The Mercy Seat
By Henry M. Morris, Ph. D.
“And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the
ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet
with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat.” (Exodus 25:21-22)
In the “holy of holies” of the tabernacle, God would meet with
Israel’s high priest once a year to commune with His people at a meeting place
called the “mercy
seat.”
The Hebrew word was derived from the word for “atonement,” which in turn meant essentially a “covering” for the Ark of the Covenant.
On the great day of atonement each year, the
high priest was commanded to sprinkle the blood from the sin offerings on the
mercy seat to make an atonement for all the people (Leviticus 16:14-15).
This annual ceremony, of course, merely
prefigures the full atonement that Christ would make one day when “by his own blood he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrew 9:12).
Since this blood has been sprinkled once for
all on the heavenly mercy seat, as it were, we are now “justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth
to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness
for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Romans
3:24-25).
In this verse, the word “propitiation” is the Greek word for
“mercy
seat” (and
is so translated in Hebrews
9:5).
That is, Christ Himself, with His atoning
blood, is our mercy seat, where we can meet with God.
Thus, the golden, blood-stained mercy seat
becomes the very throne of God Himself, where He meets with those who believe
on Him for salvation.
“Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in
time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
God the
Father chose to send Jesus to the cross to show His love and the seriousness of
our sin.
Jesus
accepted to take our punishment, to save all who would believe.
Why not receive God's gift of salvation and become His child?
Open your heart and say this prayer:
.
“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins
have separated me from You.
I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my past
sinful life and live a new life pleasing to You.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning
again.
I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my
sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to
rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank You that according to
Your Word, I am now born again.
Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You,
and to do Your will for the rest of my life. I promise to study Your Word - the
Bible.
Use me for Your glory.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”
RELATED POSTS:
http://www.icr.org/article/9730/
No comments:
Post a Comment