The incarnation without the cross and exaltation doesn’t accomplish salvation. But the incarnation ain’t nothing.
As Adam Kotsko says in his treatment of Irenaeus (The Politics of Redemption, 78), “the Incarnation of Christ simply taken in itself brings God into a much more intimate relationship with humanity, accustoming humanity to God and . . . also God to humanity.”
By the incarnation, we have become accustomed to a God who rages against our hypocrisy and self-importance; a God who has compassion on the weak and marginal; a God who takes the hit for humanity; a raucous God who eats and drinks with sinners; a God who feeds the hungry; a God who forgives.
We’d seen this before Jesus showed up. We’d seen prophets and humanitarians and acts of human kindness.We hadn’t been accustomed to this kind of God.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War
What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…
How the State Failed Noelia Castillo
On March 26, Noelia Castillo, a twenty-five-year-old Spanish woman, was killed by her doctors at her own…
The Mind’s Profane and Sacred Loves
The teachers you have make all the difference in your life. That they happened to come into…
