Heavenly Temple/Sanctuary.

phipps

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This is very interesting. A lot to read and think about, but I'm giving it a go! I've been thinking about temples recently, places where God dwells. I can find seven. The garden of Eden, the Tabernacle, the first temple, the second temple, Christ, us the church, and eventually the realm of the new heavens and new earth.
It is interesting but hard to understand. It took me a long time to understand some of it. Pray and let God be your guide. God bless.
 

phipps

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Believers have access to the Heavenly Sanctuary

The Bible teaches that believers have spiritual access to the heavenly sanctuary, to the very throne of God. We can seek closeness to God because our “entry” was made possible by the blood of Christ and by His representation in our behalf as our High Priest. The texts below assure us that we have an anchor, Jesus Christ, who is in the very presence of God:

Hebrews 4:14-16, "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Hebrews 6:19-20,
"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." The assurance for us is that Christ gained full access to God the Father after He was inaugurated as the heavenly High Priest. At the inauguration, Christ sat on the heavenly throne, an image that demonstrates His royal status, "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Revelation 3:21).

The good news for us is that our Representative is in the presence of the Father. No mere earthly priest, who himself is sinful, serves on our behalf. We have the better Priest. Nothing separates the Father from the Son. Because Christ is perfect and sinless, there does not need to be a veil that shields God’s holiness from Jesus, our High Priest (Hebrews 10:20).

What assurance we have that we can have close communion with the Father, all because of what Jesus has done and is doing for us!
 

YokeFellow

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The Tabernacles and Temple in the Bible are scale models of Eukaryotic Cells.

More specifically, they are representative of a Zygote...

1 Corinthians 6:19
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"


The High Priest on the Day of Atonement represents the Male Seed that goes into the Nucleolus of the Cell and fertilizes the Ark of the Covenant.

Yom Kippur is a picture of Conception.
 

phipps

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The Tabernacles and Temple in the Bible are scale models of Eukaryotic Cells.

More specifically, they are representative of a Zygote...

1 Corinthians 6:19
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"


The High Priest on the Day of Atonement represents the Male Seed that goes into the Nucleolus of the Cell and fertilizes the Ark of the Covenant.

Yom Kippur is a picture of Conception.
Not according to the Bible. Jesus is High Priest in the heavenly temple. Its real and is what the earthly sanctuary and all its ceremonies represented.

"Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:14-16).

"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man…Who 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 shewed to thee in the mount" (Hebrews 8:1-2, 5).

"But 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" (Hebrews 9:11-12).

"Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation" (Hebrews 9:23-28).

This does not mean our bodies are not holy temples too. When we have Christ in our lives, we have the Holy Spirit too, “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:19). So we cannot use and abuse our bodies, then throw them away when they wear out. The best reason for taking care of our bodies is not just so we live longer or enjoy better health. The best reason for taking care of our bodies is to honour God. Our bodies are His gift to us. We are examples of God’s grace. We are saved by Jesus’ blood. For this reason, we should honour God with our bodies and everything else in our lives.
 
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phipps

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When Does Jesus’ Ministry in the Sanctuary End?

We are living in the last period of the Christian era, known as the Laodicean period. This time is also referred to as the antitypical Day of Atonement which is the process of the judgment in the heavenly sanctuary. Christ our High Priest is not only ministering in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, pleading His blood before the Father in our behalf and making atonement for our transgressions, available to forgive sins and to intercede on our behalf, He is also working with His Father to see who has decided to let Him be their Savior and Lord. It is the second phase of His work as our “High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man” (Hebrews 8:1-2).

After all the cases have been decided, Jesus will say, “I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Revelation 22:12).

Soon the words will be spoken, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still” (Revelation 22:11).

Once Jesus speaks these words, the case of every person will have been decided. He’ll have finished His work of intercession. The last sin has been blotted out. The heavenly sanctuary has been cleansed of sin.

He and His Father have completed the judgment. The case of each person has been decided—those who are for and those who are against God. As much as His heart of love wants to save every person, He respects the choices each person has made.

Then, after the cleansing of the heavenly Sanctuary, Jesus will return to earth.

All those who have chosen to accept His gift of salvation will join Him and His angels in the air, ready to go to heaven.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord”
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Right now, Jesus is in the heavenly sanctuary. He is ready to forgive our sins as soon as we are ready to confess. He is ready to credit the price He paid to our account.
 

phipps

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Part of Christ's ministry in the heavenly sanctuary/temple is judgement.

The earthly sanctuary (which helps us understand the heavenly sanctuary), built by human hands but following divine instructions, was a type of the heavenly sanctuary. It served as an object lesson, illustrating the plan of salvation. That plan included many aspects, including a sacrifice (representing Jesus) and the washing away of sins. Further, it included a special time, known as the “Day of Atonement,” when the High Priest entered the Most Holy Place and the sanctuary would be “cleansed” by the symbolic removal of sin.

We are given a glimpse into this Most Holy Place in Revelation 11:19, where we read, “Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple.”

Today, Christ, our High Priest, is in the Most Holy Place, where the Investigative Judgment is taking place.

The Bible mentions judgment more than 1,000 times. Judgment is a concept seen throughout Scripture, but the Investigative Judgment is special. Judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom.

The idea of judgment can seem unsettling to some. After all, we are all sinners. And while that is true, praise God we have a Saviour who is our Advocate and Judge! We read in John 5:22, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son.” Furthermore, we know that when we surrender our lives to Christ, we are covered in His beautiful robe of righteousness, and through His Holy Spirit, we are given His power to overcome. In Revelation 3:5 Jesus assures us that “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

The work of Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary is vitally important. “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. . . . 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.’ . . . Let none, then, regard their defects as incurable. God will give faith and grace to overcome them.” GC 489.

Someone might ask why there has to be a pre-advent judgment before Jesus comes back the second time. Paul declared that "It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified." Because the record of sin must be examined to determine who will be saved. The investigative judgment must take place before Christ comes to execute the sentence. At His second coming the wicked are slain by His bright glory. A separation is made between the saved and the lost at that moment. The books in heaven (e.g the book of life) have to be investigated before that time to determine who is to be saved and who is lost.

When Jesus leaves the most holy place, the final atonement has been made. Probation closes for the world, just as it closed for the Jews on the Day of Atonement after the high priest finished his work in the earthly sanctuary. Then Christ will lay aside His priestly garments and put on His kingly robes. Then the edict goes forth, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he which is righteous, let him be righteous still. . . . And behold I come quickly; and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be" (Revelation 22:11-12).
 

phipps

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The sanctuary truth should be clearly understood.

Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds, that they may not dwell upon the very work with which we ought to best be acquainted. The arch-deceiver hates the greatest 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.

Those who would share the benefits of the Saviour's mediation should permit nothing to interfere with their duty to perfect holiness in the fear of God. The precious hours, instead of being given to pleasure, to display, or to gain seeking, should be devoted to an earnest, prayerful study of the Word of truth. The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative judgement should be cleary understood by the people of God.

All need a knowledge for themselves of the position which God designs them to fill. Every individual has a soul to save or to lose. Each has a case pending at the bar of God. Each must meet the great Judge face to face. How important, then, that every mind contemplate often the solemn scene when the judgement shall sit and the books shall be opened, when every individual must stand in his/her lot, at the end of the days.

GC 488.
 
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