The Day The Curtain Tore #404

If you’d like to hear this message instead of reading it, tune in to the Living Your Legacy Podcast.

The Day The Curtain Tore #404

How frustrating is it when you come upon a road closure? I know the answer. Recently, our town conducted its annual Street Fair when the whole downtown is closed to traffic. Sure, a person may have been looking forward to the fair; however, they were also dreading the detours and delays. I’m sure that every driver coming into or driving around our town was frustrated seeing those signs. I also know the relief every driver feels when the road suddenly opens up.

What if I were to tell you that another road closure or detour has also been removed? Ironically, I felt the road open when one verse grabbed my attention. This verse might as well have been in all caps, bold, and in a larger font because I cannot avoid it any longer. This one verse caps off one of the greatest events in human history, the crucifixion.

You know about the brutality that Christ suffered and about the ransom that He paid for us. But this is about the proof that you and I can come to the Lord with no detours. The roadblock has been removed, and we can exhale a sigh of relief.

While hanging on the cross, Jesus yielded up His spirit, and in that moment, Matthew writes that the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. (Matthew 27:51) You may not think that’s important because you can rip a rag or tear a piece of paper in two. But historical descriptions portray the Temple curtain as thick and imposing. Man couldn’t tear it, but God could and did.

There were two curtains in the temple. A select number of people were allowed past the first one into the Holy Place. Only the High Priest could pass through the second curtain, the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies, on the Day of Atonement. One man, one day a year, was given direct access to God on the other side of the curtain. People could get close, could worship or pray in front of the temple, but they were not permitted inside.

The second that Jesus Christ died on that cross, the curtain tore. The detour was erased. The road closed sign was removed. From that moment, the new, living way to God’s presence became available to all, at all times. The road to God’s presence is now open.

So if Jesus tore the curtain that separated man from God’s presence, then why do we keep putting new curtains back up? Christians may say they want more access to God but hide behind a curtain when they don’t like what He may see or what He may ask us to surrender. Your curtain may be fear, control, sin, shame, busyness, success, doubt, or distractions. I believe God wants you to tear that curtain and step fully seen into His presence today.

The questions that verse stirred in me, and that I’d like to ask you, are: What is your curtain? What is the curtain that you are hiding behind? What is the curtain that you’re trying to sew back together or trying to hold onto, knowing that Christ already tore it apart?

The way has been opened for you. Jesus didn’t give His life for us so we could spend ours standing behind a curtain that He already tore down? Is today the day the curtain tore, the day you step out from behind the roadblock and take one step closer to Him? The road is open.

If you're ready to step from behind the curtain to live your legacy, then visit lighthouselegacies.com to learn how. Also, listen to The Living Your Legacy Podcast.