Do you long to be closer to God? Do you desire greater nearness in intimacy with him? We often talk about our union with Christ but let us look at it from the other direction; His union with us. Jesus, in His very person both now and forever, is in union with us. In His crucifixion, He shared his death with us. In His resurrection, He shares His resurrection life with us; and in His ascension, He carried us into the most intimate place of fellowship with His Father and the Holy Spirit. In the inner circle of the triune God, you and I exist and live because of his union with us. We know that where we are, He is because He lives in us, but we somehow forget that where He is in the heavenly places, we are because we are in Him. You and I both live before mankind on this earth by His resurrection life in us and before the Father in the heavenly places because of my ascension in His ascension.
You can’t get closer or more intimate with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit than Jesus is, and we share and participate in that intimacy every single moment of every single day because you are in Christ and therefore, where He is, you are. Jesus has included me in his person, and therefore I dwell where He dwells in intimacy with God. I understand what we mean when we say we want to get closer to God and be more intimate with Him, but it starts with the eyes of our heart being opened so that we can see where we really are already because of our inclusion into the life of Jesus. Don’t water it down. Celebrate that stunning truth and reality and start enjoying the nearness that is yours in Christ. If this truth becomes an implanted truth in your heart, it will forever change what you are conscious of not just in your prayer life behind the veil, but in your daily practical life, which of course is also lived behind the veil because you carry the secret place of fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit everywhere you go. Stop trying to get closer and start abiding moment by moment in the intimacy with God that Jesus enjoys. The place of nearness that you long for has been yours since your spiritual new birth because of your union with Christ and His union with you. Growing in intimacy and nearness isn’t about getting closer, it is about becoming more and more conscious of the wonders of our privileged position as we discover, or may be the proper word is uncover the truth of who we are and where we are in Christ.