Propitiation

    Pastor  Reuben preached an AWESOME word at church today.  He quoted 1 John
2:2, where it states that Jesus is our propitiation.  This same word is used for
Mercy Seat.  In Exodus, Moses describes the Arc of the covenant in detail.  What
Pastor did today was help understand what this passage means.  Inside the Arc
were three things, the Ten Commandments, a jar of manna and the rod of Aaron. 
He went on to say that these three items represent our rebellion towards God. 
The Ten Commandments, rebellion against God's law.  The jar of manna, rebellion
against God's provision.  The rod of Aaron, rebellion against God's authority. 
On top of the box, there was to be a cover (lid) made of pure gold, so that
those three items would be covered and not seen.  There were to be two cherubins
on either side of this Mercy Seat.  In John as stated before, Jesus became that
Mercy Seat.  AWESOME!!  He is our covering.  When God sees us, He does not see
our rebellion because Jesus has covered it. 

    As amazing as this truth is, there is a lot of uncovering going around,
Pastor said.  In 1 Sam.6:19 God smote 50,070 Israelites because they looked into
the Arc of the Covenant.  They removed the Mercy Seat and saw what as inside. 
In other words, they went back and remembered their rebellion; their sin against
God.  God did not like that, so he killed them all.  I know this may sound harsh
but in truly is not.  In essence, what these people did, and what we also do, is
remove Christ's covering and discuss our sins with one another.  We may do it
for ourselves, but I truly believe we uncover other people's sin more often than
we do ours.  We look at a brother or sister in Christ and remember where they
came from, what they did, how they offended us, etc…  What God said to me in the
service was that every time wee look at others and only see their faults or
their offences toward us, we are uncovering the Arc.  We are removing Jesus from
them and seeing inside.  We are saying that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was
not enough to cover them.  God so dislikes that, that he can smite us dead. 
However, He gives us His grace.  In Psalms 32:1, 2 David states, "…Blessed is
the man whose sin God remembers no more…"  If God looks at me and my sin and
does not see me nor remember them, but sees Christ alone.  Who am I to say that
it's not enough for my brother and sister in Christ?  I pray God would help me
and you to see Christ in and thru others.
 
Vicky