March 8 – Perfect Reconciliation

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. – Romans 5:11 (KJV)

Our great High Priest completed the sacrificial offering of Himself when He suffered outside the gate. A perfect atonement was then made for the sins of the people. Jesus is our Advocate, our High Priest, our Intercessor. Therefore, our present position is like that of the Israelites, standing outside the court, awaiting that blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

When the high priest entered the holy place, symbolizing where our High Priest is now interceding, no atoning sacrifice was offered outside. While the high priest interceded within, every heart was bowed in contrition before God, pleading for the forgiveness of sin. The type met its antitype in the death of Christ, the Lamb slain for the sins of the world. The great High Priest made the one and only sacrifice of infinite value.

In His intercession as our Advocate, Christ needs no human virtue, no human mediation. He alone is the sin-bearer, the only offering for sin. Prayer and confession must be made to Him alone, who has once and for all entered the holy place. Christ declared, "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1, KJV).

Christ represented the Father before the world, and He represents before God those in whom He has restored the moral image of their Creator. They are His inheritance. No priest, no religious leader, can reveal the Father to any child of Adam. There is but one Advocate, one Intercessor, who can forgive transgression. Shall not our hearts swell with gratitude to Him who gave Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins? Let us meditate deeply on the love that the Father has shown toward us—the love He has so freely expressed in our behalf. We cannot measure that love. There is no limit. We can only point to Calvary, to the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It is an infinite sacrifice. Can we comprehend or measure the infinite?