Discourse 2: THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL
Compiled by Solomon Tweneboah
“And
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
And
between your seed and her Seed;
He
shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His
heel"
(Genesis 3:15, NKJV).
Before
his fall, the form of Lucifer was perfect. “You were the anointed cherub that
covers, and I had put you in the holy height of God where you were; you have
walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created,
until iniquity was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:14,15). Lucifer, “son of the
morning,” was first of the covering cherubs (angels) in Heaven, holy and
undefiled (Isaiah 14:12; Ezekiel 28:16). He stood in the presence of the great
Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glory enshrouding the eternal God rested
upon him. The Lord Himself gave to Lucifer his glory and wisdom, and made him a
covering cherub, good, noble, and exceedingly lovely (The Signs of the Times, July
23, 1902).
Over Ambitious Desire of Lucifer
Satan was a beautiful,
exalted angel, and would have remained so forever had he not withdrawn his
allegiance from God. So why did Lucifer
withdraw his allegiance from God, his Creator? The Bible says, “You were
perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you” (Ezekiel 28:15). There was a time
when Lucifer was filled with love and joy in serving his Creator, until he
began to think that his wisdom was not derived from God, but was inherent in
himself, and that he was as worthy as God to receive honour and power. Little
by little, Lucifer began to seek his own honour, and to employ his powers to
attract attention and win praise to himself. He also gradually led the angels
over whom he ruled to do him service, instead of devoting all their powers to
the service of their Creator (The Spirit of Prophecy 4:317). Little by little,
Lucifer came to indulge the desire for self-exaltation. Though all his glory
was from God, this mighty angel came to regard it as pertaining to himself. So Lucifer devised a plan in his heart and
started to work it out. He did not reveal his secret and real intentions to
anyone; he planned in his heart. Lucifer was unwilling to remain a covering
cherub; he wanted to be as worthy as God to receive honour and power.
“How you are fallen from
the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the
ground, you who weakened the nations! For
you have said in your heart, I will go up to the heavens, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God; I will
also sit on the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I
will go up above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14). Lucifer’s plan to exalt
his throne above the stars of God and sit on the mount of the congregation was
a serious one. It was actually an ambition to take the position that was only
reserved for the Creator (Psalm 74:2). He said, “I will be like the Most High.”
The Most High is the Creator of the universe and there is only One Creator. How
did he want to be like the Most High while he had no power to create? He was
over-ambitious and egoistic, and that extreme want of unwarranted power (pride)
led him to wage war.
Sin originated from
Lucifer; his sinful desire led him on until his purpose resulted in an active
revolt against The Creator. “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they
did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the
great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who
deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast
out with him” (Revelation 12:7-9).
Was
there not any possible way through which God could have prevented the rebellion
of Lucifer? To God all things are possible (Matthew
19:16), therefore, there could be a way. And one way I can think of is – God
should have created Lucifer and all other living beings as automated, robotic, programmed
beings. In that circumstance, Lucifer wouldn’t have rebelled and humankind also
wouldn’t have sinned. However, in 1John 4:8 the Bible says, “The one who does
not love has not known God. For God is
love”. How could God be love if created beings pay Him homage because they
are automated? How could God be love if His subjects serve Him because they
have no choice? Indeed, love gives freedom of choice and, above all, love gives
guidance and caution against making a wrong choice. God created angels and man
for friendship; so how can love and cordial relationship exist between God and
His subjects and among the subjects if they are automated? God is love,
therefore, He created every angel and man with an innate willpower; the willingness
to love God and do His will or the choice to do otherwise.
Why
did Satan direct his attack on the human race after his fall? Well,
the war which Satan started in Heaven did not end when he was cast out of
Heaven, and Satan still flatters himself he will eventually win. Following his defeat and expulsion, Satan determined to wage war
against humankind since man was most dearly loved by God. And he did that by portraying
that God is a wicked and a tyrant God. He succeeded in deceiving, defeating and
capturing Adam and Eve. He took from them the dominion God gave them over this
earth, making mankind his subjects; and having taken over this earth, Satan
gained grounds to establish himself and his kingdom – the kingdom which he
intended to establish in Heaven. With this kingdom it was Satan’s purpose to
oppose the Kingdom of God. Therefore, whatever God commands, Satan overturns it
and makes it appear unreasonable to man to follow. But this situation did not
take God unawares; God knew sin would exist even before the world begun and he
made a wonderful provision to redeem humanity, the seduced (Isaiah 46:9,10).
In the garden of Eden
when God spoke these words to Satan, “And I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He will bruise your head, and you
shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15), Satan realized that his head was going
to be bruised (crushed), and that he was going to die. And when he knew of the
time he would die, it made him so much angry because he also got to know that
he has but a short time (Revelation 12:12).
How
did Satan know of the time his head would be crushed? Since
the Bible was written, Satan seriously studied the book with much diligence
noting every principle enshrined in it. When Satan went to Jesus in the
wilderness, Satan quoted the Bible to back his argument; “and said to Him,
"If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: He
shall give His angels charge over you, and, in their hands they shall bear you
up, lest you dash your foot against a stone" (Matthew 4:6; Psalm
91:11,12). Satan quoted the scripture exactly as it is written. When God's
written word was given through the Hebrew prophets, Satan studied it with
diligence the messages concerning the Messiah. Carefully he traced the words
that outlined with unmistakable clearness Christ's work among men as a
suffering sacrifice and as a conquering king. The prophecies caused Satan to
fear and tremble; yet he relinquished not his purpose to thwart, if possible,
the merciful provisions of Jehovah for the redemption of the lost race. He
determined to blind the eyes of the people, so far as might be possible, to the
real significance of the Messianic prophecies, in order to prepare the way for
the rejection of Christ at His coming (Prophets and Kings, 686.1).
Satan studies the
scriptures and he well understands all its precepts, but he will not obey any command in it. When God gives a command on
how to live, eat, dress, talk, worship, relate to others, etc. he won’t do it. Therefore, it is
not enough to know whatever the scriptures say; it is not enough for Christians
to study and know every Bible verse without doing what it says. Jesus says, “You
are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14). “If
you do ...” is a conditional statement. God gives everyone his free-will and does not force anyone to do His
commandments; God is Love.
From the scriptures,
Satan saw the sacrificial offerings which had been ordained by God to represent
Christ as dying for the human race; and he tried in every possible way to so
pervert them that the people would lose sight of their true meaning and
significance. In the old covenant, God commanded His people to make a sanctuary
for Him so that He would dwell among them (Exodus 25:8,9). God wanted the
sanctuary and all its instruments to be made in a special way, so He showed a
temple to Moses and commanded him to make the sanctuary according to the
pattern he had seen. In the last book of the Bible, John saw the temple of God
in Heaven, “Then the temple of God was opened in
Heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple…” (Revelation
11:19). This temple shown to Moses is the temple in Heaven
which was also shown to John. The sanctuary which Moses and the children of
Israel made on earth (earthly sanctuary) was just a specimen, type or shadow of
the real Heavenly sanctuary (Hebrews 8:5). God used the earthly sanctuary to
teach His people very great and important lessons from which Satan also learnt
to know of the time his head was going to be crushed.
The Psalmist says, “Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God?” (Psalm 77:13). The sanctuary in heaven is the very centre of Christ's work on behalf of men. It concerns every soul living upon the earth. It opens to view the plan of redemption, bringing us down to the very close of time and revealing the triumphant issue of the contest between righteousness and sin. When we go into the sanctuary of God then we will understand His wonderful provisions for us as well as the end of Satan (Psalm 73:17).
In Hebrews 9:1-5, the Apostle describes the earthly sanctuary as follows, “Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubims of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail” (Exodus 25:23,30-31; 26:1,35; 40:4; Le 24:5-6; 26:31,33; 40:3,21; 25:18,22; Leviticus 16:2; 1Kings 8:6-7).
The size of the earthly sanctuary was 150 feet (45m) by 75 feet (23m) and fenced around on all four sides, with only one entrance at the eastern side. The sanctuary building had two apartments (rooms) – the first parts called the Holy Place (tabernacle of congregation/meeting) and the second part called the Most Holy Place (Holiest of All). The entrance of the holy place had a veil (first veil), and the two apartments were separated by another veil (second veil). Outside the holy place was a courtyard called the outer court (forecourt). In the outer court were the altar of sacrifice and the laver.
Inside the holy place, there were three different furniture – the seven candlesticks at the centre left, the table of showbread at the centre right, and the altar of incense just in front of the second veil. Behind the second veil was the most holy place where the ark of the covenant or ark of the testimony was kept.
The
sanctuary had only one entrance; only one way in or out. So also Christ is the only
way, the only truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Him
(John 14:6). The sanctuary and its services were shadows pointing to Christ’s work
as the Lamb of God and as the High Priest. Talking about Jesus, Peter said,
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Jesus said,
"I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in
and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).
Daily
sacrifices
“Now the LORD called to
Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of meeting, saying, ‘Speak to the
children of Israel, and say to them: When any one of you brings an offering to
the LORD, you shall bring your offering of the livestock – of the herd and of
the flock. If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a
male without blemish; he shall offer it
of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of meeting before the
LORD. Then he shall put his hand on the
head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make
atonement for him. He shall kill the bull before the LORD; and the priests,
Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the
altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of meeting’” (Leviticus 1:1-5).
For the forgiveness of
sins, the children of Israel were commanded to sacrifice animals without
blemish at their own free will. Only
sacrifices offered from a willing heart was accepted by God, and God accepts us
only when we willingly choose to come to Him. Every sin-offering was to be
without blemish, typifying the perfect sacrifice of the Lamb of God; “but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot”
(1Peter 1:19). Anytime a sinner went to the sanctuary with his sin offering and
entered through the way, he would first come to the altar of burnt sacrifice.
Then the sinner shall put his hand on
the head of the animal, confess his sins upon the animal and then kill it
before the LORD. The sinner, by putting his hand on the head of the animal and
confessing his sins over it typified the transfer of the sinner’s sins to the
innocent animal. The Bible says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood,
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for
it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). Therefore,
the animal was killed and the blood was taken instead of the sinner’s to make
atonement for him in ‘shadow’. The priests, Aaron's sons, collected the blood
of the killed animal, and sprinkled it all around on the altar of burnt
sacrifice. Then the body of the animal was cut and burnt on the altar.
In reality, Jesus – the
Lamb of God shed His blood on the cross to make atonement (at-one-ment) for us.
The continual killing of animals should have reminded Israel of the coming
Messiah and prepared their minds for the redeemer, but Satan blinded the eyes
of the people to the real significance of the Messianic prophecies, in order to
prepare the way for the rejection of Christ at His coming. Hebrews 12:24 says, “to
Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that
speaks better things than that of Abel.” Presently, it is not the sons of
Aaron, and not the blood of animals, but Jesus – the Mediator of the new
covenant and His own precious blood that speaks better things than that of
Abel.
Today, we need to go to
God through Jesus with a contrite heart. We have to confess all our sins to
Jesus and sacrifice every aspect of our life on the altar through faith in
Christ. He will forgive and reconcile us to the Father. It does not matter how
many sins we have committed or how deep we have sunk in iniquity, “If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness” (1John 1:9). He will cleanse us and take us out of
all unrighteousness.
The
blood of the animal was sprinkled on the four horns of the altar and also
poured around the base of the altar. On other occasions, the blood was taken
into the holy place and sprinkled on the second veil inside the sanctuary (Leviticus 4:6). In
both situations, the sins committed by the sinner was transferred to the
animal, and then transferred from the animal to the sanctuary. The Apostle says
in Hebrews 10:20 that the veil is the flesh of Jesus; therefore, when we confess
our sins and sacrifice them on the altar, they are transferred from us to Jesus
and He takes the sins away. “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and
said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John
1:29).
In the outer court, before the priests could go into the holy place, they had to wash their hands and feet with the clean water in the laver. The laver was located between the altar of burnt sacrifice and the door of the holy place. This washing typified cleansing the soul from sin in the blood of Jesus. Note that we, ourselves, cannot clean our soul from sin, it is the work of Christ – The High Priest; “… To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5). We need a renewal of mind and baptism in which Christ will wash us with His own blood and also give us His Holy Spirit.
At
the centre right of the holy place was the table of showbread. Always, there
were twelve loaves of unleavened bread on the table and the showbread was to be
eaten by the High priest and his sons in the holy place. The bread provided sustenance
for the priests in ‘shadow’, but in reality, Jesus is the bread of life; the
real food for the soul (John 6:33,35,48,51). By studying the Word of God and
applying it in our lives, we eat the body of Christ – the bread of life.
Just
in front of the second veil, inside the holy place, was the altar of incense on
which incense was offered to God every morning and evening by the priests. In
reality, the aroma of the incense represents the prayer of the saints
(Revelation 5:8). Each day in our lives must begin and end with prayer, for
“effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). Prayer
is a beautiful experience that draws the Christian into the very presence of
God. Every sincere prayer is heard in Heaven; it ascends to the sanctuary above
where Jesus ministers and He presents it to the Father.
Day by day, several tens,
hundreds or thousands came to the sanctuary to confess their sins and offer
sacrifices. On daily basis the priests worked in the outer court and in the
holy place on behalf of the people and sins of all sorts were transferred to
the sanctuary which represented Christ (Hebrews 9:6). But the sins did not
remain on the sanctuary forever, there was a day on which all the sins were
cleansed and removed from the sanctuary.
The Holiest of All (Most Holy place)
Behind the second veil,
inside the most holy place (Holiest of All), was only one furniture – the ark
of the covenant or the ark of the testimony. The ark was a golden box that
contained the holy law of God written with God’s own finger on two tables of
stone. This holy law was often referred to as the testimony or the covenant
(the ten commandments). While the ten commandments, a pot of manna and Aaron’s
rod that budded were inside the ark, other ceremonial laws written by Moses
were placed on the side of the ark.
The
Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16)
The worship on day of
atonement occurred once in a year – on the 10th day of the 7th
month. This special service was so sacred to the Jews (even until today)
because it was intended to foreshadow the final day of judgement, therefore,
all the people of Israel got up early in the morning. The day of atonement was
the day on which the sanctuary was
cleansed of all the accumulated records of sins transferred to it
throughout the year. No other priest but the high priest performed all the sanctuary
services on this day. “But into the second part the high priest went alone once
a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the
people's sins committed in ignorance;” (Hebrews 9:7). On this day the high
priest wears his holy garments as ordained by God, and as he begins the service, he receives
from the congregation of Israel two goats for a sin
offering, and a ram for a burnt offering, and a bullock, which he presents
before the Lord. Then the high priest shall cast lots on the two goats: one lot for the LORD and the other lot for
the scapegoat (Azazel).
The high priest will then kill the bullock, and with it he
makes atonement for himself and his household. In doing this, he ministers the
blood of the bullock by sprinkling it with his finger upon the mercy seat
eastward; and then before the mercy seat he sprinkles the blood with his finger
seven times. After making atonement for himself and his house, he takes the
goat upon which the lot fell for the Lord, kills it and offers it as a sin
offering on behalf of the people of Israel. He enters the most holy place again
and sprinkles the blood of the goat with his finger, in the same manner as he
had sprinkled the blood of the bullock, upon the mercy seat and before the
mercy seat seven times. In this also, he makes atonement for the most holy
place, the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar; cleansing all the
sanctuary from all sin.
The Duty of the Congregation
While this work of intercession is
ongoing inside the sanctuary by the high priest, all the congregation of Israel
had a solemn duty to perform on that day. “And it shall be a statute forever to
you: in the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, you shall afflict your souls and do no work at all, the native and
the alien who is staying among you” (Leviticus 16:29). All Israel needed to
abstain from work on the day of atonement and afflict (humble) their souls before the Lord throughout the day. Afflicting
the soul is a voluntary self-denial the people went through on the day of
atonement. Their diet, clothing, conversation, thoughts, attitude, etc. all
changed on the day of atonement. Their relationship with God had to be perfect
else they would suffer the consequence. “For
whoever is not afflicted on this same day shall be cut off from his people”
(Leviticus 23:29).
The old covenant had an earthly sanctuary
and priesthood; the new covenant has a heavenly sanctuary and now Christ, our
High Priest, is standing before the mercy seat inside the Holiest of All (Most
Holy place) in Heaven, we also must afflict our souls; we must humble ourselves
before God and give Him all our sins – for Him to take the sins away and
cleanse our souls and make us perfect – after His own image and likeness. We should not waste any more
time; we should submit our lives to Him “while it is day; the night is coming
when no one can work” (John 9:4).
Ending the Day of Atonement –
Satan’s doom
And when the high priest has made an end of atoning for the most holy place, the holy place, and the altar, he shall present the live goat; and he shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and send him away into the wilderness by the hand of a fit man. The goat shall bear all the iniquities upon itself to a solitary land; and he shall let the goat go into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:20-22). Two great lessons are taught from this symbolism. First, this is exactly the point which made Satan fear and tremble. From this he got to know that when the day of atonement comes to an end, and the High Priest finishes His work of atonement, and comes out of the sanctuary, and all the iniquities, transgressions and sins cleansed and removed from the people and the sanctuary is put upon the head of the scapegoat.
Satan
understood clearly that the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord typified Christ whose blood was split to
atone for man’s sin. His blood alone washes the sinner, cleanses him and gives
him eternal life. He, Satan, also understood that the scapegoat who bears all
the iniquities, transgressions and sins at end typified himself. And that all repentant
sinners who readily give their iniquities, transgressions and sins to Jesus
while He intercedes before the mercy seat above, will be cleansed and
strengthen by Him, and eventually, He will put all the cleaned sins,
transgressions and iniquities upon Satan’s head and this burden of sin will
crush Satan’s head; just as Christ’s life was crushed to death on the cross
because of sin. “And I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise
your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
We must note that what actually killed Jesus on the cross
was the burden of sin. When the Jews
came to Golgotha to break the legs of the hanged people because of the
approaching Sabbath, the two other people who were crucified with Jesus were still
alive but Jesus was already dead (Matthew 19:31-33). His life was crushed out
of Him because he carried the sin of the world in His body. This same sin which
Jesus will cleanse from the sinner and the sanctuary will be put on Satan’s
head and his head will be crushed. This is why Satan walks
about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1Peter 5:8). He employs every strategy with
all sophistry that the people of God will keep on sinning; in that way he may save his head.
Satan is well aware that
if you give your sins to Jesus and I give my sins to Him as well, he, Satan,
will eventually carry all those sins on his head, therefore, he tempts us in
all ways to continue in our sinful ways until we die sinners. But Jesus
admonishes us, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from
you” (James 4:7). Indeed, we can overcome Satan and sin through Christ who
makes us righteous, if we let Him into our heart with prayer and self-denial. If
we do not give Jesus our iniquities, sins and transgressions, then we will be
cut off from the people of God and we will carry our own sins into destruction.
The second lesson is
that, at the end of the day of atonement, the high priest confesses all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their
transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the scapegoat.
So, at the end of the day of atonement all the people of Israel “had less of
sin” – sinless; because all the sins, iniquities and transgressions were
transferred to the scapegoat, and all those who did not afflict their souls
(repent) were cut off. So year by year, God taught His people how he was going
to make them sinless and perfect in the new covenant. Yes, before Jesus leaves
the mercy seat in the heavenly sanctuary and comes back to earth to take His
waiting, faithful ones to the place He is preparing for them, He will cleanse
them of all sins, iniquities and transgressions.
“In the typical service
the high priest, having made the atonement for Israel, came forth and
blessed the congregation. So Christ, at the close of His work as a
mediator, will appear, "without sin unto salvation," (Hebrews
9:28) to bless His waiting people with eternal life. As the priest, in
removing the sins from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the head of the scapegoat,
so Christ will put all these sins upon Satan, the originator and
instigator of sin. The scapegoat, bearing the sins of Israel, was sent
away into a land not inhabited; so Satan, bearing the guilt of all the
sins which he has caused God's people to commit, will be for a thousand
years confined to the earth, which will then be desolate, without
inhabitant, and he will at last suffer the full penalty of sin, in the
fires that shall destroy all the wicked (Revelation 20:1-3). Thus the great
plan of redemption will reach its accomplishment in the final eradication
of sin, and the deliverance of all who have been willing to renounce evil”
(GC88 485.3).
This is the description of the mystery of iniquity which
Satan set to pursue according to the Psalmist, “Behold, he labours in pain with
iniquity, and he has conceived mischief, and has brought forth falsehood. He
made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His
mischief shall return upon his own head,
and his violent dealing shall come down
upon his own pate” (Psalm 7:14-16).
Jesus
invites you to be a partaker of His eternal kingdom. He has done all that is
necessary for your salvation. He invites you to alert your family and friends
to join this eternal kingdom. Invite
your family and friends to share this everlasting gospel; print and share
hard copies with those who have no access to the internet. Let this gospel
reach everyone you know and care about. “For behold, the LORD comes out of His place to punish the people of the earth
for their iniquity; the earth also shall reveal her blood, and shall no more
cover her dead”. “In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword
shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked
serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea” (Isaiah 26:21; 27:1).
Let us renew the faith in Jesus; believe only God’s Word, and continue praying for indwelling of The Holy Spirit.
The LORD bless you and keep you. The LORD make His face
shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The
LORD lift up His face to you and give you peace.
Shalom.
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