The Daily Word of Righteousness

Glorified in His Saints, #4

He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites all their sins and put them on the goat's head. He shall send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man shall release it in the desert. (Leviticus 16:21,22 NIV)

The Day of Atonement is the Divine judgment on the world, sin, and self-rule on these three dimensions of spiritual darkness that are part of our personality.

The first part of the Day of Atonement, which is the offering of blood for the guilt of our sins, takes place as we trust in Calvary for forgiveness for the sins we have committed in the past and for the sins we are committing in the present. We are not referring to willful or presumptuous sins, for they are not covered by the Levitical offerings or by the blood of Calvary. The believer who sins willfully, after receiving Christ, will experience the wrath of God.

For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26,27)

The second part of the day of Atonement, which is the removal of the presence of sin from the camp, is also taking place today. God is ready to make the enemies of Christ His footstool, and this aspect of redemption is beginning in the saints who are living close to the Lord.

God is ready to give us, through Christ, the desire and the ability to overcome the world, sin, and our own self-rule and self-centeredness. Our task is to confess our sins as they are revealed to us, and then to patiently obey the Lord as He judges the darkness in us and drives it out of our personality. This is the personal, spiritual fulfillment of the Levitical Day of Atonement.

One aspect of the work of the Day of Atonement, of the Divine judgment, consists of the persecutions and afflictions that come upon us in the world. This is why Paul speaks of our being made worthy of the Kingdom of God by means of the sufferings we experience.

Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: (II Thessalonians 1:5)

Apart from our experiencing such Divinely appointed sufferings in this life it is impossible for the Lord Jesus to be glorified in us at His revelation from Heaven.

The Christian believers who in the future avoid suffering by cooperating with the economic system of the world, when their government is dictating how they must serve the Lord, will not be qualified to experience the inner glorification. Most Christians will choose the way of Laodicea (Matthew 24:12) because of the pleasures that are available as a result of the widespread lawlessness.

To be continued.