The Tabernacle of Grace has Landed – He Dwelled Among Us
Exodus 25:8-9, 17-22; 29:42-43, 45-46 (NIV)
8 "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. 9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you… "Make an atonement cover of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18 And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. 19 Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. 20 The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. 21 Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the Testimony, which I will give you. 22 There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites… There I will meet you and speak to you; 43 there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory…45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 46 They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.
Hebrews 10:1-4 (Msg); 10:11-12, 18-22 (NLT)
The old plan was only a hint of the good things in the new plan… No matter how many sacrifices were offered year after year, they never added up to a complete solution…The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can't get rid of sin…Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand…. And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices… And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Matthew 27:50-51 (Msg)
But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last. At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom.
1. Because of the final self-sacrifice of Jesus, we now have free and complete access to God – an opportunity all of us need to take more advantage of!
John 1:14 (NIV)
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
ἐσκήνωσεν – eskēnōsen – Tabernacle and Dwelling
2. God has come in the person of Jesus to tabernacle and dwell with us, in us and for us permanently!
I Worship…
Because I have to
Because I ought to
Because I need to, I want to and He deserves my best
Hebrews 4:11 (NLT)
So let us do our best to enter that rest…
3. Because God came to tabernacle and dwell among us, our worship is ultimately personal, intimate and deeply relational