Sunday, January 14, 2024 5:29:03 AM
Our Sin and the Holiness of God
~ May you experience a more tangible, loving, and powerful connection with your heavenly Father this week as we celebrate living life unveiled.
Scripture Reading:
“Yet because of his physical defect, he may not enter the room behind the inner curtain or approach the altar, for this would defile My holy places. I am the LORD who makes them holy.” ~ Leviticus 21:23
Our heavenly Father is both entirely full of love and completely holy. And in the greatest tragedy of all time, our sin caused the love and holiness of our God to be at opposition with one another. His greatest desire was for unadulterated, perfect relationship with us. And with Adam and Eve that longing was fulfilled. He could enjoy communion with us without separation. But when sin entered the grand narrative of human history, God’s unshakable, holy nature could not allow Him to walk in perfect communion with us any longer. Our sin caused a rift between us and Him that His love could not yet overcome.
So great is the holiness of our God, and so great was the depth of our sin, that a veil was placed between us and our heavenly Father, a veil signifying the horrific separation of God and man. In a description of the veil, Exodus 26:31-33 says:
“You are to make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen with a design of cherubim worked into it. Hang it on four gold-plated posts of acacia wood that have gold hooks and that stand on four silver bases. Hang the veil under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony there behind the veil, so the veil will make a separation for you between the Holy Place and the most Holy Place.”
Only one man, chosen to go before God as Israel’s representative, was allowed to pass through the veil once a year on the Day of Atonement. And so great was God’s holiness and our sin that if anyone else was to enter, the power of God’s holiness would kill them. In Leviticus 16:2, God commanded Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.”
In order to appreciate the power of Christ’s sacrifice, we must acknowledge the status from which we have been redeemed. In Luke 7:47, in reference to the depth of a prostitute’s love for Him, Jesus says:
“I tell you, her sins — and they are many — have been forgiven, so she has shown Me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”
You have been forgiven much regardless of what lifestyle you have come from. So great was the chasm your sin created that you were incapable of communion with your Creator. Without the sacrifice of Christ, you would have no restored relationship with God, no Holy Spirit dwelling within you, and no grace, mercy, or total forgiveness.
So that you might greatly love your heavenly Father today, spend time in prayer focusing on the depth of your sin, which has been sacrificially redeemed by the love of Jesus Christ.
Seeing our sin in light of God’s holiness is a difficult, but wonderful reminder of how greatly God has loved us. Jesus sacrificed everything when we were deserving of nothing. May you live today in response to God’s unmerited favor and grace on your life.
________________
~ published by: First 15
https://www.first15.org/devotionals/our-sin-and-the-holiness-of-god-2023/
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~ May you experience a more tangible, loving, and powerful connection with your heavenly Father this week as we celebrate living life unveiled.
Scripture Reading:
“Yet because of his physical defect, he may not enter the room behind the inner curtain or approach the altar, for this would defile My holy places. I am the LORD who makes them holy.” ~ Leviticus 21:23
Our heavenly Father is both entirely full of love and completely holy. And in the greatest tragedy of all time, our sin caused the love and holiness of our God to be at opposition with one another. His greatest desire was for unadulterated, perfect relationship with us. And with Adam and Eve that longing was fulfilled. He could enjoy communion with us without separation. But when sin entered the grand narrative of human history, God’s unshakable, holy nature could not allow Him to walk in perfect communion with us any longer. Our sin caused a rift between us and Him that His love could not yet overcome.
So great is the holiness of our God, and so great was the depth of our sin, that a veil was placed between us and our heavenly Father, a veil signifying the horrific separation of God and man. In a description of the veil, Exodus 26:31-33 says:
“You are to make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen with a design of cherubim worked into it. Hang it on four gold-plated posts of acacia wood that have gold hooks and that stand on four silver bases. Hang the veil under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony there behind the veil, so the veil will make a separation for you between the Holy Place and the most Holy Place.”
Only one man, chosen to go before God as Israel’s representative, was allowed to pass through the veil once a year on the Day of Atonement. And so great was God’s holiness and our sin that if anyone else was to enter, the power of God’s holiness would kill them. In Leviticus 16:2, God commanded Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.”
In order to appreciate the power of Christ’s sacrifice, we must acknowledge the status from which we have been redeemed. In Luke 7:47, in reference to the depth of a prostitute’s love for Him, Jesus says:
“I tell you, her sins — and they are many — have been forgiven, so she has shown Me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”
You have been forgiven much regardless of what lifestyle you have come from. So great was the chasm your sin created that you were incapable of communion with your Creator. Without the sacrifice of Christ, you would have no restored relationship with God, no Holy Spirit dwelling within you, and no grace, mercy, or total forgiveness.
So that you might greatly love your heavenly Father today, spend time in prayer focusing on the depth of your sin, which has been sacrificially redeemed by the love of Jesus Christ.
Seeing our sin in light of God’s holiness is a difficult, but wonderful reminder of how greatly God has loved us. Jesus sacrificed everything when we were deserving of nothing. May you live today in response to God’s unmerited favor and grace on your life.
________________
~ published by: First 15
https://www.first15.org/devotionals/our-sin-and-the-holiness-of-god-2023/
•
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