After God opened the way for them through the river, Joshua chose 12 men to pick up 12 rocks from the middle of the Jordan River to set up on the bank as a memorial of the miracle God had performed in their lives.
Those 12 rocks were reminders of the miracle: they told the story of God’s love for His people, of how He was for them not against them, of how He parted the river and made a way where there wasn’t one before, and successfully brought His people in and gave them victory and rest.
Well, you might be asking: how does this happen for us today? How do we get this miracle? How can God dry up something that has flooded my life for years? How can I get to Him when there is a river of guilt, a flood of impurity or drunkenness or gluttony or unforgiveness between me and Him?
Some people try to build a boat with their good works. Or they think their Jordan will part if they take 12 steps into it. Or they believe the answer is within themselves, so if they just believe in themselves and try really hard they’ll swim to the other side. But these are all false solutions that would have drowned the Israelites in the flood and which will fail for us as well. So, us trying harder or looking to man’s solutions is not how we get the miracle.
God gave us a hint to our Solution in the name of the river Jordan. The name “Jordan” means “the Descender” or “to come down”, speaking of its geography. But the truth that we need to know today is that Jesus Christ is our Descender who came down from heaven to earth, took our sins on Himself and went to a cross to suffer and die in our place. Jesus entered our river, of sin and God literally flooded Jesus with His wrath, that through His death He would open the way for you and me.
Through Jesus’ death He parted the Jordan, that is, He made a way for you to leave the wilderness of sin and “cross over” into the promised land of victory and rest (John 5:24).
And the parallels don’t end here: what did Jesus do after His death? He chose 12 men who were to tell the story of God’s love for His people, of how He was for them not against them, of how He opened a new and living way through Jesus’ mangled body unto death, and how He gives us the victory over sin.
Oh, my friend, come to the cross just now and see Jesus dying to open the way for you. See Him breathing out His Spirit to dry up your flood of sin. See His heart opened by the Roman soldier and your way out of sin opened by the cross. Jesus has opened the way to God, the way to enjoy victory and rest.
Hebrews 10:19-20 (NCV) So, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place without fear because of the blood of Jesus' death. We can enter through a new and living way that Jesus opened for us. It leads through the curtain--Christ's body.
Question 3. According to Hebrews 10:20 how did Jesus open the way for us to come to God?
Log in / create an account to enroll or continue where you left off.
Kelly writes, "Thinking of the curtain being torn from the top makes me think of God coming down to the people removing the barrier that stood between them and Him. He did that through Jesus Christ when He came down from heaven to us. He became that curtain that was torn to pieces on the cross removing the barrier of our sins and guilt that kept us seperated from the Father, wonderful and amazing love!"
Karen writes, "Jesus opened the way to God by taking on ALL my sin and everyone else's. It was finished at the Cross when Jesus took all sin and died and then was resurrected. We have His resurrection power and new life in Him, and most of all, a right relationship with God because Jesus took everything (all sin) that would keep us from having the access to God. The closer I grow to Jesus and receiving His love through seeing my wretched self and His amazing grace, I am humbled and walk in deeper victory every day. How awesome and amazing is it that a holy God would love me and pursue me in His love displayed at the Cross!"