"Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom." (Matthew 27:50-51)
"And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place." (Hebrews 10:19-20)
Ever since I was young one of the parts of the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus that always sat in my heart and I pondered was the gift of access. Jesus gave us access, through his death, to the Most Holy Place - i.e. the Holy Spirit. A place previously that was only granted permission to one priest once a year. The Holy of Holies was a sacred spot in which the priest offered up sacrifice on behalf of all people for their sins. With the death of Jesus and the Most Holy Place being exposed through the tearing of the temple curtain we all were granted access. And not only that but we were granted access without fear of death. See the priest that entered every year did so with an amount of trembling, and with a rope or something tied to his ankle to pull him out in case he did perish in the presence of the Spirit. If the priest who entered on behalf of the people did so with spot or blemish then he perished. Since nobody else was allowed to enter they rigged up each priest so that they could pull him out if he did die. Zechariah exited the Most Holy Place literally speechless until his son, John the Baptist, was born. You didn't mess around with the Spirit. But we have been given access without having to be rigged up to be pulled out or having to fear that we will perish. So Jesus' death accomplished much more than one thing - it accomplished so much. We have forgiveness of sins - they have been paid for already through the blood of Jesus, we have the opportunity to spend eternity with God, we have access during our earthly life to God and his Spirit without having to first be spotless - we can come to him dirty. As it says elsewhere in Hebrews, we can BOLDLY approach him.
I love this song by Petra because it highlights the very verse about the death and resurrection that I have pondered for years. I remember hearing it for the first time and being so excited that someone else was also thinking about the gift of this access we now have! It's not an often talked about part of the story. If more of us realized that not only do we have eternal life and forgiveness of sins but we have access to the Holy of Holies how would that change our relationship with God? See, I'm not sure that we all grasp the gift of this access. I'm not sure that we all access the access we have been given. We can enter in. Have you?
Enter In
Lyrics:
"And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place." (Hebrews 10:19-20)
Ever since I was young one of the parts of the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus that always sat in my heart and I pondered was the gift of access. Jesus gave us access, through his death, to the Most Holy Place - i.e. the Holy Spirit. A place previously that was only granted permission to one priest once a year. The Holy of Holies was a sacred spot in which the priest offered up sacrifice on behalf of all people for their sins. With the death of Jesus and the Most Holy Place being exposed through the tearing of the temple curtain we all were granted access. And not only that but we were granted access without fear of death. See the priest that entered every year did so with an amount of trembling, and with a rope or something tied to his ankle to pull him out in case he did perish in the presence of the Spirit. If the priest who entered on behalf of the people did so with spot or blemish then he perished. Since nobody else was allowed to enter they rigged up each priest so that they could pull him out if he did die. Zechariah exited the Most Holy Place literally speechless until his son, John the Baptist, was born. You didn't mess around with the Spirit. But we have been given access without having to be rigged up to be pulled out or having to fear that we will perish. So Jesus' death accomplished much more than one thing - it accomplished so much. We have forgiveness of sins - they have been paid for already through the blood of Jesus, we have the opportunity to spend eternity with God, we have access during our earthly life to God and his Spirit without having to first be spotless - we can come to him dirty. As it says elsewhere in Hebrews, we can BOLDLY approach him.
I love this song by Petra because it highlights the very verse about the death and resurrection that I have pondered for years. I remember hearing it for the first time and being so excited that someone else was also thinking about the gift of this access we now have! It's not an often talked about part of the story. If more of us realized that not only do we have eternal life and forgiveness of sins but we have access to the Holy of Holies how would that change our relationship with God? See, I'm not sure that we all grasp the gift of this access. I'm not sure that we all access the access we have been given. We can enter in. Have you?
Enter In
Lyrics:
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