Further Study: Last Things: Jesus and the Saved
“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. We must by faith enter within the veil, ‘whither the forerunner is for us entered.’ Hebrews 6:20. There the light from the cross of Calvary is reflected. There we may gain a clearer insight into the mysteries of redemption. The salvation of man is accomplished at an infinite expense to heaven.” – Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 489.
“To the believer, Christ is the resurrection and the life. In our Saviour the life that was lost through sin is restored; for He has life in Himself to quicken whom He will. He is invested with the right to give immortality. The life that He laid down in humanity, He takes up again, and gives to humanity.” – Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 786, 787.
Discussion Questions
- John Calvin called Christ’s work of intercession the “continual application of His death for our salvation,” and it is said that “the existence of a heavenly sanctuary was standard theology among Puritan divines.” It’s not hard to see why Christ’s work of intercession should be seen as such an important teaching. After all, look at how much of the Old Testament centered around the sanctuary and the temple. Look at how much the New Testament does, as well! What should this tell us about the importance of this doctrine?
- Dwell more on Hebrews 9:23, a text that for centuries has baffled biblical scholars, who can’t understand how something in heaven itself could actually need cleansing. While, as Seventh-day Adventists, we still have a lot to learn about what this text means, how does our understanding, for instance, of Daniel 8:14 help to clarify this important concept?
- The resurrection of Christ is utterly essential to the Christian faith. Without it we have nothing. Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-6. Look at how Paul is seeking to persuade his readers of the evidence for Christ’s resurrection. Notice especially verse 6. What is he saying here? Why is he emphasizing the fact that many of the people to whom Christ appeared are still alive? It’s almost as if he’s saying, “Don’t take my word for it. Ask some of these hundreds who saw Him themselves.” These are not the words you would expect from someone who wasn’t sure of that which he was teaching. What other evidence from the Bible can help to reaffirm our certainty of Christ’s resurrection?
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The biblical concept of the sanctuary is clearly showing that it's a lifelong process which cannot be left out in any teaching of the bible. Jesus' ministry now is to intercede for us to the father, which in turn requires total sacrifice from us and self denial towards the savior. The earthly sanctuary is describing or just portraying the sanctuary in heaven whereby the main principle is about sacrifices. As Jesus sacrificed himself for us we too are to take that example to sacrifice our lives for Jesus in order to attain salvation.
Seventh-day Adventists like the ancient Jews have a problem seeing spiritually. We have a tendency to literalize everything. What the cleansing of the sanctuary means to us depends on how we view the Heavenly Sanctuary and what the cleansing is. As a hint I would like to ask did Jesus literally sprinkle His blood before the veil in the first room and then at 1844 sprinkle more of His blood in the second room?
Tyler,how do you suggest would be the optmum application on this issue,especially to us as Seventh day Adventists?
Alexander and Tyler, I think, in my humble opinion we have some serious problems in our eschatological theology. We may need to distinguish between renewal of the earth versus behold I create new things. This is the first problem confused in the current lesson. Other problmes arise when a careful consideration is given to the definition we assign to the following eschatological questions. 1. Is biblical eschatology about last things or last person? 2. What is it that will be resurrected? is it the resurrection of the dead or the body? Is heaven a place or a state? Do numbers in the book of Revelation have numerical values or mere symbols? Is human concept of Time (chronos) and seasons (eons) applicable to God? If yes or no, do time and season apply in heaven? God bless when to spare some quality time to read the scripture following the theological question I have set for avid bible scholars.
@ Joseph who asked more questions than can be properly discussed in one comment:
I thought the lesson authors made that clear in Wednesday's section by explaining that "new" in Revelation 21:1 "emphasizes something that is new in form or quality." As they explain it, the renewal of the earth is not a matter of creating new things.
Do you not agree with that?
I am not sure what you mean by
We normally refer to eschatology as the last events up to and including the destruction of the wicked and the renewal of the planet after the millennium. This view encompasses both persons and things.
I fail to understand your "either/or" question. Seventh-day Adventists believe that whole persons are resurrected with the same character and essential characteristics they had when they entered the sleep of death. The righteous will be transformed "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" and will thus have an immortal body with their physical deformities removed, even while remaining recognizable.
Again, in contrast to many other Christians, Seventh-day Adventists believe in a real, physical heaven and a real, physical new earth, because that is a reasonable conclusion from what the Bible has revealed.
Since Revelation is a book composed largely of symbols, most numbers are likely symbolic, but that is a big subject that demands its own topic.
I understand that the Creator exists separate from and outside of His creation. Thus, as the Creator of the time-space continuum, He would necessarily exist outside of time and be unbound by it. That is confirmed by at least one Bible reference that tells us that to Him a day is "as a thousand years," (2 Peter 3:8) even though some have mistakenly taken that to mean an exact equivalence. But when God speaks to us through His prophets, He speaks to us in our language, using our concepts. We may have an adequate understanding of God for salvation, but we cannot begin to grasp the whole of God or of eternity, because we are finite with finite minds.
May I suggest that it would make for better conversation if you would put forth one question at a time? And it would be even better if you could express some of your thoughts than merely asking questions on which you doubtless have some thoughts.