We Have Access
“8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Luke 2:8-12
We have gotten so used to the Christmas/nativity story that sometimes we can not realize what Jesus actually did. It can be easy to just go through the motions, celebrate Christmas, and then move on with our lives.
We should never lose sight of Christmas and what it truly means and reminds us.
God was born.
He emptied Himself and came as a baby. He dwelt among His very creation. He tabernacled Himself among us.
“14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt [tabernacled] among us”
John 1:14 NKJV
What is “tabernacle”?
The tabernacle's purpose was to provide a place where the people could properly worship God.
We may recognize the word tabernacle from hearing about Moses' tabernacle or David’s tabernacle. Both foreshadow what we have now because Jesus was born.
God has a reason and purpose for everything that He does. So, why did He empty Himself and come as a baby? Why did He tabernacle Himself among His creation?
He was restoring what we lost in the garden.
In the very beginning, Adam and Eve were working, walking, and resting with God. They had perfect communion with Him and lived perfectly in His design. That is until Genesis 3, when everything changed. Everything did not just change for Adam and Eve; it changed for all of us.
Sin entered the picture and separated us from God. God had to remove Adam and Eve from the garden. But, He did not remove them out of punishment. He removed them out of love. If they had eaten from the tree of life, they would have made everything permanent. God had a plan to bring them back, so before they could solidify their destiny and ours, He removed them from the garden.
Before they were removed from the garden, we see the promise come into play.
“And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Genesis 3:15
Genesis 3:15 says that a baby is coming somewhere that will bring us back to the paradise of His presence.
God gave us the promise before He acknowledged the problem.
“Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden,”
Genesis 3: 22-23a
Their rebellion created a crisis that called into question not only their access to God’s presence but also their continued existence at all.
God desires intimacy with us. We were created for intimacy. This is why He had to come and tabernacle among His creation.
Here is a picture of what we think Moses’ tabernacle looked like.
The closer you got to the center, the holier the space. The curtain (veil) separates the purity of God from sinful people. God’s presence is at the center.
It was not that God needed a physical sanctuary on earth, but that each one of us is called to build a tabernacle for God in our hearts, preparing ourselves to become a sanctuary for God.
Now, because of Jesus, we have full access to His presence. We can boldly come to the throne room of God because He tore the veil that was separating us. We all have access. It is no longer just one person a year; we are all invited to have intimacy and full access to our Father.
“Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom”
Matthew 27:51 NKJV
The very thing that was separating us from Him was destroyed. Giving us access.
“19 And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 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.”
Hebrews 10:19-22
Now we are the temple. God is tabernacled in us.
In the Old Testament tabernacles, a fire was to always be burning. The fire was not started by man; it was started by God. BUT, man was responsible for maintaining the fire and keeping it going. The fire was a constant reminder of God’s power and all-consuming presence. The fire was eventually put out because it was not maintained.
We see the fire come back in Acts 2.
In Acts 2, the fire of the Holy Spirit birthed the church. As before, the fire was started by God, not man. It is God’s power at work in us. It His presence back with us, just as it was in the garden.
WE HAVE ACCESS TO GOD THAT OTHERS ONLY DREAMED OF HAVING.