Imagine holding Jesus in your arms, nursing him, bathing, dressing, and cuddling Him. Adorable, isn’t it? Now, imagine doing that with God.

I don’t know about you, but my perception changes immediately. Jesus, yes, Mary did that, but God? No. No way. We’re talking about the God who warned the Israelites not to touch the mountain or allow any of their animals to come near the mountain while God spoke to Moses (Exodus 19). It’s no wonder that the Israelites were so fearful they refused to draw near to God. They preferred an intermediary in the form of Moses, and after Moses, judges, prophets, and kings. These people had to be the go-between to stand in the gap between the Israelites and God. God was simply not approachable. Humanity had lost the intimacy Adam and Eve enjoyed with God before the fall. Since then people became fearful of God, and rightfully so because God, in His Holiness, couldn’t tolerate sin. But people had to see that God loved them (John 3:16), and He wanted to be with them. God would take away their sins if they came to Him. Jesus, in the flesh, in a human body, broke down the barrier of fear and allowed sinners to touch Him and draw near to Him. 
I imagine humanity’s fear of Him broke God’s heart. He created humans to be in relationship with Him, but sin marred and destroyed this intimacy between man and his Creator. It didn’t stop God from wanting a relationship with His creation. How could He bridge the gap between His Holiness and man’s sin?

Enter Jesus. Jesus came to live a perfect, sinless life so that He could pay the ultimate price to reconcile us to God. Not only did He suffer and die, but He became God who could be touched. People could draw close to Him, speak to Him, and even lay their head on His chest like John did. This is of utmost importance to me. I need to know that I serve a God who can be approached without fear. I need to know that I can touch God, and I can, not with my hands, but with faith, tears, honesty, and worship. Every time I pray, confess, sing, or simply sit in His presence, I’m touching Him, and He’s touching me.

He entered into my reality. He knows my weaknesses and my faults, but He embraced me and allowed me to touch Him. Maybe, today, I can’t touch Him physically like Mary, the apostles, and others who interacted with Him did, but knowing that the Most Holy, Almighty God made a way for humans to draw near to Him and touch Him breaks down all the barriers in my mind that religion erected. The same God who said, “Don’t touch the mountain or you’ll die” (Exodus 19), now says, “Let the little children come to me” (Mark 10:14). 

There are so many man-made rules and regulations and so many taboos concerning our relationship with God, causing us to view God as a distant, angry person who is always ready to hit us with a whip if we dare step out of line. For many years I viewed God as this angry, distant, disinterested God who kept an eagle eye on my flaws and who was eager to punish my sins. I couldn’t see Him as my loving Father who eagerly wanted to embrace me, love me, and have a relationship with me. I had to grapple with the idea of Jesus being God with us. I struggled to shift my focus from a loving, joyful, and approachable Jesus to a God who was exactly the same. I couldn’t fit the image of Jesus on my perception of God, yet Jesus said that if we see Him, we see God.

I knew I had to make that shift, but how? I had a choice. I could cling to my prejudices concerning God, or I could believe what Jesus said. “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9), and 
“I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). I chose the latter. I no longer struggle with the Trinity. When I speak to someone, I don’t ask whether I’m speaking to their spirit, soul, or body. I speak to the person. It’s the same with God. Why do I have to wrestle with knowing when I’m speaking to the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit? They are One. Just as people could draw near to Jesus, I can draw near. I’m not afraid to go to my Father, my loving and caring, ever-present God who is interested in me and everything that concerns me. If I want to be technical, then yes, I speak to the Father, and I draw near to Him through His Son. Jesus Himself said that He’s the only way to the Father. And I know that God is always present through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. They are three in one, so why should I focus on Who I interact with at any given point when they are inseparably present with me at all times?

Since I’ve stopped with my artificial division of the Trinity and simply accepted God’s love as demonstrated in Jesus and His humanity, my relationship with God has grown much richer in trust, rest, and the peace I can only find in Him. I’m so grateful for knowing God as a loving and approachable God and Father as opposed to an angry, cold, and distant God.

How do you feel about Jesus loving and accepting the rejects in life and allowing sinful man to touch Him while assuring us that He is God with us? Does it make a difference in how you see and approach God? Does it help you to run to God and trust Him with your needs?