But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.—Hebrews 9:11

The sacrificial service that had pointed to Christ passed away; but the eyes of men and women were turned to the true sacrifice for the sins of the world. The earthly priesthood ceased; but we look to Jesus, the minister of the new covenant, and “to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” “The way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: … but Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, … by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 12:24; 9:8-12).

“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Though the ministration was to be removed from the earthly to the heavenly temple; though the sanctuary and our great high priest would be invisible to human sight, yet the disciples were to suffer no loss thereby. They would realize no break in their communion, and no diminution of power because of the Saviour’s absence. While Jesus ministers in the sanctuary above, He is still by His Spirit the minister of the church on earth. He is withdrawn from the eye of sense, but His parting promise is fulfilled, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). While He delegates His power to inferior ministers, His energizing presence is still with His church.

“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, … Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 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 4:14-16).—The Desire of Ages, 166.

Further Reflection: What personal power does Jesus offer me today in my battle with sin, as Minister of the New Covenant?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”—Matthew 5:16

Paul writes, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain neither labored in vain” (Philippians 2:14-16)….

How much do persons who are not themselves under God’s control, although professing to be Christians, really contribute to the efficiency of the gospel in their business relations with those who are not converted? There are many against whose names on the record books of heaven will be found written, Not producers, but consumers. They do not bear fruit to the glory of God. The Lord cannot co-operate with them. They are stones which take up room in the building, but emit no light. They cannot shine as living stones, because they do not receive light from the chief Cornerstone. Can they afford to trust their souls any longer to such uncertainty? Christians are either under Christ’s rule, heeding His instruction by doing the work they are supposed as God’s followers to be doing, or they are under the control of the enemy. They are either doing positive good or incalculable harm….

Christians are to be light-bearers, saying to all with whom they are brought into contact, Follow me as I follow Christ. They are to be examples of piety, representing Christ in word, in spirit, in action, in all business dealing with their brethren and with strangers. They are to show that their actions are a copy of the actions of their great Pattern. All this Christ enjoins upon His followers. They are to show the superiority of heaven’s principles over the principles of the world….

True Christians will always shine as lights in the world. They are light-bearers, working upon a higher plane of action than those who are not Christians. Their purity and uprightness in every action is a source of illumination. They impart what they receive, making known the duties and privileges of a Christian. The refining, ennobling principles of the gospel are brought into every phase of life.—Letter 148, 1899.

Further Reflection: What “incalculable harm” might I do if I am unconsecrated to God?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

Arise for our help, and redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.—Psalm 44:26

How unmistakably plain were Isaiah’s prophecies of Christ’s sufferings and death! “Who hath believed our report?” the prophet inquires, “and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

“Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken” (Isaiah 53:1-8).

Even the manner of His death had been shadowed forth. As the brazen serpent had been uplifted in the wilderness, so was the coming Redeemer to be lifted up, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“One shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends” (Zechariah 13:6).

“He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief” (Isaiah 53:9, 10).

But He who was to suffer death at the hands of evil human beings was to rise again as a conqueror over sin and the grave.—The Acts of the Apostles, 225-227.

Further Reflection: Does my commitment to accept Christ’s sacrifice for me match His commitment to save me? In other words, am I as vested in my salvation as Christ is?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“And He shall build the temple of the LORD.”—Zechariah 6:12

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 humanity 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. This union infinite wisdom alone could devise and infinite power accomplish; it is a union that fills all heaven with wonder and adoration. The cherubim of the earthly sanctuary, looking reverently down upon the mercy seat, represent the interest with which the heavenly host contemplate the work of redemption. This is the mystery of mercy into which angels desire to look—that God can be just while He justifies the repenting sinner and renews His communion with the fallen race; that Christ could stoop to raise unnumbered multitudes from the abyss of ruin and clothe them with the spotless garments of His own righteousness to unite with angels who have never fallen and to dwell forever in the presence of God.

The work of Christ as humanity’s intercessor is presented in that beautiful prophecy of Zechariah concerning Him “whose name is the Branch.” Says the prophet: “He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His [the Father’s] throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between Them both” (Zechariah 6:12, 13)….

By His sacrifice and mediation Christ is both the foundation and the builder of the church of God. The apostle Paul points to Him as “the chief Cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also,” he says, “are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20-22).

“He shall bear the glory.” To Christ belongs the glory of redemption for the fallen race.—The Great Controversy, 415, 416.

Further Reflection: Jesus has created me to be a holy temple for His dwelling. Have I opened the door to let Him come in?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.”—Ezekiel 33:8

Every indignity, reproach, and cruelty that Satan can instigate human hearts to devise, has been visited upon the followers of Jesus. And it will be fulfilled in a yet more marked manner; for the carnal mind is still at enmity with the law of God, and will not be subject to its commands. We have been highly favored in living under a government where we can worship God according to the dictates of our conscience. But human nature is no more in harmony with the principles of Christ today than it has been in ages past. The world is still in opposition to Jesus. The same hatred that prompted the cry, “Crucify Him, crucify Him,” still works in the children of disobedience. The same satanic spirit that in the Dark Ages consigned men and women to prison, to exile, and to the stake, that conceived the exquisite torture of the Inquisition, produced the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and kindled the fires of Smithfield, is still at work with malignant energy in unregenerate hearts.

We are required to be Christ-like toward those who are our enemies; but we must not, in order to have peace, cover up the faults of those we see in error. The world’s Redeemer never purchased peace by covering iniquity, or by anything like compromise. Though His heart was constantly overflowing with love for the human race, He was never indulgent to their sins. He was the friend of sinners, and He would not remain silent while they were pursuing a course that would ruin their souls—the souls that He had purchased with His own blood. He was a stern reprover of all vice. He labored that men and women should be true to themselves in being all that God would have them, and true to their higher and eternal interest. Living in a world marred and seared with the curse brought upon it by disobedience, He could not be at peace with it if He left it unwarned, uninstructed, unrebuked. This would be to purchase peace at the neglect of duty. His peace was the consciousness of having done the will of His Father, rather than a condition of things that existed as the result of not having done His duty.—The Review and Herald, January 16, 1900.

Further Reflection: How do I relate to people who are engaged in open sin?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names