God Breaks Down Barriers

THIS WEEK I went to a great Christian music concert called Winter Jam. I heard many songs I know and love, and I had a wonderful time singing to God with the other 13,000 people in the Arena.

A pastor, whose name I'm afraid I do not know, came and said a few words at one point during the show. He explained that he had a very difficult background and that he had been adopted for $200. When his adopted father got drunk sometimes he would shout at him that he regretted ever paying those $200 dollars for him. The man's life was all downhill until he received salvation in Jesus, who died for all people's sins. Now he says that he rejoices in the fact that his adopted Heavenly Father never has regretted paying for him in the priceless blood of His own Son.

This week I'm reminded of what a truly astounding thing it is that God made that sacrifice, and what it means. I don't ever want to start to forget. He defines my life.

When Jesus died on the cross, everything changed. The people were trying to be near God by keeping the commandments, but nobody could be perfect enough to keep them all, all the time. It's just not in our power to make ourselves free of sin. They had to make sacrifices of animals to bear the punishment for their sin in their place. So what did God do? He loves us so much that He even made a sacrifice that would take away the sins of anyone who would believe. He gave His Son for the sins of the world. Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

This sacrifice broke down all barriers. When I was at a Bible Study meeting on Friday morning we looked at Ephesians 2, which explains that all Christians have been given access to the same God through the same sacrifice, so that we are neither divided from God nor from each other. Ephesians 2:14 really caught my attention. "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation."

This refers to the structure of the temple in Jerusalem, where people used to go to worship God. The building was divided so that everyone could come into the outer area, but there was a wall that meant only Jews could go beyond a certain point, and another wall for male Jews only, and it narrowed down to holier and smaller groups of people. In Jesus, it doesn't matter where we come from, what color we are, or what we've done. He wants Idians, Argentinians, Irish, Middle Eastern, French, Japanese, Australian - everybody! All people are invited. v. 18 "For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.

To make it even better, God makes it clear that our sin has been payed for, and that once we accept salvation through His act of love there is nothing that separates us from Him! Today I read Mark 15 and 16, which tell all about Jesus' crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

Mark 15:37, "And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last." Look at this amazing little verse that comes immediately after: v. 38 "Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom."

This veil divided the Holy Place, where only priests could go, from the Holy of Holies in the Temple. It is a true, historical fact that this important object, which divided even the holiest people from the place reserved for the Holy Presence of God, was ripped in half the moment Jesus died. This means that God had completed all that was necessary to end the division between Him and His people. All that is left is for a person to accept it and enter God's family.

I celebrate the fact that God has torn down all the walls. He has made it so that we do not need the walls of the temple, for we are the temple. We don't need walls to divide us from one another, and we don't need a veil to divide us from Him. Our sins are gone, because He took them away. So we celebrate His buying us away from bondage to sin and placing us safely in bondage to Him, which is true freedom.

When the pastor at Winter Jam finishing speaking, he led the group in a prayer to let Jesus be the Lord of our lives. I interpreted this prayer as being not only for those who were receiving salvation in that moment but for anyone whose Lord is Jesus Christ. So I prayed it too. And when he invited everyone who prayed it to stand up on the count of three and shout "Jesus is my Lord!!!" I stood and shouted it too, as if it were the first time. We are called to being unashamed, so I am determined not to be shy about it. I want everybody to know who He is.