Commentary on "A New Order"

COLLEEN TINKER

 

Day 3: Monday, September 28, 2009

 

This lesson explains the position of the Levites in the camp of Israel. Their tents surrounded the tabernacle, providing a barrier between the presence of God and the rest of the camp. They were at a distance from the tabernacle, so they were not in the immediate presence of the Lord God. At the same time, they provided a buffer zone between the presence of God and the rest of the camp. The lesson ends with an Ellen White quote that asserts that nothing can separate us from the heavenly Comforter. The thought questions at the end of the lesson ask how the reader has experienced God’s presence and closeness, and what things he or she is doing that keeps him/her away from “an even deeper intimacy with God”.

 

Problems

Overtly this lesson is fairly straightforward. Under the surface, however, it makes several assumptions upon which it builds it point.

First, the lesson again assumes a parallel between the circumstances in the camp of Israel to our circumstances today. The Levites and priests provided a protection and mediation between Israel and God, and the Teachers Comments as the question, “In the New Testament era all believers share in the priestly function of being a conduit through whom God reaches a sinful world. How are we fulfilling this role?”

First, there is no human parallel to the Levites in terms of providing protection from the holiness of God besides the Person of the Lord Jesus.

Second, the unfailing presence of the Holy Spirit is the experience of those who have placed their faith in Jesus as Sacrifice, Savior, and Lord. Only those who have believed are filled with the Holy Spirit—but these are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and He never leaves. This sort of literal proximity was not possible for Israel because Jesus had not yet shed His blood of the eternal covenant and opened a new, living way to the Father.

The question at the end of the lesson, “What things are you doing that keep you from an even deeper intimacy with God,” is misleading. Of course we push God away when we refuse to submit to truth or indulge our flesh in various ways. But before this question has any meaning, a person must be born again—born of the Spirit.

When a person is born of the Spirit, he or she becomes increasingly aware of the purposes of God. Moreover, the Holy Spirit does not leave us and “undo” our being born again. According to 1 Corinthians 3, God will judge our works as to their eternal significance, but the quality of our works does not determine our salvation (see 1 Cor 3:10-17).

The presence of the Lord never leaves the born again. The Spirit of him who raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in those who have believed, and this life is eternal. We cannot cause God to retreat and advance, retreat and advance. While He may not always be in our faces, still He is always with us.

As New Testament priests, we do not function as intermediaries between God and man. Now we function as mediators of the gospel. As new covenant priests born of the Holy Spirit into God’s own family, we bear the literal presence of Jesus in the world. We have His own words in us with which to share the gospel, and this news of Jesus’ finished salvation on the cross is what we bear to the world. God Himself is the intermediary between God and man (1 Tim 2:10), and we are merely the messengers. Our role is to bring the truth of the gospel to a dying world. No longer do we, as the priests, offer sacrifices for sin. Jesus already did that—and we bear the good news.

 

Summary

1. New Covenant priests, all who believe in the Lord Jesus and are born again, do not provide a shield between the world and God.
2. Jesus alone is the shield between mankind and God.
3. Nothing we do can drive Jesus away once we are born again.

 

GO TO DAY 4

 

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