Theological Journal - February 18 Torrance Tuesday – The Reality of God in the Reality of Christ

“The stark actuality of Christ’s humanity, his flesh and blood and bone, guarantees to us that we have God among us. If that humanity were in any sense unreal, God would be unreal for us in him. The full measure of Christ’s humanity is the full measure of God’s reality for us, God’s actuality to us, in fact the measure of God’s love for us. If Christ is not man, then God has not reached us, but has stopped short of our humanity – then God does not love us to the uttermost, for his love has stopped short of coming all the way to where we are, and becoming one of us in order to save us. But Christ’s humanity means that God’s love of our flesh and bone of our bone, really one of us and with us.” (Incarnation, 185)

“The miracle of Christmas” Karl Barth called it, this event we call incarnation or God’s taking on human flesh and living his life among us as a human being. And well he might!


Yet the church has seldom grappled with what this really means. Oh, we count it as a miracle, to be sure. An act of power that proves God superior to, outside of, and able to intervene at will in the workings of this world he has created. And that, I suppose, is true, though miracle may not the best word for it. But even if true such a description of incarnation pretty much misses the point. Proving God’s power is hardly the point and of precious little relevance to our living the life to which God has called us.


Torrance has a much better, more faithful, and relevant exposition in the quote given above. It is in this “miracle of Christmas” he tells us, and only here, that we can be assured of the reality of God’s presence with us and love for us. The two basic human needs which we strive to satisfy in everything we do are security and significance. Each of us wants to know we “belong” here and that our belonging means what we do and how what we do “matters” in the whole scheme of things.


Nothing is more existentially gripping for us than “belonging” and “mattering.” And nothing is more debilitating than feeling alienated and alone in this world and what we do here. Yet Jesus’ incarnation assures us both that in him God belongs here and, thus, we belong here too. You see, it was always God’s plan to make this earth is “home” (Rev.21:3) and to live in closest intimacy with us. And what could be closer than God becoming one us! Jesus didn’t come just because we sinned and had to be rescued in order to and live with God where he is after we die (though, sadly, that is how many of were presented “the gospel”). We were never “going” somewhere else to be with God; he was always “coming” to be with us! He “belongs” here and we belong here with God.


And further, we are here to share in God’s work of bringing this creation, our joint home to its full flourishing. It’s God’s work, to be sure. Only he can do it. But he delights in sharing the implementing of his work with us. And this is our glory and in doing it we grow into the full measure of the humanity God created us for.


Of course, we sinned and blew it. We very nearly derailed God’s plan for us and everything else. Very nearly, I say, but not for good, thank God! Jesus had to take care of the problems our sin had caused when he came, and he did that at unimaginable cost and horror to himself and his Father. He had to reclaim is from the hell we’d made of ourselves and God’s good creation in order to restore us and it to God’s original design and intent. And in that work of restoration we are renewed in our primal sense of identity and vocation. In other words, Jesus is our identity and vocation. In him we find our security and significance.


That’s why the words of the answer to the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism are so profound and simple at the same time, answering our need for both security and significance.

Question 1: What is your only comfort in life and death?

Answer: That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.

And there’s far more to the incarnation than this. But that will have to await future posts on Torrance Tuesdays.