40 Days of the Cross: Day 14

Hello, and welcome to the fourteenth day of our “40 days of the cross” series. Each day we are taking just a few minutes to look at a word which will help us better understand the meaning of the cross. 

Today’s word is access. In the movies, when the hero is trying to break into the enemy’s computer system, he often types the wrong password first. An alarm will go off (WAP! WAP!) and the screen will flash in red: ACCESS DENIED! He can’t get to the information that is needed to defeat the bad guys. But then, suddenly, he figures out the password and the screen lights-up green: access granted. Now he’s into the system and can get what he needs to win. 

There are other things that give us access. We have a key (or a key fob) that gives us access to our cars. If we have insurance, we have access to life-saving medical treatment. If we have a ticket, we have access to a Twins, Wild, or a Packer’s game. But what password or key or ticket is there to give us access to God? Unfortunately, we could try everything in our power, but all we would get is the response: access denied. There is nothing we have, no price we can pay, to gain access to God who is holy. Our best efforts and our purest actions cannot overcome the sinful nature within us that blocks our path to God. 

So, since we could not gain access, God did something to provide access to men and women with broken hearts. And it was the cross. The cross provides access to the Father, for those who will accept that gift with surrender and faith. The death of Jesus on the cross provided the key that allows us to gain access to God. We who were broken, now with healed hearts can access God because He provided Himself as the sacrifice on the cross. Ephesians 2:16 tells us that we are reconciled to God and to each other through the cross. And two verses later, in Ephesians 2:18, it says, “For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”Through Jesus, we have access to our holy God, able to receive love, peace, comfort, and joy. We’ll talk more about joy tomorrow. 

I’m going to pray in a moment. When we’re done, I encourage you to take a couple minutes and consider how the cross of Christ gives us access to the very throne room of God. 

Heavenly Father, I am able to come to you in prayer today because of the work of Your Son, Jesus, on the cross. Help me not to take this access for granted, but instead with thanksgiving, remember the work of Jesus on the cross. In the name of Jesus, amen. 

Thanks for listening/reading today. Please take some time to pray and meditate on how the cross grants us access to the Father.  Continued