Communion with God October 14, 2007
Posted by reformedville in : Theology , trackbackThe culmination of blessing is to be in the presence of God, enjoying communion with him. As our High Priest, Jesus has led the way in this communion, representing us before the Father. Because he has been made like us in every way, yet without sin, our humanity is in the presence of God and receives the fullness of blessing. Geerhardus Vos explains, “Through the priest the people enter representatively into the sanctuary of perfect communion with God. Thus the priest not merely works in their interest, but also receives and enjoys in their behalf the fruit of his own labors. He dwells with God as the first heir of the blessedness to which his ministry has opened the way” (Redemptive History and Biblical Interpretation, pp. 137–38). This blessing of being in the presence of God is now, and will be fully, communicated to you in Christ.
We are even now in the presence of God. We are exhorted to “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16). And by faith you should recognize that “you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Heb. 12:22–24). An intimate communion with God is yours by faith. It will never be broken, because Christ prays for you before the Father.
And in the future, you will fully experience what is yours now by faith. Jesus is interceding on your behalf in order that what he experiences fully now will be fully experienced by you throughout eternity. The goal of Christ’s mediatorial work, then, is nothing less than the perfection of the covenant of grace. That goal is to be in the full presence of our God, that he might delight in us as his people, and that we might enjoy him forever as our God.
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