Is God distant and holy? So holy that he cannot approach us because of our sins? Or, put another way, does our sinful nature separate us from God like a deep chasm which only the cross can bridge? Is it only the Christian, washed in the Blood of Christ who has any access to the Father? Is that what Jesus meant when he said, No one comes to the Father but by me! (John 14:6)?

There are several problems with this notion, not least of which are the counter-examples in the Bible itself. The idea that God cannot be approached or be near sinful beings is contradicted by these prominent examples:

  1. In Jesus, God became man and dwelt among sinful humans
  2. In Job 1 Satan himself appears before God and converses with Him
  3. Moses, a murderer and generally imperfect man, spoke to God and was near enough to see God “from behind”
  4. Jacob struggled with and saw God “face to face”
  5. God’s presence literally descended into the Davidic Temple when the priest ministered

Then there are of course many other examples of God speaking kindly to sinners like Cain or even to and through presumably imperfect prophets. His Spirit even descends onto the adulterer David. But we read too much into the Fall if we assume God discovered Adam and Eve’s sin and thus had to expel them from His physical presence: his reason for expulsion was another and He continued to commune with humanity.

It seems our omnipotent God is able to do somewhat more than we “allow” Him to. Like the father in the Prodigal Son who runs out to his returning son and embraces him before the son has even apologised or had a bath, God is able to meet people wherever they are and save them from sin. Like light which overcomes darkness and love which covers failings God overcomes our sins with his grace.

This is what the incarnation is about: not a distant father sending his son to do the dirty work among the “commoners” but a loving God who descends to humanities level to take their disease upon Himself. We sometimes think we honour God by making Him distant, holy and untouchable but it is the very greatness of God that He reaches down and out to the down-and-out. As Jesus taught us the true greatness of a person is not as this world order would imagine: not in pomp, power or prestige but in servitude and humility greatness shown.