Be Not Unrepentant: Part 3 – The Veil that Prevents Us From Seeing Jesus’ Face and Hearing His Voice

God values us so much, He gave us the gift of repentance.

I believe that from the moment we are born, a veil of tightly woven threads begins to form around our heart. Each thread represents one negative emotion (anger, hatred, unforgiveness, resentment, fear, etc.), or sin (including sins like greed, sexual sin, pride; and participation in the occult). As this veil grows and thickens daily by accretion in the absence of repentance, it begins to close us off from God and the world around us; in effect, our hearts are being ‘hardened’ by satan.

“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age (satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4: 3, 4 NIV).

I am powerless to remove the veil – I cannot resurrect or redeem myself. Only Jesus can remove the veil from my heart. Isaiah mentions the removal of a veil in what is generally seen as beginning an eschatological section of his prophesy:

“And He will destroy on this mountain (see also Matthew 21: 21 for ‘the mountain’; probably referring to the Temple Mount and the work of Jesus) the covering (‘the veil’, translation by Robert Alter) of the face that is cast over the heads of all peoples in mourning, and the veil of profound wretchedness that is woven and spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; He will abolish death forever (which includes sin)” (Isaiah 25: 7, 8 AMP).  

This veil that Paul describes and Isaiah mentions prevents unbelievers from hearing God’s voice and knowing His life. But even Christians, if they carry unrepented negative emotions and sin in their hearts, can be separated from God’s voice by the veil around their hearts. For us to fully become who God created us to be, to hear His voice, see His face, receive our divine inheritance, obey, and then release and advance the Kingdom of God, the veil must be stripped away. This veil is described in more detail by Paul in 2 Corinthians:

“But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3: 14 – 18 NIV).

Here is the same passage from the Message:

“Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are – face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of His face. And so, we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like Him” (2 Corinthians 3: 16 – 18 MSG).

In the phrases “turn to the Lord” and “turn to face Jesus”, the word ‘turn’ (in Greek epistrepho) means “to turn about again, to turn to the worship of the true God, to cause to return, to bring back”. In other words, to repent. The Amplified translation captures this meaning: 

“But whenever a person turns in repentance and faith to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Corinthians 3: 16 AMP).

Paul begins these verses referring to ‘they’ and ‘their’ – probably references to Jews who were under the law and to those who believed that their sins could be forgiven through their own works and in their own power. But then he shifts and makes the verses personal. He speaks directly to the Corinthians and includes himself by using pronouns ‘we’, ‘us’, and ‘our’.

Paul points out that there is a veil covering the hearts of the Corinthians, and even himself; the veil is removed by repentance, and only Jesus can remove the veil. We repent of our sins, so it makes sense to me that the veil is woven from our sins. I also think that religion can be a huge part of the veil.

I first encountered the idea of a veil over our hearts in ‘The Pursuit of God’ by A.W. Tozer. Tozer remarked that many Christians are not entering into a deep-spirited, personal relationship with Jesus. He wrote:

“God made us for Himself . . . God formed us for His pleasure, and so formed us that we, as well as He, can, in divine communion, enjoy the sweet and mysterious mingling of kindred personalities. He meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw our life from His smile” (Tozer, pg. 32).

 God meant for us to live in His presence. Tozer adds:

 “Though the worshiper had enjoyed so much, still he had not yet entered the presence of God. Another veil separated from the Holy of Holies where above the mercy seat dwelt the very God Himself in awful and glorious manifestation . . . It was this last veil which was rent . . . this rending of the veil opened the way for every worshiper in the world to come by the new and living way into the divine Presence” (Tozer, pg. 34).

Tozer is referring to the tightly woven veil that separated the Holy place in the Temple from the Holy of Holies. This veil was torn from top to bottom the moment Jesus died on the cross, allowing all of us access into the divine presence of God. 

The Holy of Holies was the place where Moses went to hear God’s voice, and enter into His presence. Speaking to Moses, God said:

“And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat from between the two Cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony (aka Ark of the Covenant), about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel” (Exodus 25: 22 NKJV).

But not every Christian enters the Holy of Holies and lives with God in His presence. The world is dying for the lack of the Shekinah Fire, His presence. If the way has been opened by the death of Jesus, why are we not all living with God in His presence? Because there is another veil. Tozer again:

“What is it? What but the presence of a veil in our hearts. A veil not taken away as the first veil was, but which remains there still shutting out the light and hiding the face of God from us. It is the veil of our fleshly, fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated. It is the close-woven veil of the self-life” (Tozer, pg. 41).

Tozer writes that the veil is composed of our “fleshly, fallen nature living on, unjudged within us, uncrucified and unrepudiated”. I would add, “unrepented”. And of course, the veil is woven from our self-sins – our pride; as well as the negative emotions and sins I mentioned above. Many times, these emotions and sins arise from abuse, betrayal, hurt, and pain – in a word ‘devaluing’ – that we all experience in this fallen world.

Why is this veil significant for Christians? Because, I believe we can be saved – living in the Kingdom of God – but not hearing His voice, seeing His face, or receiving His gifts, including the Father’s love, hope, joy, peace, or faith. We can be Christians, living in the Kingdom, but not operating in His authority or manifesting His power in the world. For all practical purposes, we can be Christian, but living lives little different from the unbelieving culture around us.

When we are saved (“He rescues from the dominion of darkness”, Colossians 1: 13; also ‘born again’) we are brought into the Kingdom of God where we live in Him and He in us – “Christ in us, the hope of glory”. But Paul also equates our life ‘in Christ’, and therefore life in the Kingdom, with the temple. “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you” (1 Corinthians 3: 16) and “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you received from God” (1 Corinthians 6: 19). In the New Covenant, the temple of stone has been replaced by a spiritual temple in the heart of every believer.

The earthly temple had three parts: The Holy of Holies, the dwelling place of God; the Holy Place, and the Outer Court. If a spiritual temple is within those who are saved, then ‘living’ in us are the same three parts, as we live ‘in Christ’ in the Kingdom of God.

I know I am saved, I am living in the Kingdom of God, and therefore I am living in the temple. But where in the temple am I living? Is it possible to be saved, meaning living in the Kingdom of God now and for eternity, but spiritually living in the Outer Court; still in the temple, but not living in the presence of God in the Holy of Holies? That, I believe, is Tozer’s point – the veil to the Holy of Holies was torn when Jesus died on the cross, but we have constructed another veil around our own heart that keeps us in the Outer Court, or possibly the Holy Place, and prevents us from intimately living in the presence of the Shekinah Glory of God, now and in the life to come.

Is this what Paul means when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 3: 10 – 15, “the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames”?

Paul is describing what will happen on the Day, when all our works will be judged. It is not about sin and salvation – the person whose works are being judged is saved – that is, living in the Kingdom of God. It is about how we lived our lives – our priorities, stewardship, motives, and how we used our gifts for His glory. I think Paul is writing about where we lived out our spiritual lives while on earth – did we live in the Outer Court, just getting by, doing the minimum in our Christian walk; or did we live in the Holy of Holies, filled with His love, power, and joy, releasing and advancing His Kingdom. Life in the Holy of Holies is like the two servants Jesus describes in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14 – 30). They received what the Master had for them, and then they multiplied His gifts and returned double to Him. Life in the Outer Court is like the one servant who believed his master was a hard man. He took the one talent, buried it, and gave it back to the Master with no increase.

Why is it a problem if I only live in the Outer Court and not in God’s presence? After all, I am still saved. Isn’t that the whole point of Christianity? No! From before the beginning of time, God’s plan was to live in intimate fellowship with human beings, enjoying communion with us, sharing His thoughts, plans, purposes, and power with us and calling us to rule the earth with Him. God wanted a relationship rooted in love with His created ones. We are greatly valued by God. Why else did He descend to earth and take on humanity? We read in Psalm 8:

“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him ruler over the works of your hands and put everything under his feet” (Psalm 8: 4 – 6 NIV).

He created us to rule over the works of His hands in partnership with Him; a huge responsibility that required living in intimacy with Him – hearing His voice, and operating in His power and authority. Staying connected! To do this, we need to become like Jesus, walking in His joy, peace, hope, and faith. We can’t release what we don’t have in our hearts.  

It is in the Holy of Holies, from the time of Moses till today, that we encounter God, hear His voice, and see His face. It is here, in His presence, that we can become who He created us to be and are filled with our inheritance from Him.  

As long as we live outside of His presence; that is, outside of the Holy of Holies where God resides, we cannot accomplish the purpose for which each of us, in our own, unique, and individual way, was created. We cannot fulfill the purpose for which Jesus died – to restore each of us and the world through us back to the relationship with God our Father that was destroyed in the Garden of Eden.

So, what is preventing many Christians from fulfilling this purpose and living in intimacy with Jesus and the Holy Spirit; from loving Him passionately, hearing His voice, obeying His commands, seeing His face, and receiving and appropriating His gifts for us? What is shutting out God’s light and love from our lives? By His death, Jesus destroyed the first veil to the Holy of Holies, where we can encounter God personally. It is the other veil, the veil around our hearts made up of the threads of unrepented negative emotions and sins woven, year-by-year, over the course of our entire life, that is separating us from the intimate presence of God.

And not only does this veil separate us from God and His fullness; it also separates us from other people around us, even the ones we love.

Is the veil ever perfectly removed? Yes and no. When we are born again, God circumcises our hearts. The veil of sinful flesh is removed and God calls us “without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1: 22). We are holy and blameless in His sight. We are justified. But, we are being sanctified over time – that veil is being progressively removed as we repent, and will probably never be completely removed in our lifetime. In other words, we are becoming who we already are. More on this in next post (or so).

As Isaiah wrote, about 700 years before Jesus, “He will remove the veil woven over the nations (and us) in victory over death”. But I have a role to play: my role is to repent. As Ezekiel wrote, “Repent and live” ((Ezekiel 18: 32). How do I repent? That was the topic of my previous post, ‘Be Not Unrepentant– Part 2’.

Amazed at His grace,

John