Close to God

Let us draw near to God (Hebrews 10:22).

Under the Old Covenant of Moses, people were not allowed to get too close to God. When God summoned Moses to climb Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, He was first given this warning: Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, `Be careful that you do not go up the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death (Exodus 19:12). Even Moses himself had to be cautious in approaching the Almighty; when he saw the burning bush, God told him Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground (Exodus 3:5).

This also applied to God’s Temple. The general public was only allowed into the outer courtyard; the inner court was reserved for priests alone. But even the priests were not allowed into the Most Holy Place, where the Ark of the Covenant was stored; this area could only be entered by the High Priest, and only on one designated day per year, and only after he had been ceremonially purified. In these ways, the Lord dramatically made the point that all people are fouled by sin, that God will not tolerate sinners coming close to Him. Even when the Lord came to His people on a mountain or in a temple, He visibly reminded them of how far their sin separated them from holiness.

But when the New Covenant was made known through Jesus, separation from God was put to an end. "Stay away" was replaced by "come near." Jesus sat down at dinner with sinners of every sort. He was surrounded by crowds eager to feel His healing touch. Under the Old Covenant, for a sinner to touch God was to be destroyed by God’s blazing purity; under the New Covenant, the touch of the Son of God removes the stain of sin and fills us with the warmth of heavenly love.

Jesus is the untouchable God born in a human body so that we can see His smile, feel His embrace, walk through life as His followers. Jesus is safe to touch, because by touching us He trades His purity for our sins, sins He died to put right. Jesus took our sins into Himself, and God’s blazing purity destroyed those sins as our Lord suffered on the cross. Now He holds out His nail-scarred hands to you, offering His holiness in exchange for your sins. You need only accept His touch to know the healing of His love. Our God wants you to be close to Him.