“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
“…Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep…I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:7-9
When a friend lovingly invited me to bring two of my dogs to his home for a visit with his precious family and the sweet dog he had adopted from me, he wrote me that I didn’t need to bring the dogs straight into the back yard as I had offered so I could bypass the front door and their house. “Come in the front door,” he wrote. God’s Spirit had a message in this.
In the Old Testament, one of the most significant facts about the temple of God was that the average person could not get anywhere near God because we are all sinners and He is perfectly holy and righteous. Even the exceedingly few who were called as high priests and given the right to go into the “holy of holies” could not come face to face with God. People were to love, obey, and worship Him, to offer sacrifices, seek forgiveness, seek His face, seek His will, and honor, praise, and adore Him. But there would always be a great distance, a gap, between humanity and God. Even for the repentant, willing to admit wrongdoing, to confess sin, there was no front door into God’s most precious presence.
When Jesus Christ bore the wrath of God for our sins on Himself on the cross, died for the world’s sins, and rose again, He became the perfect atonement for our sins and paid our penalty for the accompanying punishment of death, hell, and the lake of fire, of forever separation from God, so all who believe in Him, who turn to God and His ways through Him, are forgiven and given eternal life, a forever relationship with God.
Come in the front door. When we repent and believe in Christ, when we devote our lives to Christ, when we commit ourselves to God and His Word for eternity, we don’t need to grovel at the back door or peer through a window and enviously watch God’s children overflowing with the joy of being in His presence. Or drown in our sins and shame knowing we’re headed for hell. Because the Lord Jesus Christ died for us, when we commit ourselves to Him, genuinely remorseful over our sins and truly dedicated to turning away from the world and living for Him, we can come boldly into God’s throne room, to His mercy seat, to receive His offering of love, mercy, and oh so sweet forgiveness. Through repentance and faith in Christ as Lord, by God’s grace alone, we are adopted into God’s forever family and given the right to come boldly through His front door into His everlasting glorious presence. The door into God almighty’s fold, into His Kingdom, into His presence, is Christ the Lord! Amen!