Wednesday, May 26, 2010

The Holiest of Holies


Jesus said: ”I do only what I see my Father is doing”. This is the pinnacle of faith expressed by the One who was the first example of a succession of sons who would soon emerge born of the Spirit. But why and how could Jesus make such a statement? Did He have a second voice in His mind that determined every step He took, or did His observation refer to something else? Let’s start our investigation with some reflections on the Old Testament tabernacle.
The priest could only enter the holiest of holies in the tabernacle once a year to make atonement for the people’s sin. He did so trembling and with great fear. The rest of the year the innermost room of the tabernacle was separated from the holy place in the tabernacle by a veil, and no man could enter the holiest of holies without risking his life. There had to be an atonement for sin before anyone could enter that place. It was in the holy place and the outer courtyard that the priests ministered during the rest of the year.
If we are to be able to tie the aforementioned regarding the tabernacle with Jesus’ observation we have to leave the physical world with its appearances and move to a different level. The outer rooms in the tabernacle thus represent separation in man’s consciousnesses. Man living apart from God. That God is somewhere out there apart from us. When Jesus died at the cross the veil was torn apart and everyone borne by the Spirit in the same manner as Jesus was could now enter the holiest of holies where there is no separation in our consciousnesses. God and man one, no longer apart. The truth is that they had never been apart, but this was how man perceived his existence. To enter this sacred place also signifies that sin is done away with once and for all. If not no man could have entered the holiest of holies.
Jesus was the second Adam and borne by the Spirit. He had unlimited access to the holiest of holies in His consciousness. Jesus saw no separation, that is, that God was apart from Him. Union with God was an established fact in His consciousness. He hence boldly could walk in the Spirit knowing that He was a manifestation of His Father. Everything He did was thus the Father finding an expression through the Son. So whatever the Son did the Father did. Jesus could behold His life and see His Father operating spontaneously as Him, because there was no separation in His consciousness. It is on this backdrop that we understand why Jesus could say: “I do only what I see what my Father is doing.” “Only” doesn’t refer to that the Father put limitations on His life, but that He could see union only.
On the cross Jesus cried out: “’My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This is the cry in every human heart which hasn’t been born by the Spirit and entered the holiest of holiest. Of course, God never forsook His son in this darkest hour, but Jesus had to leave the holiest of holies in His consciousness when He became sin for us and thus experienced the sensation of apartness that has been the prevailing mindset in every man so that He through His sacrifice could open a way into the holiest of holies for every man borne by the Spirit.
We cannot understand Spiritual realities without guidance and revelation from the Spirit. The physical tabernacle in the Old Testament was just a shadow of the things to come. In the new covenant the tabernacle pertains to our consciousness, that is, how we perceive our existence in relation to God. If you still believe that God is apart from you you still haven’t entered the holiest of holiest even though the way in is cleared for you. It is in the holiest of holies that the liberty of the Spirit finds an expression, that we become a law in ourselves apart from the Old Testament law, that we live without condemnation and are established in the union and can say as Jesus: ”I do only what I see my Father is doing”; the pinnacle of faith.

No comments: