Hebrews 10:31 (NASV)
“It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
God made man and woman with free will, with option to obey or disobey God. He wants an intimate, personal relationship with us and not with robots. He made us like this so that we may choose to love and worship Him. Before the fall, we were in neutral gear, neither bias towards good or evil but after the fall, we have a tendency towards sin. That’s why we do what we ought not to do.
“It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
God made man and woman with free will, with option to obey or disobey God. He wants an intimate, personal relationship with us and not with robots. He made us like this so that we may choose to love and worship Him. Before the fall, we were in neutral gear, neither bias towards good or evil but after the fall, we have a tendency towards sin. That’s why we do what we ought not to do.
Ever since Adam disobeyed God, we have been tainted with “sin genes” passed on from generation to generation. What was good has been corrupted and became evil. The evil spirit is at work in those who are disobedient following the ways of the world and the kingdom of the air (the devil) (Ephesians 2:2).
But because of God’s great love, by His rich mercy and grace (Ephesians 2:4) He made us alive with Christ when we were dead in our sins. We should have been condemned because God is a holy God and He hates sin. Jesus said in John 8:24 “That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am who I say I am, you will die in your sins."
My friend finds it hard to believe that a loving God would actually throw us into hell and not forgive us for our little sins for we are only humans. That’s because we fail to understand how holy our God is.
Yesterday’s Hebrews class helped me understand God’s holiness better.
In the Garden of Eden, God dwelt among Adam and Eve. There was no tabernacle required as there was no sin present.
In Canaan, God dwelt amongst His people. A tabernacle was required where sacrifices were made for sin offerings.
When Jesus came, God Himself dwelt amongst His people and eventually upon His resurrection He tore down the veil so we can have direct access to God.
In the bible, we see from the tabernacle and the Mt Sinai experience that the area was divided into 3 parts with different level of holiness showing how humans cannot have direct access to God. Interesting! I never saw it like this before!
The tabernacle was divided into 3 parts – the holy of holies, the holy place and the outer courts. God dwelt in the Holy of Holies and only once a year, the high priest representing the people would come into His presence offering sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. In the outer courts, Jews made daily sacrifices and no gentiles (non Jews) were allowed in.
In the Mt Sinai experience, it was also divided into 3 parts. Only Moses could come close to God, the other elders were in between the other people at the foothills and Moses. In Exodus 24: 1,2 it is written
“Then the Lord instructed Moses: “Come up here to me, and bring along Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. All of you must worship from a distance. Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord. The others must not come near, and none of the other people are allowed to climb up the mountain with him.””
Read Exodus (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+1&version=NIV) and Leviticus (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus&version=NIV)to appreciate further how Holy our God is, that we had no direct access to God but Jesus became the perfect High Priest, the perfect sacrifice, resurrected and is now King of Kings. That’s why through Jesus Christ, we now have direct access to Father God. That’s why God will hear us when we pray “In Jesus’ Name”.
In John 3:17,18 it is written, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.”
In John 3:17,18 it is written, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.”
So, it is not that God is not loving, he loved us so much He sent us Jesus so that whoever who believes Him shall have eternal life and not be condemned for his sins.
Please come back to God because it is terrible to fall in the hands of the living God. He is SO holy and He has showed us in history the kind of holiness that we cannot fulfil so that when He sent us Jesus we may believe in Him for then we know we need a savior.
He loves us so much that He has already given us a way out.
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