#Separation #Veil ##SonOfGod
Ever since the fall of man there has been a veil of separation between man and God.
The Fall of Man: When Adam and Eve turned their backs on God and listened to the serpent a chasm was created between man and God. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” To the woman, he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor, you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam, he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”[2]
God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden.[3] The separation was an eternal separation. It was not just for a while. It was for eternity. It represented the bars of a prison of separation of man from God in the same manner that a person who is sentenced to life imprisonment is separated from society forever.
‘The nation of Israel had a glimpse of what it meant to be before the Lord; however, even in the temple there was an object that separated them from their creator.” “Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker (Exo 26:31).
Read about the entire tabernacle here.[4]
Then an amazing thing happened. God fulfilled his promise to Abraham through the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God told Abraham,
“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Genesis 22:18, NKJV). The apostle Paul wrote, “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say, ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ” (Galatians 3:16)
Paul wrote about this promise in the New Testament.
“Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scriptures foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you” (Galatians 3:6-8). Then Paul stated, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).
How does Jesus fulfill the promise to Abraham?
| Promise/Covenant | Fulfillment in “the Promised One” | Remaining Questions |
| 1. Promise to Abraham* Great nation (many descendents, land) * Blessing * All nations on earth will be blessed through his seed (offspring) |
Matthew 1:1; Galatians 3:16; 3:6-9, 14, 26-29 The “seed” is Christ, who is the “true seed” of Abraham. It is “in Christ” (through faith) that all peoples may be blessed and become recipients of the promise. |
We see many descendants and blessing to the nations. But where is the land?
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| 2. Covenant with Israel through Moses”If you obey me …”
* Be God’s treasured possession (special people) |
Matthew 5:17; Romans 10:4 Jesus is the culmination (end and goal) of this covenant. Jesus came to bring the Law to its intended purpose, which is found in him. The Law pointed to Jesus, and he fulfilled its demands, and his teaching superseded the Law. |
In the Old Testament, God said “Israel” was his treasured possession. What happened to Israel?
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| 3. Promise to David* David’s offspring will be king * This offspring will be “[God’s] son” * God will build a house (ultimately a dynasty) His kingdom will last forever |
Matthew 1:1; Luke 1:26-33 He will be great; 2) be called the Son of the Most High (son of God – special relationship); 3) God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the kingdom forever. |
Jesus is the King we have waited for. But where is the kingdom? |
| 4. New Covenant* God’s law written on human hearts (Holy Spirit) * Direct, personal knowledge of God * Forgiveness of sins (sins remembered no more) Restoration to land; righteousness, peace, harmony |
Matthew 26:27-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-25; Hebrews 8:3-13 Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant, and inaugurated it at the last supper. It is “in Jesus” that we have the Holy Spirit, personal relationship with God, and forgiveness of sins. |
Where is the perfect relationship with God? Where is the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and harmony?[5] |
On the day that Jesus died the veil of separation that was created at the fall was ripped in two.
“ and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” (Matt 27:50-54).
We know from Romans that,
“3 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). But Jesus died so all of mankind can come before God and receive forgiveness for their sins (John 3:16).
So, as we approached Resurrection Sunday, we remembered that he came, died, and rose again just because he loves us, and he no longer wants the veil of separation to exist between him and his people.
If you do not know Jesus as your personal savior now is the time to accept his free gift. All you have to do is say the Sinner’s Prayer to accept Jesus as your personal Savior.
Notes
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998).
[2] Genesis 3:1-19
[3]Genesis 3: 23-24 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
[5] “Bible Lesson Thirteen “The Promised One” 2005, Receiving God’s Promise for the Nations, accessed April 02, 2015, http://www.bcfworld.org/bible_studies/gods_promise_lesson_13.htm.
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