Jesus Christ - our Mercy Seat

In the days of the old testament, the tablets of stone on which the law was written was placed inside the ark of the covenant and covered by the mercy seat. In order for anyone to reach the law, they needed to move the mercy seat out of the way. Once a year, the high priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial animal on the mercy seat to make propitiation for the sins of Israel. 

The set up was a shadow and type of which our Lord Jesus is the substance. Believers, Jesus is the substance of the mercy seat - the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2)! His blood was shed for us as a once for all time atonement for sin (Hebrews 10:10), not like the shadow where one sacrifice was not enough. Because of His sacrifice, God no longer sees us as sinners but as His righteousness in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Trying to keep the law as a means of getting right with God (which no one can do according to Romans 3:20) is like reaching for the tablets of stone in the ark of the covenant. You need to get the mercy seat (our Lord Jesus) out of the way first! No wonder Paul said in Galatians 5:4 "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace." Fallen from grace into the law.

This has direct repercussions as seen in 1 Samuel 6:19 which tells us what happened when the people of Beth Shemesh looked inside the ark of the covenant:

"Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter."

Believers, the letter (law) kills but the Spirit gives life. In order to look inside the ark of the Lord to look at or take out the law, the mercy seat (Christ) has to be moved out of the way. Just looking in was what killed 50,070 Beth Shemesh men in one fell swoop! They moved the mercy seat away and the law cried out against them because none can be made righteous by law-keeping! No wonder Paul said in Galatians 5:4 -"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."

You can't say "I will do my best to stop sinning and be good and Jesus will see that I have tried and do the rest" or "I will sow this seed so God can help me build my own house." These things point to law-keeping. To get to the two tablets of stone (the law) in the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat (Christ) needs to be removed, even if it is just one law that you keep or one good work you do by your own strength.

Believers, our righteousness is a gift from God, purchased with the blood of Jesus. Nothing we do or don't do can make us right with God. Jesus already made us 100% righteous by taking our place on the cross! It is a finished work. His righteousness is a gift to us- Romans 5:17. By the same token, nothing we do or don't do can make us lose our right standing with God because we did not earn it to begin with. Christ paid for it with His blood.

As the righteousness of God in Christ, every single blessing in the bible that is for the righteous, including the blessings in Deuteronomy 28 are yours by default! Meditate on (speak out) these promises by God's grace! They are yours in Christ.

Romans 3:20 says "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." But many of us still think along the lines of "do good, get good; do bad, get bad."

This isn't a life of rest, thinking that something bad will happen to you because of what you did or didn't do. This is the Law. We are of faith. And the law is not of faith. Expect good things to happen to you always; it cost God His Son to make this happen for you!

Jesus is Grace and Truth - the antithesis of the law. We are not under law but under grace. Here, we get the good we don't deserve and escape punishment for our sins! Jesus was punished for our sins! Why do we think we have to bear the punishment a second time? Why do we think that we need to neglect our bodies or do things before our Heavenly Father can bless us when Romans 8:32 says He gives us all things FREELY with Christ?

"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

But God's grace is not a license to continue in sin. It is the key to right living! Because the Holy Spirit transforms us (2 Corinthians 3:18), we find that the law is fulfilled in us, but not by us. We do right by accident! We go and sin no more! We bear fruits of the Spirit. We live right. Nothing to do with our efforts, all to do with our Saviour Jesus. We are made righteous in Christ - freely. His gift of no condemnation makes us go and sin no more, not more rules and regulations.

Our Heavenly Father loves us so much!

Believe Right and you will Live Right.