Readings for today: Psalms 121, 123-125, 128-130
Most people I talk to experience a significant, if not insurmountable, gap between themselves and God. They believe God is distant. Far away. Looking down from heaven “up there” somewhere. When I probe a little, I usually find it’s because they also experience a significant, perhaps equally insurmountable, gap between the people they are and the people they believe God has created and called them to be. They read passages like “be holy as I am holy” and immediately assume it is impossible. They read the stories of the faith of people like Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Joshua, Deborah, etc. and immediately assume “that could never be me.” They believe they have to reach a certain level - always left undefined - of “goodness” in their life to be accepted by God. But the lack of definition always keeps them guessing and the doubt gnaws at their soul. They read the Psalms and they marvel at the intimacy displayed by David and the other writers. They can’t fathom what that might feel like or look like in their lives.
What if I told you that the gap between us and God was a myth? What if I further told you that the gap between the person you are and the person God created you to be was a lie? What if, by God’s grace, He has already closed the gap that once existed between us? What if what we’re feeling is echoes of a time and a reality that no longer exists? This is what the ancients understood. Our forefathers and foremothers in the faith truly believed God when He said, “I have become your God and you have become my people.” They believed God closed the gap between heaven and earth to come to dwell with them. First in a Tabernacle. Later in a Temple. Furthermore, what if, by God’s grace, the gap we all feel between the person we are and the person God has called us to be is a lie? What if, by God’s grace, we already are who God created us to be and are simply learning to live it out? Yes, we will make mistakes. Yes, we will sin and fall short. But what if, by God’s grace, the gap has been closed by the death of Jesus Christ on a cross? What if we already are righteous in God’s sight and are just learning to live in light of this new reality?
I think one of the devil’s greatest schemes is to get us to believe in a “gap.” And not just any gap but a chasm that is insurmountable, unbridgeable, uncrossable, inaccessible. And this makes God seem so distant and unreachable which makes intimacy with Him impossible. But this is not true! This is a lie! There is no gap between us and God. Not anymore. Not with the Word becoming flesh and making His dwelling place among us. Not with the Holy Spirit coming to take up residence in our hearts when we come to saving faith. There is no gap because God has closed the gap. God bridged the gap. God crossed the divide. God tore down the dividing wall that separated us from Him. And we are now set free to live as children of light. Children of joy. Children of love and mercy and blessing. Saved by grace, we get to live by grace. Saved by unconditional love, we get to extend that love out to others. Saved by God’s unending mercy, we get to be merciful ourselves to those around us. This is the beauty and the glory of the gospel. Will we do it perfectly? Of course not. But that’s not the point. God has not left it up to us to bridge the gap. God has not put the burden of creating intimacy with Him on our shoulders. He doesn’t expect us to make our way to Him. He comes to us. Just like He did to all those who came before us.
Readings for tomorrow: No devotionals on Sundays