A number of years ago, I visited my aunt, who was a missionary in Egypt. She was able to take my brother and I to do some sightseeing. On one outing, in Cairo, we unknowingly came upon a restricted area and encountered armed guards who were there to stop all who did not have proper clearance or authorization to enter the area.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, people who desire to tour the White House must submit their name for the tour through their member of Congress. Then, when they arrive, they must go through a security check.

Security at airports has become much more stringent also. Access is restricted to passengers, so family members must say ’goodbye’, before the passenger enters the restricted area.

If you want to visit a military base, you must have required documents, submit to a background check, and have a sponsor.

Some federal buildings require a valid picture ID and the submission of a security screening process to gain entrance.

Today, access is limited at many schools. During school hours, the doors are locked and those who wish to enter must first identify themselves and state their purpose for being there.

Gaining access to a safe deposit box in the bank requires having two keys, one held by the box’s owner (renter) and one held by the bank.

At the least, most every home today requires a key to gain access.

In the last number of years, for those locations with the most restrictive access, i.e. some government facilities, science labs, or vaults, sophisticated methods of access have been created. In high tech facilities, access might be gained through the use of finger print scans or scans of the eye. Some might be required to punch in a code or have a combination of actions needed to gain access

I imagine, for those who have such access, they might feel privileged, powerful, special, or honored,

This brings to mind the one place which, to a believer, should be the most desired location to acquire access. That place is the throne room of God! It requires the most valuable access key of any and is one for which you can ‘do’ nothing to provide. (No security forms, no finger print scans, no required documents). It requires the precious blood of Jesus and faith in Him! Amazingly, this access ‘key’ is available to all who have faith or believe!

Look at what Hebrews 10:19-22 reveals, “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God's house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.”

Then we see in Ephesians 3:12, “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence.” The same verse in the English Standard Version states it this way, “in whom (Jesus) we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.” Parresia, the Greek word for ‘boldness’ according to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, means: free and fearless confidence, cheerful courage, and undoubting confidence of Christians relative to their fellowship with God. ‘Access’ or prosagoge in the Greek means: access, approach and admission. To gain more insight, I looked at the word ‘access’ in Vine’s Expository. It means a leading or bringing into the presence of, it denotes access, with which is associated the thought of freedom to enter through the assistance or favor of another. Without the shed blood of Christ, we would never have had a chance of being able to come into the very presence of God, because we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23). What a wonderful amazing revelation - to know that we can enter into the throne room of our Creator and Lord!

We read it again in Hebrews 4:15,16 (ESV), “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” The word for ‘confidence’ used in this verse is the same word translated ’boldly’ used in the verse we just read, Ephesians 3:12.

Do you see what Hebrews 4:16 is telling us? We may, with fearless confidence and cheerful courage, enter into the very presence of God, near His throne, to receive mercy and find grace in our time of need. Grace (charis) is kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved. When I was preaching, I liked to use this acrostic to help us understand grace: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense! Because of the love and sacrifice of Christ, God gives us what we do not deserve!!

Romans 5:2a, “Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand…”

Hebrews 7:19 tells us, “For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.” The ‘better hope’ is the hope we have through the blood of Jesus!

What then, is the significance of having access to the throne of God through the blood of Christ and having faith in Him? The significance is that the access gained through the blood of Christ and our faith in Him, enables us to bring our requests directly to our Heavenly Father! Hallelujah! What an amazing privilege!

We see in John 16 verse 23, that Jesus stated, ”At that time you won't need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name.”

Then we see there is a fundamental principle to His hearing and answering our prayers. We see it in 1 John 5:14 and 15 (NASB20), “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”

Through the precious blood of Jesus, and your having placed your faith in Him, you have been given access to enter the throne room of God and come into His very presence!

You are privileged, special, and important to God!

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references are taken from the New Living Translation.

ESV English Standard Version

NASB20 New American Standard Bible 2020