The old covenant was all about distance. When God appeared to his servant Moses, he commanded: "Don't come any closer! Take off your shoes!" When he revealed himself on Mount Sinai to his own chosen people, one of the first orders was: "Set boundaries around the mountain." Keep back. Stay away.

In both the tabernacle and the temple, distance was everything. The masses couldn't even enter the outer court. Only priests dared step into the inner court. And the innermost place? The holy of holies? The high priest entered just once a year. It was as if God was teaching humanity a brutal lesson: sin is so utterly loathsome to him that he must treat men as lepers, banished outside the camp. Even when he came nearest, he made them feel the chasm between a holy God and an impure sinner.

But then the gospel came, and everything changed.

The word "Go" became "Come." Distance gave way to nearness. We who were once far off were brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ. Incarnate Deity has no wall of fire about him. Listen to the joyful proclamation: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." That's God speaking! In human flesh! He no longer teaches the leper his leprosy by pushing him away. Instead, he suffers the penalty of his defilement himself.

What a state of safety and privilege is this nearness to God through Jesus! Do you know it by experience? If you know it, are you living in the power of it?

Marvelous as this nearness is, something even greater is coming. A dispensation when it shall be said: "The tabernacle of God is with men, and he dwells among them." No more distance. No more separation. God and his people, together forever.

Hasten it, O Lord!