Drawing Near to God...How?

With the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, sin separated mankind from God. So He sent his son to atone for our sins by nailing them to the cross and overcame the death penalty of sin. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, mankind once again could come near to God without an earthly priest to intercede. Instead Jesus, our Heavenly High Priest is now our intercessor. He made the way to God accessible.

We read in ‭Hebrews‬ ‭7:19-25 that "a BETTER HOPE is introduced, by which we DRAW NEAR to God... (Jesus) became a priest with an oath when God said to him: “The Lord has sworn and will NOT change his mind: ‘You are a priest forever.’ ” Because of this oath, Jesus has become the GUARANTOR of a better covenant...because Jesus lives FOREVER, he has a PERMANENT priesthood. Therefore he is able to save COMPLETELY those who COME to God THROUGH him, because he ALWAYS lives to INTERCEDE for them."

Through Jesus, we can come near to God. But how do we do that? We get to know Jesus, our gateway, our Shepherd who leads us, guides us, protects us and lives in us through the Holy Spirit. Our great shepherd leads us on the path to God, so we must follow him and listen to his voice. Jesus tells us in ‭John‬ ‭10:27‭-‬30‬, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand."

And as we continue in verse 30, Jesus tells us that he "and the Father are one.” We see right here that... to know Jesus is to know the Father. Jesus shares this truth again in ‭John‬ ‭14:6‭-‬7‬ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

So we can draw closer to God by getting to know Jesus and listening to his voice. Where is that voice? The voice of Jesus is the word of the bible...because Jesus IS the Word as we read in ‭John‬ ‭1:1‭-‬3‬, ‭"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made."

Jesus has been there from the very beginning. He isn't only in the stories of the New Testament. Jesus was with God in Genesis, at creation. And Jesus is, in fact, the creator... as we just read in the previous scripture..."Through him all things were made". This is perfectly reflected in Revelation 22:13 where our Savior tells us: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End."

The entire Bible is about Jesus and the redemption story of mankind leading up to the climax of becoming his spotless bride. Once we come to know Jesus through the precious word of the bible, we come to also know God through the story of Jesus from Genesis onward. Jesus is a testimony and witness of God's great love for us, his compassion, his mercy, his faithfulness and his perfect promises fulfilled and to be fulfilled.

So let us open up the word with new anticipation and new thirst as we look for Jesus starting in Genesis and as we get to know Jesus more intimately and listen for his voice, we will also be drawing closer to God, our Heavenly Father.

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