Page 42 - Gods Plan of the Ages

Yahweh instructed the High Priest, once a year on the Day of Atonement, to slay an animal
and sprinkle its blood on the covering of the Ark of the Covenant. This blood was placed on
the "Mercy" Seat, or covering, signifying that an act of mercy was taking place.
When God placed the covering upon Adam, He was symbolically covering all mankind,
for all men were contained in the loins of Adam as his seed. Some may argue that such a
type and shadow is inconclusive, for shadows are subject to interpretation, and this is true.
The matter does not rest upon shadows alone, however, for the apostle John tells us in plain
speech that God has provided a "merciful covering" for all men, not merely for those who
are Christians in this present age. In the following passage John declares that Christ's
atonement was not only for the church, but for the whole world.

I John 2:1-2
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone
sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Christ Yahshua the righteous; and He Himself
is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole
world.

Many people stumble over the word "propitiation" in this verse, for it is not a word
that we commonly use today. The word rendered as propitiation is the Greek "hilasmos"
and is Strong's NT 2434. Strong's Concordance defines the word as "atonement, an
expiator." An expiator is one who makes atonement for another. An expiator is one who
"makes good."
The word for "Mercy Seat" in the New Testament is a form of the Greek word
"hilasmos." This is Strong's NT 2435, "hilasterion," meaning "an atoning victim, or
(specially) the lid of the Ark" (Strong's Concordance). We find this word used in the
following verse.

Hebrews 9:5
And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the Mercy Seat; but of these
things we cannot now speak in detail.

Christ is declared to be the "hilasmos," propitiation, or expiator of man's sins. He is
the one who "makes good" that which was not good.

II Corinthians 5:21
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him.

Christ has become the "hilasterion," atoning victim, or lid of the Ark. He is literally
"the Merciful Covering" for mankind. What we see in type through Yahweh clothing Adam,
and all who are in Adam, and through the blood sprinkled on the Merciful Covering of the
Ark, we find stated in plain speech by John. He Himself is the propitiation (merciful
covering) for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
We see then that as far back as the Garden of Eden, immediately after the first
transgression, Yahweh symbolically revealed that a merciful covering would one day be
provided for all of mankind. We do not yet see all things reconciled to God, or all things
subjected to Christ. The sacrifice has been made. The blood of Christ has been shed, yet we
will not see all things summed up in Christ until the ages established by Yahweh have run
their course and the reign of Christ has accomplished its goal of a complete restitution of