by Pastor Greg Laurie
October 13
In God's Presence
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; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split . . . - Matthew 27:50-52
I love the fact that God always listens when a Christian approaches Him. This truth exists because of what Christ accomplished on the cross. The Bible tells us that after Jesus gave up His spirit on the cross, the veil in the temple ripped from top to bottom (see Matthew 27:51). The veil was what separated the rest of the temple from the inner sanctum, also known as the holy of holies. An interesting fact is the veil was not torn from bottom to top, as though a person was ripping it - but from top to bottom, because God was ripping it.
When God ripped the veil in two, He was essentially saying, "Up until this point you could not come into the holy of holies and approach Me. But I have now ripped the veil, because My Son, the Lamb of God, is the final sacrifice. You no longer need a high priest on earth. You no longer need animal sacrifices. I have made a way for you through the death of my Son." Unfortunately, we get this idea turned around in our minds. We somehow think that we have to perform good works to earn God's approval. Then we can approach God. And when we fail and sin, we think, Oh, I can't go to God now. He would never hear me.
Christians must understand that the death and resurrection of Jesus is what enables us to approach God. There is nothing we can accomplish to merit God's approval. Likewise, we can do nothing to deny ourselves access to God unless we remain in our sin. Yet if we acknowledge our sin, return to God, and ask for His forgiveness, we can always enter into His presence - any time, night or day.
Copyright (c) 2004 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright (c) 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.