tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11516215.post7185918759877880489..comments2024-03-28T00:48:19.961-07:00Comments on Metacrock's Blog: Christmas and the Crucified God Joseph Hinman (Metacrock)http://www.blogger.com/profile/06957529748541493998noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11516215.post-79481965607290519862018-12-23T20:31:41.942-08:002018-12-23T20:31:41.942-08:00I agree. I a glad you brought up that agree. I did...I agree. I a glad you brought up that agree. I did think about that but somehow I'm just drawn right to Atonement. Incarnation is the first step toward that outcome.Joseph Hinman (Metacrock)https://www.blogger.com/profile/06957529748541493998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11516215.post-35145211994594629092018-12-23T18:28:24.005-08:002018-12-23T18:28:24.005-08:00I agree with participatory atonement, but at this ...I agree with participatory atonement, but at this time of year what I like to focus on most is the Incarnation, not the Atonement (that's for Good Friday-Easter, to my mind). But it's true that the focus on participation in the Atonement means that we get a strengthened view of the Incarnation - God wasn't incarnated just to die for our sins, but to participate in the experience of being human. "Emmanuel, God with us" thus becomes an intensely powerful concept-- as you said, that when we see Jesus, we see the true nature of God. This is an emotional experience for me -- one of astonishment, gratitude and joy, that the One who (as the Christmas carol says) dwells "in cloud and majesty and awe" is the same One who lies in His mother's arms, a helpless infant, child of a poor and powerless couple. Jesus didn't come just to bring God's kingdom - the upside-down kingdom where human political power means nothing, where the servant is the greatest - Jesus came to BE that servant. Hallelujah, Christ is born!Kristenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08252374623355509404noreply@blogger.com