My brother gave me a birthday card today. It was a rather funny one. On the cover, it was written (I’ll translate for you): “This birthday card can be open only by a perfect sister – which means, she has to be nice, thoughtful, respectful, generous, in short, without flaws!” I tried to open it, but I could not: the inside of the card was glued together. Funny eh? That’s what I thought. 

But now that I am supposed to read a textbook for school, I think of my card again and it makes me think of something pretty neat and real. Yes it reminds me of the passage in Revelation were we read: 

And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep! See, the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.’ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne (…) He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell facedown before the Lamb. (…) And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God (…) – Revelation 5:1-10 

No one could open the scroll, because no one was worthy. Only the One who had shed His blood for sinners was worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Lamb of God, Jesus the Messiah. 

It makes me think of something else… that might go well with this first thought and reality. Think of the verse found in Romans 3:10ff 

“As it is written; ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ (…) Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” 

Just like my birthday card was telling me, there is no way a non-perfect sister could open it. Well, there is no way a sinner could come into the presence of God either. One needs to be clothed with a divine purity, and no human deeds can reach that holiness, because our efforts are human efforts, and our sins are real and stain our lives, no human act can make us clean or cleaner. That’s why Romans 3 goes on with verse 23: “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. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.” And chapter 5 verse 6ff “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (…) But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

I am not a perfect sister, so I couldn’t open the card (actually it was a joke and glued together but, ) each human being is not perfect and is a sinner and cannot come into the presence of God, falls short of His glory. The only way to be justified (to open the card) is through Jesus Christ. To believe He is the Son of God, that He died on the cross, bearing on Himself my sins. That he rose up from the dead and is now seated at the right Hand of God. It is believing that it is in Christ alone that I find the way to God, forgiveness of my sins, because Jesus paid for them and purchased God’s justice on the cross for me. It is to repent from our iniquities and seek to serve and obey Him, not in order to get anything from God, but simply out of thankfulness, because He is our Savior and Master.  

I’m more than blessed to say that yes, Jesus opened the way to God for me, Gabrielle. I hope you can say the same. 

Bank for Native Missionaries, we’re at 0$ for now.