which is a temple of God as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto him which is their spiritual worship. They are not conformed to this age in which they live, but they are being transformed by the renewing of their mind, that they may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:1-2 NASB).

Not only do New Testament priests offer their body as a living sacrifice to God which is their spiritual worship, but they also offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of their lips giving thanks to his name (Hebrews 13:15) because of all he has done for them in “The Greatest Exchange” in history.” As kings, New Testament priests reign with Christ in righteousness, peace, and joy (Romans 5:1-2) which is the kingdom of God (Romans 14:17).

The Hebrew word חֵסֵד [kheh-sed] is translated "mercy," "love," "steadfast love," and "loyalty" in our English Bible. The word is used several times in Psalm 136:1–24 where it is translated "mercy" in the KJV and NKJV, "love" in the NIV, and "steadfast love" in the RSV. It is the LORD's covenant love. That same covenant love is God’s love in the heart of the priest whose spirit is in fellowship with the Great High Priest in the Holy of Holies.

In the Old Testament, God entered the Holy of Holies, and the high priest met him there once a year on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:1-34). But in the New Testament, Jesus the High Priest, Mercy Seat, and Atoning Sacrifice enters the heart of the priest at the time of justification and dwells there in the Holy of Holies—Christ in us the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

Jesus said, "In My father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:2, 3 NKJV). In the same chapter, Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him" (John 14:23 NKJV).

The same Greek word, “μονή” [mon-ay], that is translated "mansions" in John 14:2 is translated "home" in John 14:23 NKJV. The Holy of Holies is the home that God the Father and Son, Jesus Christ, make in the heart of the priest. The spirit of the priest dwells in the home with them.

Fellowship of the spirit of the priest with the High Priest is eternal life. “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). It is the resurrection. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1 NKJV), and the kingdom of God. “The kingdom of God is . . . righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17 NKJV). All three are the first fruits and the guarantee of the full inheritance (Ephesians 1:13, 14).

Jesus dwelling with us in the Holy of Holies of our heart is experiencing something of what it will be like living in the place he has gone to prepare for us. The Eternal enters the temporal, and Immortality enters mortality. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are in fellowship with our spirit.

At death the procedure is reversed—the spirit of the priest leaves the temporal and enters the eternal. Mortality enters immortality in the home Jesus has gone to prepare for us. The body returns to dust and will be resurrected (Revelation 20:6).

Excerpted from GRACE & SHALOM by Robert P. Holland