“In whom [Christ] we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him” – Ephesians 3:12.

Sometime back, I had a short stint at a place where everyone was required to have permission to enter the premises. 

The first level of access was at the main gate; no entry without a valid staff ID card or an entry card.

Beyond that, the main door of the office building required a fingerprint to open. 

Also, some staff members could not have access to certain offices.

Personally, I always had to wait for someone to open the door for me since my details were not yet entered into the system to give me fingerprint access.

It would simply tell me “access denied.”

We’ve all experienced situations whereby ‘access was denied’ because we didn’t have the password, or we were not entering it correctly or we were using the wrong finger.

Indeed, there have been important places that we tried to enter but we could not because we lacked invitation or the requisite access rights.

In our meditation today, the Bible says that God has given us “access” into His Presence through Christ!

The Greek word for ‘access’ is ‘prosagoge,’ which means freedom to enter into someone’s (usually a king’s) presence, through the assistance or favor of another.

I looked up Ephesians 3:12 in a few other versions. One version describes it as “confident access.”

In Christ, we have absolute access and we may go in by faith to the throne of God to find grace to help in our time of need

Hebrews 4:15-16

In Bible times, venturing into the king’s presence without invitation could be fatal.

I read somewhere that whenever a person entered the king’s presence, the guards and his aides would look at his face. If he smiled at you, then you would be safe.

If his face scowled in displeasure, the guards would simply bundle you out with serious consequences.

That was the origin of the saying “let your face shine upon” someone.

Even in the spiritual realm, not everyone could have access to God’s presence.

In the temple for example, only the high priest had access into the ‘holy of holies.’

Anyone else trying to access it could end up dying immediately.  

The idea of levels of access is best illustrated in Exodus 24:12: “And [God] said to Moses, ‘Come up to the LORD, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel; and worship from afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come near; neither shall the people go up with him.”

Moses had special access to God’s throne while Aaron, Nadab and Abihu were at a lower level of access, followed by the 70 elders, then the rest of the people.

Well, that was the Old Testament.

In the New Testament, everyone who is in Christ has been given absolute access to enter confidently into God’s presence!

You do not need to wait for some other person to allow you in or to ask some other saint or Mary to go in on your behalf.

In Christ, we have absolute access and we may go in by faith to the throne of God to find grace to help in our time of need (Hebrews 4:15-16). Access cannot be denied.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for giving me access! Help me to have the faith and confidence to go in and enjoy all my spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus, Amen!