Off limits no longer… A Rope or Free access?
I got to thinking about our access to God, based on this verse:
Hebrews 5:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
There was a time when the throne of God was off limits, and to approach him would cause death. Prior to the the death of Christ, before the veil of the holy place was split in two, the high priest was the only one who could enter the Most Holy place or the Holy of Hollies. The other Priests would tie a rope around the High Priests ankle in case he died while in there (they were unsure of what would happen in the presence of God), so that they could pull him out.
Well there had to be a reason that God finally gave us this access. So I started digging looking into the establishment of the new covenant. And found the following from a reference in Hebrews back to Jeremiah 31.
In Jer 31 we read of his Love for Israel
Jer31:2-4 2 This is what the LORD says:
“The people who survive the sword
will find favor in the desert;
I will come to give rest to Israel.”3 The LORD appeared to us in the past, [a] saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.4 I will build you up again
and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.
Again you will take up your tambourines
and go out to dance with the joyful.
Continuing in 31 we read that he will restore Israel and Judah and again they will call him Lord. Not because of the law, because of the love in (v3) His plan for a new covenant.
Jer31:31-34 (Repeated again in Hebrews)
“The time is coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them, “
declares the LORD.33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
He offered his Son as the final sacrifice of atonement to establish by His blood the new Covenant, to bring about justice by Faith in the Blood of His Son.
Romans 3:25-27 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
27Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.
Interested though in what would be written into our hearts(Jer31:33) I found this in Romans. Which interestingly enough speaks to our Justification by Faith also.
Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Two things stand out… We have gained access to God through Christ, and Gods love brings us Hope, and writes it on our heart.
Access huh? That means there is nothing between us an God anymore. We don’t need a high priest to enter the Most Holy place for us. Christ came and Died as the perfect High Priest to give us full access to the throne of God.
Heb 4:14-16 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
We have confidence to draw near to God, and be free from Guilt of Sin, and washed pure.
Heb 10:17-25 I will remember no more.” 18And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. 19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
God, based on the plan for the new Covenant brought on by his Love for us, through the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son the Most High Priest, He intends for us to have full access to Him. To know him in a way that we did not know Him when under the law.
Do you have a rope on your ankle (sin) cause you are unsure of your access to God? Or do you approach him boldly and freely with the Hope and Faith given to you by Jesus Christ?
I urge you if you are reading this to grab hold of Faith and Hope in Jesus Christ, and open your heart to the freedom of direct access to the throne of God. Don’t let your sin hold you back. He will forgive the greatest of wrongs, and wash you clean by the power of His Holy Spirit.
That is a huge part of the GOOD NEWS! the New Covenant, Praise God! We may come with confidence before HIS throne anytime, and recieve Mercy…I often teach Covenant…and each time it does wonders for my heart. Why a new Covenant? Because HE loves us, and HIS wrath has been satisfied by the blood of HIS Son. Our HOLY GOD who honors covenant, something as humans we have nothing to compare, Covenant is a good study…and one that all Christians should do. Thanks for doing this, Love ya, hope you are feeling better, have a good day Bro!
I love that HE pours love into our hearts!
It also says:
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.”
When we receive the Holy Spirit we receive EVERY aspect of the Spirit…righteousness, holiness, love, peace, joy….
It’s beautiful! What a great plan. And I’m so greatful to be born at this point in History because if I had been alive when Jesus walked the earth, I would have been a pagan in Ireland!
SO glad to KNOW Jesus and have free access to the Father!
Thanks, Carl!
Just checked Carl – no rope on my ankle. I like your post. It is full of a Savior who is always seeking the loss to forgive their sin. Your words are easy to follow and full of kindness and compassion. Christ is our new covenant – but it takes two parties, Christ and I, to have a covenant.
Darla– Good News it is, and I love to spread it.
Michelle– He fills us completely to every nook and cranny, we just have to let him.
Papa…I am glad to hear you have no rope. And it does take two to make a covenant. We just have to seek Him back.
Yes, God is the seeker, not man, and Jesus said he would seek and save everyone He was sent to save – those that the Father gives Him. (Shouted out from John chapter 6). And yes, as believers we have access to the Father thgough Christ, the righteous one. Having dealt with our sin at the foot of the Cross we are no longer condemned, and as we live a life of repentance, confession, and forgiveness, our access will be underhindered by the sin that is still with us. Free from the penalty and bondage of sin, but sin in our lives can and will put a roadblock in the path of our access to God. It’s a roadblock WE put up.
The main difference in our approach to God has to do the way we fear Him. He is still God, could slay us anytime; He still pours out wrath against sin. We like to use the term reverential fear, with the emphasis on ‘reverance’ while we minimize ‘fear’. We end up with a rather ‘milquetoasty’ form of fear, defined in human terms, that says ‘God could still slay me, but He won’t – He’s just not that kind of guy anymore.’ After all, that is the rather diminished God of most of today’s evangelicalism – all love and no just wrath.
Dan- I do see the wrath brought on by the jealous God(Elohim), I see the wrath poured out on his son to forgive our sins once and for all.
If we believe in the atoning death of Christ and abide in Him, we are free from the wrath, that was put upon Christ for him.
II Cor 5:21 God made him who had no sis to be sin for us so that we may become the righeousness of God.
I have an older post I will point you to later, that I wrote about this.
Off to the UK football game.
That should be “put upon Crist for us”
We are not subject to the wrath that would send us to Hell, but neither should we skip up to the throne and jump in His lap like He’s just a kindly grandfatherly figure with a pocketful of candy. That is the ‘diminished’ God of humanism. That is all I am saying. I am not accusing anyone, I said ‘we’ as in the ‘body’ of modern evangelicals that seem to think that we are the center of God’s universe. That is all any of the ‘3 hypoctites’ (the term applied to us) have been trying to say – we need to get back to the God who is the center of His own universe. I cannot say and will not say who that might apply to. However I would offer that those who would take that personally, no matter how many times I say it is not personal, usually have reason to take it personally. I know that has been the case with me when I have been confronted with God’s ‘uncomfortable’ truths.
Dan–your point is made and will stand. I understand what you are saying.
God and God alone is our guide, and should be center in our lives. On that you and I agree.
The problem is we are human, and in that humaness we will never 100% fully comprehend God.
Just as I enjoy our discussions here Dan, I look forward to finding a tree in heaven you and I can sit under an talk, share and even laugh about life this side of heaven. We will have eternity to do so, and bask in the full glory of God.
What He has chosen to reveal of Himself He has done in His word. And that is quite a bit……:)
Amen, Carl! One of my favorite passages in Hebrews, “For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire …” speaks to me. I really love how you put this together. God bless, brother!