July 24 - Curtain destroyed

July 24 - Curtain destroyed
Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45

The one last thing Jesus did in the temple was to rip in half the curtain symbolically separating God from every human being.  Only a selected priest could enter the Most Holy Place and then only once a year. There was no way that you or I would have the opportunity to ever stand in the presence of God … until Jesus died on the cross.

That moment changed everything on earth.  Everything!  No longer was it necessary for priests to stand as a bridge between man and God. Do you understand why that was necessary anyway?

Because of God’s holiness, He can not be in the presence of sin without completely consuming it.  Priests spent innumerable amount of hours preparing themselves to enter into His presence, they were never sure if they would even live through it because of God’s consuming power.  They burned offerings in order to cover all of their sins, just for the opportunity to stand in His presence.

When Jesus sacrificed Himself for the sins of the world, we could now all stand in his presence, because the atoning blood of Jesus Christ covered our sins.  God could look upon us and not destroy us.

This is the relationship God wanted with humanity from the very beginning … a return to the garden when Adam and Eve were without sin and God could walk around with them as friends.

Christ’s death on the cross, the final consummation of the sacrifice, made it possible for us to enter the Most Holy Place wherever we were.  It no longer resided in the Temple in Jerusalem, but was now available through Christ in the heart of every person on earth.  The curtain was symbolic of the truth that God could walk among humanity once more without destroying it due to the purity of his presence.

We have been given the right to come before God on our own, without an intercessor.  But the best news of all, is that we still have one … Jesus Christ, who stands at the right hand of the Father.