The Barrier

God is:
Sovereignty. The absolute ruler of all creation. Daniel 4:35 Deuteronomy 4:39 John 1:3
Absolute Righteousness. Perfectly good. Impossible for God to do wrong. Psalm 119:137, 145:17
Absolute Justice. It is impossible for God to be unfair. Deuteronomy 32:4
Perfect Love. Love free of emotional clutter. He loves because of Who He Is. John 3:16 I John 3:1
Eternal Life. There was never a time God didn’t exist. Never a time He will not exist. Exodus 15:18
Omniscient. Omni: all. Science: knowledge. God has always known all things. Hebrews 4:13
Omnipresent. In every place at all times. Revelation 3:20 Joshua 1:9 Psalm 139:8 Jeremiah 23:24
Omnipotent. All power. Matthew 19:26 Revelation 19:6 Psalm 115:3
Veracity. Perfect truth. The embodiment of truth. Psalm 33:4, 146:6 Deuteronomy 32:4
Immutable: Does not change. His purpose never changes. Hebrews 13:8 James 1:17

This is God’s character, or essence. All three persons of the Godhead have that same essence. Forever.

Man is: none of those things. Our righteousness is relative, not absolute. Our life is temporal, not eternal. Since Adam’s sin, we are born in his likeness, with an old sin nature and under the penalty of death. In Adam all die, I Corinthians 15:22. Our whole cell structure is tainted with sin. That makes us unacceptable to God. There is a barrier between God and man, which natural man cannot penetrate. The barrier must be removed by a sinless human in order for us to have fellowship with God. There are six bricks in this barrier:

Sin, the penalty of sin, physical birth, our relative righteousness, the character of God, our position in Adam.

God's solutions for these problems are the doctrines of: atonement, redemption, expiation, regeneration, imputation, justification propitiation and positional truth.

Atonement: I John 2:2 2 Peter 2:1
Redemption I Corinthians 1:29-30 Colossians 1:14
Expiation Colossians 2:14
Regeneration John 3:3 Galatians 3:26 John 1:11-12
Imputation Romans 3:22 2 Corinthians 5:21
Justification Romans 3:24 Romans 5:1
Propitiation I John 2:2 Romans 3:25
Positional Truth I John 5:11 John 3:36

Romans chapters 1 and 2 describe unregenerate man as a-heathen, b-self-righteous, c-religious (described by Jesus as “whited sepulchers" in Matthew 17). All three categories are inadequate for relationship with God. God’s “glory” is His essence.

We are made righteous by Jesus. Salvation is free for us because He paid. Romans 3:24
Propitiation means substitute. In Hebrew it is the same word as mercy seat. God publicly displayed Jesus and poured out all our sins on Him.

The mercy seat was a throne in the Holy of Holies on top of the Ark of the Covenant, which contained 1-the broken table of the law, 2-Aaron’s rod that budded, and 3-a pot of manna. All three symbolize sin inside the box. The box represents Jesus Christ. It is made of wood, for His humanity, overlaid with gold, for His deity. Atop the box is a solid gold throne. The cherubs on each side of the throne represent Righteousness and Justice. On the day of atonement, the priest killed a lamb, caught its blood in a bowl and sprinkled the blood on the throne. The cherubim (Righteousness and Justice) looked on the blood and were satisfied (see also blog post God’s Solution, January 8, 2012).

We are born behind the impenetrable barrier caused by our inborn sin. There is nothing we can do about it. God made a way, and sent the Savior. The barrier is removed by the finished work of Jesus Christ. This work was foreshadowed and illustrated to God’s people through the Levitical priesthood and offerings for many generations, before the sinless Lamb of God was born. He lived a sinless life and received our sins in His own body for our redemption. Eternal life is free because He paid.