NEARNESS TO GOD
The moment we speak of
knowing God in terms of an intimate personal relationship with him we raise the
possibility of actually meeting God. It’s hard to think of having intimate
fellowship with anyone from a distance or through an extended series of
intermediaries. Intimacy requires close personal contact. But is it possible
for us to have that kind of access to God?
One thing we can say with
confidence is that the Bible portrays God as one who wants to be near his
people. That was true at creation – when God walked in the Garden of Eden
(Genesis 3:8) – and it will be true in the new creation when “the dwelling of
God is with men, and he will live with them… and they will see his face”
(Revelation 21:3; 22:4).
Between times, God has
continued to “draw near” to his people and “live with them.” He did so through
occasional appearances to the patriarchs (Genesis 12:7; 26:2; 35:1; Exodus 6:3
etc.) and in a more permanent way in the tabernacle and temple (Exodus 25:8;
29:45). The presence of God in the midst of
In a more wonderful way
still, God came to “tabernacle among” us in the person of his Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ (John 1:14). Jesus was Immanuel, God with us in human form
(Matthew 1:23). To have seen him was to have seen the Father, Jesus told his
disciples (John 14:9). They, and others who saw him during his earthly life,
enjoyed God’s presence with them as no other generation had.
But that’s not to say that
those of us who live after the ascension of Jesus are less well off. Jesus
insisted that the reverse is true (John 16:7). He promised his disciples that
when he left them he would send another Helper or Counsellor, the Spirit of
truth. When he came, he would take the things relating to the Lord and make
them known to his followers. More than that, in and through the Spirit both the
Father and the Son would make their home within them (John 14:15, 21, 23; 16:13).
To use Paul’s language, the bodies of believers would become a
These things show that
access and nearness to God is not only possible but is the intended norm for
all Christian believers today. God has not come near to us in Christ only to
withdraw again. Through the Holy Spirit he has come nearer to us than he ever
was – he actually now lives within us. And in doing so he makes his presence
real and intimate fellowship with us possible.
J.I. Packer captures this
well in his book Keep in Step with the
Spirit. Packer defines the Holy Spirit’s new covenant ministry specifically
in terms of making the presence of Christ known and real to his disciples. “The
Spirit makes known the personal presence in and with the Christian and the
Church of the risen, reigning Saviour, the Jesus of history, who is the Christ
of faith.” he writes. He goes on to say,
“He does this in order that Christ may be known, loved, trusted, honoured and
praised, which is the Spirit’s aim and purpose throughout as it is the aim of
God the Father, too” (p.47).
And how does this show
itself? What does it mean for us? Packer says that the Spirit’s role of
mediating the presence of Christ implies three things: the first is “that Jesus
of Nazareth, the Christ of the Scriptures, once crucified, now glorified, is
here, personally approaching and addressing me. The second is that he is
active, powerfully enlightening, animating, and transforming me along with
others as he stirs our sluggishness, sharpens our insight, soothes our guilty
consciences, sweetens our tempers, supports us under pressure, and strengthens
us for righteousness. The third is that in himself as in his work he is
glorious, meriting all the worship, adoration, love, and loyalty of which we
are capable. Mediating Jesus’ presence, therefore, is a matter of the Spirit
doing whatever is necessary for the creating, sustaining, deepening, and
expressing of this awareness in human lives” (Ibid., pp. 55-6).
Such a ministry makes
intimate fellowship with God through Christ not only possible but necessary.
God is not remote and inaccessible in this new covenant era – just the
opposite. He has drawn near to us in Christ and remains near to us through the
Spirit. And as Packer says, “It comes as Christ’s challenge to us all to seek
this experienced fellowship and settle for nothing less” (Ibid., p. 64).
---oOo---