AS CLOSE AS YOU WANT TO BE

I am re-reading Enjoying Intimacy With God by J. Oswald Sanders and one of the author’s statements, “You are as close to God as you choose to be,” really caught my attention. In fact, at first the statement rather irritated me. This puts pressure on me; it means that if my relationship with God doesn’t develop and deepen, the fault is mine—and that annoys me. Why should I be to blame here? Could it be because I am guilty of this?

The fact is, the Father has established His credibility in this area by opening the door for fellowship and intimacy with His people. God has opened the path to us and it is ours to pursue or not.

In the Old Testament, God was rather remote, detached from His people. The high priest and sometimes the leaders of the land seemed to be the ones who communicated with God. The prophets were another group that would hear from God and then convey His message to the people. In the Temple, the Holy of Holies (where God’s presence abided) was separated from everything else by a four-inch-thick curtain called the veil. Only the high priest could go inside the veil and then only once a year. There is very little indication that God spoke to or mingled with the common people.

All of that changed at Calvary. When Jesus died, Scripture says the veil (which symbolized separation from God) was torn into two pieces (Matt. 27:51). The tearing of the veil started at the top, which means that it began because God chose to do it; He wanted the separation gone, done away with. It was His choice to remove the separation and to make Himself accessible. God was making a strong, strong statement here and many of us have missed the importance of it. God was saying, “I am opening the door to fellowship, to intimacy, to personal relationship. I’ve done my part by removing the barrier that has been there for thousands of years. The next part is up to you!”

Oswald Sanders in his classic book deals with this important subject by looking at the four groups of disciples who chose to be close to Jesus. Each group shows a level of intimacy that is more personal than the previous.

The Seventy - Jesus chose the seventy from among his followers and sent them out to preach (Luke 10:1, 17). There is not a lot of reference to the seventy in the Gospels; they were a type of an outer circle of relationship.

The Twelve - Later on, Jesus chose the twelve who would be with Him for about three years. The twelve would travel with Him and be trained by Him (Matt. 10:1-4). Most of these men would become the pillars of the New Testament church.

The Three - From among the twelve there emerged three who became especially close to Jesus; they were Peter, James and John. They were strong and very human men who wanted to be close to Jesus. The intimacy of the three was a result of their response to His love and training. They were with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:37), on the Mount of Olives (Mark 13:3) and on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1).

The One - And then there was John; in his own writing says he was “the disciple that Jesus loved” (John 21:7 and 21). John seemingly had a very close relationship with Jesus, closer than the others. Jesus loved all the disciples and He did not show favoritism but there was a special bond and love between Jesus and John. If Jesus loved John more, it was because John loved Jesus more. Mutual love and confidence are the keys to intimacy.

At each level they were as close to Jesus as they chose to be. Only those who count such intimacy a prize worth striving for are likely to attain it. If other attractions and other interests are more desirable, intimacy with the Lord is out of reach.

How close do I want to be?