WHEN Jehovah had delivered His people Israel from Egypt, He desired to dwell among them. He accordingly instructed Moses to build Him a tabernacle, and in the mount showed him a pattern thereof.
But the holiness of God required that man, with whom he dwelt, should be holy too. So He made known the measure of His requirements, by giving the Ten Commandments. In the Holy of holies, where God promised His presence should be, the ark was to be placed, and in the ark two tables of stone, upon which were inscribed the ten commandments.
Here, then, in the dwelling-place of God, in the midst of Israel, was the testimony of what man ought to be for God. Now, if man failed to come up to the Divine standard, as set forth in the law, did he not bring judgment upon himself?
Most certainly he did; and in anticipation of this very failure, God had made a most gracious provision. He not only commanded Moses to make the ark, He directed him to make a mercy-seat as well. Now where was the mercy-seat placed? Turn to Exodus 25, and read from the 21st verse, “And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat.”
Now, notwithstanding that God had not declared in so many words the impotence of man, the mercy-seat was the proof that he could not fulfill God’s requirements expressed in the law, and that he accordingly stood in need of mercy; the mercy-seat was the proof also, that there was mercy for him.
The question may now arise, Admitting man’s inability to keep all the commandments, how could a holy God show mercy to him without receiving satisfaction for his transgression?
The answer to this I get in the 16th chapter of Leviticus, where I find that, once a year, on what was called the great day of atonement, the high priest, as the representative of the people, entered within the veil, and there upon the mercy-seat, and before the mercy-seat, sprinkled the blood of the slain goat.
This sprinkled blood was man’s recognition of God’s holiness; it was the expression of a life offered up, to meet His righteous claims in respect of sin.
So we see, that if the law was in God’s presence, in all its divine integrity, a testimony of what man should be for God, there was also the mercy-seat a testimony of His gracious interposition on the sinner’s behalf; and the sprinkled blood, which furnished Him with a ground upon which He could maintain Israel in relationship with Himself.
Furthermore, it is apparent that the very presence of a holy God in the midst of a sinful people, meant nothing less than judgment, unless His righteousness could be satisfied with respect to sin. Bearing this in mind, I can understand the action of the high priest in entering the holiest to sprinkle the blood upon and before the mercy-seat, for three things did that blood accomplish, ― (1) It met the claims of God’s holiness; (2) It averted judgment; (3) It furnished Him with a ground upon which He could, in perfect righteousness, provide a substitute to bear his people’s sins. For Aaron’s first act upon leaving the holiest, was to place his hands upon the head of the scape-goat, and confess over him all the sins of the people, putting them upon its head; and afterward delivering it into the hands of a fit man, who took it into the wilderness, the land not inhabited.
But the law made nothing perfect; it had only a shadow of good things to come, and Scripture teaches us that all these sacrifices and ceremonies were but types of the glorious person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now the cross was the proof not only of man’s guilt, but of his utter inability to produce a righteousness for God. It was the termination of God’s trial of man, a trial which had lasted for four thousand years. He then concluded the whole world (Jew and Gentile) guilty before Him (Rom. 1, 2., and 3); man had been weighed in the balance, and found wanting; he was devoid of righteousness.
Now the tabernacle was but a shadow of heavenly things (Heb. 8:55Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. (Hebrews 8:5)). In heaven, the eternal abode of Deity, there is a temple, and in the temple the throne of God (Rev. 16:1717And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. (Revelation 16:17)). Even as Aaron entered into the holy of holies, to sprinkle the blood upon and before the mercy-seat, and thus vindicate the majesty of God,―so “Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:11:12).
Yes, beloved reader, on that great day of atonement, when the Lamb of God was lifted up at Calvary, a sacrifice was made to God, the fulfillment of all the weak and imperfect types from Abel downwards, — a sacrifice so gloriously complete, as to need no repetition.
And, in resurrection, Jesus entered into the very presence of God, ―Himself the mercy-seat; His poured-out blood the evidence of a life, pure, spotless, and holy, offered up to meet the righteous claims of God upon the sinner.
Wondrous sight! the precious blood of Christ carried, as it were, into heaven, and sprinkled upon the very throne of God, vindicating His majesty and holiness, and speaking on behalf of the sinner!
The earthly tabernacle, with its ceaseless services, and its perpetual blood-shedding and sprinkling, passes away before its great antitype, and the one finished work of Christ subsists eternally in all its divine perfectness before God.
In the presence of such a work, undertaken on the sinner’s behalf, what demand can God make upon him? None. But in answer to that infinite sacrifice, and in proof of his perfect acceptance thereof, and complete satisfaction therein, He opens the flood-gates of His forgiving, justifying grace and mercy, and thus addresses man: — “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God: being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God hath set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in His blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay; but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:23-2823For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. (Romans 3:23‑28)).
What a marvelous exhibition, both of the wisdom and grace of God! Man had shown his utter inability to bring a righteousness to God; he was a helpless sinner. Now, God’s love desired to save him, but His holiness demanded his punishment, and God must be true to His nature. The question then was, Can such a ground be furnished whereby God in righteousness can save the sinner?
It was clear that man could not furnish this. God Himself therefore comes upon the scene, and brings forth One who, by His blood poured forth in death, laid the basis for God to show forth grace in righteousness, the glory of the person of the Adorable Victim giving effect to the work, and on the ground of that accomplished atonement, satisfied justice withdraws its claims, and divine love shines forth in all its power and fullness. God forever ceases to demand that man should gain a righteousness by the works of the law, and gives him one on the principle of faith a righteousness which is as imperishable and eternal as the throne of God itself, depending for its subsistence no more upon the future works of the justified sinner, than upon his past works, but upon the finished work of Christ.
Thus God is glorified about sin, the devil’s vile attempt to thwart His purpose is frustrated, and man is blessed with far richer blessings than would have been his, had he remained innocent in paradise forever.
Do not mistake, however, because I am justified by the sovereign grace of God, and my eternal blessing thus secured, I have no license whatever to sin. On the other hand, I am told to walk as Christ walked (1 John 2:66He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. (1 John 2:6)). To be holy, for God is holy (1 Peter 1:1515But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; (1 Peter 1:15)). To be careful to maintain good works, now that I have believed (Titus 3:88This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men. (Titus 3:8)).
It is the Christian’s answer to the grace of God.
It is thus seen that a holy God does not justify the sinner at the expense of His holiness. The very act of justification serves to display divine righteousness, for the ground of that justification, i.e., the death of Christ, is in itself the proof of His infinite Holiness. The righteousness of God is thus manifested, not in judging the sinner, but in justifying him.
The death of Christ can be viewed in a twofold aspect, ―(1) It was a perfect vindication of God in His nature and character, testifying to the truth that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all;
and, (2) It opened up a way for God to reveal Himself, in all the fullness of His grace, as one who loved man and sought his blessing;―that grace finding expression in the justification, on the principle of faith, of the man whom, four thousand years before, He had driven out of paradise because of sin, and whose history downward only developed his hatred of righteousness and truth; that hatred finding its culminating point when he laid murderous hands upon God’s only Son, and cast Him out of the world by the way of the cross.
Is further proof required that God has ceased to make demands upon the sinner by imposing the law upon Him as a means of righteousness?
Shortly stated, the matter stands thus, ―
Before the cross, man was responsible to bring a righteousness to God by the works of the law.
Since the cross, God reckons the sinner righteous the moment he believes on Jesus. The blood of Christ forms now the foundation of that throne whereon grace reigns in righteousness.
To attempt, therefore, to gain a righteousness by human effort, is to go back to the first covenant; and this is to frustrate the grace of God, for He annulled the first covenant in order that He might bring in a better. The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.