Reflections on Hebrews with Andrew Murray (11)

 

“Who, when he had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 1:3.

 

As Murray continues to ponder Hebrews 1:3 he writes:

 

“Christ seated on the throne in heaven means our being actually brought, in the supernatural power which the coming down of the Holy Spirit supplies, into God’s holy presence, and living there our daily life…It is so much easier to take in the doctrine of a Substitute and an atonement, of repentance and pardon, than of a High Priest bringing us into God’s presence, and keeping us in loving communion with Him.”

 

“Let no one think that I speak of what is too high. I speak of what is your heritage and destiny. The same share you have in Jesus on the cross, you have in Jesus on the throne. Be ready to sacrifice the earthly life for the heavenly; to follow Christ fully in His separation from the world and His surrender to God’s will; and Christ in heaven will prove in you the reality and the power of His heavenly priesthood.”

 

There is a dynamic mystery in which we are brought into the Holy of Holies through Christ (Hebrews 4:14 – 16; 10:19 – 22), while at the same time our hearts are made the dwelling place of God (John 14:17, 23). That is, Christ lives in us and we live in Christ. We live before the Throne and our hearts and souls are made God’s Throne. We do not understand this but we can experience it…in fact it becomes our Way of Life in Christ.

 

We live “before” God as we live before His Throne and He as lives within us. We abide in His Tabernacle as we are before the Throne; also our hearts are made His tabernacle and also His Tabernacle. What I mean by our hearts being made His tabernacle and His Tabernacle is that as an individual I am a temple of the Living God (1 Cor. 6:19), and also that as individuals joined together we are His Body, His Church, His Bride…His Living Tabernacle (Ephesians 2:19 – 22; 1 Peter 2:4 – 10).

 

God’s Presence is in the Holy of Holies, God’s Presence is within me in Christ, God’s Presence is in us, His People. God’s Presence is in us as we are gathered, and His Presence is in us as we are scattered. Whether we are gathered or we are scattered we are called to live in the Holy of Holies; whether we are gathered or we are scattered His Presence is with us on our collective pilgrimage. As His People, we are called to be the particular place where God dwells on earth – not just a few hours a week, but throughout each moment, each day, we are Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven with the glory of God for the blessing and healing of the peoples of the earth.

 

Murray writes, “It is so much easier to take in the doctrine of a Substitute and an atonement, of repentance and pardon, than of a High Priest bringing us into God’s presence, and keeping us in loving communion with Him.” Well, for sure we seldom speak of the latter, and without the former we cannot have the latter, either objectively or subjectively. In my own experience I seldom see believers who actually live in either one of these realities in Christ, so many Christians remain at “first base”, not realizing the completeness of the Atonement, never living securely in a relationship with Jesus Christ. As the book of Hebrews will illustrate, many of us have been religiously raised to live in the mindset of the Old Covenant rather than the New Covenant.

 

The depths of having a “Substitute and an atonement, of repentance and pardon” can no more be fully plumbed than can the heights of having “a High Priest bringing us into God’s presence, and keeping us in loving communion with Him,” be scaled. The wonder and grandeur of the Trinity and of the Atonement, in all of its facets, is beyond us – and yet God’s grace continually draws us deeper into God’s life, His friendship, His fellowship (koinonia).

 

To live “in loving communion with Him” is the reason we exist, it is our purpose for living, it is why we were created in the image of God, and why we were redeemed by Jesus Christ.

 

As you read this, are you living both “at the Cross” and “before the Throne of God”? Is this our Way of Life?

 

We’ll continue with the above quote in our next post in this series.