“But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:17).
In the beginning, when God created humans in his image, he came to be with them in the Garden (see Genesis 2 and 3). In that relationship, the Lord developed his plans for the humans and the world they ruled over. They enjoyed friendship and partnership. The humans, called Adam and Eve, thrived in harmony with each other, with the land, and with the other creatures. Living in oneness with God, the future was bright for people and the entire world.
Then the humans became convinced there was something lacking. They crossed a boundary which God warned them about: “See that tree. It’s dangerous. Don’t eat its fruit” (Genesis 2:17 paraphrased). When they crossed the boundary, they left the friendship and partnership with God. There was a barrier blocking the way to oneness with God and the life God had been developing for them (see Genesis 3:24). Harmony and thriving gave way to disharmony and corruption.
The Lord wanted to restore the friendship and partnership with his images. He called to himself a family which he made into a nation in order to prepare for the restoration. Abraham and his descendants, Israel. When God gathered them and brought them to himself in the wilderness, he instructed them to build a Tabernacle, a mobile meeting place. When he settled them in their own country, he instructed their third king, Solomon, to build a Temple, a stationary meeting place. Upon the completion of each building, God entered (see Exodus 40:34 and 1 Kings 8:10). The Tabernacle and then the Temple became what the Garden had been – the place where God came to be with his people, the place where heaven and earth overlapped, the intersection of the kingdom of God with the world of humans.
But the restoration was not finished. There was still a barrier. 
Deep within the Tabernacle and the Temple, behind a heavy veil, was a room called The Most Holy Place or The Holy of Holies. Only one person could enter that room: the High Priest, and only once a year with blood from a sacrificed animal to atone for the entire nation (see Hebrews 9:1-10). Full friendship and partnership with God was not restored for Israel much less for the rest of humanity. Preparation continued until all things were ready.
The Son of God became flesh and tabernacled among us (see John 1:14). Jesus was God with us. He revealed God and the way life works in his Kingdom. He was the genuine Temple (John 2:19-21), the place where heaven and earth meet. He invited people into loving friendship and partnership with himself (John 15:1-17). Then he took down the barrier(s) between God and humanity by giving his life on the cross (Ephesians 2:14-16), announcing with his last breath, “It is finished” (John 20:30).
After Jesus was risen from the dead, “when the doors were shut where the disciples were together due to fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst” then a week later “Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst” (John 20:19 and 26). Solid walls and locked doors were no barriers to Jesus’ presence with his people. Through the promised Spirit (John 16:12-15) there is no place on earth where God cannot be with his people, with you. There is no special building or nation where you have to be in order for the Lord to be in your midst. Wherever you are, God will be with you.
After Jesus was risen from the dead, Mary Magdalene stood outside the empty tomb weeping, brokenhearted thinking his body had been taken away. “She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and yet she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking that He was the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you put Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher)” (John 20:14-16). Her pain and grief were not barriers. However you feel broken, hopeless, empty, the Lord will come through his Spirit and stand with you.
After Jesus was risen from the dead, when he first showed up in the locked room, Thomas was not present, and he did not believe the others when they told him Jesus was alive and had no intention of 
believing it unless he could see and touch Jesus for himself. The next time Jesus came into their midst Thomas was there. “Then He said to Thomas, “Place your finger here, and see My hands; and take your hand and put it into My side; and do not continue in disbelief, but be a believer.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”” Thomas’s doubt was not a barrier. When you have a hard time trusting God, when you’re confused, when you don’t understand, when you may even be really mad at him, the Lord doesn’t stay away from you. He comes to you through his Spirit and speaks what you need to lean on him, to believe him, to stay with him.
After Jesus was risen from the dead, he came to some of his followers on the shore of a lake. After breakfast, he took one of them aside. It was Simon. While Jesus was on trial, Simon had denied that he was a follower of Jesus. That day on the lake shore, Jesus used questions to focus him on love and assigned him the life mission of taking care of the Lord’s people (see John 21:15-19). Simon’s failure was not a barrier. However you have failed, however you have crossed the boundary, however you seem to have caused disappointment, the Lord speaks to you through his Spirit and helps you refocus on living by love for him; he includes you as his partner in his Kingdom’s work.
No barrier. Heaven and earth come together in Jesus. God and people unite in friendship and partnership (John 17:20-23). And, amazingly, God’s people in Christ form a Temple (Ephesians 2:19-22) – a meeting place, an overlapping of heaven and earth, an intersection of Kingdom and world – where all people are invited to enter in and enjoy life with God.
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