Outline
Ⅳ
The two steps of reconciliation are clearly portrayed by the two veils of the tabernacle—Exo. 26:31-37; Heb. 9:3:
A
Both veils signify the unique Christ—the Christ who died for our sins and also for us.
B
The first veil is called “the screen”—Exo. 26:36-37:
１
A sinner who was brought to God through the reconciliation of the propitiating blood entered into the Holy Place by passing through the screen.
２
This typifies the first step of reconciliation.
C
The second veil (vv. 31-35; Heb. 9:3) still separated the sinner from God, who was in the Holy of Holies:
１
This veil needed to be rent so that the sinner might be brought to God in the Holy of Holies—Matt. 27:51; Heb. 10:19-20.
２
This typifies the second step of reconciliation.
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 9:3 And after the second veil, a tabernacle, which is called the Holy of Holies.10:19-20 Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus, which entrance He initiated for us as a new and living way through the veil, that is, His flesh.
[The] two steps of reconciliation are clearly portrayed by the two veils of the tabernacle. The first veil is called “the screen” (Exo. 26:37). A sinner who was brought to God through the reconciliation of the propitiating blood entered into the Holy Place by passing this screen. This typifies the first step of reconciliation. The second veil (vv. 31-35; Heb. 9:3) still separated him from God, who was in the Holy of Holies. This veil needed to be rent that the sinner might be brought to God in the Holy of Holies. This is the second step of reconciliation. The Corinthian believers had been reconciled to God, having passed through the first veil and having entered into the Holy Place. But they still lived in the flesh. They needed to pass the second veil, which had been rent already (Matt. 27:51; Heb. 10:20), to enter into the Holy of Holies to live with God in their spirit (1 Cor. 6:17). The goal of 2 Corinthians was to bring them there that they might be persons in the spirit (1 Cor. 2:15), in the Holy of Holies. This is what the apostle meant by saying, “Be reconciled to God.” (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 319-320)
Today’s Reading
In the Old Testament, when a sinner came to God, he first had to come to the altar to have his sins forgiven through the blood of the sin offering. After experiencing the forgiveness of sins, he could enter the Holy Place. This is the first step of reconciliation, the step by which a sinner begins to be reconciled to God. This was the situation of the believers at Corinth, and it is also the situation of most genuine Christians today. They have been reconciled to God in part through the cross upon which Christ died as our sin offering, where He shed His blood to wash away our sins. When we believed in Him, we were forgiven by God, reconciled to Him, and brought back to Him…However, we have been reconciled to God only partly, halfway.The biblical understanding of reconciliation includes more than merely being brought back to God. It is to be brought back into Him. Therefore, according to the Bible, to bring others to God means to bring them into God and to make them absolutely one with Him. However, in much Christian teaching, the matter of oneness with God is wrongly understood…In the case of a husband and wife, there is a kind of corporate oneness. But in the Bible to be one with God means to be mingled with Him. It is to be in God and to allow God to come into us. Biblical oneness with God is a oneness in which we enter into God and God enters into us. Therefore, the Lord Jesus said, “Abide in Me and I in you” (John 15:4). He did not say, “Abide with Me and I with you.” What a shame that some Christians oppose this wonderful biblical concept of being one with God by being mingled with Him!
Until we are wholly one with the Lord, being in Him and allowing Him to be in us absolutely, we will continue to need the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry with which Paul was commissioned. Paul was commissioned with the work of bringing the believers into God in a way that was absolute and practical. Once we see this, we are qualified to understand the last part of chapter 5 and the first part of chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians. To be reconciled is to be brought into God and…the ministry of reconciliation is the ministry of bringing others into God.
There were many problems among the believers at Corinth. All those problems were signs that those believers were not absolutely in God… Although they had been saved and born of God, they were not living in Him. For this reason, concerning many items in their daily living, they were outside of God. Therefore, Paul was burdened to bring them into God. This was to reconcile them to God. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 320, 339-340)
Further Reading: Life-study of 2 Corinthians, msgs. 14, 27