#1Tabernacle: Why is it Important

From the very beginning of creation there has been a focal point toward which all of creation has been drawn. The vast majority of all the peoples of the world have been ignorant of that Divine Goal and His eternal purpose. That does not alter the fact that God has designed an end from the beginning. The committed Christian should have a revelation of that goal and be pressing toward it at any and all costs. If Christianity is the only true religion it should be focused upon the eternal purpose of God that will be summed up in Jesus Christ for all eternity.

From the very first Christians following Pentecost until today there have been those who have focused their lives and ministry to illuminate the solution to this whole human drama that is repeated in each generation. They saw that the whole universe is supporting the revelation of the sons of God and that all is focused upon Jesus Christ who is the First-born of many brethren. Each generation adds a chapter to the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose.

When we view salvation from the eternal viewpoint we will see that salvation is not an event or even a series of events but is a unfolding revelation of Jesus Christ. Salvation is progressive from the day we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God’s only answer to the fall and man’s great dilemma, and the day that we finish with this life and step into the next. Our salvation should be greater today, in our actual experience, than when we first believed.

Too much of the media and the world have judged Christianity by those who are “Christian” by heredity and not by actual experience. We can be Christians by heredity without a progressively growing faith. If Christianity was evaluated only by those who have been deeply committed to God and His eternal purpose, that will be summed up in Jesus Christ, Christianity would be viewed quite differently. The great majority of those in the visible church are “Christians” in name only and because they are the greatest majority the church is evaluated by these and not by those who have given themselves wholly to the Christian life and faith.

When we see how the true church has been spread around the globe, we see that very few were actually responsible for the work of going into the whole world and preaching the gospel to every creature. Most of the advance of Christianity into unreached places has been the work of a few very committed missionaries who have given their life for that work. Then their work was carried on and the church was advanced by their converts who were nationals.

The vast majority of those who are actively involved in the local church are concerned for the activities of the local assembly in the Sunday School, the youth camps, concerts and a local outreach. All these ministries are essential for the local spread of the gospel.

One difficulty that has faced the church in every age is the environment that the church functions. Too much of the church has been influenced and changed by the local environment and its conformity to the world’s standards. From time to time there have been great revivals when the church has actually changed the local environment to be more and more Christian. God has designed the church to be a representative of the Kingdom of God and so affect the environment of each place the church is established. Some have tried to accomplish that by politics, by demonstrations, by activism and human influence rather than by the power of God in true conversions.

The world is always trying to mold Christianity to conform to it’s idea of what an acceptable “religion” should be. Much of the history of the church shows that the world has been quite successful and that the distortion that has resulted is sub-Christian. For that reason many consider the “church” to be sub-Christian. That means they proclaim one thing but live quite another.

It is obvious from scripture, as well as church history, that Jesus Christ has established His own value system, His own character and attitudes that are contrary to the world’s value system. When He said to make disciples of every nation He expected that His revealed value system would be the standard for the church and be a demonstration of the Kingdom on the earth. This is the ideal of Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7. However, a constitutional change must take place subjectively within a person before the Kingdom value system can be adopted and practiced.

This new system, of the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven manifested on earth through men, is progressively assimilated into our life experience by a line on line and precept upon precept development and growth. When Christianity was reduced to an only believe system, what we actually are is of little importance. However, the Kingdom life system that Jesus taught focuses upon the character, the conduct, the principles and attitudes that the Kingdom of Heaven is now experiencing. It has been taught that when the Lord returns He will rapture people right out of the houses of prostitution because of what they believe and what they actually are is of no consequence. This is anti-Kingdom and anti-Christ teaching and is the doctrine of demons. God’s grace is poured out upon us to enable us to conform to the Kingdom life and not to cover over our rebellion.

When the church is viewed from the value system of the world, just believing in Jesus Christ sets us apart from the world. However, when the church is viewed from the value system of the Kingdom we see the church must be drastically transformed to a totally different orientation. The lack of this transformation, subjectively in the persons who are claiming to be Christian, is the source of this confusion. It is the basic transformation that precedes the Kingdom viewpoint. Jesus sad

“You must be born again to see the Kingdom”.

Jesus said to enter the Kingdom viewpoint we must become as little children. Little children have no experience and know nothing about life. They have to begin at the very beginning and learn everything from the basics onward. That is how we must approach the Kingdom of God. We don’t know anything and have no Kingdom experience. The Kingdom is a complete mystery to us and the principles of the Kingdom are completely foreign to us. We have to begin at the very basics and progress line on line. The church has reduced this process down to believing something about Jesus and assigned the Kingdom some place in the future but has implied that the Kingdom is irrelevant today. The implication is that we enter the Kingdom by death rather than as spiritual children.

Many of the insights and customs and traditions of the church have not fallen upon the church by the act of Christian faith but have been imposed upon the church by forces without faith even within the church. It is not that they are wrong but that the source has not been birthed out of faith in God or the leading of God or with a vision of God’s eternal purpose.

From the first veil of the Outer Court through the doorway to the tent of meeting, through the life and ministry of the Holy Place and into the Sanctuary of God’s Presence, the Most Holy Place, we see the unfolding of the subjective transformation by the work of God that must progressively be accomplished in our lives. This requires a submission to the dealings of God and a continuous faith in the God Who sanctifies. It requires a vision of God’s finished saint who is qualified to sit with Him on His throne. No system of religion can accomplish anything eternal that will benefit man in fulfilling God’s eternal purpose. The gold of the Tabernacle and the transparent gold of the New Jerusalem testify to the necessity of the personal work of God in this transformation. All this is beyond the ability of man.

The Tabernacle of Moses is given to us by God as a graphic of His Purpose and the various experiences that move us from forgiveness of sins to sitting with Him on His throne.

Since the Tabernacle of Moses is just a picture and type of the Tabernacle of God, the Tabernacle of God is the reality to which God is bringing His perfected church. The New Jerusalem is the reality of the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle of Moses. God’s work in this church age is to perfect the church to sit with Him on His throne which is pictured in the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle of Moses. Since that Ark is the Lord Jesus Christ, the perfected church, which is His wife, will become one with Him.

The Outer Court is a picture and graphic of the various basic Christian experiences that prepare us for the Eternal Priesthood which is a Royal and Holy Priesthood. A king / priest ministry to God. Obviously very little understanding exists in the visible church concerning this holy calling. The “ministry” has focused upon “being saved” instead of fulfilling God’s eternal purpose and living to bring joy to His heart.

As we study the Tabernacle of Moses and the “ascending experiences” to the Most Holy Place these false concepts should be corrected. For this reason we treasure the revelations hidden within the Tabernacle of Moses. That is why we provide these studies.