We would say, in the vernacular: Pour it all out before God. Feel free to do so. We have this right, this privilege, to go boldly through the curtain - to the very throne of grace.
And we are anchored to it. That is the illustration. Using a sailor's figures of speech, it is as though there is an anchor rope that goes from each one of us, symbolically, behind the veil and into the very presence of God. There it is stuck on a Rock; and that Rock, you see, is Christ.
Why does a scout go out ahead of the main party? A scout goes out to make sure that it is safe because he knows, absolutely, that others are to follow him. Where did He scout out (in the symbolism)? He scouted out the Holy of Holies. He is now in there, so that we can go in - because He has already scouted it out.
You will remember that the veil was torn. The apostle, in writing this, is making a comparison of what it is that makes it possible for us, too, to enter. Christ's flesh was torn. You see, through His flesh.
Let us summarize these verses that we just went through - at least, as they pertain to this subject [of government]. Our High Priest has already gone into the real (the heavenly) tabernacle. And He is God. As a result, we are invited (indeed, encouraged) to also draw near with a full and confident assurance that we are accepted directly into God's presence, too. Not only does the rending of the veil signify the way into God's presence is unobstructed to those who are covered by the blood of Christ, it also - Get this! - signifies the end of the separation between the priests and the people.
Now, if you can remember the arrangement of the service of the tabernacle - the high priest was allowed into the Holiest of All one time a year. He only was allowed there. The ordinary priest was permitted to go into the first room in the carrying out of his responsibilities. No other Israelite (though he had made the covenant with God) was even allowed in the tabernacle.
Do you get the picture? We are - by virtue of God's calling, conversion, the entering into the covenant, and the receiving of God's Spirit - now spiritual Israelites. But we are more than that! Again, think of what I just told you about the high priest being allowed into the Most Holy Place once a year, and about the regular priest being permitted into the holy place to carry out his responsibilities. But what is the church? It is a royal priesthood of believers, and it is allowed into both places!
Now think of this in its governmental effects. There is no religious hierarchy between God and us. Not only do we have direct access into the presence of God, but also there is no hierarchy - no priesthood that stands between you and God - because you are the priesthood. There is no man between you and God. (No John Ritenbaugh between you and God.) We can confidently approach God, secure in our liberty to do so - because of Christ's blood.
Let us put this together with the last sermon. The church is viewed as a new creation (a new humanity, if you want to put it that way) in which Jesus Christ is the last Adam - whose image we are all destined to bear.
In the first Adam - the Adam that was in the Garden - we all share his 'creature-ness.' We all sin, and we all die. In Jesus Christ. . . He, too, entered into this humanity - because He was born of a woman. So, He entered into humanity. However, He did not sin. And, as a result of that, He became the means of mankind's salvation from his bondage to sin and death.
Through the resurrection, He became a life-giving Spirit. Most of this is contained in one chapter (I Corinthians 15). Through the resurrection, the second Adam became a life-giving Spirit. He was the firstfruits - the firstborn from the dead. He, therefore, is the image of the man of heaven (or, we might call Him the spiritual Man). . . .
Do you see the way the Bible presents this absolute standard of righteousness? It is presented to you and me not as something that is perfect afar off, but rather as a life spent as a human being lived to absolute perfection. It is something that we can relate to. That absolute standard of righteousness is God in the flesh.
Otherwise we could always excuse ourselves and say, Well that's the way God is. He was not tempted the way men were. But God squashes that argument and He said, My Son did it for thirty-three and one-half years and He never sinned.
That standard of righteousness is not presented to us as something that is just distant and pure and holy, but also presented to us as a life that was lived in absolute holiness and sinlessness. That brings it right home.
The second thing the Holy Spirit does is it not only convicts us of our sin, but it also convicts us of the absolute standard of righteousness for men being in a life that was lived. The life of Jesus Christ. Let us not forget. Why is God doing this? He is doing this so that there can be fellowship with Him. So that there can be fellowship with others of the same mind so that He, by His creative energies, can create a whole new family of beings that are like Him.
Christ's physical life was not spared the kind of calamities we might have to face, in order that He be prepared for His responsibility in God's purpose through sharing experiences with us. In other words, if it is possible that we might have to flee for our lives, then God was not going to just excuse Christ from that kind of a trial. He was going to allow Jesus to get into situations where indeed He might have to flee for His life. Now would He just presume that God would rescue Him because of who He was? I feel sure that the apostle Paul in writing this wants us to understand that Jesus' sinlessness was the result of conscious decision and intense struggle, not merely the consequence of His divine nature.
