All access pass

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. -John 1:18 (NIV)

I think access is undervalued. Specifically, I think the access every believer has to the throne room of the Almighty is undervalued. Resting in the presence of God. Knowing that not only am I allowed, but that’s exactly what He wants – the thought humbles and astounds me.

We aren’t comfortable with this anymore. Ours is a culture that is addicted to noise. We literally have the world in our pockets. One would expect that we’d be the most well-informed, well-connected race of people that ever existed on the planet. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. We have trained ourselves to need a steady stream of distraction, entertainment, comfort, and convenience. If any of those is missing, it’s only a click away. With the attention span of a gnat, we have difficulty focusing on our Maker.

YHWH would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. -Ex. 33:11 (NIV)

Moses had the task of leading the people of God. He wanted to do that job well, so he spent time with God. And God welcomed that. But that was not enough for Moses. He had a hunger to go deeper. He wanted to KNOW God – all of God in all His glory. He wanted to be assured of God’s ongoing presence.

Then Moses said, “Now show me Your glory.”
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, YHWH, in your presence.” -Exodus 33:18-19a (NIV)

God gave Moses that assurance. He did it by honoring this request that now seems mind-blowing. In fact, God told Moses as much. Paraphrasing: “If I do what you’ve asked, your little human brain will explode, but I think I have a solution…”

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. -Matthew 27:51-52a (NIV)

That was then, this is now. God may have worked that way in the Old Testament, but we can’t expect to interact with Him in such an intimate way now. Right? Wrong. Granted, Moses and God had a special relationship. But what about us? Fast forward. The tearing of the veil opened up the way to the Holy of Holies in the temple, symbolically providing direct access into the very presence of God, not based on our own merit, but because our ticket was stamped with the blood of the Lamb. Moreover, the Spirit now lives right inside of us! Jesus made a way. He is our further embodiment of God’s answer to Moses’ request. Don’t take it for granted – we can have an audience with the King of the Universe anytime we want. At the mention of His Name, He immediately bends His ear to listen and pay attention, as if you were the only soul He needed to look after. He can do that because He’s God. Don’t you have an appointment with Him today?

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. -John 1:14b (NIV)