How can we get close to God? The answer is closer than you think! Jesus makes God so accessible that He is within us.
How so? “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” This is a visual of gaining access to the presence of God.
In the Old Testament, there was a tabernacle and a temple. This is the place where God’s people came to offer their sacrifices and worship God. There were priests that received the sacrifices and instructed the people in God’s laws. The Tabernacle was the early version of the Temple and it was portable so it could be moved about as needed. This Tabernacle consisted of three main sections; the Outer Courtyard, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. Each area was set aside for specific uses.
The Outer Courtyard is where the sacrifices were made, the Holy Place, is where the table of showbread was, the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the Holy of Holies is where the Ark of the Covenant sat and it is where the High Priest would go once a year to meet with God. On the top of the Ark of the Covenant, there were two golden angels and the presence of God would rest in between them.
There was a thick curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. This curtain was made from cloth and animal skins and so on. It essentially separated the normal activities of the Tabernacle or Temple from the presence of God. The presence of God was a clean and holy place where God would meet with the priest.
There were a lot of things the High Priest had to do to prepare for this encounter with God. One was he had to make sure everyone was clean, he essentially took on the sins of the congregation, of the people. And he went through the rituals to cleanse himself and sacrifice for their sin. If he did not take on the sins of the people properly or cleanse himself just right, he would die in the presence of God.
Once He went in and met with God, he would be enveloped with God’s presence. When he came out, everyone knew he had been in the presence of God.
So now he could communicate things and tell people what it was like. Nobody else was allowed in there at any time so no one else could experience God’s presence in this way. They had to listen to the priest’s story of what it was like.
You or I, if we were in the camp, we couldn't go in the Holy of Holies. We weren't allowed to. We would die if we went in there. We would die because of our sins. God is a holy, perfect God and we could not survive in there with our sins.
They would have to tie a rope to our feet and pull us out because they wouldn't be allowed to come in and get us or our rescuers would die too. That was it, one person. It was up to that priest to share his testimony of the experience he had with the presence of God.
That's how it worked. This veil was woven from blue, purple, crimson, and white thread. It was embroidered with cherubim that hung between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Each element of the veil had a purpose and meant something. It expressed how important the Holy of Holies was.
Remember the storm that took place when Jesus was hanging on the cross and dying? We can call it the Perfect Storm. Why could we call it that?
When Jesus died during this perfect storm, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. This thick veil that separated the presence of God from the rest of the people tore from top to bottom during this storm. The death of Jesus meant that people would no longer have to rely on the priest to communicate God's presence to them. Now people can enter God's presence on their own.
You can say amen for that. No longer would they have to depend on somebody else. Now they could enter into God’s presence through belief in Jesus Christ.
Real simple. We were unclean. We were not worthy.
Nobody was worthy. The High Priest even had to go through days of preparation, probably weeks of preparation to even stay in there for any length of time. We were not allowed to do that.
Without Jesus we still are unclean. Jesus makes it possible. His death destroyed the barrier to God’s presence because of His victory over sin.
Jesus became the sacrifice for our sins. So, when God looks upon us, he sees the blood of Jesus and he sees righteousness as so long as we are living repentant lives. He sees righteousness.
Therefore, we can enter the throne room boldly, Peter says. We can enter the throne room boldly knowing that we are without blame because we have been forgiven. Now, we don't need to go through anybody else to be in the presence of God.
We don't need to go through anybody else to confess our sin to God. We don't need to go through anybody else to discuss God, to have conversation with God, or any of that. It's straight to Him directly.
You and God. You and God. This is what the perfect storm did for us.
You remember in 2nd Chronicles 7:14? This is when Solomon dedicated the temple and he prayed a prayer of dedication and God responded and He said, “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face, I will hear from heaven and I will heal their land.” Notice He said, “seek my face.”
That means, without getting into detail, that means his presence because God doesn't have a face. It means his presence. That means seeking his presence.
Paraphrased, “If my people will seek my presence.” In the Old Testament, the only way to seek His presence was to keep the law and obey him and do what he said. But now we can seek his presence through Jesus Christ.
We know God through recognizing and realizing we have been forgiven. And the question I have for you is, do you live like you're forgiven? Do you live like you belong in the throne room now? Do you live like, you know, no matter what my past says I am, I am not that way anymore? We have to live free because we are truly forgiven and we are free to be in his presence.
The spiritual storm provided the way for the believer’s resurrection. “Then behold the veil the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth quaked and the rocks were split and the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the graves after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.” This one gets a lot of Christians because it's not in all the Gospels. Let me spell that out. When Jesus died, the veil was torn. The earthquake happened and the rocks split. Graves opened up and people came out of them wherever they were buried. Picture this. They came out of the graves and came back to life with their spiritual bodies or whatever it was, and they walked around and talked to people. I mean this is like a sci-fi movie here we're talking about. They went around and they talked to people and they appeared to many. I wonder what they were saying? Maybe that was a testimony. Maybe it was a testimony of where they were and what Jesus had done for them. Jesus appeared to many as well but these people, however many there were, were appearing to people as proof and as testimony of the resurrection of Jesus and their own resurrection. You and I have stories we can read now in scripture that show us that there is a resurrection and that we will be raised again and we will be with God forever.
These people, who had been physically dead but spiritually waiting from Old Testament times, heard the gospel preached by Jesus and some of them came up out of the graves and hung around for a while as a testimony of the resurrection. Who were these people? In 1st Peter chapter 3 verse 18 it says, “for Christ also suffered once for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the divine long-suffering waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which a few, that is eight souls were saved through water.” Then in Ephesians chapter 4, “but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says when he ascended on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now that He ascended, what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that He might fulfill all things.”
These people that died before Christ still had the opportunity to know Jesus. He went and preached to them. They heard the gospel and they were able to make a choice. Some of them were raised as Jesus was raised. That's who these people are. Look what Hosea prophesies about the resurrection in chapter 13 verse 14. “I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. Oh death I will be your plagues. Oh grave I will be your destruction. Pity is hidden from my eyes.”
Those who were raised from death told their story or their testimony to others. They had a testimony of redemption, resurrection, and God’s presence. This is what it is about. Having access to God. Jesus gives us that access!
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