The following story is not meant to be political, so please, simply forget who the current president is as you read this.
Two men walked up to the White House. The first man walked right up to the door, stepped inside, and went straight to the president’s private room. The second man was immediately and brutally stopped before he even made it to the door. The two men were remarkably similar – they were about the same height and weight, they were of the same nationality and skin color, they were of similar socioeconomic backgrounds, and they even grew up in the same neighborhood. So why was the second man so harshly rejected while the first man was allowed to walk right in? The first man was the president’s son.
The president is a powerful man. Think of your favorite president or other world leader of your lifetime. Most, if not all of us, would welcome the opportunity to visit that person. We would likely drop everything for a chance to meet that person for dinner. Who are we, that this extremely powerful world leader would invite us over for dinner?
Yet our God is far more powerful than any leader here on earth. Jeremiah 32:17 says, “O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” Matthew 19:26 says, “Jesus looked at them intently and said, ‘Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.’” Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” The Bible makes it clear that God holds power over everything. He holds power over life and death, including the lives of rulers. God controls the rise and fall of nations. God is infinitely more powerful than that leader who you would have dropped everything to go and dine with.
In the time of Moses, a tabernacle was built. Under Solomon’s reign, the tabernacle was replaced with a temple. Both the tabernacle and the temple had a special place called the Holy of Holies, where God’s presence was manifest. Because of God’s holiness, the Holy of Holies was generally off limits to everyone. The high priest was the one person who was allowed to enter, but only once per year, following strict rules regarding bathing, wearing the prescribed clothing, and giving the proper sacrifices exactly as instructed.
I believe that it is extremely important for us to remember just how powerful and how holy God is. He is so holy that, in our sinful conditions, we should never be able to approach Him. He has power over life and death, as well as over every aspect of our lives. He is so powerful that He can topple nations, control the weather, bring the dead to life, and so much more. Nothing is too hard for God! Yet there is something else – something incredibly amazing – about that same infinitely holy, infinitely powerful God.
The same God who created everything and who controls everything actually wants to have a relationship with us! In Luke 15, we find the well-known parable of the prodigal son. The son left home, lived for pleasure as long as he could, then returned home when the money ran out and his life was no longer enjoyable. In Luke 15:20-24, we read, “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.”
The father in that parable is a picture of God. The Father so desired that relationship with the prodigal son that he was watching for him (while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming), and he even ran to meet him – an act that was considered shameful for a dignified man in that time period. He so loved that son that He did not want to miss even a moment with him! That is the picture of how much God wants to see you turn to Him, and how much He longs for that personal relationship with you.
As for the Holy of Holies, Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins. Mark 15:37-38 says, “Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain which kept people from entering the Holy of Holies was ripped in two, signifying that the barrier between us and God is gone! If we turn from our sin to God, and if we place our trust in Jesus for salvation, God no longer sees our sin when He looks at us, but sees Jesus’ righteousness instead! We no longer need to remain separated from God! Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house,let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” We can go right in because He has adopted us as His own children! Romans 8:14-15 says, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, ‘Abba, Father.’”
In the opening story, the first man was able to walk right into the president’s private dwelling place because he was the president’s son. Likewise, we can boldly go right into the presence of our Father in heaven, the same Father who holds ultimate power over everything that may have you worried or overwhelmed. You won’t be stopped. You belong there – His home is your home. Have you stopped to realize just how amazing that is?
If you do not yet have that relationship with God, what could possibly be worth more than that? The God who controls the entire universe and who controls the lives of everyone on this earth wants to adopt you as His own child! Is anything you own worth more than that? Is anything in your life so valuable that holding onto that item, or that person, or that way of life, could be more valuable than becoming the child of the One who ultimately controls that item, that person, or that way of life? Remember the words of Jesus in Mark 8:34-37. “Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”
If you do already have that relationship with God, that is great! But I have a few questions for you to meditate on. How can you worry about things in this life when you realize that the God who controls it all is your own Father, who has promised to work all things together for your good? How can you hate someone when you realize that your all-powerful, all-knowing Father put that person in your life for your benefit? How can you be consumed with going through life trying to collect as much money and stuff as possible, when the God who already owns everything has already told you that your every need will be taken care of? How can you not be overwhelmed by the fact that the same God, the God who created and controls the universe, has chosen to adopt you as His own child?
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