God Would Have Come Anyway
Could the Incarnation be the central event of salvation?
Could the Incarnation be the central event of salvation?
God’s incarnation makes sacred our very decisions and even the process of discernment. Every decision we make becomes an incarnation, a little Christmas through which God enters the world.
People had to discern John the Baptist’s message. Was he the messiah? What were the signs they saw? Discernment includes many signs, consolation and desolation, and movements from the spirits that prepare the way to a choice.
Incarnation occurs all the time, even in our decisions. We are in a whirl of confusion and feel like we’re in darkness. Advent is a time of sitting with those raw feelings and emotions because discernment begins with observation.
The Incarnation is not just a snapshot moment, but something that lives on and unfolds through us. The Incarnation was so our understanding of God could be radically shifted.
As 21st century Christians we look through the lens of history having already happened. We approach Advent in a way that already knows the next chapter of the story. There’s a deeper story that is ours, too.
Beneath life’s instability we find a steady God who is our foundation.
The darkness of Winter Solstice reminds us that we’ll soon be met with reassuring light.
Perhaps our need for the Saviour is no different than the need 2,000 years ago. It’s a messy world.