“Irenaeus refers to this as recapitulation. British theologian N.T. Wright calls the Lord’s life work in this the reconstitution of Israel. Classic Reformed theology calls it the active obedience of Christ. What it means, simply, is Christ for us. In your salvation, you were not given a fraction of Christ, but rather were given all …
Showing the Way
“He stooped — the ultimate Word became a single cell, and then a cluster of cells, and then visibly a baby, although still less than a pound, and then a child who kicked his mother from inside, delighting her immeasurably. He became a little child, and then, years later, He told us to copy Him …
The Great Stooping
“He, the eternal Word, the one who spoke the galaxies into existence, was willing to become a little baby boy who could do nothing but jabber, and in that jabbering, make glad his mother and earthly father. He, the source of all life and all nourishment for that life, was willing to be breastfed. He, …
Which Cannot Be Done
“Man in his sinful condition does not want to be saved. That is part of what it means to be a sinner. This means that man wants, by various strategies, to put himself out of God’s reach” (God Rest Ye Merry, p. 45).
Which Leads Us Further In
“The leaves on the tree of life are for the healing of the nations, and they cannot be applied without the nations actually getting better (Rev. 22:2)” (God Rest Ye Merry, p. 43).
The Miracle Below
“He might tell us about the time He sent one of His celestial glories down into our sky over Bethlehem. And He did this to especially mark the most remarkable thing that He ever did — His eternal Word took the form of a baby boy. And the miracle in the sky above was nothing …
Which Means That a Star is More Than We Think It Is
“If the narrative is to be trusted (and for evangelicals, it must be), then the star of Bethlehem identified a particular house in Bethlehem, singling it out from the others, in order that the magi would know what door to knock on. Now Bethlehem was only about six miles away from Jerusalem. Imagine trying to …
Deeper Grace
“God’s grace is a tsunami that will carry us all away, and deposit us in places we would not have anticipated — and all of them good. We analyze all this carefully, and say that we want our grace to be genuine water, just like the tsunami, but we want it to be a placid …
Grace Got Loose
“Grace is not something we do. Grace is not something we can control. Grace is not something we can manage. And this means that we in the Church, particularly in the sola gratia wing of the Reformed church, need to recognize that curators of grace are frequently the most dangerous enemies of grace. Grace is …
A Lot More Than Silver Bells
“A sentimental Christmas is a Christmas without conflict . . . a moralistic Christmas is a Christmas without sin . . . a spiritualistic Christmas is a Christmas without matter” (God Rest Ye Merry, pp. 32-33).