The second established will of the Father
The second
established will of the Father is therefore the source and the method ordained by
the Father even before the foundation of the world for the sanctification,
redemption, and justification of man which became valid and effective at the
death of Jesus Christ, for where there is a testament, there must also of
necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is in force after men
are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. And in the
case where there is more than one testament or will, the latter always takes
precedence over the former.
And
so, in God's first will for the sanctification, redemption and justification of
man, there were three significant things that constituted this will; viz. An
earthly tabernacle, animal sacrifices for sacrifices and offerings, burnt
offerings, and offerings for sin, and temporary high priests.
But
they were deemed unprofitable and useless: For it is stated that, “if that
first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming,
says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and
with the house of Judah --- not according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the
land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded
them, says the Lord” (Hebrews
8:7-9).
Now
with the establishment of this second will, in that He says, "A new
covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete
and growing old is ready to vanish away. Therefore, when Jesus Christ came into
the world He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body
You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no
pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come --- In the volume of the book it is
written of Me --- To do Your will, O God.' "
Previously
saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin
You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according
to the law), then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O
God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that
will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all” (Hebrews 10:5-10).
The
death of Jesus Christ therefore fulfilled the will of God for the
sanctification of man, by doing away with the copy and shadow of the reality,
which included the earthly tabernacle, the animal sacrifices for the different
offerings, and the weakly temporary high priests, and replacing them with the
reality.
And
so it is written; “Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests
always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. 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;
the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not
yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.
It
was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are
offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to
the conscience ---concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and
fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:6-10).
But having established the second, we are told that, “Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, havin
g obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the
ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the
flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God?” (Hebrews
9:11-14).
And
so the death of Jesus Christ fulfilled God's will, and established the second
once and for all, by the offering of His body which He applied in three ways.
To be continued
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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