The NEC Communicator is a monthly newsletter emailed on the last Thursday of each month.Source: https://adventist.uk/news/article/go/2022-02-23/re-launching-the-nec-communicator/
Thursday: Judgment and the Character of God
Read Romans 3:21-26; Romans 1:16-17; and Romans 5:8. What does Redemption in the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins reveal about God?
The forgiveness of our sins implies two phases in Jesus’ mediation in the two apartments of the heavenly sanctuary. First, Jesus removed our sins and carried them Himself on the cross in order to provide forgiveness to everyone who believes in Him (Acts 2:38, Acts 5:31).
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On the cross Jesus won the right to forgive anyone who believes in Him because He has carried their sin. He has also inaugurated a new covenant, which allows Him to put God’s law in the heart of believers through the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 8:10-12, Ezekiel 36:25-27).
A second phase in the ministry of Jesus consists of a judgment, the pre-Advent judgment, which was still future from the point of view of Hebrews (Hebrews 2:1-4; Hebrews 6:2; Hebrews 9:27-28; Hebrews 10:25). This judgment begins with God’s people and is described in Daniel 7:9-27, Matthew 22:1-14, and Revelation 14:7. Its purpose is to show the righteousness of God in forgiving His people. In this judgment the records of their lives will be open for the universe to see. God will show what happened in the hearts of believers and how they embraced Jesus as their Savior and accepted His Spirit in their lives.
Speaking of this judgment, Ellen G. White wrote: “Man cannot meet these charges himself. In his sin-stained garments, confessing his guilt, he stands before God. But Jesus our Advocate presents an effectual plea in behalf of all who by repentance and faith have committed the keeping of their souls to Him. He pleads their cause and vanquishes their accuser by the mighty arguments of Calvary. His perfect obedience to God’s law, even unto the death of the cross, has given Him all power in heaven and in earth, and He claims of His Father mercy and reconciliation for guilty man. … But while we should realize our sinful condition, we are to rely upon Christ as our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. We cannot answer the charges of Satan against us. Christ alone can make an effectual plea in our behalf. He is able to silence the accuser with arguments founded not upon our merits, but on His own.” — Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, Pages 471, 472.
| Why does the cross and the ministry of Jesus in our behalf suggest that we should look confidently, but with humility and repentance, toward the judgment? |
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Sit-in Protest Staged at Adventist Church in India over Rescheduled Voting Date
Date for casting ballots changed to a Saturday, which could prevent Adventists from voting in Manipur. Church leaders calling on political authorities to change the date, or revert back to its original date, which was not on a Saturday. Politically, Christians favor the opposing Indian National Congress over the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party led by […] Source: https://atoday.org/sit-in-protest-staged-at-adventist-church-in-india-over-rescheduled-voting-date/
Science vs. the Interpretation of Scripture
by Russ Spangler | 22 February 2022 | His name was Galileo Galilei. He was an astronomer, mathematician, and physicist from Pisa, Italy. He has been called the father of observational astronomy and even the father of the scientific method and modern science. In the year 1609 he made some improvements to an invention that […] Source: https://atoday.org/76717-2/
Wednesday: The Cross and the Cost of Forgiveness
Read Hebrews 9:22-28. What does this passage say about the work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary?
The idea that the heavenly sanctuary needs cleansing makes sense in the context of the Old Testament sanctuary. The sanctuary is a symbol of God’s government (1 Samuel 4:4, 2 Samuel 6:2), and the way God deals with the sin of His people affects the public perception of the righteousness of His government (Psalm 97:2). As ruler, God is the Judge of His people, and He is expected to be fair, vindicating the innocent and condemning the guilty.
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Thus, when God forgives the sinner, He carries judicial responsibility. The sanctuary, which represents God’s character and administration, is contaminated. This explains why God bears our sins when He forgives (Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:17-19, the original Hebrew for “forgiving” [nose?] in these verses means “carrying, bearing”).
The system of sacrifices in the Israelite sanctuary illustrated this point. When a person sought forgiveness, he brought an animal as a sacrifice in his behalf, confessed his sins over it, and slaughtered it. The blood of the animal was daubed upon the horns of the altar or sprinkled before the veil in the temple in the first apartment. Thus, the sin was symbolically transferred into the sanctuary. God took the sins of the people and bore them Himself.
In the Israelite system, cleansing from or atonement for sins occurred in two phases. During the year, repentant sinners brought sacrifices to the sanctuary, which cleansed them from their sin but transferred the sin to the sanctuary, to God Himself. At the end of the year, on the Day of Atonement, which was the day of judgment, God would cleanse the sanctuary, clearing His judicial responsibility by transferring the sins from the sanctuary to the scapegoat, Azazel, who represented Satan (Leviticus 16:15-22).
This two-phase system, represented by the two apartments in the earthly sanctuary, which were a pattern of the heavenly sanctuary (Exodus 25:9, Hebrews 8:5), permitted God to show mercy and justice at the same time. Those who confessed their sins during the year showed loyalty to God by observing a solemn rest and afflicting themselves on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29-31). Those who did not show loyalty would be “cut off” (Leviticus 23:27-32).
| Think what you would face if you had to face the just punishment for your sins. How should that truth help you understand what Christ has done for you? |
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