«　WEEK 18　DAY 6　»

　　Rom. 3:24-25 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God set forth as a propitiation place through faith in His blood, for the demonstrating of His righteousness, in that in His forbearance God passed over the sins that had previously occurred.

　　God began to set forth Christ as the propitiation place at the time that darkness came over the whole land during His crucifixion, when He offered Himself as the unique sacrifice for sin, the reality of the sin offering (Luke 23:44; Heb. 9:26). Then on the third day God resurrected Him; this resurrection was also a part of the process of God's setting forth of Christ. After the Lord's resurrection, God received Christ into the heavens and placed Him at His right hand. This receiving and placing are also a part of the setting forth of Christ. God set forth Christ through the entire process of His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, in which He sat down at the right hand of God....God placed Christ, set forth Christ, as the propitiation place from the time that Christ shed His blood to the time that He ascended to sit at the right hand of God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3028)

　　In the Old Testament, the expiation cover, the lid of the Ark, as a type, was hidden in the Holy of Holies; in the New Testament, Christ as the propitiation place, the reality of the expiation cover, is openly set forth before all men. (Rom. 3:25, footnote 1)

　　The blood was sprinkled on the lid [of the Ark] seven times, signifying completeness. Through the sprinkling of the blood, the golden lid became red in color. Because of the blood sprinkled on the propitiatory cover, sinners could have fellowship with the righteous God. Therefore, because of the blood of redemption, we today can have fellowship with the righteous God in the glory of Christ. (Life- study of Exodus, p. 1015)

　　[Romans 3:25] tells us that it is through faith in His blood that God set forth Christ as a propitiation place. The way to experience Christ as the propitiation place is by faith. We are justified through the redemption of Christ Jesus, that is, through faith in His blood. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3029)

　　After redemption, or propitiation, had been accomplished, this blood was brought into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled on the cover of the Ark. This made it possible for God to meet with man and speak with him from between the cherubim. When God comes to meet with us, His standing is the redeeming blood. Because the blood has been sprinkled on the propitiatory cover and because God's standing is on the blood, He can meet with us in the midst of His shining glory. All this is related to the Christ who lives in us.

　　We now have such a wonderful Christ dwelling in our spirit. But because of our blindness and ignorance, not many of us have an adequate realization concerning Him. Most Christians have never realized in a full way that the Christ who lives in us is the very One portrayed by the Ark with the propitiatory cover.

　　Many of us can testify that this matter of the blood on the propitiatory cover is not a mere doctrine. It is very real in our experience with the Lord. When we repented, God met us and spoke to us. At that time we had the deep sense that we were washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Now whenever we meet with God in glory, we have the sense deep within that we are washed by the blood. This is the propitiatory cover in our experience. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1025, 1015)

　　In His ascension Christ is the propitiation place, the propitiation cover, for God to meet with us. In Hebrews 4:16 this place is called the throne of grace. The throne of grace is the cover of the Ark on which Christ sprinkled the blood He shed on the cross for our redemption. Because of the sprinkling of His redeeming blood, the cover of the Ark has become a propitiation cover, a place where God may contact us and where we may enjoy His grace in full. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3028-3029)

　　Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 296