The God who reconciles us to himself is truly different from us.  He is the Creator and Lord of all.  He exists in majesty beyond all. He is right and true in all his ways.  In contrast, we are mere creatures who are naturally opposed to God. There is a yawning abyss between God and those he wants in fellowship with himself.  But in sheer grace God crosses that gulf to bring us close.  We do not cross the chasm to God. He alone moves among us reconciling us to himself in Christ by His Spirit.

The God who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see emerges from the impenetrable mystery that he is to be known personally by us.   We are incapable of knowing this God.  We have nothing within us enabling us to relate to him. But God gives himself to us enabling us to know him.  We do not even know why or how this happens to us.  We certainly cannot point to anything that God found in us to draw him to us. We simply know that by God’s own free intervention we find ourselves belonging to the Father with Jesus. We know we are received by him and reclaimed as his possession.  Indeed, we are hidden in him with Christ and treated as his friends and dearly loved children.  All because God himself crosses the yawning chasm drawing close to bring us home.