Before Jesus died, worship was offered to God in the Temple in Jerusalem. In the Temple there was a section called the ‘Most Holy Place’. We read in the Bible that this is where God’s Presence was on the earth. There was no lamp in this place because God’s Presence was its light. It was separated from the rest of the Temple by a veil – a six inch thick piece of fabric that was about thirty feet tall. Only the High Priest was allowed to go beyond the veil on one day of the year. So access to God’s Presence was restricted to a special perso at a specific time.
Before we proceed I must explain what it means that God’s Presence was there; surely God is everywhere? We learn from the Bible that there are different dimensions of God’s presence. We know that He is omnipresent, so He is in fact everywhere. “Where can I flee from your presence,” says David in Psalm 139. But then we also understand that the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of believers. In a sense God is in everyone’s heart, due to His omnipresence, but there is another level of His presence to which all believers are party. This is known as the ‘indwelling’ of the Holy Spirit. The moment one is born again (when we receive forgiveness and salvation) the Holy Spirit takes up residence in one’s heart. And there is yet another level of His presence. Jesus declares in Luke 4, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor…” I like to put it this way: the Holy Spirit lives in every believer, but He comes upon us at times to aid in a specific task. This is a greater level of His presence. But there is yet another level of His Presence, and I shall denote this with a capital letter. This is when Jesus makes His Presence manifest in a specific place to His people. The Bible is filled from beginning to end with men and women who encountered this manifest Presence of King Jesus and were radically changed as a result.
So back to the Temple. When Jesus died on the cross the Temple veil was torn in two from top to bottom. This is because due to His sacrifice every believer now has access to His Presence at any time. Jesus did not die just to give you a ticket to heaven. He died to give you eternal life, and that starts now. We will go to heaven when we die and this is called the ‘Blessed Hope’. But it is not the Blessed Escape. The ultimate call on our lives is to live in the manifest Presence of Almighty God, in blissful and growing intimacy with Christ. This requires an experience. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, whether we have believed for fifteen minutes or fifty years, we can encounter the Presence of God. This is what true relationship with God looks like. This is why Jesus died.
How do we experience His Presence?
It will take all of eternity for us to explore all of the deep riches of a life saturated with the Presence of God. I cannot begin to do justice to this subject because I am at the beginning of my personal journey into His Presence. But I have learned one of the keys – worship. Worship opens our hearts like nothing else to encounter the Presence of the Lord. Worship is about more than just singing, it is about devoting our lives to Him. However, music is a powerful tool to help us engage with the Holy Spirit. There is an entire book in the Bible dedicated to worship songs. If you are serious about learning to worship and experiencing His Presence I suggest you read some of the Psalms every day.
I will list below some worship bands and songs that are very powerful for those who are new to the Christian life. All of these can be found on YouTube, and most can be found on Spotify. In learning to worship I suggest familiarising yourself with these songs and singing to God on your own. Whether or not you are in tune does not matter – God loves your voice! Singing on your own may feel unnatural at first, but as the Holy Spirit manifests His Presence to us we lose all self-consciousness. A good goal would be to worship for ten to fifteen minutes a day. Tell God you love Him, share your heart, thank Him for what Jesus has done and ask Him to let you feel His Presence and His love. Ask Him to dwell in your heart and change you. Before long you will be completely addicted to His Presence!
Hillsong
Mighty to Save
This is Our God
I will Exalt You
At the Cross
Saviour King
The Stand
Chris Tomlin
How Great is Our God
Amazing Grace
Everlasting God
Jesus Culture
How He Loves
Happy Day
All I Need is You
Fire Fall Down
Where You Go I Go
Revelation Song
Come Away
