Do We Really Have Unshakable Access to God’s Presence?
The following post is a summary of the teaching manuscript from Sunday, May 26, 2024, by pastor Kyle Davies in a series called “Benefits Package.”
As followers of Jesus Christ, we have an incredible privilege that should fill us with awe and gratitude – unhindered access to the presence of God himself. The author of Hebrews contrasts two mountains that represent two very different ways of approaching and experiencing God’s presence.
The first mountain is Mount Sinai, where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments amidst terrifying displays of his holiness – fire, darkness, gloom, and a deafening trumpet blast. The Israelites were rightly afraid, for God’s consuming holiness meant certain death for anyone who dared approach the mountain. An intermediary (Moses) was required, for sinful humanity could not safely enter God’s presence.
But the second mountain represents something entirely new – Mount Zion, the heavenly city of the living God. Here we find no terrifying sights and sounds, but rather celebration, angels worshiping, and the ability for believers to confidently draw near to God’s throne of grace. How is this possible? Through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Where the law could only reveal our sin and inability to be holy, Christ’s sacrifice makes a way for us to be cleansed and brought into intimate relationship with God. The dividing wall has been torn down, and we can now “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
This truth – that redeemed sinners can enjoy unhindered communion with the holy God – is both profound and life-altering. No longer must we relate to God through mere rules, rituals, and intermediaries. We have been granted the highest privilege – to know God personally and experience his loving presence always.
So what does this mean for how we live daily as Christians? The author provides several vital implications:
1. Approach God, don’t stand off. Embrace by faith the grace that gives you full access, rather than relating to God at arm’s length through rules or religion.
2. Approach God in purity. Take sin seriously and rid your life of any “root of bitterness” that defiles, remembering that you can boldly receive forgiveness and cleansing grace.
3. Approach God in humble confidence. Don’t be terrified as at Mount Sinai, but confidently enter God’s presence in worship and prayer with joy and excitement.
4. Approach ready to obey. True access to God must lead to increasingly transformed lives, not mere education about God.
5. Approach with gratitude and trust. While the world shakes with instability, we can live with peace anchored in the reality of our unshakable Kingdom.
6. Respond with reverence and awe. Don’t take for granted the grace that gives you amazing personal intimacy with the all-powerful, all-holy Creator!
Too often, we Christians succumb to a view of God that is fuzzy, vague, and impersonal. We elevate principles or rules over relationship, or we primarily relate to God at a safe distance. But this is not the reality we have been ushered into by Christ’s finished work!
Imagine an impoverished person being not just invited, but freely welcomed into the palace of a great king, with the king himself embracing them and bestowing lavish riches upon them as their own. This is a picture of the spiritual reality that is ours through faith in Jesus. We who were once alienated from God have been made His beloved children and given a place in His heavenly household.
This intimacy with God should overwhelm us with gratitude and shape the way we live. Why would we cling to lesser things – career success, approval from others, materialism, distractions – when we have been granted face-to-face communion with our Creator and Savior? Why would we withhold anything from the God who has given us such unfathomable grace?
When we daily remind ourselves and live gripped by the truth of our unshakable acceptance before God, it transforms everything. Our priorities shift as we seek first His Kingdom and presence. Our perspective becomes eternal as we look to the lasting city that cannot be shaken. We extend grace and peace to others because we have so lavishly received it ourselves.
Living with the reality of God’s closeness also anchors us when the storms of life rage. We need not be shaken by this world’s instability, because our citizenship, our home, our inheritance is in the eternal city of Zion where God’s peace reigns. This is not just a future hope, but a present reality we can experience through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
So let us embrace the fullness of what Christ has won for us. Let us draw near to God’s presence boldly but humbly, awestruck by His holiness yet delighted by His welcoming love. Forsaking any religious pretense or dead ritualism, let us know God as beloved children who need no intermediary except our perfect High Priest, Jesus himself. From this place of unhindered access, our worship will be passionate, our obedience joyful, and our lives devoted to making His glory known in a shaky world that so desperately needs the unshakable hope of Zion.