Like these believers there are many reasons why at times we feel we cannot come to God confidently. This community seemed to have lost or were in danger of losing their close relationship with Jesus. They were facing pressure to return to their culture of Jewish duty. Like us they could blame many reasons for this. Today we face so many problems and difficulties that in the end they can become enemies to us for experiencing the presence of God. They become barriers and then on top of that we are sinners and our guilty consciences drain any confidence we might have to draw near. However, we must tell ourselves that we are not the only one. Everyone feels this way at some point but we all need to learn how to lean on Jesus and what He has done and less on ourselves and what we have done or not done. Above all we must never return to religious duty or performance and that is the heart of what this Pastor is writing to this community.
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10 v 19-22)
The pivotal moment of this letter, the pastor (I call him simply because he shows so much pastoral care for the community of believers, they are his brothers and sisters, a description of love) summarising all that had been said and making this the crux of the letter calls them to draw near to God. Their culture was once a year and only the High Priest. Not even ordinary priests could draw near never mind the people. They were always at a distance.
So if you feel like that today, at a distance, then something is not quite right. It has to be you. It cannot be God. He has done everything that needs to be done. He has made you holy in His sight. Jesus has come and been the once for all sacrifice. His blood was shed. It was more than enough so that we can draw near. So shake off the lies and the doubts. We never gain access to God by our own efforts and qualifications. It is always His! So lift up your head and don’t come dragging yourself or embarrassed to do so but come with boldness, with confidence and with energy:-
- Because it is a ‘new and living’ way – every moment is like it is the first time moment, Jesus isn’t sacrificed again and again but this event 2,000 years ago is as powerful every day as the first day, it is living, it is not old and stale, it doesn’t need reviving, it is powerfully as new as the that last hour of His death.
- Because His body is the curtain (that separated you from the Holy presence of God) that is now ripped open to let you in. The separation can never happen again. The curtain will never hang there saying you cannot come near to God. It isn’t there because of the crucified body of Jesus.
- Because we have our great priest, our High Priest, Jesus Christ, who gives us the confidence based on what He has done and never on our performance. We don’t prepare to come into His presence; what could that preparation be? It would never be enough if we had to prepare. But we draw near because our High Priest has opened the way and has already prepared us.
- Because what prevented us from doing so has been settled. The inner transformation of the heart and the outward baptism which is the sign of what has happened within (the baptism isn’t the emphasis but what it signals).
Missions Paul 