I’m sure all of us want to get closer to God. Today I’m going to discuss how we can get deeper in our relationship with the heavenly Father. I have some complex things to talk about, so if we need to discuss a concept, please don’t hesitate to ask. This can be pretty heavy stuff, so bear with me. I hope that the message isn’t hindered by my stumbling or inability to explain something.
I’m going to use some material from my favorite author. Some of you may have heard of A.W. Tozer. He’s in glory now, but he is still viewed to be a modern prophet who brought powerful messages to Christ’s church. I encourage you all to read anything by Tozer. Today’s lesson is based on Chapter 3 of his book, "The Pursuit of God."
We see here an important statement from an early church leader. His name was Augustine and this quote is attributed to him; “Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.”
I begin with this quote because of all the things written outside of the scriptures, this is probably one of man’s most important quotes in all of our history.
Augustine, who was born in 354 AD, gives us in this short quote, our whole reason for being. It is the answer to the question that men have sought for centuries. This quote is so important because it gives us that insight into understanding our relationship with God.
What we’re talking about is a “right” relationship with God. And this right relationship isn’t a one-way relationship. We are so created that we experience deep joy and peace when we are close to God. And it’s joy that Augustine was talking about when he said we find rest in Him.
Before disobeying, Adam was in a right relationship with God. But then sin entered. As A.W. Tozer puts it, our “foul revolt” broke this communion and man now lives alone outside of the “manifest Presence” of our heavenly Father. The manifast Presence is what Adam tried to hide from, and what Peter ran away from, after their sins. According to Tozer, being in the manifast Presence is that communion with a God “so vastly wonderful, so utterly and completely delightful that He can, without anything other than Himself, meet and overflow the deepest demands of our total nature, mysterious and deep as that nature is.”
The sin that entered caused a barrier to be placed between man and God. That barrier needs to be dealt with through the blood of Christ. But, before Christ, there was the sacrificial system of the Jews. This had it’s focus in the tabernacle and later in the temple of the Lord. God instructed that a veil be hung to separate the holy court in the Temple from the Holy of Holies where the Arc of the Covenant was kept and where God’s Presence was.
This veil (along with all of the Temple details) represented the separation between God and humanity because of our sins. No one was permitted to pass through the veil into God’s presence except for the High Priest, and only once a year (the Day of Atonement), with the blood of an unblemished goat for the sins of the people.
The veil before the Holy of Holies was made of 72 squares of fine woven cloth. It was blue, purple and red with cherubim embroidered on it. It was about 60 feet by 30 feet and four inches thick. It took 300 men to lift it. Today, we ascribe meaning to the colors of the veil. The blue stands for the deity of Christ. The red symbolizes the blood of Christ. The purple represents the royalty of Christ. Also of note, purple is made by blending equal part of red and blue—-symbolizing that Christ was fully God and fully man. Through this symbolism, God is teaching that we are not acceptable to Him because of our sins and our need for an atonement.
Like the people of Israel, we needed to put ourselves back into a right relationship with God—-to remove the separation between us. This is necessary because, as Tozer puts it, we needed something to, “undo the tragic effects of that foul revolt and bring us back again into right and eternal relationship with Himself.”
We no longer live under the old law. This was the result of Christ’s atoning work on the cross at Calvary. Scriptures record for us that at the time of Christ’ crucifixion, immediately after He cried out “tetelastai (it is finished)”, the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom (Matt 27:51). The rending of the veil in the Temple was at least symbolic. It communicated a very clear message from God to man. The way into God’s personal presence is now open for all; as long as we come through the death of Jesus. His death fulfilled what the old animal atonement laws could only symbolize. Christ actually “paid” the penalty for our sins against God and removed this barrier.
What stops man from now pushing his way through to God and keeping himself there in a close relationship? It’s not just because man has a cold heart. It’s because we keep a veil over our own hearts. And this veil will also be painful to remove if we are fully honest with ourselves and with God.
This veil keeps us from understanding God and hinders our relationship with Him. It shields us from a spiritual communion with the Father. To again put it in Tozer’s words, “Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us.”
So we must examine the components of the self-life. At the depths of the self-life are pride and our sinful nature.
We have access to God and we know that if we draw near to Him, our relationship will overflow with satisfaction. Our hearts are fit to break with love for our God. But our pride and sinful nature keep the veil in place.
Tozer explains that the veil can only be removed from our hearts by spiritual experience. It isn’t something that can be taught by Alan or Vernon or myself. “To remove this veil will be painful as it is part of our fleshly lives. It will tear spiritual tissue to rend it from our hearts.”
Even though it will be painful, what can we do to begin this spiritual experience that Tozer talks about, and remove the veil so we can deepen our relationship with God? We must yield ourselves to God. We must not allow ourselves to become self reliant. Also, in prayerful humility, we must continually confess and repent. Finally, we must forget about our past self and look only to living in His Presence. “We must repudiate the self-life, and then recon it crucified.”
When we are set right with God and removed the veil from our hearts, what is the result? Tozer puts it this way, “The pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered, in actual spiritual experience, the Presence of the living God.”
The writer of Hebrews encourages us to do just as Tozer has helped us understand. To remove the veil is to step into the Holy of Holies into the sensitive living experience of the Presence. This is available to every one of us here today.
“Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is His flesh, and since we have a great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb 10:19-23).
Brothers and sisters, God waits for those who remove the veil to gaze with an inward eye upon Him. Why do we wait outside? Why do we hold on to our sin and our self so tightly when we could be experiencing the Presence of God in utter joy and fulfillment?
“Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.”
Now, my prayer is that after our discussion, we have a deeper insight into what Augustine was saying when he penned this quote. We know the reason for our existence. We don’t have to wonder why we’re here.
But, we have to ensure we do not keep ourselves separated from God. When we remove the barriers to our relationship with God, we are happy. Happiness is easy to understand, and it comes with having a right relationship with God. But peace and joy are there also. That is what it is to find rest in God. Peace is translated from the Greek words meaning “brought together”. When we are brought together with God, we are at peace and that is a joy that is indescribable.
Don’t we all want to live in the Presence and have peace and joy while living there? What veils do you have to remove from your heart?
Let’s bow in prayer.
