TWO KINDS OF CHRISTIANS

TWO KINDS OF CHRISTIANS

Heb. 9:6-7 ¶ These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.

The Old Testament tabernacle is filled with types and shadows of Jesus Christ and His work of redemption. There were two main compartments in Moses’ tabernacle. First, there was the holy place where the priests did their daily responsibilities. While working in the holy place, the priests were separated from the divine presence by the veil. The veil was a constant reminder that man was separated from God. Once a year the high priest could go into the holy of holies, the second compartment, to offer the sin offering on the mercy seat in God’s presence. He was allowed in only briefly, also a reminder that we could not live in that place of intimacy. These two compartments in the tabernacle speak to us of the two types of Christians we see today. Here is how Andrew Murray explains it.

“The first and second tabernacles are the symbols of the two degrees of the divine nearness, two stages of access into God’s presence, two modes of fellowship with God, two ways of serving Him. The one, to which the high priest had only access once a year, is the promise of what would one day be in Christ: the nearer, the more direct and immediate approach into the presence and fellowship of God. The other is the symbol of the service of God at a distance with a veil between, without the light of the full countenance. The one thing the writer wants us to learn is the difference between the two stages, and the way by which God leads us from the lower to the higher.”

Shockingly, the vast majority of Christians today are unaware of the opportunity we have to live and serve in the presence of God. There is all sorts of activity in the name of Christ taking place all of the time. Much of it takes place at a distance from God’s glorious presence with some type of veil blocking the way into the Holiest of All. Actually, that is why the book of Hebrews was written. The church in Jerusalem began in the fire of God’s shekinah on the day of Pentecost. Apparently, as time passed by, the Jerusalem church moved into what Murray called Christian service outside the veil. This was never God’s intention for His church. His Son’s flesh was torn at calvary opening up this life in the Holiest of All for all of us. We can now serve Him in the very fire of His presence. We don’t have to serve in the outer court, we can come boldly before the throne of grace and actually live our lives there. Today let’s make a conscience decision not to depend on the blood for eternal life only, but to come near while there still is a today.