Clean Now to Enter

Did you know of the myth that the high priest would tie a rope around his ankle before entering the Holy of Holies. The myth is that entering is/was so dangerous that if the high priest were to be struck down by God, no one would be able to enter to remove the body. The rope would be used to pull the body out and a new high priest would be selected. Again, this is a myth, but a pretty strong one and fearful for sure.

Fast forward to today. The curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn and now we are all able to enter and communicate directly with God. Think about that, what was once considered so dangerous that an escape plan was mythically created has now been opened to all and fear of death is no longer there. Oh yes, we should still fear God. But our fear should be of His awesome power and glory and not that we cannot speak with Him.

“¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” – Hebrews 10:19-22 (ESV)

The curtain was torn at His death and we now have full access to the LORD. You see, we have been cleaned thanks to the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. He died so we do not have to and His blood was sprinkled on us to wash away the sin in our lives so that we do not need the rope around our ankle for an escape plan. We have been welcomed in to the place where we can be with God all on our own. We have been cleaned up so that we can enter.

“²³Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” – Hebrews 10:23 (ESV)

The LORD is faithful and true. He does not waver in anything. We can and should have full confidence in Him that we can enter knowing that we have been cleaned. We may be sinners, but those sins have been washed away so that we can enter and commune with the LORD. He accepts us as we are and is faithful in His love for us now and forever.

What is your view of your cleanliness? Are you still tying a rope around your ankle for and escape plan? What if you were to realize that you have been cleaned to enter and commune with the LORD and that He accepts you and is faithful from now to forever?

Seeing God

Yes, we will see God, and not just Him, but will see His face.

“³No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. ⁴They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” – Revelation 22:3-4 (ESV)

But is seeing God really that big a deal? YES it is. Let’s look back. Remember that the high priest was the only one who could go into the holy of holies to meet with God, and he did so out of an abundance of caution as he may die in the presence of God. Moses asked to see God’s Glory and was denied for he would have died in doing so.

“⁶And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. ⁷And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.” – 2 Samuel 6:6-7 (ESV)

“’²⁰But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.’” – Exodus 33:20 (ESV)

But, if one would die if they were to see the face and glory of God, how is it possible for us to do so. Well, that comes from the life giving salvation we receive through Jesus Christ and His redeeming blood that was spilled on our behalf. Thanks to Jesus, we are washed clean and out sins are forgiven and when we arrive in the New Heaven and New Earth, we will be without sin and be able to see Him and live.

And just what will we see when we see the face of God? Well, we will see the God who made us for Himself. And as we know that all God created was “good” and we were “very good”, I believe that we will see ourselves through God’s eyes as we were created. I will see myself as the “very good” creation I was meant to be. All my doubts, of myself and my existence, will be laid to rest. I will be in the company of God who created me to have a relationship with me.

What do you believe you will see when you see God? Will you even see Him at all? What if you understood that we will see God thanks to the redeeming blood of Jesus and that you will indeed see God as the glory and goodness that He created in us?

Justified by His Blood

I have to have faith in God and that is what justifies me in spite of my sin. I will continue to sin as I am a sinner and thanks to the salvation that was given by Christ, I have been forgiven. But, where did that salvation come from. What was done to allow for me to believe and have salvation. Christ shed His blood on my behalf.

“⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” — Romans 5:6-9 (ESV)

I was born a sinner. I am a sinner. I will always be a sinner. Yet, Christ died for me. He shed His blood to atone for my sin. Yes, Jesus walked this world over 2000 years ago, and yet He accounted for me and all that I am. Christ took on all of my sin and washed it away when He shed His blood of the cross. That is what was done to allow for me to believe and have salvation.

Yes, I did not need for Christ to shed His blood and my faith in Him is certainly enough. Look at those of the Old Testament that believed and had faith in God even before Jesus came. Abraham, Moses, Noah, Solomon, David. All of them put their faith in God and all came before Jesus walked this world. Jesus came and died so, as noted in verse nine above, “much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God”. Jesus is better and made it better for me.

I owe a debt of thanks to Jesus. He provided me a way to be made whole in the eyes of God and then made it even better with the shedding of His blood on my behalf. I have been justified by the blood of Jesus and my sins have been washed away.

Having faith true to be justified, what is/was done to take it up a notch? Are you still living your life like a sinner thinking, “I believe and have faith so I am good”? What if you took a step back and understood that you have faith thanks to God and it is better thanks to the shed blood of Christ?