Did Jesus Christ complete His work of salvation on the cross?

Deutsch

Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose again, and ascended into heaven. Since then, He has sat at the right hand of God. Even with His last breath on the cross, Jesus said, “It is finished!” This was supposedly an expression of His completed work of salvation. But it was far from over. It is a fatal error to linger on Mount Golgotha and wait for “better times” in a misguided belief in salvation.

The cross was not the end

The last words of Jesus Christ as he died on the cross were, “It is finished!” (John 9:30). For the majority of Christians, this is an expression of the completed ministry of Jesus Christ.

He died for our sins, all our misdeeds are hereby forgiven, the law no longer applies, and we are all no longer subject to the law, but only to grace. From now on, confession of faith in Jesus Christ was sufficient, the belief that He died for us, rose again on the third day, and then ascended into heaven. Done, scratched, the skins are dry, nothing can go wrong now.

The gospel, or rather, God’s plan of salvation for His completely lost creation, mankind, is far simpler than many “faith brokers” and even entire churches portray by interweaving their own traditions, but it is actually not so simple that one is given a blank check with a free pass to heaven.

This is how the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), for example, conveys it, stating that baptism is the “ticket to heaven” (Info). This is, to say the least, grossly negligent misinformation.

The skins in the dry – error

This conceals the great danger that people, in the mistaken belief that they already have their ticket to heaven in their pocket, continue a completely carefree life without making any attempt to change their way of life, their thoughts, and actions according to God’s will. Self-made change is impossible anyway. Only the Creator can accomplish that. One must “just want” and ask God for it, and above all, trust in Him that He will complete the work. God neither coerces nor forces anyone and leaves each person their own will and free choice.

Anyone who believes that everything ends with the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ is in a dangerous error. While Jesus’ death on the cross was an absolute prerequisite for the exercise of grace without abandoning perpetual justice, it was by no means the “final destination.”

Atrophied sanctuary doctrine

Probably for this reason, to lull people into a false sense of security, the topic of the Tabernacle (later Temple), and especially the Heavenly Sanctuary, is not only a largely neglected topic, but is also dismissed as a fantasy doctrine.

The false assumptions leading to this include, above all, versions of an obsolete Old Testament, the misunderstood connection between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, and also the erroneous assumption that God’s laws (10 Commandments) applied only to the people of Israel and, even today, only to the Jewish people. They are subject to the law, while Christians are subject to grace. This applies especially to the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath on the 7th day of the week (Info).

The Tabernacle of the people of Israel, essentially the portable temple until Solomon had the first permanent temple built, was designed according to a precise, detailed plan provided by God (Info). The celestial orientation, size, proportions, division of the areas, equipment, its materials and design, its locations, the associated procedures and rituals, etc., were all precisely defined.

The equipment of the Tabernacle, including an altar of burnt offering, a laver, a seven-branched menorah, a table with 12 loaves of bread, an altar of incense, and the Ark of the Covenant, was relatively simple. Yet each detail served a very specific purpose and symbolized precisely one component of God’s plan of salvation for humanity.

There are numerous counterexamples

The stark counterparts to this simple, yet symbolically laden, interior of the Tabernacle are many “houses of God” crammed to the ceiling with gold, silver, marble, precious stones, figurines, decorations, and images, whose visual impact virtually overwhelms the visitor, accompanied by blaring, mind-numbing organ music for some ritual according to a traditional liturgy devised by man.

Emptiness of content, triviality, and paganism disguised as Christianity seek to be compensated for with pomp, ostentation, and delusion. This is not achieved through actual filling, but rather by numbing the senses and shutting down the mind.

Follow the Lamb wherever he goes

Most Christians are probably familiar with the sealing of the 144,000 (Revelation 7). These are those who will receive God’s seal when the conclusion of the end times begins. These are the ones who, while still alive, are saved and protected by the seal from the coming seven final plagues. A further description of the characteristics of these 144,000 is contained in Revelation 14:4-5:
“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.“

Those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. This should really raise the question of where the Lamb has gone. After all, the sealing of people is not for what may yet come, but rather for what has happened so far and also qualified the saved for their sealing. Jesus Christ was taken down from the cross and laid in the tomb on the very day of His crucifixion. On the third day, He rose again, and after another 40 days, Christ ascended into heaven.

However, following was not possible, as Jesus Christ explained to the apostles who still did not fully understand, John 16:28:
“I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
and already in John 7:33-34:
“Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.“

So, in what way did the 144,000 follow the Lamb? Paul gives the crucial clue, which must be considered in relation to the gospel as a whole, 1 Corinthians 2:14:
“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.“

Tabernacle explains the principle exactly

At this point, it helps to view the tabernacle as exactly what it actually was: a representation of the Heavenly Sanctuary and thus the “materialized copy” of the work of redemption. In addition to the regular morning and evening sacrifices, guilt and atonement offerings were also offered. The latter were actually meant to remain the exception, while morning and evening sacrifices were, in fact, a regular occurrence.

The priest took the sacrificial animal killed by the sinner himself and burned it on the altar of burnt offering. The priest took a portion of the sacrificial blood into the Holy Place and applied it to the four horns at the corners of the altar of incense. The rising smoke from the incense symbolized the prayers and requests for forgiveness of sins. This smoke entered the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat (“lid”) were located. The light emanating from it illuminated the smoke from the altar of incense that had entered.

Day of Atonement – Cleansing of the Sanctuary

Once a year, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, 10 of Tishri) occurred. The entire people were gathered. On this day, after a period of thorough preparation and purification, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to cleanse it of the blood of sin that had accumulated over the previous year. The sins were removed. Only from this point on was the sin of the people truly blotted out. However, it could also have happened that this blood of sin fell back on the sinner, for example, through non-presence on this important day or due to a lack of prior purification.

This role of the priest who mediates between God and man throughout the year and the High Priest who cleanses the sanctuary once a year has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ since His Ascension (Hebrews 7, verse 11 onwards). Since then, He has been the High Priest of us all and, of course, also the Mediator. It is also Jesus Christ who will cleanse the sanctuary. This will not happen annually, however, but once and for all. When will this happen? Daniel gave the crucial clue in his book, chapter 8, verse 14:
“And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.“

Prophetically predicted

At what point do the 2,300 evenings and mornings (prophetically for 2,300 years) begin? The prophetic period begins with the time of the 70-year week, Daniel 9:25 (Info):
“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.“

This was under the Medo-Persian king Artaxerxes in 457 BC. This results in the year 1844 after 2,300 years (without the year “0,” because this does not exist). In this year, Jesus Christ, our High Priest, entered the Holy of Holies of the Heavenly Sanctuary to cleanse it of the accumulated blood of sin (more information ).

First, the judgment will be passed on to those who have already died throughout human history, and soon this will also be passed on to those still living. In other words, the judgment is already underway. Ultimately, at Jesus’ return, it will be determined who is saved and who is lost. This logically presupposes a prior decision (judgment).

Revelation 22:12:
“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.“

John 5:27-29:
“And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.“

Daniel 12:2:
“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.“

Jesus Christ has long been in the Holy of Holies

Christians who consider Jesus’ work of salvation on the cross to be complete stand, so to speak, before a no longer existing cross, gazing upward into the void. They remain (spiritually) on Golgotha, waiting until they are “somehow” taken away. One could also say, “waiting for better times.” Yet Jesus Christ has long since entered the sanctuary as High Priest and is now in the Holy of Holies to be cleansed of the accumulated sins of humanity.

Anyone who has not followed Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, still remains “somewhere,” on the cross, or outside the tabernacle, perhaps “even” in the outer courtyard. But Jesus Christ is in the sanctuary and is neither loitering in the surrounding area nor in the outer courtyard. Therefore, anyone who has (spiritually) followed Jesus Christ, like the 144,000 described above, is also in the sanctuary. What does this mean in practice?

The altar of burnt offering in the courtyard served, among other things, for the offerings for guilt and sin. It was symbolized by the deep sacrifice before Jesus’ work of salvation and His crucifixion, and subsequently abolished because Jesus Christ had now offered Himself as a sacrifice (“it is finished!”). This was announced as such. Faith in the sacrifice of Jesus (Messiah) justified the people of the Old Testament just as we believe in the same sacrifice of Jesus today, albeit only in retrospect.

Trampling the Courtyard

But just as the ancient people of Israel were required to walk God’s path and remain on it, so too is the same for every other human being. This particularly applies to the observance of the Ten Commandments. Once transgressed, a sin offering was necessary. After Jesus Christ became our High Priest, this corresponded to repentance, penance, and the request for forgiveness in prayer. Morning and evening sacrifices symbolized the purification (sanctification) of people. A constant, ongoing process, whereas the sin offering “actually” was only due after a slip-up.

As then, so now. However, the people of Israel did not handle this as it was originally intended. Offerings for sin after a slip-up were not a “standardized, regular occurrence.” True to the motto, “It doesn’t matter if I sin now, a sacrificial animal will rectify it. So why should I change?”, God was displeased with this ritual that had degenerated into a sacrificial festival.

The whole thing disgusted God. Isaiah 1:12-13:
“When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.“

“Trampling the courtyard.” With this, God expressed the fact that the people, en masse, were simply offering their sacrificial animals, purely formally, without remorse, and without any desire for character improvement, purely as a matter of routine. This happened in the courtyard, where the altar of burnt offering was also located.

The forecourt is trampled on today

The exact same picture emerges from the attitude of many Christians who believe that Jesus accomplished the final work of redemption with His death on the cross, that laws are merely decorative, that they are merely grace, that saying “sorry” now and then is fine. Not at all, that doesn’t fit! A sharp warning against such an attitude can be found in Revelation 11:2:
“But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.“

In his vision, John was to measure the temple, as well as the altar (of incense), and those who pray IN the sanctuary. The outer courtyard, i.e., outside the tabernacle (or temple), was not to be measured. Measuring is nothing other than applying God’s standard for judging the believers. What is the standard? THE LAW OF GOD! For otherwise, on what basis could judgment be held?

Those who are still trampling around in the outer courtyard and are not in the sanctuary will not even be judged at this time. They are categorically counted among the Gentiles, that is, among the godless. For them, an investigation is out of the question; as godless Gentiles, they are disqualified from the outset. Among these will also be counted the Christians who did not follow the Lamb into the sanctuary! This is precisely what Revelation 11:2 says.

Quickly follow into the sanctuary!

Entering the sanctuary (spiritually) is the willed, God-permitted change of one’s character toward a being more like Jesus. It is the overcoming of sin, thanks to God’s power. Whoever earnestly asks for it and truly wants to do God’s will, God will lend a hand. It is never too late for this. God never comes too late to complete His work; in the worst case, only in time. This necessarily includes following the Lamb wherever He goes.

The believer not only has free access to the sanctuary with Jesus Christ the High Priest, but should also enter there as quickly as possible. For the saving work of Jesus Christ by no means ended on the cross, but has continued ever since in the heavenly sanctuary. And indeed, it is nearing completion:

Bible verses from King James Version (1611)

Deutsch

English