The Need for Salvation

Our study looks into the issue of what the Christian Controversy is, as per the Bible. Why is there a need for salvation? Why a Savior, and why the need for an incarnate God and Creator to rescue His creation from destruction? What was the preceding state of affairs before the controversy, and its current state that demands a campaign of sacrifice, death, and blood to redeem man to a former and higher state?

As Christians we need to understand the root of the issue that launched the plan of salvation, so we can make sense of the problems around it, and grasp what the solution is. Knowing the true cause makes you value the solution and the steps that have been elaborately designed to take you to it.

The Controversy in Heaven

As Christians we know God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1-31), and everything within it, including human beings. As created beings we give acknowledgement to our Creator — respect, honor, appreciation — as a parent would receive from a child (Nehemiah 9:6; Revelation 4:11; Philippians 4:20). As per the Bible, the story begins in Heaven, a place of peace and perfection — until there was an issue, with an anointed cherub.

This anointed cherub's workstation is described in Exodus 25:17-20 — the mercy seat, and the cherubim of gold at its two ends. His workplace was the Most Holy Place, where the ark was kept, and his job was to protect the law of God, the foundation of the throne of the Creator and King of the Universe. So the question we ask is: what changed?

According to the Bible's own definition (1 John 3:4), sin and iniquity are the transgression of the law. This covering cherub broke the very law he was charged to protect — and in doing so, spawned rebellion that brought about a war in Heaven (Revelation 12:7-10).

The issue starts from the heart. This anointed cherub desired the glory of God and wanted to ascend higher than God and be God — but he was not the Creator and King. He also claimed there was another way to be holy and be like God, without obeying the laws of God: a new pathway to holiness without going through God or having His character. He ends up splitting the congregation in Heaven, causing angels to think God's government and authority was unfair, and to seek another pathway to righteousness and holiness.

The Controversy on Earth

The earth is a kingdom of men, created by God, who have been given dominion over all the earth as kings, subject to God (Genesis 1:26-28). This anointed angel repeats his same deception with Eve on earth:

"Ye shall be as gods" echoes "I will be like the Most High" — the ability to create law, to decide good and evil for yourself, was the introduction of deception into the heart of Adam and Eve, and the genesis of sin, deterioration, and separation from God (Romans 5:12; Romans 3:23). Deciding what is good and evil, and determining your own laws, makes you your own god — a prerogative that belongs only to a Creator who knows what is best for His creation.

Once sin enters the heart, it deteriorates and breaks down our original nature slowly, until we no longer look like God. Sin is a disease, like leprosy, spreading through the whole body. This causes mismatched character and separates us from God.

The State of the Controversy

The controversy is about the law of God, and the rebellion that took place in Heaven over it, poured down onto this earth with the same deception. Once a law is broken there are consequences, and with God's government we can expect nothing different — His character doesn't change, and His law doesn't change (Malachi 3:6).

This controversy had to be judged and settled. God lays down the principle for how a controversy is settled legally and lawfully:

Ezekiel 28:17 and Revelation 1:5-6 establish a jury of kings who will observe the judgment and decide the controversy. Only kings have dominion, and Adam was given dominion of the earth in Genesis 1:26-28. Adam and Eve lost this dominion when they sinned and disobeyed — their character and righteousness was tarnished, and the image of God in them was broken, like a broken law, when they gave their allegiance to another in the garden of Eden. The only way man can regain this position is if he is restored — and according to Revelation 1:6, it will be done by Christ Jesus.

Selected for Jury, or Stay a Rebel

A restoration, a redeeming of the family of man into kings, priests, and jury, is what salvation is about, for those who choose to re-associate with their Creator. The criteria to be a jury:

• Not part of the controversy — man was not around when the controversy or sin began.
• Law-abiding — not a sinner or law-breaker of the law he is going to enforce.
• Sound discernment of the law — not confused about it, unsure of it, or flimsy with it.
• Cannot be swayed by public opinion, since the law should be his character too.
• A citizen of Israel and Heaven — being in Christ makes you part of spiritual Israel (Romans 9:1-8; Galatians 3:16-17).

By disassociating with the constitutional law you had dominion under, you rebel and separate from God's government, become ignorant of the law, and take on a different image than the one you were created in — unfit to discern that law. The law of God was originally written in the hearts of Adam and Eve; by breaking it, they lost their image of Him.

Restoration Technique

It is God's plan, and the entire plan of the Bible, to restore man to his original character and re-establish the law in his heart. How do you change a person's character — how do you make a sinful man appear innocent, holy, before the law, like he never sinned? What is the process to achieve such a task? This is a miracle on its own. Hence the plan of salvation — a plan so ingenious, so complex, so simple, and so miraculous, that it establishes the Science of Salvation.

God's law cannot be changed, removed, or tweaked, because it is who He is — it is part of Him (Malachi 3:6). The only way the law can be satisfied is by the shedding of blood. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22) — no cancellation of the debt, no payment of the penalty, until that broken law is atoned for by blood.

What kind of restoration technique is God cooking here? What is the science behind it — a technique that can grant forgiveness, cleansing, redemption, re-education, and restoration, and still keep the law intact and unbroken at the same time? This technique can be found in the sanctuary — an amazing shelter of fire and blood, water, bread, light, incense, and the law, arranged in an unbelievable way, and officiated by Christ Jesus Himself as High Priest, to grant restoration and transformation to the sinner who accepts the invitation from God to step into this shelter and come out redeemed of sin and rebellion.

This structure was so important that God selected a group of people from this earth and gave them this sanctuary, to demonstrate how He intends to use this salvation technique to rescue man from sin and restore him to the law. The Israelites were the custodians of the sanctuary and the knowledge of God, and were to act as the light of the world, to draw all men to it as a lighthouse (Exodus 19:4-6; Matthew 5:14).

It is therefore the desire, prayer, and wish of this study to draw the minds of Christians back to the sanctuary, and how it reflects Jesus Christ our Lord — and to grasp the technique of how God intends to use it to save man from this sinful world.

Continue to: The Plan of Salvation Landscape →