Hebrews 10:19 "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus"
Have you ever felt hesitant to pray? Can you think back on a time when you know
you needed forgiveness for something you had done, but were hesitant to go to
God and ask Him to forgive you? I think it is human nature for us to
think we need to clean ourselves up a bit before we ask God to forgive us. It's
human nature to think we need to present a picture of trying to help ourselves
before we ask God to help us. I think that is the source of the incorrect
theology that says, "God helps those who help themselves."
Quite honestly, we would never go to God if we could help ourselves.
I think of the Prodigal son and his predicament in the world. He could not help
himself nor could he find anyone in the world that would help him. The world
used him to obtain what they wanted and then sent him continuously on his
downward spiral. It was when he remembered home that he began to turn
around. His journey home was not based upon himself. We do not read that
he tried to clean the mud off himself; rather, he started the journey home with
a confession to himself.
That's right, he first had to admit to himself where his own actions had taken
him. He had to admit to himself that he had sinned against heaven and against
his father. But it was in the father's love that he rose up from the pig pen
and began the journey home. You remember the rest of the parable. But I want us
to understand something this morning. His journey home was a bold one, not
because of who he was, or what he had done before leaving home, or even the
fact that he was "brave enough" to admit his faults. His
boldness was found in the love his father had shown him so many times before.
What does all this have to do with today's text? Recently I wrote about
"drawing near" to God. That is a difficult task if we do not
understand just how deep the Father's love is for us. Our accuser stands in our
faces to try to convince us that it is futile to ask God for forgiveness. He is
good at it. He can even make us believe it is our own voice that we hear in our
heads. But our Heavenly Father has promised that if we "confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) You see, all that we have seen before
in this book of Hebrews is to bring us to this very place where we can
experience the fullness of God's love. How deep is our Father's love for
us? He sent His only begotten Son into the world to die in our stead
because of our sin. He came as the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice, to
offer His precious blood back to the Father as payment in full. We go to
the Father through the boldness that the blood of His Son was shed for us. We
can go with the blessed assurance that God, our Heavenly Father, will indeed
forgive us our sins.