Last week we began the process of talking about being Christian persons of philosophy and practice.
- Philosophical Christian and Practical Christian
- Philosophical Christian and Practical Secularist
- Philosophical Secularist and Practical Christian
- Philosophical Secularist and Practical Secularist
The God first life, when everything about our thinking and being starts with God as He is, is based upon understanding how God and humans interact.
In God’s first covenant with humanity, God’s special presence rested in the Holy of Holies and God interacted with people through the High Priest who could draw near to God once a year on behalf of all people.
Entrance to God’s glorious presence was protected by the veil, or curtain, which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple and people.
At the very moment Jesus died on the cross the Temple’s veil was torn in two from the top down. Matthew 27:50, 51
God’s glorious presence is no longer limited to one man, once a year, through a veil.
In God’s New Covenant, access to His glorious presence is available to everyone, all the time, through Jesus, the new and living way through the curtain. Hebrews 10:19, 20
One of the most profound invitations to interaction with God is, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8
The birth of Jesus is God drawing near to humanity in an almost unbelievable way; God becoming human. John 1:14
Because God drew near to us, we may draw near to God. Jesus is the new and living way into the glorious presence of God.
The thinking (philosophy) and being (practice) of Christianity is revealed in the Person, Jesus Christ.
From the Person (Jesus) we learn the philosophy and practice of drawing near to God.
The philosophy and practice of the first covenant between God and people became, unfortunately, a disconnected set of ideas and practices that were not integrated into the lives of the followers.
- Deuteronomy 6:4, 5
- Isaiah 29:13
With the birth of Jesus an entirely new and living way for human beings to draw near to God was initiated.
Just as the Jewish people disconnected the philosophy and practice of the first covenant from their hearts and lives, we may disconnect from the Person, Jesus Christ.
May our sincerest prayer and the cry of our souls be, “Lord, remove all veils that are barriers to me drawing near to you through your Son, Jesus Christ.”