Summertime is here! At least it feels like it has arrived. Summertime ushers in some specific events and one of those is….waiting in lines. How many of us spend a significant amount of time waiting in line to gain access to rodeos, amusement park rides, concerts, national parks, movies, or whatever activity is scheduled that day? Wouldn’t it be nice to have one of those “VIP” passes where we can just walk right in and have access to all that is behind the gate, door, or curtain? As a VIP we could walk in confidently and boldly knowing we had the right credentials to gain access. Some concerts offer an “All Access Pass” where you are allowed special access that others don’t get and even into the presence of the artist, author, or actor. These “All Access” passes are a treasure and not something you would discard or not use.
We have been offered the best “All Access Pass” in all of history, the most valuable pass of all time; a pass that was gifted to us, but it cost more than anything in this world. I am writing of the “All Access Pass” into the presence of God.
Numerous verses in the Bible tell us of our lack of possessing the right credentials on our own. Isaiah 59:2 states “Your iniquities (and mine too by the way) are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so He does not listen”. This is who I was and who everyone is without a reconciled relationship with God. We do not have access. He does not listen to, or act upon, our requests. Thankfully, God has made a way to be reconciled with Him through His son, Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 states “Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.”
This is not just good news; it is great news! We now have the “credentials” to have access to God, not because we deserved it, rather, because God has given a free gift. This gift of a reconciled relationship and access to God all comes through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father, except through me” (John 14:6). This means, if we want to talk to God, have access to God, have a reconciled relationship with God, it is ONLY through Jesus Christ. Christ has given us the credentials. We can now walk confidently into the presence of God, our Father.
When Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross it is recorded in both Matthew and Mark that the “curtain was torn from top to bottom”. This was the curtain that separated the people from the very presence of God and only the High Priest had access. At the moment Christ died, He opened the gates, opened the curtain of access.
Hebrew 10:19 “Brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus – He has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain that is, through His flesh.
Ephesians 3:12 “In Him we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him”.
God knew all along the consequences our sin and iniquities would cause; separation. God had a plan all along to reconcile this relationship; the death of His one and only son, Jesus. This was a huge price to pay and in doing so we received the credentials to have an “All Access Pass” into the very presence of God.
This VIP pass is just that, only for Very Important Persons. Reader, you are one of those people. You are being offered a free gift, the most treasured gift, a gift that cost God dearly. Don’t be one of those who just wait in line and watch others go in. Accept the gift. Jesus is offering an All Access Pass to eternal life, an All Access Pass to a reconciled relationship, and an All Access Pass to the very presence of God.
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