Mark 15:37-39 (NKJV) 37 And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last. 38 Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”

When we left off yesterday, we had been discussing the veil of the temple.

In the verse above, we can see that the veil of the temple was torn in two upon Jesus breathing His last breath.

The significance of this is that the barrier between us and God had now been removed. We are no longer required to go through a priest to have access to God. He is now freely accessible to anyone who has become His child through faith in Christ.

Now, with all of that said, and with the importance of understanding the purity and holiness of God firmly established, let’s take it one step further.

As followers of Christ, His blood has washed us. Our sins have been forgiven.

And with the veil torn, we have unfettered access to God, with no fear of dying for approaching Him.

The word says that we can approach Him boldly, meaning that we can approach Him without fear.

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

With all of that said, we still need to understand the importance of recognizing and honoring His purity and holiness.

We are not excused from that at all. But it seems that many have lost reverence for God and who He is; how holy and pure He is.

This is a dangerous proposition on the part of believers.

No, we’re not necessarily at risk of being struck down or dying.

But we need to honor God in every way.

Why? Because He is worthy of our honor. He is God. He is sovereign.

His holiness and purity are beyond our comprehension, as we mentioned in the first devotional in this series.

It behooves every one of us to pay attention to this and revere Him to the fullest.

We need to be careful not to become sloppy or flippant in this. And our goal should be to keep our attitudes and our lives in line with who He is, being cognizant of Him in everything we do, everything we say and everything we think.

This will come as we make the effort and spend the time to know Him more, day by day.

Amen

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Exodus 20:19 (NKJV) 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

Yesterday, we began digging in and learning about the holiness of God. And we learned that it’s important for us to understand as much as we can about this.

The Israelites had come to understand that God’s holiness was something to be taken seriously, as evidenced by the scripture above.

Now, let’s move forward approximately 1400 years and take a look at this through the lens of the New Testament, and the blood of Christ.

You see, under the old covenant, animal sacrifices (blood sacrifices) were required to atone for the sins of the people.

Those sacrifices, and the priestly rituals, covered their sins and protected the people from God’s wrath.

But when Jesus arrived and began teaching, He began to allude to a different way, a new way of doing things.

Jesus angered the Jewish leadership of that day because of the things He said.

They didn’t understand it because they failed to see Him for who He was.

Jesus came to show us who God was. But He also came to die for our sins; yours and mine.

He shed His blood as the final, perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of humanity.

Animal sacrifices would no longer be required.

At the moment of His death, the earth shook, and the veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

This veil is intricately important in our walk with God.

Why?

Because it was the divider that separated the holy of holies from the inner temple, where God’s presence dwelt.

This veil was not what we might picture. It was not a flimsy, thin piece of cloth that could be seen through, like we might picture a wedding veil or something similar.

It was roughly 4 inches (10cm) thick, and up to 60 feet (18 meters) high. This was not easily disturbed or destroyed.

This veil had a purpose, and its construction helped it carry out that purpose without fail.

Let’s wrap this up tomorrow.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

Isaiah 6:3 (NKJV) 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”

The holiness of God, and the ramifications of that holiness, are something that most of us never truly comprehend.

We just simply can’t fully grasp it because our finite minds don’t have the ability to do so.

We can, however, learn about it in an effort to better understand it all.

Maybe you’re wondering why we would need to understand this, and why it’s important, so let’s talk about that.

God is pure. We are not. Because of our lack of purity, and the sin in our lives, we would be at risk of immediate death if we were to stand in God’s presence.

His holiness would take us out instantly.

This may seem harsh, but it is the reality of how pure He is.

Sin cannot be in His presence. Sinful flesh cannot stand in His presence. The Israelites had come to understand this during their time in the desert.

Exodus 20:18-19 (NKJV) 18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”

Moses met with God on many occasions. His meetings, however, were done in a way that prevented Moses from being fully exposed to God’s holiness. This kept Moses alive.

God showed this when He passed by Moses on the mountain and hid Moses in a crevice in the rocks, placing His hand over Moses to protect him from His presence, so he would not die.

Exodus 33:21-23 (NKJV) 21 And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. 22 So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. 23 Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”

The priests of the Old Testament were required to go through very specific cleansing rituals before they could enter the holy of holies in the temple. Without these cleansing rituals, the priest would die.

Leviticus 16:2 (NKJV) 2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.

God’s presence, His holiness, was to be taken very seriously.

Let’s talk about this more tomorrow.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!