This will be a fun one, I think. I'm about to say some stuff that will probably strike some as sacrilege, like I'm saying bad things about Jesus. Far be it - I just want to remind us of his humanity.

That's a subject that causes arguments in the seminary. We have this concept that yes, Jesus became human, that he was born as a helpless baby. But once he grows up, we start to forget that - we begin to ignore the implications of the divine person subjecting himself to the restrictions inherent in humanity.

And subject himself he did. We have that cemented for us in scripture, that Jesus fully took on human flesh. He was not just a god in human form. No - he had to grow up, learn, work, relate with siblings, honor his parents. He had to eat. He had to sleep. Not sure how many of us have tried a forty-day fast recently, but it was just as hard for Jesus as it would be for us.

Now, we're looking at ways that God has related with humanity. And we can establish the humanity of Christ without taking anything away from what his coming meant to the world. After hundreds of years of radio silence, all of a sudden, people had the possibility again of personal connection with the God of the universe.

Throughout his life, as he worked out our salvation, Jesus poured himself into a multi-year ministry among the people of Israel. He gave particular attention to his disciples. But in relating to us as a human, Jesus did subject himself to some limitations.

And our capacity is restricted for how many people we can relate to within a given time. To be sure, Jesus did a lot of miraculous stuff. But he did not, say, speak to every person on earth at once. He did not start teleporting everywhere - at least, not until after his resurrection.

In the previous post, we talked about how God had previously chosen modes of relating with humanity that were inherently less accessible. And while God, in his infinite wisdom and plan, left that relational mode in history, for our instruction, we can remain stuck in attempting to continue relating with the divine in just that way.

We can also get stuck on this next channel. And at first, it would seem like that's not a bad thing at all. I mean, who wouldn't want to get hung up on the concept of Immanuel - God with us?

The wisdom of God had it for Jesus to subject himself to earthly human restrictions for a time. Because he shed those chains when he rose up from the grave, he became the first-born of new creation. And when old passes to new, we should not dwell on the old any longer. God has something much bigger in mind for us, if we can be open to a different mindset.

But when we get stuck there, we're usually in the place of someone who was far, distance-wise, from the ground on which the Savior walked. His capacity was (by choice) restricted, so we can be relatively close to the presence of God - but far enough that we don't feel his touch.

When we are stuck, we assume that God is not so much here, as he is somewhere over there. He's relating to the people over there. They're getting the benefit of hearing the words of God, feeling his warmth, gaining his wisdom. We, on the other hand, dwell at the edge of twilight.

It's not a stretch for those who consistently feel less-than to not want to be a bother. God has enough people in his immediate vicinity, we think - he doesn't need us there. Not need, really - we're feeling that he doesn't want us there.

After all, just like Jesus chose his relatively few disciples, God has some criteria to pick who gets to be in his inner circle. Obviously (and it does seem obvious to us), we're out. So it becomes much harder to sell ourselves on putting in the effort to try to build greater intimacy.

We can approach church this way. We may be faithful members, faithful givers, and perhaps even serve in some capacities. But we're always looking toward what God is doing in someone else's life - not ours. We hear the testimonies of God's power in people's lives, and we celebrate with them. But we hold no ideas that he'll do the same in us.

Perhaps, like when the disciples healed people, we may get vicarious blessings through God's other children. We'll certainly enjoy those if they come, but for the most part, we're not really counting on that.

And if that sounds like a lonely existence - it is! God didn't leave the world in these circumstances, though. He hasn't meant for his children to get stuck in this relational area, where we relate as if he's still Christ-on-Earth.

He's not - not anymore. Now he is Christ-raised-in-Heaven. The God who subjected himself to actual, limited humanity went forward all the way to death, then shed those bonds in new creation.

So we get stuck here because of our assumptions. For a lot of us, we didn't really intentionally choose those assumptions. Instead, they come from the way we're just used to being ourselves. This is how we think of ourselves. This is how we feel about ourselves. And it fits in this mode - it feels familiar. But if we can recognize that, we can also be open to seeing God just a little bit differently.

God is not fatigued by our existence. He doesn't have to limit the humans around because he wants to minister effectively and still get some sleep. And the God who went so far as to bear our sin and brokenness on the cross, certainly does not intend to stop there in pursuing us.

We'll look at another mode in the next post. In the meantime, we should ask ourselves:

How am I being continuously, relentlessly pursued by the Trinity?

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• Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash