The Irony of Intimacy With God

King David addresses the Lord having committed adultery:

“Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight,

so that you are proved right when you speak

and justified when you judge.”

— Psalm 51:4 (NIV)

WE MIGHT RALLY against being in David’s position, as we scamper away in horror at being caught out. It’s actually a very shocking thought. Having been found out inflicts within us guilt, shame, pride, disappointment, betrayal, blame – we resist it. We hate being caught out or found out. Our pitiable humanity has us finding safety in resisting the truth – but there is no safety there. The only safety that has any sustainability is one that is betrothed to the truth.

But there is a better reality – to be close to God by knowing our need of God in reconciling our sinfulness through the blood and broken body of Christ.

Intimacy with God is sequestered in knowing we are broken, fallen, sinful. In that very thought, we are brought close to the Presence of God, and grace abounding to know him in tears of delight!

The Decree of Closeness with Lord

Humility is the real degree of a warrior’s strength. It is everything that the warrior cannot deny that makes his strength warrantable in a world full of smoke and mirrors.

The man and woman of God who is close, by the approximation of their sin as it gathers in billows before their eyes, as they stand there in their integrity, guilty as charged, as the Holy Spirit convicts, is touched by God. Their integrity has them stand face to face with the inevitable consequences of their folly. They won’t run. They cannot run. They stand there and face their justice.

And the justice of God is this: intimacy is reckoned toward the warrior of Christ the moment they reconcile the perfect truth – their sin in full and unadulterated view.

This is the decree of closeness with God: that we can say “Amen!” at the judgment of him we have sinned against. Then we have the opportunity at restitution, but vouchsafed in that is intimacy with God – the real experience of closeness with the Creator, the Father of Life, the Saviour of the world, the Spirit of him who saves us.

***

It bears repeating: Intimacy with God is sequestered in knowing we are broken, fallen, sinful. In that very thought, we are brought close to the Presence of God, and grace abounding to know him in tears of delight!

The irony of intimacy with God: seeing how far we are from holiness brings us close by the abundance of eternal grace in Christ Jesus.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.