We do not know a great deal about heaven, but we do know a little something about the sanctuary/tabernacle mentioned in the Old Testament.  According to Hebrews in the New Testament this was a replica of something in heaven - we refer to it here as the heavenly sanctuary.  And just as the priests did their redemptive work on behalf of Israel in former earthly sanctuary, so Jesus, as our High Priest works in does his redemptive work on our behalf. 

In a nutshell, everything in the Old Testament services then, points not only forward to Jesus on the Cross, but also upward to what is going on in heaven.

It is important to understand salvation to be more than saving you from something.  Salvation certainly is that... but if this was the case, you would have to be continually saved, every time you committed a sin... and judging on our current state as human beings, we would need saving a lot from that.  Think of “giving a man a fish.”

but Salvation in Jesus goes beyond saving you from something.  Salvation as described in the Bible and given by Jesus saves you to something.  You are saved from your old life, and given a new life.  Think of “teaching a man to fish.”

If we are not careful, this can quickly become legalism, something many Christian sacks Seventh-day Adventists of.  And yes, if Salvation become about being good, and avoiding being bad, or earning our salvation in any way, the legalism label sticks.  But in being saved from and into, it is all about what Jesus does.  Hence the title of this section - Christ's work in the heavenly sanctuary.

What Goes Into Our Salvation?

Sin is a Big deal and cannot be ignored.  Satan has accused God of being unfair, and questioned his way of doing things.  Damage has been done, salvation, not a band aid is needed.  Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death...”

Jesus died that death for us.  Before he could do anything else for our eternal life, he had to take away the effect of sin.  He did this by taking our death for us.  I Corinthians 1.3 “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.”

The priests role in the old testament was to go between us and God.  Between the fallen and the almighty.    We use the term mediator here.  Jesus is our High Priest, he, as human and divine (God) goes between us and His father... yea, loosing you yet?  It’s a big deal. I Timothy 2.5 “for there is one God, and one mediator between men and God and that person is Jesus Christ.”

Eyes Wide Open

God does not go into the saving business blind.  The las t book of the Bible says there is a book in heaven (Probably in the sanctuary - salvation - area) that is written within and without - in other words this book is so full that they had to use the back of it too.  This book is full of your life's records - what you did, what you said, and some even say what you thought.  (Yikes!)  There is a real reason for this - you see Satan not only accuses God, in one of his last acts he’ll also accuse you, and me of doing terrible things.  Ultimately of being unworthy of this salvation.  The father, the judge can go “I know, I had an angel there who wrote everything down.”  God knows more about us than we know about ourselves.  The cool thing is, he does not use that against us!

But Jesus has taken that information, and covered it with his own.  He is doing that, in the heavenly sanctuary on your behalf, you just have to want his life rather than your own.

This is real by the way.  It’s an actual event.  There’s a book, there’s a God.  There is Salvation.

It’s Good News.

Getting deeper, getting technical

What actually, literally happens in the sanctuary is for a longer deeper study than what I can do here.  But Adventists use the books of Daniel, Revelation and Hebrews as a detailed background for learning a great deal about this man Jesus and God.  As time goes on, I also plan on having web pages on these books.  For now though, the official language here is good on this topic.

Official Language

There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and not man. In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the time of His ascension. In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. In that typical service the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly things are purified with the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Jesus. The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom. This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent.