Holiness Granted: The Torn Curtain

Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary[a] was split in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked and the rocks were split. Matthew 27:51

The citadel of Christianity is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But this note will focus on the torn curtain and what that truly means. Let’s not forget the context of what took place, Jesus was handed over to be crucified, was beaten, mocked and died a very horrid and painful death. But even after Jesus had died something remarkable occurred, the curtain that separated the dwelling of the Lord with the high priest for the sacrifices on behalf of the Israelites was torn in half.

First we need to understand what the curtain resembled and secondly we need to examine what was behind the curtain. The curtain separated the Israelite people and God, since what happened behind the curtain was an offering of sacrifices, performed once a year by the high priest on behalf of the people. (Exodus 30:10)

So the dwelling with God was only permitted by the high priest who spoke on behalf of the people and interceded for the people of Israel. In similar contrast, the author of Hebrews notes that Jesus is our intercessor and great high priest (Hebrews 4:14). So as Christ has made a sacrifice once for all and for those who believe (1 Peter 3:18), by His death He has GRANTED, given as a gift this dwelling within His holiness!

No longer is the curtain required, it was a representation of our sin that separated us from God. No longer are ritual sacrifices needed, as Christ is the fulfilment of those sacrifices! All things fulfilled in Christ and Christ fulfilled within His people. His holiness is now imputed, given as a gift for us to enjoy His dwelling and His working in us! And as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. Our bodies imputed with the Lord’s stamp of approval, holiness and righteousness has been given so that by obedience we might display the magnitude of His gloriousness!

Now a Christian who continues in sin is like one who tries to stich up the already torn curtain. It’s useless to try, and it holds no purpose in doing so. You are stitching up a separation between yourself and God in dwelling in sin. But how much more that sin in knowing that it is God who tore it in the first place only to give you the gift of holiness and imputed righteousness? Throw out those sewing needles, let us examine our lives for a moment and see if we’re honouring the Lord’s work in us or if we’re trying to put back together that which has already been torn.

The god of Comfort

At the citadel of all societies from various backgrounds in both third world and first world countries, is one god that is often worshiped and even by professing Christians. I’m not talking about our Lord and savior, though I wish I was. No, this god makes its way into the church like an invisible fog and leaves those who are white hot on fire for God lukewarm. It’s not only welcomed into the church, but embraced with open arms. It is more loved than those who are new comers and those who don’t know Christ Himself. It makes the church its footstool and destroys the unity of the Lord and His bride. It shows no need to wash itself clean, for it already presents itself favorably by the church. Sure enough, praises are made and songs are played…but to whom?

I’ve seen a child of God destroy their speech in order to embrace comfort to their chest. I’ve seen a child of God ignore their brother in need for the purpose of worshiping comfort. I’ve seen comfort welcomed again and again with church doors flung wide open “come all, we worship comfort here!” Oh but what a difference when you come across a church that despises comfort! The invisible fog makes its way into the church but is quickly dispersed at the sound of thundering worship for God! It attempts again and again, but is quickly dealt with by the Lord’s Matthew 10:34 sword. It soon realises that the individuals whom fill the church are not there to be comfortable, but they are there for glorifying the Lord.

Its power is driven to a halt; shattered and divided it finds no foothold in this church! Its footstool is not to be found, the doors are held shut by the church “you’re NOT welcome here comfort!” Its power becomes useless and futile, obliterated before the Lord of life. For in Him is everlasting joy that exceeds the worthless praises to comfort.

Faith

The greatest moment in the true telling story of Job, is not the man himself. It is not even the character of Job of how wealthy he was and how he lost so much. Nor is it how much he endured but rather the greatest moment is the display of faith. Faith is the strongest bond between man or woman and God. There’s nothing on earth like faith, faith is immovable and unchanging. It is pure in the sense that it is the person knowing that they are in the presence of God. We should be so infinitely grateful that the Holy of Holy’s curtain was torn in two! That we no longer need a mediator to speak on our behalf, but rather we have God to go to! There are no steps to climb, no ritual washing, no amount of reading and no holy uniform we need to wear.


And yet even in our society, to approach even some of the most powerful people on this earth you would need to cut through some red tape before you could sit down. And be told that you’re not allowed to talk about certain issues.But God is unchanging, and we know that by the faith endowed upon us that we can speak to God who moves the universe with nothing more than a whisper of His voice. Faith is powerful; faith is what compels His people to radically desire Him in a world that hates God. As well as the strength to persist in sharing the saving words to men and women who don’t know God. The Apostle Paul is so right to say “to live is Christ and to die is gain!” (Philippians 1:21) Why, because faith was anchored in the hope of Christ. No different to Job, no different to Jacob, Isaiah or Abraham. This faith is linear, unchanged and immovable. Faith’s desire is affixed on God, if you could dissect faith you would see that at the core of faith is God. That God is the one who provides, establishes and sustains faith. We should be so grateful to have such a wonderful gift such as faith.

Judgment

In so many Christian circles, judgment would have to be the least popular action in conjunction with biblical exhortation. Many professing Christians quote Matthew 7:1 as if somehow it’s a ‘get out of jail free card’ when caught in sin. So let’s look at the entire passage carefully, because if God calls us to judge than we should understand and know that judging is not only commanded in scripture to fulfill, but also be aware that this is good! “Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For with the judgment you use,[a] you will be judged, and with the measure you use,[b] it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye but don’t notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, there’s a log in your eye? 5 Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:1-5

The latter is what counts most in understanding judgment in verse 1. “so that you won’t be judged” in other words, don’t be hypocritical in your judgment against a brother or sister. Jesus goes onto saying in verse 5 that it is important to remove the log from your own eye prior to removing the speck. It’s interesting that Jesus never says “leave the speck in their eye.” So Christ is commanding us to carefully observe our lives before we exhort a brother or sister in Christ with judgment.

So where is biblical judgment used in our bible? In Galatians 2:11-14 Paul judges Cephas being particular with which he was eating with regarding the Jews and the gentiles.

11 But when Cephas[b] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned.[c] 12 For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. 13 Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas[d] in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?”[e]

So in verse 11 we can see Paul called judgment on Cephas because he stood condemned. In other words, Cephas was outwardly showing that he had his feet in two camps. What Paul did was to love, shake up and bring Cephas back to repentance. And that’s the motive of anyone who brings about judgment. I want to make it very clear that anyone who judges someone that isn’t motivated by love and to see that person repent isn’t judging by biblical standards. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul specifically states that any action done needs to be motivated by love. Motivated by a love for Christ and a love for brother, sister and the un-believer. So when you hear judgment, stop for a minute. And ask yourself “why are they judging me?” perhaps the answer is simple, that they love you enough to care about your eternity and want to see you walk the straight and narrow path for the glory of God.

The Power of Christ

With such a title, I feel like I’m unworthy to write on the enormity of the Lord’s power and strength. But having read Romans 5 and 6, Christ’ power is clearly displayed in scripture and a power that only God Himself could manifest. The Lord’s power over sin displays a number of attributes, but in particular it demonstrates how unworthy we truly are to even try and break the chains of sin ourselves. On the other hand, it demonstrates very clearly the Lord’s strength and His eternal power in sustaining a slave of His in a world torn apart by sin.

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace[a] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through Him by faith[b] into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2

Christ has not only broken the chains of captivity towards sin, but that He grants faith as a gift. What does that mean? Well the greatest thing that Christ has ever done is to take an ungodly man in an ungodly world. Make that person pure, than place that person back into the ungodly world and sustain that person with His strength….and THAT’S what faith does!

Faith grinds against the ways of the world. It is the providence ordained by God. When a Christian is declared saved, they are stating that they have in fact received the full knowledge of what Christ has done for them on the cross! They are declaring their obedience is no longer towards the enslavement of sin but now to Christ! (Romans 6:16)

So Christ not only saves a person BUT also keeps a person saved! So the Lord’s power didn’t just happen once, but it is everlasting. We also know that Christ not only being raised on the third day but is also alive today! What point would there be in having this God given gift if Christ were not alive? Paul makes that same statement in 1 Corinthians saying:

And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith. 1Corinthians 15:14

So the faith of that we have been given by God we know is sustainably true! So that Christ is truly alive and sustains all things by His ordination. So if you’re a Christian, do you know the gift you’ve been given? Do you truly know the strength of the Lord having been declared saved? Do you know the chains you were once in and the righteousness you now pursue? Have you observed faith, the Lord and the providential strength? If you are a Christian, or you at least declare yourself to be and you’ve not taken the time to notice these things. I implore you to take the time and examine the gift of faith and the power of what Christ has done and continues to do.

The Exposure of Sin

           

No Christian can describe the premonition, the exposure of sin before their spirited eyes. It is as if their world has collapsed, and like the Apostle Paul’s conversion they come to realise the truth that everything they had been doing up until this moment has been completely wrong. It is by a work of God that anyone can have their eyes awoken to sin in their life. How could anyone simply pull away from sin with their own strength? It would be to consider the Lord’s armour in Ephesians 6 as nothing more than simply an option to wear.

But as it mentions in Ephesians 6:11, Paul says to put on the full armour of God. Paul never says to take it off when it gets too heavy, but if the armour does get too heavy than I can assure you already that it takes God’s strength to bear the full armour of God. If you want to know how to do anything in God’s strength look to Romans 12:2. Paul puts it simply like this: Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. 

So in doing anything in God’s strength is being transformed, being changed from what you used to conform to and to what you are being moulded into today and in the future. If you want discernment in knowing what is good, pleasing and perfect that entitles the will of God. Then read His word, spend time in prayer and fellowship with other believers. And by fellowship I mean fellowship, I don’t mean sit around talking about the latest movie or app you’ve downloaded. I mean real God fearing fellowship! Why is it that so many of us (including myself) waste the time we have with fellow believers? Why do we become more interested in conversing over menial trivialities and forget so quickly that God had spoken through His word into our hearts?

What an act of grace…that we should live when we have treated the Lord’s spoken word with a flippant attitude! What an act of love that we should live when we hurled our insults and slanderous speech at God. Through the way we live, by the way we talk, by the things we do, by the things we watch. If God is the citadel of life, then let us run back to Him! Embrace the Lord’s strength and put on that full armour! So much of God’s love rests on that one verse that I quote all the time, and rightly so because the display of God’s love is poured out into this verse Romans 5:8. But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!

And so if this is true brothers and sisters, that God would die for us being sinners and being His enemies. And since we have the Holy Spirit who testifies of our very actions, we need not dwell in sin anymore. But cling to the cross and do not presume upon it, because in clinging to it you recognise all that Christ has done. But in presuming it, you know nothing of what Christ has done.