I want to go back to Matthew 1:23 where it is declared that Jesus will be "called Immanuel, God with us", and John's words in 3:11 on Jesus baptising with the Holy Spirit, for these express such a fundamental truth that permeates the whole Bible.
God's plan has always been that He should have fellowship with us. Right at the start God had fellowship with Adam and Eve, but this was broken by our sin (Gen 3:8,9). Yet throughout the Old Testament there is a repeated refrain of "I will be their God, and they will be my people". Ex 29:46; Jer 24:7, 31:33, 32:38; Ezek 11:20, 14:11, 37:23.
Right at the end of the Bible it is declared in Revelation as the culmination of God's plans (Rev 21:3).
In John 14:23 Jesus says that ""If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.".
In the Psalms when God intervenes He does not do so from afar, but comes down to earth to take action. This is precisely what happened when Jesus came to earth.
While Jesus was on earth He told his disciples in John's gospel that He had to return to the Father. Why? So that He could send the Holy Spirit to be with us.
Paul tells us that we are temples of the Holy Spirit.
It is God's will and purpose to live with men. We do not worship God from afar, we are not following a concept or set of ideas, but we are in relationship with the living God. If you are wondering what God is doing in your life at the moment you can be absolutely certain that one of things He is seeking to do is to develop a closer relationship with you.
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