Matt.8:1,2 – Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a 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.
The story of the Old Testament shows the ramifications of the fall of man, separation from God, it also gives us a taste of God’s plan of redemption. One of the vivid pictures of man’s separation was the Tabernacle of Moses followed by the temple in Jerusalem. In it there was the veil that blocked man from going into the Holy of Holies where God’s glory dwelt. The High Priest could go in once a year with a sin offering but he also had to come out. There was no life behind the veil for any of us. The work of the priests in the OT typified the work of Jesus when He shed His blood. Because of this Jesus entered into the Father’s presence as a priest for us, He is the Minister of the Sanctuary calling us in. Here is how Andrew Murray described this.
“A priest must have a sanctuary in which he dwells, to receive all who come to seek his God. Our great High Priest has His sanctuary in the heavens; there He dwells, there we find Him; there He receives us, there He introduces us to meet God; there He proves that He is a Priest who abides continually, and who gives those who come to God through Him the power to do it too—to abide continually in His presence. The nearness to God and fellowship with Him I cannot partake of except through my heart. My heart is my life, is myself; my only blessedness is in the state of the heart. And therefore Jesus as High Priest cannot do His priestly work of bringing me near to God except as He dwells in my heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. All our thought, and faith, and adoration of Him in heaven brings us back to the riches of the glory of the mystery—Christ in you. He is Priest after the power of an endless life, a Priest whose presence and power are known and enjoyed in the life of the heart.”
Jesus provided a new way to live our lives, you could call it life behind the veil. He offered His blood before the Father, because of this blood offered as a sacrifice I can come into God’s presence. So that is what Paul is talking about in today’s passage, Jesus has literally become the Minister of the Sanctuary. Today He offers us this way in without any hindrance, He is calling us each into this place of fellowship and intimacy with God.
1 thought on “THE MINISTER OF THE SANCTUARY”
A few weeks back when what I can best describe as a roar went through our congregation during Sunday morning service, it was both a calling out in worship and an immediate receiving of His manifest presence that took place. To experience greater levels of intimacy defines our purpose, everything else in this life submits to His orders and timing to free us from fallen yokes.