Come!

Come!

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 4:16 KJV

One of the greatest mysteries of our Christian experience is this statement: And the Word became flesh. In that statement lies the whole essence of who we are, what we were and have become, and why we are headed in the direction God has placed us. If we can have insight into what Jesus did for us, we would be encouraged to live to please Him. 

The High priest of the old covenant had to atone for his own sins first, before he could offer blood for the sins of the people. He had access to the Holy of Holies only at set intervals, and would die if he dared breach any of God's set instructions for worship in the old Tabernacle. If this was the strict standard under the old covenant, why do we now think that grace is an excuse for careless living and hypocritical worship? 

That high priest had to offer several sacrifices, all involving blood, because life is in the blood, and it provided cover for the sins of the people. In came the One called the Great High Priest, a title no other person can lay claim to, and using this same template, offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for sin. He didn't have to send a priest in with the blood; he was all the priest, the sacrifice, the blood that offered atonement (AT ONE MENT) from sin, and the permanent seal of redemption for all who are washed by the blood. 

He became like us; walked in our shoes, so He could experience what we experience. He wore this human body, without the sinful nature, so He could provide us a template for life without sin, and an earthly life that ends up in eternal life. He took upon Himself all our pain and infirmities, took them all the way to the cross, and with the perfect sacrifice, paid the price once and for all. 

He has now returned to God, and the way to God has been laid out in and by Him. We now have access to the Holy of Holies, a place no one could dare enter under the old covenant. God's presence and glory now becomes available to all who will trust the perfect sacrifice. And He asks me to make the approach: He says come boldly. It is a throne of grace, a place where mercy and of course grace is available in abundant measure. I am asked to come and find all that my life needs. Whenever I need help, I make the approach. 

It must however also be noted that the same throne of grace, from where grace and mercy are dispensed freely, will become a throne of judgment, on the day that mercy is finished. A day is coming, that just as God dealt with sin in his Son, when he turned His face away as His Son bore the sins of the world, so will He judge sin in the lives of all who reject the sacrifice of His Son. While I have time, while the throne of grace is open to all, I must make the approach. A time is coming, when any other decision will indeed be too late. His time of favour is here.