Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary

“And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8)

Preview

The ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary is as essential for salvation as His death on the cross. Christ’s once-for-all death on the cross for our sins completed the atonement. Now He is making the benefits of His sacrifice available to us. He is applying His blood to our individual records so that each of us will be judged righteous and ready for everlasting life. This is the message and meaning of Christ’s ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. Both are necessary if humanity is to receive eternal life.

The message of the sanctuary illustrates three phases of Christ’s ministry: first, His substitutionary sacrifice; second, His priestly mediation; and third, the final judgment. For all these, God used symbols to make it plain.

Points to ponder

1. The heavenly sanctuary is understood by a study of the earthly sanctuary. Why?

Earth’s sanctuary was a miniature of heaven’s, and we understand the unseen by the seen.

2. The sanctuary demonstrates God’s plan to remove sin from the individual and the universe. Why?

Each sacrifice was a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice. Penitent sinners learn that they need a substitute to pay for their sins.

3. The sanctuary had two basic services—a daily and a yearly. Why?

The daily services symbolized God’s plan to constantly provide intercession, forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration to the repentant sinner. Constant access to God was symbolized in the morning and evening sacrifices. The yearly service on the Day of Atonement was a time of judgment, during which the records of sins were removed. Also symbolized at this time was Satan, the originator of sin, paying for his crime against God’s government.

4. The time of the heavenly judgment hour was prophesied. Why?

God desired mankind to know when the final work of Christ’s heavenly ministry would begin in the heavenly sanctuary.

5. At the conclusion of heaven’s judgment, everyone who has ever lived on earth will have had his eternal destiny fixed. Why?

Because probation will have closed, and there is no second chance. God brings the reign of sin to an end and rewards everyone according to their record.

Nuts & Bolts

(This is a Questions and Statements section condensing the SDA Believe chapter Christ's Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary. Make sure you read the chapter first.)

1. The sanctuary built by Moses on earth was an example, in all its detail, of the heavenly sanctuary. Read Hebrews 9:1-7.

Hebrews 8:2

2. All the services in the earthly sanctuary represented those in the heavenly sanctuary.

Hebrews 11:11, 12

3. Since the earthly sanctuary and its services give us an insight into the role of the heavenly sanctuary, we need to compare the daily services and the yearly service.

Earthly sanctuary: daily—took place in the courtyard and in the Holy Place every day.

a. The animal sacrificed symbolized Jesus as our Substitute. (Isaiah 53:6).

b. The priest also symbolized Jesus. If the sacrifice atoned for our sins, why was a priest necessary? There was need for mediation between sinners and a holy God. (1 Timothy 2:5).

Heavenly sanctuary: daily—represented by Christ’s mediatorial work after He ascended to heaven. (Hebrews 7:25).

Earthly sanctuary: yearly—took place once a year in the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement. In the earthly sanctuary on the great Day of Atonement, two goats were used. The Lord’s goat represented... Azazel, or the scapegoat, represented...

Heavenly sanctuary: yearly—illustrates the three phases of God’s final judgment:

a. ... premillennial judgment (taking place now);

b. ... judgment (will take place during the thousand years);

c. ... judgment (will take place at the end of the thousand years).

4. These services in the earthly sanctuary allow us to understand what Jesus is doing for us in the heavenly sanctuary.

Hebrews 8:1

5. Since the sanctuary explains God’s plan for the removal of sin from the individual and the universe, it must also deal with a time to investigate guilt and a time to pronounce its judgment. When was this to begin?

Daniel 8:14: “Unto two thousand three hundred days, and then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Ezekiel 6:4 says: one prophetic day equals ... Therefore Daniel 8:14 indicates 2300 prophetic years.

a. When did the 2300 day/year date begin?

b. When did the seventy weeks (490 years) end?

6. What times occur within this prophecy that point to Christ’s redemption of humanity?

Daniel 9:26, 27. Christ’s death on the cross abolished all of the sacrificial system, for He was Himself the ultimate sacrifice that takes away the sins of the world. To mark the end of the earthly sacrificial system even as Jesus died on the cross, a unique event took place in the temple in Jerusalem at the very moment Jesus died. (Matthew 27:51).

7. Since the 2300-year prophecy ended in 1844, what event was to begin for Jesus?

Daniel 7:9. Christ began the final phase of His high-priestly ministry, called the pre-advent investigative judgment.

8. When this judgment ends and Christ proclaims, “It is finished,” what solemn announcement is uttered?

Revelation 22:11, 12

9. What did Christ’s death make available for the Christian?

Hebrews 7:25

Hebrews 4:16

His death on the cross paid our debt of sin, and His ministry in heaven applies its full benefits of the atonement for salvation.

10. This judgment-hour message is repeated in Revelation 14:6.

a. Whom does it call everyone to worship?

b. What special time frame is mentioned? “The hour of...” (Revelation 14:6, 7).

11. What criteria will God use in the investigative judgment?

Ecclesiastes 12:14

12. What response is the Holy Spirit calling for you to make today?

2 Corinthians 6:2

Words to Remember

• Substitutionary: Someone acting or serving in place of another.

• Mediator: A go-between to bring about an agreement of peace between two parties.

• Atonement: An act that brings reconciliation between two estranged persons—such as Christ’s death that made peace between God and sinners.

• Reconciliation: To bring about harmony between two parties by doing away with the hostility between them.

• Restoration: To bring back to the original condition.

The Difference Between

• Old Covenant: An attempt by Israel to fulfill the covenant they made with God by their own strength. They sought salvation in their works, and failed in their covenant relationship.

• New Covenant: The covenant, fulfillment of which was made possible by the blood of Christ. Salvation is an act of God’s grace, and the power to obey God is given to those who accept Jesus in faith.

• The Lord’s goat: The goat whose blood was taken to the mercy seat in the Most Holy Place as the final act of atonement in the sanctuary. It symbolizes Christ paying for our sins.

• Scapegoat or Azazel: The goat that represents Satan and was left in the wilderness as a symbol of the banishment of sin and Satan.

I Truly Believe

Think carefully about each statement below. Check the statements you truly believe.

My Prayer

Dear Father,

I thank You for the truth of the sanctuary. Help me to understand fully Your love, justice, mercy, and righteousness as revealed in the ministry of Christ. Teach me Your plans for victory over sin, and help me prepare for a life with You in eternity.

Amen.