John 4:16 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
It’s surprising how many Christians walk around today not knowing who they are in Christ or recognising what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
Even before Jesus died on the cross, Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. But how could Abraham be righteous in Gods eyes without the blood of Christ? Abraham was a sinner, so how could he be righteous and blameless before God? It was because of Grace through faith.
Abraham was before the cross, we are now after the cross, yet it is through the cross that we are made righteous together.
So what happened on the cross, and how does that affect us when we come to knowledge of God and believe that Jesus is our saviour?
Before the cross, God dwelled in temples in the Holy of Holies. The only one who was allowed to enter into the Holy of Holies was the High Priest, and that was only permitted once a year to make a sacrifice to God for the sins of the people.
The Holy of Holies was in the temple, but was separated by a large curtain.
Only the High Priest could go behind the curtain into the Holy of Holies to offer the sacrifice for the sins of the people.
Once the sacrifice had been made, no one else could enter.
When Jesus was born into the world, Gods plan was that He would become the High Priest for us. Just as God allowed the High Priest to make a sacrifice for the sins of the people for a year, Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice which made us acceptable to God forever.
Matthew 27:51 tells us that when Jesus died, the temple curtain tore in two from top to bottom! This meant that through Jesus becoming the eternal sacrifice, there was no more separation from God for those who receive forgiveness through faith; we are now reconciled to God through Jesus, not because we did anything, but because Jesus took our place and died the death that we deserved!
In John 14, Jesus told His disciples that He was going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house and that He would return for them to take them there. Thomas asked Jesus, “how will we know the way?”, Jesus replied “I AM the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE, no one comes to the Father except THROUGH Me.
In order to get to the Father we have to go through Jesus. Jesus is the only mediator between man and God – 1 Timothy 2:5. This means, in order to be reconciled to God, we have to go through the blood. Without the blood sacrifice, there is no reconciliation to God.
John 1:12 tells us that those who receive Jesus are given the right to become Children of God. Unless we are a child of God, we cannot be in relationship with Him, but through Jesus, we become Children of God according to His word and His oath which He made with Abraham.
Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was [promised], he confirmed it with an[ oath.] 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:16–20
For those who are washed in the blood of the lamb, we are reconciled to God. We can enter into the Holy Holies. Unless we had been forgiven and cleansed from our sins, we could not enter into the most Holy Place, but since we are children of God through the blood, we have confidence to enter in since God no longer sees us as sinners, but clean through the blood.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:19–23
The Holy of Holies is where Gods presence is, we know we are forgiven because we can enter into His presence.
When Jesus said on the cross – ‘It is finished’, there was nothing that we could add to what He had done – We only need to believe. Only Jesus could be the acceptable sacrifice by which we can saved and reconciled to God.