Friday: Further Study: Day of Atonement
Further Study: “Now the event takes place foreshadowed in the last solemn 
service of the Day of Atonement. When the ministration in the holy of holies had been completed, and the sins of Israel had been removed from the sanctuary by virtue of the blood of the sin offering, then the scapegoat was presented alive before the Lord; and in the presence of the congregation the high priest confessed over him ‘all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat.’ Leviticus 16:21. In like manner, when the work of atonement in the heavenly sanctuary has been completed, then in the presence of God and heavenly angels and the hosts of the redeemed the sins of God’s people will be placed upon Satan; he will be declared guilty of all the evil which he has caused them to commit.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 658.
Discussion Questions:
- Why would any understanding of the plan of salvation be incomplete if it that leaves out, or minimizes, the work of Christ as our High Priest? What does the sanctuary teach us about just how central the work of intercession in the sanctuary is to the plan of salvation? The bulk of an entire New Testament book, Hebrews, is dedicated to the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. In view of this, just how important is that work?
- Someone once wrote that the work of Christ, from His death to His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, is simply part of “God’s orderly method” of dealing with the sin problem in a way that will help to answer all questions regarding His justice, fairness, and love. Dwell on the implications of that thought, especially in light of The Great Controversy and what it teaches us about the grand issues involved in the sordid tragedy of sin.
- Many Seventh-day Adventists were taught about the Day of Atonement in a way that has left them without assurance of salvation. Such a view comes from a false understanding of the purpose of the Day of Atonement. Think about the name “atonement.” What does it mean? How is atonement achieved? Who does the work of atonement? How is it accomplished? How should these answers help us to understand why the Day of Atonement is actually good news?
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The day of atonement has always been day of judgement, as a people we can put our heads in the sand as the ostrich and think that the danger will past, atonement is At-Ane-Ment are we at one with Christ. Lets judge ourselves by the word and see our own standing before God.
" The church of Christ in the world is to be a powerful people, a name and praise in all the earth. Jesus has done everything to accomplish this. Now there need to be earnest, deep, sincere efforts to redeem the past unfaithfulness. Time, precious time, has been lost in wanderings and backslidings from God. Every character is to be weighed in the balance of the sanctuary; if the moral character and spiritual advancement do not correspond to the benefits, opportunities and blessings bestowed, "wanting" is written against the name". {5MR 334.2}
The sanctuary in heaven must be cleans, the names of unrepentant sinners will be (blotted out) removed from the sanctuary, that is what it takes to clean the sanctuary in heaven.
Christ cannot bear sins forever, the time has come when every man must bear his own sins, Judgment must begin in the house of God first, then it goes to the wicked, during this time the church has to be without spot as the lamb that was killed for sacrifice. Christ is not the scape goat.
I am confused by your post. Please clarify for me. My understanding of the Bible is that Jesus is our advocate, He died for my sins so that I might live. No matter how much I try to be clean and to be good, it will never be sufficient without Christ's blood. Once I can stand on my own without a reliance on Christ's blood, then His death was in vain. Are you suggesting that there is a time when His blood is no longer effective and sufficient for my sins?
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The goat of Azazel represents the devil revelation 20:1-2 supports it. Therefore as Christians let us render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar lets render the devil back his sins...
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I have a question , I'm probable going off topic but I want to understand why sin was permitted. God is all knowing (Omniscient) so that would mean he knew about the fall of man and how "lucifer" would rebel against him etc... Then why go through all the trouble of creating him in the first place ? Why did HE Have to be part of the story , considering the fact that there are some among us who will neither be part of those who get to be to be on God's side in the 2nd coming.
Why do people choose to have children, or even adopt other people's children? In light of the fact that it is likely that those children, at some point, are going to disobey their parents and really cause their parents grief, isn't having children really risky? Some children even rebel to the point of lifelong loss. Some would say it's even foolish to start down that path.
So why do people choose to be parents? Could it be the nature of unselfish love? By it's very nature, love has to give. If an infinite God is perfectly loving, He, because of His very nature, gives His children the ability to love in return. That's how they can be like Him in character. But the ability to love requires the ability to hold back from loving. God's choice is to love, even when He knows it will hurt, even when he knows that His perfect love will be ignored or rejected by some for whom He has done all that He possibly could. Risky? Costly? Undoubtedly. But, for the sake of love, what else could he do?
Melusi, that is one of the fundamental questions of the universe! And I suggest that evolutionists have a similarly difficult question, "Why did it happen?"
Like all fundamental questions we can only guess because we have come along after the event. The idea that God is omipotent/omnipresent/omnisicient is often expressed in human terms. ie he is more powerful than we can imagine, is present in more places than here a the same time, and knows everything. But I rather think hose descriptions are a bit like a worm describing to his mates what a human is like. Worm language does not have the words to describe it.
Whatever the reasoning behind God's creativity, he created the universe/us and loved us so much that he has tried to communicate with us ever since. I describe God's omniscience as God knows the knowable (his frame of reference, not mine) and I leave it at that, because I get into the realm of contradictions the moment I try and describe that in language that you and I understand. Can God create a rock so large that he cannot lift it? Obviously such a question raises a logical contradiction. In the same light I believe that the question, Can God create creatures with free will without evil occurring, also raises a logical contradiction. Maybe God had no choice but to create, and the rest is our history and the story of redemption.
I know that I have not answered the question but like most fundamental questions their discussion probably helps us to understand ourselves a little better more than anything else!
God has purpose for everything He created, God is The God of LOVE and always will.He is the WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIGHT. With that being said, He is providing us with a way out from the darkness of this world so therefore He is giving us the freedom of CHOICE.