37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed out His life. 38 And the curtain [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
I love Fall here at the Lake House. We've had the first cold nights of the season and the result is the changing color of the leaves reflecting on the lake. Each day brings a new degree of beauty.
When I first get up in the morning, this is my view of the lake.
You really can't get very excited about the foliage by the lake from this view can you? The light shining through the curtain may tell you that there is something on the other side. But really there is no way you can describe what is out there, let alone tell anyone about it. In fact there's not much to tell. You might be curious to see what is out there based on the fact that I've told you that I've seen it and I think it's beautiful. But maybe not. Maybe you're content to admire the curtains. If that's the case, this is all you'll see. Enjoy.
In the Old Testament Tabernacle and later the Temple, a blue, purple and scarlet curtain separated the Most Holy Place from the Holy Place. In the Temple God resided in the Most Holy Place, behind the curtain, separated from His people. He would be present, but separate. Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place. God's people could only observe the work of His hands. Even then it was not face to face. Sinful man cannot stand in the presence of God and live. This was a very different scene than what we witness in the early chapters of Genesis, before man's fall, when God walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve and they were not ashamed of their nakedness before Him.
Our sin is just like Adam's. We want to be god. We were made to worship, so we focus that worship either on ourselves, or where it was intended, the one true God.
A.W. Tozer said, "Self is the opaque veil [curtain] that hides the face of God from us. It can be removed only in the spiritual experience, never by mere instruction."
God gave His one and only Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice, to pay the punishment for our sin. And at the moment He gave up His life, the curtain into the Most Holy Place in the Temple tore in two, granting us access to our most holy and loving God.
He invites us to throw off the "opaque veil of self" and enter into His presence and worship the Lord God through Jesus Christ His Son.
Tozer said, "Such worship ... can never come from a mere doctrinal knowledge of God. Hearts that are 'fit to break' with love for the Godhead are those that have been in the Presence and have looked with opened eye upon the majesty of the Deity. Men of the breaking hearts had a quality about them not known or understood by common men. They habitually spoke with spiritual authority. They had been in the presence of God and they reported what they saw there."
Hebrews 10:19-23 (NIV)
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
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