Everything In Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about everything being in Christ?

The Bible teaches that salvation and understanding of God are only found in Jesus Christ. According to Scripture, everything we learn about salvation centers around the Lord Jesus Christ. In Exodus 27, the tabernacle and its components symbolize the centrality of Christ in worship and salvation. Outside of Christ, there is no true understanding of these spiritual realities; as the Scriptures say, 'All thy children shall be taught of God,' indicating that true teaching begins only after God's saving work in our hearts.

Q: How do we know that salvation is found in Christ alone?

Salvation is grounded in the sufficiency and exclusivity of Christ's atoning work. The doctrine of salvation being found only in Christ is affirmed by multiple biblical texts that speak of His work as sufficient for redemption. Hebrews 10:19-22 emphasizes our access to God through the blood of Jesus, highlighting that our confidence to approach God comes from His perfect sacrifice. The intricate details of the Old Testament tabernacle serve as types pointing to Christ—none could come near to God except through the appointed means, all of which are realized in Him. In essence, outside of Christ, no one can approach God or understand salvation.

Q: Why is understanding the tabernacle's symbolism important for Christians?

The symbolism of the tabernacle reveals the work of Christ in redemption and our access to God. Understanding the symbolism of the tabernacle is crucial for Christians because it unveils the depth of Christ’s redemptive work. The tabernacle itself, with its strict boundaries and ceremonial practices, demonstrates that access to God was limited and heavily mediated. However, in Christ, believers are granted boldness to enter the Holy of Holies, signifying that Jesus’ sacrifice has opened a new and living way for us to commune directly with God. This concept underscores the theology of grace, illustrating that we are now made priests and given the privilege to offer praise and thanksgiving.

Q: Why is Christ referred to as our High Priest?

Christ is our High Priest because He mediates our relationship with God and offers Himself as the perfect sacrifice. The title of Christ as our High Priest speaks to His unique role in mediating between God and humanity. As illustrated in the book of Hebrews, Christ's priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood because He not only offers sacrifices but is Himself the sacrifice. His blood cleanses our conscience and grants us the ability to approach the throne of grace with confidence. This theological understanding emphasizes that Christ fulfills all aspects of the sacrificial system, fulfilling the law and providing a permanent means of reconciliation with God.

chapter 27, Exodus chapter 27. The title of this message is this, Everything in Christ. Everything in Christ. Everything we learn Everything we know of salvation, we know and learn of it in the Lord Jesus Christ. Outside of Christ, there is no learning of salvation or of Him. The Scripture says, All thy children shall be taught of God. And that teaching, it really begins after the Lord saves us. Because until He saves us, we are not teachable. We're not teachable. Henry said to me one time, he said, you really can't counsel the ungodly. There's nothing to work with. They have nothing to work with. They're dead.

But when God saves us, He gives us a new heart and He gives us eyes to see and ears to hear. Now we are teachable, now we're teachable. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit, now we're teachable. And what we are going to see, and I hope the Lord enables me to bring it out, is that everything in salvation is in Jesus Christ and in Christ alone.

Now the Levites, they were the priests That was the priesthood, the Levites, tribe of Aaron. They took care of the tabernacle, they took care of the service of the tabernacle. They were responsible to do that. And they would encamp around the tabernacle and this fence, and this fence went all the way around it. And they would encamp around that tabernacle that fence and then outside of the Levites then you'd have the camp of Israel three tribes on each side four sides that they would camp around this and that tabernacle that that Tabernacles and everything in it and everything about it Was a center of worship.

I Thought last night when I was looking at this again, I thought of the whole world THE WHOLE EARTH, AND EVERYBODY'S IN IT, AND THERE IS THIS ONE SPOT GOD GAVE THAT'S THE CENTER OF WORSHIP, AND THAT ONE PLACE, THE TABERNACLE, THE FURNITURE, THE FENCE THAT WENT AROUND IT, IS CHRIST. IT'S ALL CHRIST. JESUS CHRIST IS THE CENTER OF OUR WORSHIP. He's the center of our worship here this morning. He's the center of worship in heaven. He's the center of worship. All glory is given to Him.

And this tabernacle and this fence that went around it, it really fenced off everybody that was on the outside. You couldn't just... It was a place of worship. You didn't just come in and wander around. If you came, you came with a purpose. And you came with a sacrifice. And you came with a purpose of worship. And the priest, you bring a sacrifice to the priest and he would offer it up.

It was not just a place, it was not a place of entertainment. That's what so much has turned into today. So much of what is called a church out there is an entertainment center. It's a place of worship. It's a place where Jesus Christ is lifted up and honored and magnified. That's what it is. It's a place of worship.

And the way it worked was that an Israelite He would come to the entrance of the courtyard, he'd bring an offering and give it to the priest, and the priest would offer it up, he'd offer it up if it was a sacrifice, if it was a blood sacrifice, whatever it was, the priest would take it and he would do the service.

They were the ones who moved about within the courtyard on a regular basis. You know, people didn't just come and go and wander around in that courtyard. It was not built for curiosity, it was built for a place of worship, a place that represented the Lord Jesus Christ. They handled the altar, they performed the sacrifices, they were the ones who washed at the basin and maintained the sacred place, and the people would approach and they'd give it their sacrifice and that would be it. That's how they worshipped. It was all about maintaining order and reverence and worship. But here's the beauty. Here's the beauty, all of those Israelites were on the outside. And for the most part, most of them had no idea what this was all about.

We see Christ in this, don't we? These things are written, these things were given that you and I, right now, this day, would see and understand the Lord Jesus Christ and redemption, salvation. We'd understand it. And here's the beauty of Christ and Him crucified and what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are allowed now. We are allowed to come into the holies of holies because He has made us kings and priests. We are now priests. We offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise. And we are allowed to come into God's presence.

None of those Israelites could just walk into the courtyard and walk into the tabernacle and go in behind the veil where the mercy seat was, the ark was. Only the priest could do that, the high priest at that time. But now we, we have the privilege and the right to just come into God's presence reverently, respectfully, and worshipfully.

Look, turn over to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10. Look in verse 19, 19 through 22. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness, and over my margin it says liberty, liberty, to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, WHICH HE HATH CONSECRATED FOR US THROUGH THE VEIL, THAT'S TO SAY HIS FLESH. HE'S OPENED THE WAY, AND HE'S THE WAY INTO GOD'S PRESENCE.

AND HAVING A HIGH PRIEST OVER THE HOUSE OF GOD, LET US DRAW NEAR WITH A TRUE HEART AND FULL ASSURANCE OF FAITH, HAVING OUR HEARTS SPRINKLED FROM AN EVIL CONSCIENCE, AND OUR BODIES WASHED WITH PURE WATER." If we could come into God's presence Oh I would to God, we could really, really grab a hold of that. The privilege you and I have right now, through the Lord Jesus Christ, we can now enter into the Holy Presence of God. But now let's look, we're going to look at the courtyard.

And I've been looking at this for, I don't know, a couple, three weeks? You know, that's the reason I didn't preach on up here for a couple weeks or so. I've been studying it and trying to go over and over it and it's kind of like, you know, with me a message is kind of like cooking. You just let it cook and cook and then finally it's ready. It's ready. And I felt like this morning and tonight or today was a time for this message.

So let's look at this. You have this white, fine, twine linen that surrounds the whole courtyard, 150 feet this way, 50 feet across the back, and 50 feet across the front. But in the front, the eastern part, you've got the door. I'll get to that when I get to that. That was the courtyard. That white Fine linen. Look it up. I started to bring it out here and read it to you, but look it up. What a process. What a process they had to go through to get white linen out of the flax. They got it from the flax. And it was a real process that they had to go through and they had to bleach it to get it white.

This white, linen that circled that whole place, the courtyard it's called, white on the outside and on the inside, is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It surrounded the whole courtyard and it would meet at the gate, white all the way around except it wouldn't come to the gate. And that gate was of different colors. It was the same as the curtain in the tabernacle and the veil that was in the tabernacle.

But it's the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. No other place on earth had this. This was given of God. God gave every detail right down to the pegs that went into the ground, the brass pegs. God gave it because these things are a pattern of the things in heaven.

And if He enables us to see, we can see Christ in every one of them, every piece, every detail. This is also the righteousness of the saints. In Revelation 19 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, his bride, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. You see, it's his righteousness, and his righteousness is our righteousness. So we not only see his righteousness, we see our righteousness in this fine twine white linen.

Now the Israelites living on the outside could only see the white fine twine linen and the pillars surrounding the tabernacle. That's all they could see. They might be able to see the top of the tabernacle but that's all they could see from the outside. The fence was seven and a half feet tall so no one could just stand and look over and just out of curiosity just watch what's going on.

What's going on is sacred. What's going on is worship. You couldn't just gawk over the, we used to say that when we was younger back home, quit gawking at it. You couldn't just gawk at it. I don't even know what gawk means. But you couldn't just look over the fence and gawk at it.

You just had to, it was seven and a half feet tall. You had to be in the courtyard to see the bronze altar where the sacrifice was given. You had to be in the courtyard to see the laver of water where the priest washed. You had to be in this courtyard to see the door of the tabernacle. You had to be a priest to see the inside of the tabernacle, the holy place. And you had to be a high priest to go under the veil once a year and see the ark and the mercy seat. You had to be in the courtyard to see all of this. You couldn't see any of it from the outside.

You've got to be in Christ. To see Him as your sacrifice, as your righteousness, as your sanctification, as the priest would wash at the labor of water. He would wash there. Christ is our sanctification. He's our justification. There at the altar of sacrifice where it was offered. Oh my soul, you have to be in the courtyard. It starts in the courtyard. You gotta be in Christ. And in Christ, you're a priest.

You can go into the Holy of Holies, and there you see the mercy seat. There you see the ark and the mercy seat. You see the law of God, the broken law, kept in the mercy seat. I mean, yeah, kept in the ark. It was kept in the ark. Christ kept the law. Christ kept the law. And there's that mercy seat over at Broken Law, and that blood sprinkled on that mercy seat. My, my, my. You don't understand any of that until you see Christ, do you? You don't see any of it. It's just ceremonial. Until you see Christ, religion is nothing more than ceremonial. That's all it is. That's all it is. You see this fine, beautiful white linen. You see it on the outside, but it's on the inside where you really begin to see and understand salvation.

And then we have the pillars. There in verse 17, you have the pillars. I think there were about 60 pillars that went around that courtyard. The pillars show stability. It shows strength. When the wind would blow in that desert and it would blow hard, it didn't blow the fence over. It didn't blow it over. No, those pillars were strong. They represent stability and strength and guidance and warning. Remember Lot's wife? What did God turn her into? A pillar of salt. A pillar of salt. Guidance God said He was a cloud by day and what by night? A pillar of fire. A pillar of fire.

Listen to Revelation, how this represents Christ in Revelation 10. And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, and this is the Lord Jesus Christ, clothed with a cloud and a rainbow. upon his head, our covenant God. This is our covenant God. That rainbow was given as a covenant. God said to Noah, this rainbow is a covenant. I will not destroy this earth by water anymore. This is our covenant God.

And his face was as it were the sun and his feet as pillars of fire. Pillars for firmness in judgment Pillars unshakable in authority and pillars is His dominion over all the earth. It first starts with Christ. It first starts with Him. He is the strength and stability of our salvation. He's the strength and stability of the church. Our Lord is. And then the church is also a pillar. I noticed in reading this, and it jumped out after when I was reading it, and it says, and His pillars, did you catch that? And His pillars shall be, I think it was 20 up at one side, it said His pillars.

1 Timothy 3.15, but if I tarry long, THAT THOU MAYEST KNOW HOW THOU OUGHTEST TO BEHAVE THYSELF IN THE HOUSE OF GOD, IN THE HOUSE OF GOD, WHICH IS THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, THE PILLAR, THE PILLAR AND GROUND OF THE TRUTH.

THE CHURCH HOLDS FORTH THE TRUTH IN THIS WORLD. IF YOU WERE TO TAKE THE CHURCH OUT OF THIS WORLD RIGHT NOW, THERE WOULD BE NO TRUTH IN THIS WORLD. There would be absolutely no truth. Everyone would go along with their own imagination, whatever their imagination was. That's how they would think. But we have the truth. We have the truth about God. We have it here every Sunday and every Thursday. We have the truth about Christ. We have the truth about salvation. We have the truth about ourselves.

God's not who I thought he was, and I'm not what I think I was. I'm a lot worse. A lot worse. It doesn't matter how bad I think I am, I'm a lot worse. Really, I don't mean that. And God is holy, but we can never conceive holy. All I've ever known is sin. That's all I've ever known is sin.

But the church, he said, is the ground and pillar of truth. This is where the truth is preached week after week all over the world when God's people gather together. Truth is preached. Truth is preached. And God's preachers are pillars. In Galatians 2, verse 9, And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, the stability It shows stability, it shows strength, it shows faithfulness. They were pillars, it says, they perceived the grace that was given unto me. They gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship that we should go unto the heathen and they unto the circumcision. But God's preachers are pillars. They're stable, they're not wishy-washy. They're stable and they're faithful.

Preachers hold up Christ Those pillars all around there, you know what they were holding up? The fine twined linen, the righteousness of Christ. I stand here every week and God's preachers, when they stand in the pulpit every week, they hold up the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. David said in one psalm, I will make mention of thy righteousness and thy righteousness only. They hold up the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ before the people. And then saints are pillars. You, individually, are pillars in the church.

In Revelation 3.12, Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God. A pillar in the temple, a place of permanence, a place of glory, a place of honor. God said I'll make you a pillar in the temple of God.

And then we come to the brass sockets. That's the base that the pillar sat on. And we know what brass is in the scriptures. We looked at it in the tabernacle and these other times it came up. Like the altar, it was covered in brass. It shed some wood and then it was covered over in brass. And all the utensils that was used there was made of brass. Brass speaks of judgment.

That brazen serpent, Christ crucified. Brass bases were the foundation that the pillars rested on. Christ crucified is the pillars we rest on. Especially we who preach, we stand on Christ and Him crucified. Those pillars didn't stand on sand. They didn't dig a hole and put them in the ground. They had a brass base A heavy brass base and that pillar was set on top of that. That's Christ and Him crucified. He's the foundation. He's the foundation of our message. He's the foundation of our hope. He's the foundation. Christ crucified is the foundation of our ministry.

Listen to Ephesians 2, 18-22. FOR THROUGH HIM, CHRIST, WE BOTH HAVE ACCESS BY ONE SPIRIT UNTO THE FATHER. NOW THEREFORE YE ARE NO MORE STRANGERS AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS AND OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD." You're God's family, you're part of the family. We have a big family. I've got a lot of brothers and sisters, a lot of them. All of them in glory. are my brothers and sisters, all of them.

And you are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord. That's what's going on. God's building His temple. God's holy temple is you, the church. in whom ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit." You are a habitation of God. Keep that in front of you. Keep it in front of you.

The pillars stand on Christ crucified in all ages. It is Christ crucified that the justice of God is satisfied. It is His substitutionary work, His substitutionary character that we stand on. Now we come to this silver hooks and fillets. God left nothing to Moses. He didn't leave it to him to figure out how to hang that white fine linen up. He didn't leave it to him. Well silver in the scripture speaks of what? Redemption. Redemption. Turn over to Exodus 30. In Exodus 30, let me see where I want to start. Look in verse 12, I think through 16. When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord. When thou numberest them, that there be no plague among them, WHEN THOU NUMBERST THEM.

THIS THEY SHALL GIVE EVERY ONE THAT PASSES AMONG THEM THAT ARE NUMBERED HALF A SHACKLE, AFTER THE SHACKLE OF THE SANCTUARY. A SHACKLE IS TWENTY GIRAS, AND HALF A SHACKLE SHALL BE THE OFFERING OF THE LORD. EVERY ONE THAT PASSES AMONG THEM THAT ARE NUMBERED FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND ABOVE SHALL GIVE AN OFFERING TO THE LORD. THE RICH SHALL NOT GIVE MORE, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel when they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement for your souls."

In other words, whether you're rich or whether you're poor, your salvation has one price. The blood of Jesus Christ is one price. THE RICH DOES NOT GIVE MORE AND BUY FAVOR, AND THE POOR DOESN'T GIVE LESS. HE DOESN'T GET OFF BECAUSE HE'S POOR. BECAUSE THERE'S ONE PRICE FOR OUR REDEMPTION, THE BLOOD OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the Lord, to make an atonement for your soul. And then you go over, and I'm not going to turn over there right now, but over in Numbers 3, 44 through 51, that was the atonement money paid for the firstborn, to redeem the firstborn of the children of Israel. So this silver speaks, and the hooks down, the hooks and the fillets. The fillets, you had this pillar, and you had this ring of silver, it's called a fillet, went around it.

I think it was in four, from what I looked at, it was like in four places on that for the hooks to come out of, and it would hold onto the linen. The fine twine linen would hook into that. And that's what held it up. So this silver speaks of redemption. The silver was used for this atonement money. And this beautiful white fine twine linen was held up by the redemption. Now listen, this is good. This fine twine linen, the righteousness of Christ, it was held up by the redemption that we have in Christ Jesus. Christ's righteousness is tied to His redemption. Now here, let me explain this.

Our Lord came into this world. He kept the law. He kept the law perfectly. He lived a perfect life, and His perfect life is our righteousness. But that's not all. If He doesn't die, we're not saved. He doesn't shed His blood, we are not saved. So you see, His righteousness is tied to His redemptive work. His death on the cross is tied to it. It's hooked to it. It's got those silver hooks. It's not hooked into wood. It's not hooked into a nail. It's silver.

It's the price of redemption, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in Philippians 2.8, And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He had to die the death of the cross because we deserve that kind of death.

That was reserved for criminals. I'm a criminal! I broke God's law! And everybody whom God saves has broke God's law. And Christ died for your sins. He put them all away. Every one of them. Our hope rests on the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ.

Now we come to the pins of brass. Now you see why I had to go for two or three weeks looking at this. I didn't want to let any of this go. But in my first reading, I'm just like, what does this mean? Well, here's the PINS OF BRASS in verse 19. It speaks of the brass. It speaks of STABILITY, STRENGTH, and JUDGMENT as brass speaks of judgment. Our Lord kept every detail right down to the jot and tittle. Every little detail. Salvation is in the details. Christ, He kept every jot and tittle of the law.

And I thought of that brass being driven into the earth, and those ropes, and those ropes were probably, more than likely, they made it from flax, the same thing they made the white linen from, they made it from flax. It says in Psalm 105, His judgment is in all the earth. It's in all the earth. And then over in Isaiah 22, 23, you see they would drive that brass peg into the ground and they'd tie it to the pillar and they'd bring it down to that and they gave it strength. Isaiah 22, 23, and I will fashion him as a nail in a sure place. Christ is that nail in a sure place. He's that one who holds us and keeps us. He's the strength of the church. And he shall be for a glorious throne to his father's house.

As I said, those cords no doubt were made from the flax that fine twine linen was made from. And then we've got this courtyard, we've got this fence that goes all the way around. It goes all the way around the back side, the west side, it's all this same thing until we get around to the eastern side. And then it comes partway on each side, then you've got this, you've got this beautiful needlework of all this material. It's given, I think it's in verse 16, it's blue, purple, scarlet linen. Same thing the veil's made of. Same thing the door's made of going into the tabernacle. Same thing that one covering is where all those, the seraphims were embroidered into. Made of the same thing, same thing. Here we have the person and work of our Lord. All of it, all of this comes around and finds its purpose in Him. Finds that everything is in Christ.

He blew this gate, and this gate was about 35 feet wide. It doesn't matter who you are. If the Lord has called you, no matter how vile you are, the door is wide open. The door is big enough. It's big enough for all to come in. Whosoever will, the Lord said, let him come and take of the water of life. And this gate is made of blue, purple, scarlet, and linen. And I've given you these before, but Since it's repeated, what, two or three times. So you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna repeat it two or three times. Usually we have to repeat something three times to get it anyway.

But blue is heavenly origin. This is of God. Christ is of God. This man, this man who knew no sin is of God and is God. This purple is His kingship, He's the King. He's the King of kings and Lord of lords. This scarlet is His sacrifice and blood. This fine linen is His righteousness and all of it is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. The church enters through WHO Christ is, not just what He has done, but WHO He is, the God-Man.

Now in closing, to be in the courtyard is to be in Christ. And not until we are in Christ do we understand the work of redemption and see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Not until we are in the courtyard do we understand the altar. Christ is our altar. The laver of water of Christ is our sanctification. The candlestick of Christ is our light. The showbread, the presence of God in Christ is the bread of life. He's the presence of God. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.

We have the veil. We have the ark. Christ is our ark. He's the mercy seat. He's the ark in which the law was kept. He's the ark in which Aaron's rod budded, his authority. He's God's choice. He's God's man. We have the pot of manna. He's the bread of life. Not until you are in Christ do you see and understand any of this. But boy, if you're in Christ, you see Him as your all in all. All right.

Everything In Christ

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about everything being in Christ?

How do we know that salvation is found in Christ alone?

Why is understanding the tabernacle's symbolism important for Christians?

Why is Christ referred to as our High Priest?

Sermon Transcript

About John Chapman

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Everything In Christ

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about everything being in Christ?

How do we know that salvation is found in Christ alone?

Why is understanding the tabernacle's symbolism important for Christians?

Why is Christ referred to as our High Priest?

Sermon Transcript

About John Chapman

Comments

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