3:19 "Repent
therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of
refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send
Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until
the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of
all His holy prophets since the world began."

Jesus is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the
world. The Bible repeats this truth in several places. The plan for Jesus to
rescue us was laid from the beginning. This is why an animal was killed to make
skins for clothing for Adam and Eve. This is why Abel and Cain were both
sacrificing lambs on altars until Cain decided to offer his produce instead.
The animals dying represented Jesus dying. His life "clothes" us. His
death is in place of ours. He is in every way the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. (Rev. 13:8)

To help the people better understand the Story of how Jesus
would save us from our sins He gave Moses detailed instructions for the sanctuary
and all the things that would happen there. Each piece of furniture represented
Jesus in some way and our relationship to Him.
What does this have to do with Peter's words to the crowd
that gathered after the lame man was healed? Lots actually. Notice that Peter
tells them to "repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out..."
That is sanctuary language. The blotting out of sins refers
to a specific event. Search the phrase "blotted out" or "blot
out" and you will see a clear picture emerge, especially if you are
familiar with the daily and yearly services of the sanctuary. Daily lambs/goats
were sacrificed sins committed. Drops of blood from those animals were taken
into the sanctuary, into the first room called the Holy Place. Picture the
scene. The guilty person confesses his or her sins on the head of the lamb.
Symbolically they are transferred. The lamb suffers the penalty for those sins.
The blood becomes a visual representation for sin and it's consequences. The
blood is then transferred from the courtyard where the sacrifice took place to
the Holy Place. The sinner can no longer see the blood. The "sins"
are removed by the priest and taken into the sanctuary. The courtyard
represents the earth. This is the place where the Lamb died. Then Jesus was
taken out of our sight. He is now in heaven. The Bible said from the beginning
that the real sanctuary is in heaven and the one Moses had built was just a
model. It was essentially a life size teaching tool.
So we have covered what happened daily at the sanctuary or
temple. Have you thought about the accumulation of all those drops of blood
inside the Holy Place? Then what happens?
Once a year a lamb is offered. It's called the day of
atonement or Yom Kippur. The blood from that lamb is taken into the second room
where the ark of the Testimony is - the Most Holy Place. The blood that has
accumulated throughout the year is cleansed from the Holy Place or
"blotted out".
The sanctuary has more to teach us. Our sins are currently
taken away but not yet blotted out. Like my dirty clothes that I remove at the
end of the day and transfer to the laundry hamper. They are removed from me but
the dirt is not yet blotted out.
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole
world. Daily lambs were offered by the priests on behalf of all the people.
People who didn't even come to confess. Jesus has been bearing our guilt from
the beginning. The direct and immediate consequence of sin (death) has been
removed from humanity but not yet blotted out. That only happens at the end. On
the last day. On that day our sins either get blotted out forever (because we
repented and were converted) or they are not because we refused His grace and
trampled on His mercy.
It sounds complicated but really it is not. Jesus has taken
our dirty laundry until we decide what we want Him to do with it. Clean it or
give it back...
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