Reason 24 – Jesus Came to Die To Give Us Confident Access to the Holiest Place

“One of the great mysteries in the Old Testament was the meaning of the worship tent used by Israel called the “tabernacle.” The mystery was hinted at but not clear. When the people of Israel came out of Egypt and arrived at Mount Sinai, God gave detailed instructions to Moses about how to build this mobile tent of worship with all its parts and furnishings. The mysterious thing about it was this command: “See that you make them after the pattern for them, which is being shown you on the mountain” (Exodus 25:40). When Christ came into the world 1,400 years later, it was more fully revealed that this “pattern” for the old tabernacle was a “copy” or a “shadow” of realities in heaven. The tabernacle was an earthly figure of a heavenly reality. So in the New Testament we read this: “[The priests] serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain’” (Hebrews 8:5). So all the worship practices of Israel in the Old Testament point toward something more real. Without Christ the holiness of God had to be protected from us. He would have been dishonored, and we would have been consumed because of our sin. But now, because of Christ, we may come near and feast our hearts on the fullness of the flaming
beauty of God’s holiness. He will not be dishonored . We will not be consumed. Because of the all-protecting Christ, God will be honored, and we will stand in everlasting awe. Therefore, do not fear to come. But come through Christ.”

Reflecting on this reminds me of the God’s holiness and God’s demand that I also need to be holy. God is perfectly holy and he requires us to be holy if we are to live with him in heaven. It’s easy for God to be holy. He himself is the standard for all holiness. However for sinners, holiness is an impossibility. One spot on our record disqualifies us from being perfectly holy. The moment we are conceived, we are not holy and no matter what we do, we can never achieve holiness. That is why God’s plan to reconcile our unholiness and his holiness was created.

Dr. R. C. Sproul, a fellow Pennsylvanian, talks about the holiness of God in this self titled series. I heard him give a similar talk a few years ago at the Sovereign Grace Leadership Conference in Gaithersburg, MD. In about 25 minutes, Dr. Sproul gives viewers a glimpse of the Holiness of God.

Clips 2-4 can be found here

Questions: Have you ever considered that when God justifies a sinner, that sinner is made positionally holy but in actuality, remains un-holy? Have you considered that is why God continues the work throughout our lives to make us actually holy. Are you pursing holiness in your life? Is the Spirit leading you to become more holy? If you can’t answer yes to these questions, you need to examine your life and faith and ask, is my heart oriented towards holiness? Hebrews 12:14.

For more on Holiness, read my October 2008 post on Thomas Watson’s book, The Godly Man’s Picture.

Quote from “The 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die”.