Sunday we talked about distance. Remember Grover, running back and forth between near and far until he was exhausted?

A lot of us live that way with God. Close one week, distant the next, trying to close the gap on our own.

But John says the distance was never ours to close. So God closed it.

In Jesus, God came near.

The Word who was with God in the beginning, the one who made everything, became a real human being. Not a costume. Not a vision. Flesh - a body that got hungry and tired and could bleed.

The word dwelt means he pitched his tent. Every Jewish reader would have heard the tabernacle in that. In Exodus 40, the glory of the Lord filled the tent in the middle of Israel's camp, and God lived among His people.

John says it happened again - except this time the tent was a person.

God did not shout instructions from a distance. He moved into the neighborhood. Whatever you are carrying this week, you are not carrying it in front of a God who doesn't understand human life. He lived one.

Don't rush these. Give yourself a few minutes with each one before moving on.

Write your answer to the first question down before you move on. You will come back to it on Friday.

Come back tomorrow - Tuesday you'll see exactly what it cost Jesus to come this close.

• Philippians 2:5-8 - he emptied himself
• John 1:14 - dwelt among us

Read Philippians 2:5-8. Paul says Jesus, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.

He did not stop being God. He could not. But He set aside things He had every right to keep. John MacArthur lists them: the glory of face-to-face fellowship with the Father, His independent authority, the independent use of His divine attributes, the riches of heaven, and on the cross, His favorable relationship with the Father, as He took the wrath our sin deserved.

Read that list again slowly. Every item on it is something Jesus let go of to get close to you. We usually measure love by what someone is willing to give up. By that measure, no one has ever loved you more.

• John 1:16 - from his fullness

For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. Grace is a gift from God that we don't deserve and can't earn. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting what we don't.

Picture standing at the edge of the ocean. One wave rolls in and pulls back, and before it is gone another is already on its way. You never reach the last wave. One commentator put it simply: when one supply of grace is exhausted, another is available.

Most of us believe in grace until we sin again. Then we act like we have used up our allowance. We hide, we stay away, we promise to do better before we come back. But grace does not come from our supply. It comes from His fullness, and His fullness never runs low.

• John 1:17 - grace and truth came
• Romans 7:12 - the law is holy

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The law was not bad. Paul calls it holy and righteous and good. It was a gift from God that showed people what He expects and where they fall short.

But the law is like a check engine light. It tells you something is wrong. It can't fix it. You can stare at the dashboard all day and the engine will still be broken.

Notice the two verbs. The law was given through Moses. He delivered it, like a messenger carrying a letter. Grace and truth came through Jesus. He is the source. Moses delivered God's gift. Jesus is God's gift.

Plenty of Christians live staring at the light: feeling guilty, trying harder, making promises, and never actually bringing the problem to the only one who can fix it.

• Exodus 33:18-23 - show me your glory
• John 1:18 - he has made him known

Read Exodus 33:18-23. Moses asked God for the one thing he wanted most: "Please show me your glory." God said no one can see His face and live. So He hid Moses in a cleft of the rock, covered him with His hand, and let him see only His back.

Now read John 1:18. No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. "Made him known" is where we get the word exegesis. Jesus is God's explanation. Moses saw God's back. In Jesus, we see His face.

So if your picture of God is harsher or more distant than Jesus, your picture is wrong.

You don't have to run to God. In Jesus, God ran to you.