No believing Christian would dispute the fact that Jesus was crucified for our sins some 1,930 years ago, in the reign of the Roman em-peror, Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1). There are prophecies of His birth (Isa. 11:1-3; 7:14; Micah 5:2); of His life on earth (Isa. 42: 1-4; 61:1, 2); of His death by crucifixion (Ps. 22:16; Isa. 53); of His exaltation to the throne of God (Ps. 2:6-9; 110:1-4); and of His work in heaven (Zech. 6:12, 13); and there is the fulfillment of these prophecies in history, as recorded in the New Testament. There is also recorded the time of His being cut off (Dan. 9:26). The prophecies predicted His death, and their fulfillment in history makes the word of prophecy more sure; and we are assured of the truth of what we believe, that "once in the end of the world" Jesus has "appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb. 9:26).
Yet Jesus, "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29), was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8; 1 Peter 1:20). By healing the paralytic in the house of Peter, Jesus demonstrated to the Pharisees that He had authority on earth to forgive sins (Luke 5:24), and this authority proceeded from the offering of the atoning sacrifice, from the expiation of human guilt, for "without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb. 9:22). The death of Jesus alone could have made possible the forgiveness of sin that allowed the human race to live; and His mediation alone could have have enabled Enoch to walk with God on earth and be received up into glory more than three thousand years before the events of Calvary (chap. 7:25). In Enoch's day, as in ours, there was no "salvation in any other: for there" was "none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Moses was raised from the dead and Elijah was translated without tasting death (Matt. 17:3; 2 Kings 2:11) many hundreds of years before Jesus actually rose from the dead and became "the firstfruits of them that slept" (1 Cor. 15:20). We see no inconsistencies in these relevant facts, but rather, recognize their complementary nature and their inherent harmony.When we come to consider the priesthood of Jesus we find the same principle obtaining. "In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people" (Heb. 2:17). His incarnation was a step leading up to His death (verse 14) and a necessary preparation for His priesthood. But His incarnation did not make Him a priest. Nor did He assume the office of a priest by Himself. "So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec" (chap. 5:5, 6).
Jesus was made a high priest by the oath of God, and this oath was "since the law" (chap. 7:28). It was after "he had by himself-purged our sins" and had ascended to heaven that He was anointed "with the oil of gladness" above His fellows (chap. 1:3, 9). He was then made "both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36); and "the Pentecostal outpouring was Heaven's communication that the Redeemer's inauguration was accomplished" (The Acts of the Apostles, p. 39). As Psalm 110:1-4 makes perfectly clear, there was the time when the oath of God was sworn, as He said, "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek," and then Jesus became our high priest. As Peter later put it, "Him hath God exalted with [at or to] his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins" (Acts 5:31). That is, He was made the priest.
If Jesus had remained on earth He would not have been a priest (Heb. 8:4), for the true sanctuary is in heaven, and it is in that "greater and more perfect tabernacle" (chap. 9:11) that "he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them" (chap. 7:25). There, in that place of power (Matt. 26: 64), on the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, He is the mediator of the new and better covenant and is writing His law in the hearts and minds of those who are fully surrendered to Him (Heb. 8:10).
Thus the exact time when Jesus became a high priest is pinpointed by prophecy and history, as was His death on the cross.
But this work He is now doing for us is the same work He did for the saints of what we call "Old Testament times." From Abel to Zechariah there never was any other means of receiving forgiveness for sin and of attaining to righteousness than through the death and mediation of Jesus, the Son of God. After Adam had sinned, the new covenant was the only possible pathway to holiness and heaven, and there is no mediator of this new covenant except Jesus our Lord and Saviour. As "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," however, He had already confirmed the covenant by His blood, had already "offered sacrifice, Himself the priest, Himself the victim" (The Desire of Ages, p. 25; The Acts of the Apostles, p. 33). "Since the sin of our first parents, there has been no direct communication between God and man. The Father has given the world into the hands of Christ, that through His mediatorial work He may redeem man, and vindicate the authority and holiness of the law of God."—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 366. "Not alone at the Saviour's advent, but through all the ages after the fall and the promise of redemption, 'God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.' "—Ibid.
The sacrifice of Jesus, made on the cross 1,930 years ago, is ever available. "I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain" (Rev. 5:6), "as in the very act of pouring out His blood on the sinner's behalf" (Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 395).
When Jesus had offered Himself for our salvation on Calvary, His work in the court was not ended. "We have an altar," writes Paul, and it is an altar of sacrifice, for it is an altar "whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle" (Heb. 13:10), and no one eats of the altar of incense. John saw Jesus standing at the altar, "having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne" (Rev. 8:3). This mention of "the golden altar which was before the throne" distinguishes it from the altar at which the priest receives the incense. The people bring the incense (Ex. 35:28; Num. 7:86; Isa. 60:6; Jer. 41:5), which "represents the merits and intercession of Christ, His perfect righteousness, which through faith is imputed to His people, and which can alone make the worship of sinful beings acceptable to God" (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 353). "As we acknowledge before God our appreciation of Christ's merits, fragrance is given to our intercessions."—Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 178. As we pray in the name and through the merits of our Saviour we are bringing incense to the altar, and Christ presents "before Him also, with the precious fragrance of His own righteousness, the prayers of penitent believers" (The Great Controversy, p. 421).
God "has placed at His altar an Advocate clothed in His nature" and "with our nature" (Counsels to Parents and Teachers, p. 14; Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 363). "Make use of My name. This will give your prayers efficiency, and the Father will give you the riches of His grace."—Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 364. "God's appointments and grants in our behalf are without limit."—Counsels to Parents and Teachers, p. 14. We should not set to them limits of time or space. God could call Himself "the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," and not be "the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him" (Luke 20:37, 38). From our viewpoint they were dead, but God could speak of them as alive because of the surety of the resurrection. As we can accept that Jesus came "in the fulness of time," and made the supreme sacrifice on Calvary "in the midst of the week," some 1,930 years ago, and yet was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," so we can accept that He was ever the priest and advocate of the human family although not appointed to that office by the oath of God till after He had purged our sins by His death, when He sat down "on the right hand . • . of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man" (Heb. 8:1, 2).
The times and the seasons are for us; but, thank God, He is unlimited in time or space or character.
