Christ Our Great High Priest
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with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now
to appear in the presence of God for us.”
Hebrews 9:24
. As Christ’s
ministration was to consist of two great divisions, each occupying a
period of time and having a distinctive place in the heavenly sanctuary,
so the typical ministration consisted of two divisions, the daily and the
yearly service, and to each a department of the tabernacle was devoted.
As Christ at His ascension appeared in the presence of God to
plead His blood in behalf of penitent believers, so the priest in the
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daily ministration sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice in the holy place
in the sinner’s behalf.
The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner
from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would
stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement; so in the
type the blood of the sin offering removed the sin from the penitent,
but it rested in the sanctuary until the day of atonement.
In the great day of final award, the dead are to be “judged out
of those things which were written in the books, according to their
works.”
Revelation 20:12
. Then by virtue of the atoning blood of
Christ, the sins of all the truly penitent will be blotted from the books
of heaven. Thus the sanctuary will be freed, or cleansed, from the
record of sin. In the type, this great work of atonement, or blotting out
of sins, was represented by the services of the Day of Atonement—the
cleansing of the earthly sanctuary, which was accomplished by the
removal, by virtue of the blood of the sin offering, of the sins by which
it had been polluted
Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds, that they
may not dwell upon the very work with which we ought to be best
acquainted. The archdeceiver hates the great truths that bring to view
an atoning sacrifice and an all-powerful mediator. He knows that with
him everything depends on his diverting minds from Jesus and His
truth.
Jesus pleads in their behalf His wounded hands, His bruised body;
and He declares to all who would follow Him: “My grace is sufficient
for thee.”
2 Corinthians 12:9
. “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of
Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your
souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:29,
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Patriarchs and Prophets, 356-358