‘As I looked, thrones were set in place,
    and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
    the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
    and its wheels were all ablaze.
 A river of fire was flowing,
    coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
    ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
    and the books were opened.
Daniel 7 v9-10

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
Galatians 4 v4-7

We, who see dimly through the lens of our humanity and preconceptions, how are we to really understand the height, the depth, the breadth and the substance of this gift? We hear the words of salvation, repeating them every Sunday, losing the absolutely transcendent awe that this would invoke in us, were we able to encompass even a part.

God, the Holy one, the one clothed in flames and light, the one who, if we to catch even a glimpse, would be our undoing. The bright morning star, the beginning, the end, in whom all things were created and in whom they hold together. The one whose righteous judgments should make us tremble. The great I Am.

The one who then stooped down. Became one of us. You have heard the words before. But the meaning is deeper than the grave, and higher than the heavens. The One who rent the dividing screen in two, ripped it apart, tore it away. This One. By whom we can, miracle of miracles, walk through to the very throne of the Holy of Holies and call Him…Daddy.

Is that not the craziest story ever? How could such a thing be? It cannot be encompassed. But if we are to take Jesus in any way seriously, if we are to receive the gift He offers us, then indeed we must do so. Step into that Throne room, gaze into the face of the One who has called us His own child.

And, as if in immediate translation, we find ourselves walking in the renewed garden, Eden restored, in the cool of the morning. The garden our forebears trod in innocence, and were banished from in guilt, now restored, renewed, and more poignant and beautiful for the purchase through the veil of tears. Now knowing, as we are known.

If only we could see. What is claimed by faith is so much deeper, of more substance and reality than the mortal lands we currently inhabit.