FIRSTBORN SONSHIP OF CHRIST

THE NEW BIRTH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

October 2005
Article 54 Continued

THE INNER CURTAIN

      We now come to the inner curtain, or second "curtain" which divided the first holy place from the second or most holy place. The first holy place represents Israel as the qualifying Old Testament covenant people. In this age, the first holy place represents the church as the qualifying New Covenant people. Of course, when Christ returns, Israel, as a nation, will be grafted back into their covenant qualifying position as firstborn sons for the period of the Millennium.
      All who qualify under both covenants will be born again (both spirit and body) into a divine state of being when Christ returns. Hebrews chapter 10 is concerned much with the human divine body of Christ, represented both by the animal sacrifices, and by the second certain of the tabernacle.

      Verse 1. "For the Law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect," Heb 1:1.
      The Law Covenant without the proper faith obedience could make nothing perfect; but, conversely, condemn everyone to death or separation from the firstborn sonship. To break one law made one guilty of all, Ja 2:10. The Law was our tutor, or disciplinarian, to bring us to Christ.
      The Law was a shadow to bring us to Christ, Who Himself is the human redeeming Sacrifice. To be so and do so, He had to condescend to live a sinless human life, die a sinner's justifying death, and be raised from the grave in a divine human body. He, therefore, built the strait and narrow way that leads us to divine life, Mt 7:14.

      Verse 2. "For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins," Heb 10:2.
      Animal sacrifices lasted from the Garden of Eden to the cross of Christ. Everyone of those sacrifices pointed to the virgin birth, sinless life, atoning crucifixion death, and the divine resurrection birth of Christ. Thus we have the strait and narrow way that leads to divine live. Indeed, we can worship God with a good conscience, but not as good as we will be able to do in sinless divine spirits and bodies.

      Verse 3. "But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year," Heb 10:3.
      One animal sacrifice was not enough. The Law required many of them every day, and special ones every year. We are no longer to offer animal sacrifices, but we ourselves are each to be a living sacrifice, daily bearing about in our bodies the dying of Christ.

      Verse 4. "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins," Heb 10:4.
      The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin, but the proper sacrifice of those animals portrayed faith in the coming Redeemer that did bring forgiveness. The human body, sinless life, sacrificial death, and new birth resurrection of Christ perfected the strait and narrow way that leads to divine life. Possessing this divine life, the firstborn sons will have divine boldness to enter into the presence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in a holy and divine relationship that immeasurably excels all other relationships.

      Verse 5. "Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me," Heb 10:5.
      The bodies of animals were used in sacrifices as a prophetic witness foretelling the coming of the true Sacrifice for sin. The Redeemer had to be the Seed of the woman, Gen 3:15. He had to be sinless without blemish, 1Pe 2:19. His blood must be shed, Heb 9:22. He must bear the sins of all mankind, Jn 3:16-17.
 He must be made sin and suffer God's wrath against sin for the sins of mankind, (Heb 9:14-17. He must die for the wages of sin is death, Rom 5:12. He must be born again out of the grave to create a divine human man for all the firstborn sons.
      9 "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
      10 "And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
      11 "In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
      12 "Buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
      13 "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, (in a metaphor, with a view to the new birth resurrection) having forgiven you all trespasses,
      14 "Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
      15 "Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
      16 "So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths,
      17 "Which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ" (the divine body of Christ), Col 2:9-17; Col 3:1-11.

      Verse 6. "In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure," Heb 10:6.
      We will point out how this verse is true, and yet God did have great pleasure in the offering of those sacrifices. When the flood was over, Noah took of every clean animal and bird and sacrificed them. "And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma" (Gen 8:20-22), and was very pleased with Noah. Of course, the faith of Noah, and the prophetic meaning of the sacrifices are the things that so greatly pleased God.

      Verse 7. "Then I said, 'Behold, I have come - In the volume of the book it is written of Me - To do Your will, O God,'" Ps 40:7; Heb 10:7.
      It was the will of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. It was the grandest thing that ever happened, and perhaps that ever can happen. Indeed, all the grand things of the past, and all those of the future find their source in this inexhaustible expression of God's love, mercy, grace, and glory - that is, the sacrifice of Christ.

      Verse 8. "Previously saying, ‘Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them' (which are offered according to the Law)," Heb 10:8.
      As stated, God did have pleasure in them because of the testimony they bore, of the understanding, faith, fear, and humble obedience of many who offered them.

      Verse 9. "Then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.' He takes away the first that He may establish the second." Heb 10:9.
      Coming to do God's will meant that the Son of God wold be born of a virgin, live a sinless life, die a sinner's death, and be born again from the dead into a divine human body. In this way Christ took away the first covenant with its sin-cursed earthy body, and gave birth to a divine human body under the New Covenant.

      Verse 10. "By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," Heb 10:10.
      Sanctified by the will of the Father, by the will of the Son, and by the will of the Holy Spirit, our will has been fashioned to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, in order to qualify for the inheritance of the fulness of the divine nature, Rom 12:1-2; Eph 3:19; 2Pe 1:4.
      On the basis of the finished redemption cycle on the part of our Redeemer, the New Covenant people are now being progressive sanctified on a daily basis by the once for all sacrifice of Christ. In the metaphor we are crucified, dead, buried, raised, and deified members of the deified body of Christ. But that is a figure of speech. We are not literally members of the body of Christ. The church is not literally the body of Christ. But on the basis of that figure of speech, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

      Verse 11. "And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins," Heb 10:11.
      For the 4,000 years before Christ, especially under the approximate 1,400 years of the Law Covenant, the same sacrifices were offered over and over every day. All of those sacrifices portrayed the one sacrifice of Christ, and availed nothing beyond the understanding and conscience of the person who offered the sacrifice. Of course, there are other outreaching influences on family and other people.

      Verse 12. "But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God," Heb 10-12.
      The sacrifice of Christ fulfilled every righteous requirement of the Law Covenant. Then Christ was seated by the right hand of the Father, a place of the highest honor. But also Christ gave promise that all who will overcome by His grace, will be seated with Him on His throne, Rev 3:21-22. What an inexpressibly glorious promise this is! There will be a vast host of overcomers who will be divinely born into the fulness of the divine nature. They will be accompanied by a vast host of mighty ministering angels, all worshiping, and singing praises to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

      Verse 13. "From that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool," Heb 10:13.
      Christ was born out of the grave into a divine human body: the first divine human body ever, even till now. Christ has the only divine human body -- a new creation, providing for a new kind of Godman, filled with the full range of God's divine attributes.
      Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for His covenant people, waiting for the time to adorn them with deity. Then put His enemies under His feet and under the feet of His divine brethren.

      Verse 14. "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified," Heb 10:14.
      Christ has perfected forever those who are sanctified, but the time of that perfection to take place is when Christ returns. He has perfected that divine-human body in Himself, and is therefore awaiting the time fo perfect the same in His faithful covenant people. Sanctification is a lifetime process of forming His image in us.

      Verse 15. "But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before," Heb 10:15.
      The Holy Spirit was given to the church in a fuller way than under the Law Covenant. Furthermore, we now have the complete Bible of sacred writings. Thus we should have better understanding and produce more productively than those in the Old Testament. We will therefore have the heavier judgment. The Spirit will certainly do His part to help us along the the strait, narrow, and righteous way to divine life in the new birth when Christ returns.

      Verse 16. "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," Heb 10:16.
      God has progressively made a much better covenant with us in many ways, and has given us the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit. But God is permitting Satan to advance on us in many more subtle ways, lest our greater advantage offset our balance of choice, and devaluate the outcome.
      Currently, we are still in an intermediate stage of God's qualifying discipline. We have many better things than they had in the Old Testament days, but perhaps many more subtle enticing things to avoid from youth through old age. Perhaps the wiser the better, but often the craftier the worse. Satan is permitted to offset every holy advantage with an ingenious enticement. These things add up to crowding the Word of the Lord out of our minds and emotions.
      The Holy Spirit is seeking to embed the Word of the Lord in our hearts in order to guide our conscience in the ways of righteousness. We must give heed and strive hard to have Rom 12:1-2, and the many, many verses like that in our minds all the time. Our minds and emotions will be balanced in the Godly way only if we work hard at the task.

      Verse 17. "Then He adds, "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more," Heb 10:17.
      All our sins and lawless deeds will be remembered, and will weight down the judgment scales. Every thought, every word, every emotion will be brought to light, and will make a difference at the judgment seat of Christ, 2Co 5:10-11.
      There will be a very great and eternal difference between those who are least in the kingdom, and those who are greatest. We are speaking here only of those who are counted faithful. The least in the kingdom of God will be immeasurably greater than the greatest on earth. And also the greatest in the kingdom will be far greater than the least in the kingdom.
      Once the judgment is over, the station or status of each one in the kingdom is determined and will remain the same forever. Never will sins or lack of righteousness be charged against anyone who has qualified for the divine new birth into the kingdom. No one will sin or come short of perfect fulfilment of one's function in the divine state of being.

      Verse 18. "Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin," Heb 10:18.
      There will be no more sin on the part of the firstborn sons, and no more need for forgiveness. Christ died once for all, and there will never again be a need for another sacrifice for sins, Heb 9:28; 10:2; 10:10. Obviously, God's eternal purpose does not provide for another state of sin and death, requiring a redemption sacrifice of any kind.
      There will be ages of ages to come, in which God will demonstrate His creative glory in countless ways. God is not limited in any way, except He cannot sin, but is righteous all together, now and forever.
      "But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him," 1Co 2:9.
      20 "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
      21 "To Him is the glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus, to all the generations of the age of the ages. Amen," Eph 3:20-21.
      Obviously there will be ages of ages to come, which indicates children being born in all the generations of the age of the ages. The Scriptures also speak of a thousand generations, Deu 7:9; 1Ch 16:15; Ps 105:8. This requires that the nations on the new earth will be male and female and have generations of children. Only in Christ (in the firstborn sonship) will there be neither male and female, Gal 3:28; Lk 20:35-36.

      Verse 19. "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus," Heb 10:19.
      In the metaphor we are counted to be the body of Christ - crucified, dead, buried, and raised in divine glory together in the body of Christ. Therefore, in the metaphor we have access by the Spirit into the presence of God.
      16 "And that He might reconcile them both (Jew and Gentile) to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
      17 "And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
      18 "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father," Eph 2:14-18.
      Here it is stated that both Jew and Gentile in the body of Christ have free access into the Father's presence in heaven. We are also counted, in the metaphor, as being seated together in Christ in the heavenly places, evidently at the right hand of the Father, Eph 2:6.

      Verse 20. "By a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh," Heb 10:20.
      A fuller translation would be: "By a freshly slain and divinely born again from dead state of being, which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that it, His flesh."
      The word "new" is better translated "freshly slain." In any case, the word "living" must carry the meaning of "alive from the dead in a glorified state of being." The curtain or "veil," dividing the holy place from the most holy place, represented the flesh body of the first Adam.
      Christ took on this flesh body when He was born into the human family. In His life He lived a perfect sinless life, and then that body was made sin on the cross:
      21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him," 2Co 5:21.
      Christ, as a sinless human Redeemer, had to be made sin for us. He took our sins upon Himself and paid our sin debt in full. This was done, in part, as we were properly baptized into the body of Christ, Rom 6:3-6; Gal 3:26-27. Thus we were counted as one with Him, being members of His body.
      Therefore, when He was crucified, we were counted as being one body with Him in His crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection into a divine body. Thus we are counted, in a metaphor, as being freshly slain, but born again into an ever living, sinless, divine body:
      24 "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness - by whose stripes you were healed," 1Pe 2:24.
      19 "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus,
      20 "by a freshly slain and (divinely born again) living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh," 1Pe 2:19-20.
      We must recognize and keep in mind that we are credited, in a metaphor, as being the human, now deified body of Christ. Currently, we are not yet able to enter personally and directly into the presence of God, only through the Holy Spirit, because we do not yet have divine bodies. Currently we are still defiled in both body and spirit:
      1 "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God," 2Co 7:1.
      However, after the resurrection when Christ returns, both our body and our spirit will really be born again into God's divine state of being. Then we will have direct and perfect access into the presence of the Father at all appropriate times.
      21 "That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
      22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
      23 "I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me," Jn 17:21-23.

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