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From faith to faith, part 3

The three main feasts of the Lord teach us the path to ever-increasing faith. The key concepts are faith (Passover), obedience (Pentecost), and agreement (Tabernacles). The effects of these upon us as believers are justification, sanctification, and glorification. These constitute the three parts of salvation, one for each part of our being: spirit, soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

These also constitute the “Highway of Holiness” (Isaiah 35:8) in the tabernacle of Moses as one progresses from outer darkness to the light of the full presence of God. The Outer Court is the place, correlating with Passover, where sins are forgiven through the altar of sacrifice and the laver of baptism. The Holy Place is accessible to the priesthood, anointed people who have access to the light (lampstand) and revelation of the word (table of showbread) so that they may teach those in the Outer Court and act as intercessors between God and the people.

The Most Holy Place, wherein resides the full presence of God, is reserved for the High Priest alone. Jesus Christ is that High Priest, but in another sense, He is the Head of a body of people. The body of Christ—if, indeed, they are in agreement with Him—have access to the Most Holy Place as well.

At this point in history, prior to the return of Christ, I personally have not attained full agreement with God. (I cannot speak for anyone else.) Occasionally I still question His sanity. This tells me that I am still learning obedience through Pentecost, and I suspect that this will continue until the “change” takes place that Paul described in 1 Corinthians 15:51. Nonetheless, I know that I have made much progress over the years as the Spirit has led me through multiple experiences in my own wilderness journey.

This “change,” of course, is also known as “the redemption of our body” (Romans 8:23). It is the point where we return to our inheritance that was lost through Adam’s sin. It is the fulfillment of the law of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:13), when, by grace alone, all debts are cancelled and all return to their “property,” or land inheritance. Under the Old Covenant, this property was a portion of the land of Canaan. Under the New Covenant, it is the portion of the dust of the ground that first constituted Adam and also has been given to us as our inheritance.

This glorified body is comparable to Christ’s post-resurrection body, when He no longer was limited by the flesh. He could move between heaven and earth at will, either to minister to the Father or to His disciples on earth. This is the privilege of glorification and of authority that comes with being in full agreement with God through the feast of Tabernacles.

Our goal, then, is not simply to go to heaven where we sing praises to God for eternity. When the overcomers are glorified, there will yet be much work on earth to be done before “the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21) is completed. When Christ returns, we will not enter a heavenly retirement home; we will instead enter God’s rest—not a time of idleness but a position where we cease from speaking our own words or doing our own works (Isaiah 58:13, 14).

When we speak only what we hear our Father say and do only what we see our Father do, then we can say that we have kept God’s Sabbath. This is the example that Jesus has set for us. And, as we see so often, there are three Sabbaths that correlate to our experience through Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. There is the Sabbath day, the Sabbath year, and the Jubilee. Not until we cease from our own works and our own words can it be said that we have entered into God’s rest—the Jubilee (Hebrews 4:9).

Entering God’s rest equips us to do the works of God and to speak His words, so that we may bring heaven to earth in fulfillment of Christ’s prayer: “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Hence, when we come fully into the image of God at the redemption of our body, it will launch the start of the greatest work ever seen. His Kingdom must grow until it fills the whole earth (Daniel 2:35) and until the whole earth is fruitful (Isaiah 27:6). This is the responsibility of the sons of God and their purpose in the earth (Genesis 1:28).

If we are able to catch the vision of our New Covenant Promised Land, though we yet see it afar off, we will be encouraged during our wilderness journey. The oases along the way, where our faith is tested to monitor our spiritual growth, will be less grueling, less daunting, and less discouraging, for we will see such tests in the context of the bigger picture.