God comes in all his grand and searing holiness to hopeless and pain-ached sinners. He becomes like us - all the brokenness - not because he sins but because he so vulnerably and generously loves sinners. He comes to the proud with truth and the rebels with grace and the disturbed with peace.
His loving sinners will require him to forgive sinners for how they reject him and disbelieve him and misunderstand him and betray him. But a holy priest / prophet / king like Jesus loves his unholy neighbor, he let's the unholy hold him and feed him and follow him. Somehow, someway, his holiness transforms the unholy.
His love changes us in the midst of a mad and angry world. But he moved into this vale of tears to restore all things. It will be a lot of cross and tomb before there is resurrection.
Christians ought not think of themselves as saved, rather as those who are working out their salvation by loving the unholy and forgiving those who sin against them.
Christians associate with other Christians in such a way as to promote false holiness and insular love. Jesus wants Christians to get their hearts broken because they love the unholy so deeply. Jesus wants Christians to forgive a lot because of the sinful people they love.
Jesus wants Christians to become good news - those who love the poor and the prisoner, the maimed and diseased, the oppressed and distressed - not just those on the other side of the world though - but the ones that are your neighbors.
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