Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Psalm 97:2, N.E.B.

In all His dealings with His creatures God has maintained the principles of righteousness by revealing sin in its true character—by demonstrating that its sure result is misery and death. The unconditional pardon of sin never has been, and never will be. Such pardon would show the abandonment of the principles of righteousness, which are the very foundation of the government of God. It would fill the unfallen universe with consternation. God has faithfully pointed out the results of sin, and if these warnings were not true, how could we be sure that His promises would be fulfilled? That so-called benevolence which would set aside justice, is not benevolence, but weakness.

God is the life-giver. From the beginning, all His laws were ordained to life. But sin broke in upon the order that God had established, and discord followed. So long as sin exists, suffering and death are inevitable. It is only because the Redeemer has borne the curse of sin in our behalf, that man can hope to escape, in his own person, its dire results.^{13Patriarchs and Prophets, 522.}

We are to accept of Christ as our personal Saviour, and He imputes unto us the righteousness of God in Christ…. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).

In the love of God has been opened the most marvelous vein of precious truth, and the treasures of the grace of Christ are laid open before the church and the world…. What love is this, what marvelous, unfathomable love that would lead Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners. What a loss it is to the soul who understands the strong claims of the law, and who yet fails to understand the grace of Christ which doth much more abound…. Look at the cross of Calvary. It is a standing pledge of the boundless love, the measureless mercy of the heavenly Father.^{14Selected Messages 1:155, 156.}

There is a God in Israel, with whom is deliverance for all that are oppressed. Righteousness is the habitation of His throne.^{15Testimonies for the Church 5:197.}

From God’s Amazing Grace

I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Isaiah 6:1.

When God was about to send Isaiah with a message to His people, He first permitted the prophet to look in vision into the holy of holies within the sanctuary. Suddenly the gate and the inner veil of the temple seemed to be uplifted or withdrawn, and he was permitted to gaze within, upon the holy of holies, where even the prophet’s feet might not enter. There rose before him a vision of Jehovah sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, while the train of His glory filled the temple. Around the throne were seraphim, as guards about the great King, and they reflected the glory that surrounded them. As their songs of praise resounded in deep notes of adoration, the pillars of the gate trembled, as if shaken by an earthquake. With lips unpolluted by sin, these angels poured forth the praises of God. “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts,” they cried: “the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).

The seraphim around the throne are so filled with reverential awe as they behold the glory of God, that they do not for an instant look upon themselves with admiration. Their praise is for the Lord of hosts. As they look into the future, when the whole earth shall be filled with His glory, the triumphant song is echoed from one to another in melodious chant, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.” They are fully satisfied to glorify God; abiding in His presence, beneath His smile of approbation, they wish for nothing more.^{11Gospel Workers, 21.}

The world that Satan has claimed and has ruled over with cruel tyranny, the Son of God has, by one vast achievement, encircled in His love and connected again with the throne of Jehovah. Cherubim and seraphim, and the unnumbered hosts of all the unfallen worlds, sang anthems of praise to God and the Lamb when this triumph was assured. They rejoiced that the way of salvation had been opened to the fallen race and that the earth would be redeemed from the curse of sin. How much more should those rejoice who are the objects of such amazing love! How can we ever be in doubt and uncertainty, and feel that we are orphans? ^{12Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 104.}

From God’s Amazing Grace

The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him. Habakkuk 2:20.

I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. I gazed on Jesus’ countenance and admired His lovely person. The Father’s person I could not behold, for a cloud of glorious light covered Him. I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. He said He had, but I could not behold it, for said He, “If you should once behold the glory of His person, you would cease to exist.” …

I saw the Father rise from the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the veil, and sit down…. Then a cloudy chariot, with wheels like flaming fire, surrounded by angels, came to where Jesus was. He stepped into the chariot and was borne to the holiest, where the Father sat. There I beheld Jesus, a great High Priest, standing before the Father.^{8Early Writings, 54, 55.}

Two lovely cherubs, one on each side of the ark, stood with their wings outstretched above it, and touching each other above the head of Jesus as He stood before the mercy seat. Their faces were turned toward each other, and they looked downward to the ark, representing all the angelic host looking with interest at the law of God. Between the cherubim was a golden censer, and as the prayers of the saints, offered in faith, came up to Jesus, and He presented them to His Father, a cloud of fragrance arose from the incense, looking like smoke of most beautiful colors. Above the place where Jesus stood, before the ark, was exceedingly bright glory that I could not look upon; it appeared like the throne of God.^{9Early Writings, 252.}

Our crucified Lord is pleading for us in the presence of the Father at the throne of grace. His atoning sacrifice we may plead for our pardon, our justification, and our sanctification. The lamb slain is our only hope. Our faith looks up to Him, grasps Him as the One who can save to the uttermost, and the fragrance of the all-sufficient offering is accepted of the Father…. Christ’s glory is concerned in our success. He has a common interest in all humanity. He is our sympathizing Saviour.^{10SDA Bible Commentary 7:948.}

From God’s Amazing Grace

Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne … and there was a rainbow round about the throne. Revelation 4:2, 3.

The rainbow of promise encircling the throne on high is an everlasting testimony that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). It testifies to the universe that God will never forsake His people in their struggle with evil. It is an assurance to us of strength and protection as long as the throne itself shall endure.^{5The Desire of Ages, 493.}

As the bow in the cloud is formed by the union of the sunlight and the shower, so the rainbow encircling the throne represents the combined power of mercy and justice. It is not justice alone that is to be maintained; for this would eclipse the glory of the rainbow of promise above the throne; man could see only the penalty of the law. Were there no justice, no penalty, there would be no stability to the government of God.

It is the mingling of judgment and mercy that makes salvation full and complete. It is the blending of the two that leads us, as we view the world’s Redeemer and the law of Jehovah, to exclaim, “Thy gentleness hath made me great” (2 Samuel 22:36). We know that the gospel is a perfect and complete system, revealing the immutability of the law of God…. Mercy invites us to enter through the gates into the city of God, and justice is sacrificed to accord to every obedient soul full privileges as a member of the royal family, a child of the heavenly King.^{6SDA Bible Commentary 6:1071, 1072.}

By faith let us look upon the rainbow round about the throne, the cloud of sins confessed behind it. The rainbow of promise is an assurance to every humble, contrite, believing soul, that his life is one with Christ, and that Christ is one with God. The wrath of God will not fall upon one soul that seeks refuge in Him. God Himself has declared, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” “The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant” (Exodus 12:13; Genesis 9:16).^{7Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 157.}

From God’s Amazing Grace

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Hebrews 4:14.

In the temple in heaven, the dwelling place of God, His throne is established in righteousness and judgment. In the most holy place is His law, the great rule of right by which all mankind are tested. The ark that enshrines the tables of the law is covered with the mercy seat, before which Christ pleads His blood in the sinner’s behalf. Thus is represented the union of justice and mercy in the plan of human redemption….

As a priest, Christ is now set down with the Father in His throne. Upon the throne with the eternal, self-existent One, is He who “hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4), who “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15)…. “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1). His intercession is that of a pierced and broken body, of a spotless life. The wounded hands, the pierced side, the marred feet, plead for fallen man, whose redemption was purchased at such infinite cost.^{3The Great Controversy, 415, 416.}

The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross…. Through defects in the character, Satan works to gain control of the whole mind, and he knows that if these defects are cherished, he will succeed. Therefore he is constantly seeking to deceive the followers of Christ with his fatal sophistry that it is impossible for them to overcome. But Jesus pleads in their behalf His wounded hands, His bruised body; and He declares to all who would follow Him: “My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Corinthians 12:9)…. Let none, then, regard their defects as incurable. God will give faith and grace to overcome them.

We are now living in the great day of atonement…. All who would have their names retained in the book of life should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance. There must be deep, faithful searching of heart.^{4The Great Controversy, 489, 490.}

From God’s Amazing Grace