31 Days of Worship - It Begins at the Cross

You can't worship God if you don't know Him.

There is no other way to know God than through the cross. Period. Sorry, Oprah.

Why was it there that true worship began? Something that had never happened before in the history of the Jewish nation happened when Jesus was sacrificed on the cross:

"And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." (Matthew 27:50-51a, NIV)

"From top to bottom." Why is that significant?

This curtain was about 6 inches thick. Can you imagine how heavy it was? It separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. It was for the High Priest to come in once a year to atone for the sins of the people, where he would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice to pay for their sin.

As soon as the final sacrifice of Jesus' life was made, God tore that curtain in half. He took what was separating us from Him away so that we could freely come to him in worship. No more did we have to depend on someone else's worship...it was ours. Jesus was the last, spotless, sinless sacrifice that God needed to restore fellowship with sinful man. And remember what I said yesterday about having sin that separated my heart from His? The cross is what allows me to come directly to Him!

Have you experienced the wonderful cross? Are you truly able to worship God through its power? I invite you to think about this.

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known...This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:21-24, NIV)