Access To an Exclusive Place
Hebrews 10:19-23 NLT
19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
We love exclusivity. The idea that we have access to places or products that are limited and the general population can't obtain. But usually, exclusivity is also limited to those with high-level connections or high-level funding. Almost everyone can eat at What-a-Burger, but not everyone can get into certain country clubs and resorts. Ah, but we have exclusive access to the best place available to mankind. And the price has already been paid for us.
The author of Hebrews tells us that because of the blood of Jesus, we can come boldly, with confidence, into the Most Holy Place. That place is the presence of God, not outside the gates, but to the very throne of grace. And this is not a difficult and taxing journey. We have access by a new and living way that Jesus provided for us. And Jesus is the High Priest who represents us before God. He is the one who has cleansed us and made us able to stand in God's presence. The price of admission has been paid by Jesus, and He is there backing up what has been done.
We will have to bring our faith to the throne room. Check your feelings at the door; it's our faith in Christ that clothes us appropriately. Faith in what Jesus has done. Faith in His blood and the fact that we have been cleansed from a guilty conscience. Faith that we have been separated to God, not by our works but by Jesus. It's our faith in Christ that gives us confidence in the Most Holy Place.
Because of all that Jesus has done for us as our substitute. And what He is doing for us now as our High Priest. We can hold firmly to the hope, the expectation of good things, that we profess to believe. We believe He is able to keep us. We believe that what He promised, He will fulfill. We believe that the life we have in Christ is making a difference in this life and the one to come. And we certainly believe that there is a life to come, and eternity in the presence of God is waiting for us when we leave this earth. This hope may be some of the reasons that Paul called the troubles he endured 'light afflictions' that were only for a moment. Paul had a grasp on eternity, and it helped him hold on to the hope he had in Christ.
There are certain clubs and experiences I don't believe I will ever access. Certain products and possessions that I will never have. But I am sure that I have something far better in the realm that is not seen. It's that realm, God's Kingdom and access to the Creator of the universe, that makes me know that I have access to the most exclusive place of the Most High God!
Prayer
Lord, thank you for giving me access to the throne room of God. Thank you for cleansing me and making me a member of Your body and Your kingdom. In the scope of eternity, that is the greatest access known to mankind.