In ascension Christ is also a propitiation-cover (mercy seat). Romans 3:25 says that God has set forth Christ “a propitiation-cover through faith in His blood.” The Greek word for propitiation here is hilasterion. This word is different from hilasmos in 1 John 2:2 and 4:10 and hilaskomai in Hebrews 2:17. Hilasmos is that which propitiates, that is, a propitiatory sacrifice. In 1 John 2:2 and 4:10 the Lord Jesus is the propitiatory sacrifice for our sins. Hilaskomai means to appease, to reconcile one by satisfying the other’s demand, that is, to propitiate. In Hebrews 2:17 the Lord Jesus makes propitiation for our sins to reconcile us to God by satisfying God’s righteous demands on us. But hilasterion is the place of propitiation. Therefore, in Hebrews 9:5 this word is used for the cover, the lid, of the ark (translated “mercy seat” in the King James Version) within the Holy of Holies. In Exodus 25:16-22 and Leviticus 16:12-16 the Septuagint also uses this word for the cover of the ark. The law of the Ten Commandments was in the ark exposing and condemning by its righteous requirements the sin of the people who came to contact God. By the lid of the ark with the atoning blood sprinkled upon it at the day of atonement the whole situation on the sinner’s side was fully covered. Hence, it was upon this lid that God could meet with those who broke His righteous law without, governmentally, any contradiction of His righteousness, even under the overshadowing of the cherubim that bore His glory overshadowing the lid of the ark. The propitiatory or expiatory sacrifice, which foreshadowed Christ, satisfied all the requirements of God’s righteousness and glory. As a result, God could pass by the people’s sins that occurred at that time. Furthermore, in order to show forth His righteousness, God had to do this. This is what is referred to in Romans 3:25. For this reason, Romans 3:25 uses the word hilasterion to reveal that Christ is the propitiation place, the propitiation-cover, whom God set forth for showing forth His righteousness by passing by the sins of the Old Testament saints, for, as the propitiatory sacrifice, Christ made the full propitiation on the cross for their sins and fully satisfied the requirements of God’s righteousness and glory.
The point we would emphasize here is that in His ascension Christ is the place, the propitiation-cover, for God to meet with us. In Hebrews 4:16 this place is called the throne of grace. The throne of grace is the cover of the ark on which Christ sprinkled the blood He shed on the cross for our redemption. Because of the sprinkling of His redeeming blood, the cover of the ark has become a propitiation-cover, a place where God may contact us and where we may enjoy His grace in full.
Hebrews 8:2 says that the ascended Christ is a “Minister of the holy places, even of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.” Christ, as a Minister of the true (heavenly) tabernacle, ministers heaven (which is not only a place but also a condition of life) into us, so that we may have the heavenly life and power to live a heavenly life on earth as He did while He was here.
The heavenly Christ is ministering in a tabernacle pitched by the Lord and not by man. This tabernacle, this sanctuary, is in the third heaven, in which is the heavenly Holy of Holies. The heavenly Holy of Holies, where Christ is ministering on our behalf, is connected to our spirit. Christ’s ministry in the heavens takes care of our need. From the heavens Christ ministers Himself to us as food, as our life supply, in the way of dispensing. As our Minister takes care of our needs, He carries out God’s economy.
Whatever Christ carries out as the heavenly Minister He applies to us as the Spirit. Whatever He ministers is transmitted into our spirit. Because the Lord in the heavens and the Spirit in our spirit are one, there is a continual transmission between the heavens and our spirit, so that whatever takes place there is immediately applied here.
The supply we need comes from the Christ who is both the Lord in the heavens and the Spirit within us. He is interceding for us, caring for us. Now we may experience Him in all His functions as the ascended One. In particular, as the heavenly Minister He transmits what we need from God the Father, who is the source, into our spirit to supply and sustain us. This is the dispensing of the Triune God into our being.