@ LibertyGal

When dealing with a stubborn mule, traditionally you use both a carrot and a stick. The carrot is something the mule wants that is used to encourage good behavior, while the stick is the punishment for doing wrong. Sadly most of us tend to focus more on God’s stick rather than His carrot. God’s primary stick is:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

We seek God in hopes of avoiding death and hell, but instead we should be seeking God’s blessing and His presence.

Separated from a Holy God

Adam’s original sin separated us from our holy God. Throughout all of the Old Testament, the people of God were required to follow rituals and make sacrifices in an attempt to get right with God, but nobody was allowed to approach God directly.

Moses, one of the men in the Old Testament times who was closest to God, made this request:

Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.” (Exodus 33:18-23) {emphasis mine}

Moses asked God to show him His glory, but God replied, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” No sinful person can look at our holy God and live. Sin has wholly separated us from God. We cannot approach God

Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place. Behind the second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:1-15) {emphasis mine}

Also, God setup a statute that required the high priest to purify himself and offer sacrifices and to enter the holy of holies once per year to atone for the people. This was done every year. It was only allowed for the high priest and he had to go through extensive purification processes and multiple sacrifices for this annual duty. All of this was required just to approach God’s ordained ark of the covenant, not to actually be able to look at the face of God.

“This shall be a permanent statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native, or the alien who sojourns among you; for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. .... So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments, and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did. (Leviticus 16:29-30,32-34) {emphasis mine}

We can also look at when God talked to the Israelites at Mount Sinai:

The Lord also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” (Exodus 19:10-13)

For God to speak to them, the Israelites had to purify themselves for two days, wash their clothes, and even then they couldn’t approach closely. They had to not touch the holy mountain of God. If man or beast so much as touched the mountain, they were to be put to death, and not just killed, but put to death in such a manner that nobody touched them. Sinful man cannot approach a holy God even if they are His chosen people and even if they have worked to cleanse themselves from sin.

The Veil Torn so We May Approach the Throne of God

And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Mark 15:37-38) {emphasis mine}

When Jesus, the perfect sacrifice and kinsmen redeemer, died on the cross, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” It was torn from the top to the bottom illustrating that the barrier separating us from God was torn by God himself. (The Holy of Holies was 20 cubits wide and tall, but 2 Chronicles 3 says it had columns 35 cubits tall with capitals 5 cubits tall. That would make the room 40 cubits tall, or 60 feet tall. No person could tear the veil top to bottom.)

Jesus’s death on the cross allows those who believe in Him to approach God in a way that they haven’t been able to do since Adam and Eve first sinned.

When the apostles asked Jesus how to pray, Jesus said:

“Pray, then, in this way:\ ‘Our Father who is in heaven,\ Hallowed be Your name.’” (Matthew 6:9) {emphasis mine}

Because of what Jesus did for us to take away our sins and to cleanse and cover us, we can now approach God directly and address Him as “Our Father.” Imagine that! We, sinful creatures, can approach the God, who spoke the universe into existence, and call Him “Father.” If you have repented of your sins and believed in all that Jesus has done for us, you are adopted to become a child of God.

In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father. (John 16:26-27) {emphasis mine}

We no longer have to wish for well being. We no longer have to have a priest as a go-between to God. We don’t need someone holier than us to intercede for us. We can speak directly with our creator and He lovingly answers our prayers and acts for our good (although not necessarily in the way we would chose, because He knows better what is for our eternal good).

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16) {emphasis mine}

When Jesus was asked how we should pray, He specifically told us to pray directly to the Father saying, “Our Father.” At the same time, we can approach God through any and all parts of the trinity. We can approach the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can address them independently or as the one God they are. Jesus provided the way and when we address Him, we know that He sympathizes with us because He experienced what we experience and He lived the perfect life that He desires for us. Do you truly understand how amazing this privilege is?

We can directly commune with the Holy God who spoke the universe into existence along with time and space, whose creation of all of the stars in the universe was so easy that the Bible mentions this miraculous creation almost as an aside “… He made the Stars Also.” (Genesis 1:16b) We have been blessed beyond comprehension, but so many of us treat it as just ho-hum.

Prayer should not be a burden. We should hurry to the presence of God every day. We should make use of this privilege and be grateful for it every day of our lives.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. (1 John 3:1-3) {emphasis mine}

Of course, this closeness and love that we have now is only a beginning. At the rapture, we will be transformed to be more like Jesus, physically and spiritually. Then we will truly be able to see Him face to face like not even Moses was able to do.

How Do We Get This Privilege?

I hope you are a born-again child of God who has repented of your sins and trusted Jesus as your Savior and believed all that He has told you. If not God calls you to repent (admit wrongdoing and chose to change and obey/submit to God’s commands).

Romans 10:9 says:

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

You just have to confess your sins and believe that Jesus is God and that after living a perfect, sinless life, He died on the cross to save us from our sins. You have to believe that on the third day He rose from the dead. There is more that He wants us to believe, but that is all that is necessary to become a child of God. (Of course our repentance must be real and not just be words said as insurance against Hell. God knows our heart.)

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. (1 Peter 2:24-25) {emphasis mine}

Jesus came down to earth as a man to live the perfect life that we were unable to live, take our sins upon Himself, pay the punishment that we deserved, and give us His righteousness. Amazing!

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) {emphasis mine}

We all know that we have not lived perfect lives. We have all done things we regret. We have been unkind. We have lied. We have stolen (even if only a pen from the bank or our workplace). Instead of walking around in sin and guilt, faith in Jesus lets us walk around in blessings and His righteousness.

This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. (Ephesians 3:11-12) {emphasis mine}

If you’ve trusted Jesus, you don’t have to approach God timidly. You can approach Him boldly (although always with the awe and respect He deserves).

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7) {emphasis mine}

Be grateful for all that our awesome, creator God has done for us and go to Him with all of your needs, worries, fears, and desires. He is an unimaginably powerful and holy God, but He is also a loving and merciful God. We, as believers, are truly blessed.

Trust Jesus.\ \ your sister in Christ,

Christy

Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated

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