“The Old Testament tabernacle system was a way for God to temporarily deal with sins while waiting to unleash the ultimate Sacrifice upon first-century Judea. Every sin of humanity and the universe—past, present and future—would be laid upon Christ. The never-to-be-repeated sacrifice would shelter everyone from eternal death. The consequence of sin is not eternal torment, but eternal death: “The soul that is sinning, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). Eternal torment is a theological fiction. It’s not the consequence of anything. Death, however, is. Ezekiel 18:20 does not say, “The soul that is sinning, it shall die forever,” but this is implied. We discover later that Jesus Christ is “The Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25). Without resurrection, there is no sequel to death, that is, no resurrection. Without resurrection, people die and stay dead……… By bearing the full effect of sin (death), Jesus Christ exhausted that effect for the sake of everyone. A man wanting to eliminate drowning from the earth can either… either take away all the water, or eliminate drowning itself. Drowning is the effect of the intake of water. If the man removes the effect, he renders the water harmless. Our sins, though they remain for now, are thus rendered harmless. Christ eliminated their effect. It is in this sense that sins are eliminated. They are eliminated by being rendered harmless. If we understand justification, not only are our sins rendered harmless, but they actually work together for good (Romans 8:28), bringing us into a knowledge of God’s grace (Romans 5:20)... Humans could never die for their own sins, let alone the sins of the world. God saved the ultimate battle against Death for His own dear Son. In the meantime, because of His forbearance, God assured humanity of His intention to someday forever remove sin’s consequence by instituting the tabernacle system. The death of the animals for the sake of the nation Israel dimly pictured the coming of One Who would suffer death for the sake of all. In this, we see the righteousness of God.” —M Zender
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 23:53:41 +0000