“I am going to put the Halloween candy up here,” is not a phrase you like to hear. It has been a few weeks, but for some of you the Halloween candy has not run out because your mom or dad put the candy up high or in some mysterious place. Someone has put the candy you waited all year to get out of reach, but it was done for your good to give you a piece or two at a time. If the candy had remained in your hands, you probably would have eaten all of it at once, then you would be sad that its gone and sick to your stomach. Sometimes we are denied access to something for our own good.
We do not like to see the message that we are locked out of our phone. We also do not like to see that kind of message on our computer or online account. And we do not like it when the battery on our car key fob is low or the battery has run out on our garage door opener, especially when it is raining. Messages or situations that amount to the phrase “access denied” frustrate us, but a lot of these messages or situations arise for our own good. For example, your phone denying access to someone who typed in the wrong password protects your phone from being accessed by someone other than yourself or someone you have trusted with your password.
There was one place almost no one had access to in the Old Testament. In the tabernacle used by the Israelites as they wandered the wilderness after being freed from Egypt and later in the Temple in Jerusalem, there was a room called the Holy of Holies. It was where the ark of the covenant was kept and where God made his presence known. Once a year, the high priest was allowed to enter this room to make a sacrifice for himself and for the people of Israel. Access was denied to the room as an illustration of the separation between God and mankind because of sin. Without a separation between God and sinful man, God’s judgment would flare up and destroy humanity. Rather than destroy us, God was gracious and shared his plan to punish someone else for mankind’s sins. The animal sacrifices of the manmade sanctuary of both the tabernacle and Temple were a glimpse Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross that fulfilled God’s judgment against the sins of the world.
Access to the real sanctuary where we will be with God is what we need. Although it was a special honor for the high priest to be able to enter the Holy of Holies, it was still the manmade Holy of Holies into which he carried the blood of animal sacrifices. The real Holy of Holies where a person would be in the presence of God once and for all is shared in our New Testament reading from Hebrews 9, 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Jesus never entered the Holy of Holies at the Temple in Jerusalem. Instead, he entered heaven itself. After his sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead, Jesus ascended into heaven so that he could appear in God’s presence as the living proof of our salvation. Jesus alive in heaven means we are saved from sin, death, the devil and hell. This truth is meant to fill us with joy that we have full access to God who created us and loves us, but we are not standing beside Jesus in heaven.
We are still living in this world where sin, death, the devil and fear of hell are seen and felt. So, we have this struggle in that what we see and feel tell us access to God is denied because life is hard, broken, disappointing, etc. And that feeling that we do not have access to God creeps into our approach to life so that we push ourselves to be better adopting a performance-based mindset toward our relationship with God. We picture ourselves inching closer to getting access to God by being a good, moral, successful, etc. person which is so attractive to us, but not to God. God does not want us working to get into heaven, he wants us looking at the one who is already standing in heaven.
You have access to heaven through Jesus. The overarching theme of the Book of Hebrews is Jesus’ superiority to the Old Testament system of sacrifices, the priesthood and sanctuary. The writer to the Hebrews repeatedly points to the Old Testament as pictures foreshadowing Jesus. For us in the New Testament, these pictures have value in showing how complete Jesus’ work was to restore our relationship and access to God through his death to sin and resurrection to eternal life. In Hebrews 9, we read, 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Before Jesus, a different high priest with the blood of a different animal year after year, decade after decade and century after century entered the Holy of Holies, the sanctuary made by human hands. This was repeated because it did not pay for sins, and because it was an annual reminder of the future sacrifice of Christ. Now, there are no more priests making sacrifices in the Temple. Christ, the Chosen One, ended that with one sacrifice with his own blood to enter heaven. The beauty of Jesus’ sacrifice is that it involved his will. Jesus’ death was not a surprise, nor did it happen to him because he was weak. Instead, Christ willed, planned, committed to and submitted to the hands of man to be put to death to remove your sins saving you from God’s judgment once for all. He is the eternal password, the mystery revealed, the one who opens the door and looks forward to returning to bring us with him to heaven.
The theme of this Sunday is Last Judgment, which at one time would have filled us with fear or anxiety, but not now. In our Gospel reading from John 5, we read, 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. Jesus sacrificed himself for you, he stands in heaven and he will return as Judge to tell you that you are not guilty, right, holy and you have eternal access to heaven. When you have not done anything wrong, judgment is not scary, and that is what you have in Christ. This is the good news that we hear in Hebrews 9, 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
We wait for Jesus because he will bring us salvation. We wait for him because we are included in the epic prophecy of our Old Testament reading from Daniel 12, 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. When everyone who has ever lived awakens on Judgment Day, we will go to everlasting life. And we wait, keeping our eyes on heaven while we work at earthly things. When we are blessed in this life, we will give thanks to God. And when we are denied access to things like a relationship, job, health, healing, answers, peace, contentment, etc. and our confidence, strength and identity seems out of reach, hidden or out of power, we will look to Christ. Christ is the one who stands in heaven for us, so waiting for Christ’s return is better than working toward heaven on earth. Christ keeps us waiting for him as we read the Bible, worship, fellowship and gather for Bible study. Those moments in his word and gathered with our brothers and sisters in Christ are a glimpse of the joy waiting for us after Judgment Day.
Sometimes we are denied access to something for our own good. Someone may have put your Halloween candy out of reach, but it was done so you would not eat all of it at once and be sad that its gone or sick to your stomach. God keeps us out of his presence while we are in this world because of our bad behavior and the sadness we cause ourselves and others. Our sins keep us out of God’s presence, but God gave us access to him once again through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Even when we do not get all we want in this world, we keep waiting because Christ will bring salvation to those waiting for him on Judgment Day. Amen.
Gunnar Ledermann, Pastor Divine Peace Church
Gunnar Ledermann
I’m passionate about Rockwall’s vibrant community and actively engage with local non-profits and community organizations, including the Rockwall Chamber of Commerce, the City of Rockwall, and the Downtown Rockwall Association. My background includes a bachelor’s degree in Classical Languages and a master’s degree in divinity. Currently serving as a pastor at Divine Peace Church in Rockwall, I also enjoy spending time with my wife, Marinda, and our three children.
