The first barrier: ignorance

I believe there are two great barriers that commonly keep God's people from their inheritance, from entering into all God has provided for us through the death of Jesus.

The first of these barriers is the barrier of ignorance. This problem already troubled God's people under the old covenant. Under the old covenant, too, God had made total provision for the needs of all His people that they might live in peace, in prosperity, in health, in joy and in thankful worship and praise to God. But because of ignorance, the majority of God's people never enjoyed God's provision.

In Isaiah 5:13 God says:

“Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge...” (KJV)

They were living as captives, as slaves, as oppressed - when they should have been living as free, and ruling as kings with God. They had gone into a satanic captivity because they had no knowledge.

And then the same thought in Hosea chapter 4 verse 6, where God says:

“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.” (NIV)

So that was there initial basic problem - lack of knowledge. Lack of knowledge of God's word, lack of knowledge of God's provision, lack of knowledge of how to live in God's provision.

The same problem of ignorance and lack of knowledge troubles God's people in the New Testament just as it did in the Old. In Colossians chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, Paul is struggling against this spiritual ignorance which is such a tremendous, almost universal problem to the people of God:

“I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine sounding arguments.” (NIV)

There's a lot of fine sounding language that's used from pulpits and in churches which sounds very good and learned, but it just doesn't open up for us the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are hidden in Christ!