Access to the Father

Devotional

Day 1: Three Persons, One Rescue Mission

The Christian faith hinges on the staggering truth that Father, Son, and Spirit conspired eternally to save rebels. Salvation isn’t a divine afterthought but a triune collaboration: the Father planned redemption, the Son executed it through blood and resurrection, and the Spirit applies it to hearts. This cosmic rescue required nothing less than God Himself in three persons to address sin’s depth. To grasp this is to see Christianity not as a moral club but as a miracle of coordinated divine love. [13:02]

"For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father."
(Ephesians 2:18, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you reduced salvation to a mere transaction rather than marveling at the Trinity’s united effort? How might this truth reshape your awe in prayer?

Day 2: Access Beyond the Veil

The end goal of salvation isn’t forgiveness alone but face-to-face fellowship with the Father. Ancient priests trembled to enter the holiest place once a year, but Christ’s torn flesh grants believers unhindered access. This isn’t a distant God but a Father who counts your hairs, hears your whispers, and loves as fiercely as He loves His Son. To stop at reconciliation is to linger in the temple courts—the real treasure is the inner sanctuary. [30:58]

"Having therefore, brothers, boldness to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh..."
(Hebrews 10:19-20, ESV)

Reflection: Do you approach God with the cautious formality of a subject or the running embrace of a child? What fear keeps you from the holiest place?

Day 3: Bells on the High Priest’s Robes

Under the old covenant, jingling bells signaled the high priest’s survival in God’s presence. Now, every believer enters boldly—not once a year, but continually. The Spirit’s work isn’t to amplify His own voice but to ring with the sound of Christ’s sufficient work. Assurance isn’t found in emotional highs but in the steady chime of “accepted in the Beloved.” [32:21]

"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."
(Hebrews 4:16, ESV)

Reflection: When doubts arise, do you listen for the bells of Christ’s finished work or scan your heart for signs of worthiness?

Day 4: Not “God” But “Father”

Paul shifts from “reconciled to God” to “access to the Father”—a deliberate upgrade from courtroom to family room. The Trinity’s labor secures not just pardon but adoption. To call God “Father” isn’t metaphor; it’s the legal reality of Christ’s shared inheritance with you. The same intimacy Jesus claimed in Gethsemane’s prayers is now your birthright. [35:38]

"Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven...'"
(Matthew 6:9, ESV)

Reflection: Do your prayers reflect the cautious negotiation of a servant or the trusting chatter of a child at home? What would change if you believed your access matches Jesus’?

Day 5: Enjoying God in the Now

Eternal life isn’t a future perk but present-tense fellowship. The Westminster Catechism got it right: man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Salvation’s apex isn’t escaping hell but beholding Beauty. To “access the Father” means walking with Him now as Adam did in Eden’s cool—not waiting for heaven to begin delight. [44:09]

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
(John 17:3, ESV)

Reflection: When did you last pause not to ask for things but to savor God Himself? How would your week change if enjoyment replaced duty as your spiritual compass?

Sermon Summary

Paul brings the argument of Ephesians 2 to its grand climax: “through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” The Gentiles, once far off, strangers, aliens, without hope and without God, have been made nigh by the blood of Christ, and they stand side by side with the Jews in one new man. Christ has broken down the middle wall, abolished the enmity, reconciled both unto God by the cross, and now brings both right into the Father’s presence.

The verse sets the blessed Holy Trinity before the church. The Son is the way through whom access comes. The Holy Spirit applies the Son’s finished redemption and leads believers into that access. The Father is the glorious end, not merely a distant deity, but the Father who receives His children. The mystery cannot be explained away, but it must be believed, worshipped, and adored: one God, subsisting in three persons.

The three persons in the Trinity are engaged together in salvation. The Father conceived, purposed, and initiated the eternal plan. The Son voluntarily came from the glory, humbled Himself, kept the law, bore sin, died, was buried, and rose again. The Holy Spirit mediates Christ to individuals, applies redemption, builds the church, and glorifies the Son. Sin, therefore, cannot be a light or simple matter. Sin required nothing less than the action of the Triune God, the blood of Christ, and the indwelling work of the Spirit.

Salvation is not merely relief from an unhappy state, nor simply the discovery that God is love. Salvation brings the redeemed to God Himself. Reconciliation removes enmity, but access goes beyond reconciliation. Christ does not merely open a possible way; He introduces His people, takes them by the hand, and presents them to the Father. The veil has been rent, and those once kept in the outer courts now enter boldly into the holiest of all.

The Fatherhood of God marks the peculiar glory of the Christian position. Christ brings believers into the same relationship with God that He Himself enjoys, so that God is known not only as God but as Father. The Father loves His children with the love with which He loved His own Son. The Father hears them, receives them, counts even the hairs of their heads, and holds them beneath everlasting arms.

Paul therefore presses the searching question: are Christians enjoying this access? The childlike instinct of faith carries cares, fears, anxieties, and troubles to the Father, then leaves them there in confidence. The chief end of man begins now: to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Through Christ and by the Holy Spirit, fellowship with the Father is open even in this present world.

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Key Takeaways

1. The Trinity has acted for salvation. The Father did not reluctantly yield to the Son’s plea, but conceived and purposed redemption from eternity. The Son willingly accomplished the work given to Him, and the Spirit personally applies that work in the church and in each believer. Salvation rests upon the united action of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. [13:50]
2. Sin required the cross of Christ. Sin cannot be reduced to weakness, unhappiness, or a minor defect in human life. The eternal counsel of God, the incarnation, the atoning death, and the Spirit’s work reveal its terrible depth. The cost of redemption shows both God’s righteousness and the greatness of His love. [20:44]
3. Reconciliation leads into God’s presence. Reconciliation removes enmity, but access brings intimacy. Christ does not leave redeemed people at a distance from God, grateful only for pardon. Christ introduces them into the holiest of all, where fellowship with the Father becomes their present privilege. [27:24]
4. God is known as Father in Christ. The name Father means that believers come to God with the assurance of children received in love. The Father’s love is not uncertain, cold, or occasional, but rests upon them with the love He has for His Son. Faith learns to rest beneath everlasting arms even when circumstances remain hard. [37:25]
5. The Christian life enjoys God now. The chief end of man is not deferred entirely to heaven. Access to the Father means that communion, confidence, worship, and joy in God begin in this present life. The great question is not merely whether forgiveness is known, but whether God Himself is being enjoyed.

## [43:32]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:13] - Access by One Spirit unto the Father
[03:44] - The Grand Climax of Salvation
[07:46] - The Mystery of the Holy Trinity
[11:48] - The Trinity Engaged in Salvation
[20:21] - The Greatness of Sin and Redemption
[25:28] - Salvation’s Ultimate Goal
[27:57] - Christ Introduces Believers to the Father
[30:41] - Boldness to Enter the Holiest
[34:52] - Access unto the Father
[40:28] - Enjoying the Privilege of Access
[43:32] - The Chief End: Enjoying God

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Ephesians 2:18
“For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.” [00:13]

Hebrews 10:19-22
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” [30:41]

John 17:3
“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” [30:05]

Observation questions

In Ephesians 2:18, what three persons are named, and what role does each phrase give to the Son, the Spirit, and the Father? [08:04]
Looking at the flow of Ephesians 2, what changes have taken place for those who were once far off, especially in their relationship to Jewish believers and to God? [02:45]
In Hebrews 10:19–22, what words and images describe the believer’s confidence and nearness in approaching God? [32:47]
According to John 17:3, how is eternal life described, and how does that connect with access to the Father? [30:24]

Interpretation questions

Why is access to the Father more than simply being forgiven or reconciled to God? What does the picture of Christ introducing believers into the Father’s presence add to the meaning of salvation? [27:20]
Why does Paul say that believers have access “unto the Father” rather than simply saying they have access “unto God”? What does this reveal about the relationship Christians now have with God? [35:17]
How does the united work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit show both the seriousness of sin and the greatness of redemption? [20:29]
Hebrews speaks of entering with boldness, while Scripture also speaks of God’s holiness. How can believers approach God with both confidence and reverence? [31:55]

Application questions

When cares, fears, or anxieties arise, what is the usual first response: carrying them alone, turning to another person, distracting oneself, or going to the Father? What would it look like to bring one specific burden to Him this week and leave it with Him? [43:02]
Is Christianity ever treated mainly as duty, church activity, or trying to improve circumstances, rather than as fellowship with God? What helps move the heart from duty alone toward wonder, gratitude, and worship? [24:47]
Christ does not merely open a distant possibility of access; He brings His people to the Father. How could that truth change the way a person begins prayer when feeling ashamed, weak, or spiritually cold? [29:09]
The Father knows and receives His children with loving care. In what current situation is it especially difficult to believe that the Father is attentive, good, and near? [38:57]
The cross shows that sin is not light or harmless. Is there a sin that has been minimized, excused, or treated casually? How does the cost of Christ’s redemption call for honest repentance and renewed faith? [21:16]
Enjoying God is meant to begin now, not only in heaven. What practices or moments genuinely help cultivate enjoyment of God—such as prayer, Scripture, worship, gratitude, or quiet reflection—and what tends to crowd them out? [44:04]

Sermon Clips

“Now the important thing to realize here is this that the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't merely prepare or open the way to this. He actually does it. He actually produces it. It is he who introduces us to the father. Brings us, ushers us, takes us by the hand and presents us. That's the idea.” [00:28:54]

“That is why I say that this 18th verse is the climax. Reconciliation is amazing. This is more wondrous and more amazing. Reconciliation isn't the end. Beyond reconciliation, we have this. What is it? Access to the father.” [00:27:11]

“The father eternal has his eye on you and he knows you and he's interested in you. The son of God has so loved you that he's given himself for you. That's the teaching. And the Holy Spirit so loves you that he comes into you to apply it all and to work it all out.” [00:24:00]

“Let us never represent this Christian faith and the Christian position with regard to salvation as if it were something that the son has to extort out of the father. It is the father who sent the son.” [00:14:15]

“Sin is such a profound problem that it involved all that. It's not a simple problem. It's not a light problem. It's not a problem that God can deal with quite simply because he's God and because he's love. No. No. Sin is as profound a problem as this. That a council was held before time. that the son had to come into the world from eternity and go through all that I've been describing. That's sin. It needs the presence of the holy spirit in the church.” [00:21:16]

“Let us remind ourselves, I say constantly, of what it involved for the Son, who though he was equal with God, and counted it not robbery to be equal with God, humbled himself, and made himself of no reputation, came in such a lowly manner, knew what it was to be poor, and to suffer probably some of the privations of poverty, mixed with ordinary people, lived an ordinary life. Can we conceive of what it meant to him?” [00:16:17]

“The three persons in the blessed holy trinity are interested in us and are engaged together in our salvation. Now, you begin to see what I meant when I said that this is a staggering verse. That's exactly what it says.” [00:11:48]

“But I suppose that the thing that is most staggering of all is just this is to grasp and to realize if we can this amazing thing that the three persons in the blessed holy trinity so loved us as to do all this for us.” [00:23:16]

“And then the thing we are told is that the end of salvation, the ultimate goal of salvation, the object of salvation is that we might know God as our father. For through him we both have access by one spirit unto the father.” [00:25:40]

“Oh, but above and beyond it all, took upon himself their sins, suffered himself to be made sin by the Father for us, though he himself knew no sin. Suffered to have laid upon him the iniquity of us all.” [00:17:01]

“Do we all realize, I wonder, as we should, that the doctrine of the trinity is in a sense the essence of the Christian faith. It is this doctrine which of all others differentiates the Christian faith from every other faith whatsoever. The pecular doctrine of the Christian faith is in a sense this great doctrine of the trinity.” [00:08:43]

“That's the work of the son. And then there is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is he who applies it all to us. It is he who works it out in us one by one. That is his work.” [00:18:32]

“This great work, this great business of salvation has been divided up between the three persons. The father conceived the idea. He planned it. He thought it out. He purposed it. He decided on it. He determined it. The everlasting and eternal God.” [00:13:50]

“We would be lost in a sense of wonder, love, and praise. We should realize that the most marvelous, wonderful thing that can ever happen to anybody in this world is simply to become a Christian.” [00:05:48]

“It is vital therefore that we as Christian people should be constantly reminding ourselves of that. And as we do remind ourselves of that, our services shall be filled with reverence, with worship, with a sense of awe, with a sense of glory and a sense of praise, a true praise.” [00:10:25]

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