God Became Man...

...and dwelt among us. I had one of those moments yesterday where truth that I have known for a long time hits me a new way. It happened unexpectedly at work. I was walking into the back room and suddenly more of the weight of the Incarnation fell upon me. When I think about what humanity is, my tendency is to think about all of the ways we've gone wrong. It is far easier for me to reflect on how we should be better than it is for me to reflect on how we already are good. Just look at a little bit of salvation history. God creates Adam and Eve. He (the God who is far greater than His creation) sees it all as good. Man breaks under the weight of his pride and falls into disobedience. God renews His covenant with man through Abraham. Man fails. God renews His covenant with man through Noah. Man fails. God renews His covenant with man through Moses and gives the 10 Commandments. Man fails. All of salvation history is the story of covenants and failure. Throughout that time humanity becomes more and more selfish and less and less consumed by God. So what does God do? He decides to become one of us. He decides to become man. God becomes man in the fullest sense of the word. He becomes the very people who have failed throughout history. He enters into the chaos that His creation has become in the very form of the being through which the chaos entered. And He takes the full weight of our sin upon Himself. He spends His life on earth loving us, caring for us, teaching us, and healing us. Then, He picks up His cross, walks the road to Calvary, and He dies a bloody and humiliating death for our sins. It's obvious which end of the covenant is really committed to our salvation. We have a God who has done everything He can and has ensured, by His very life, that nothing can stand in the way of our salvation. Nothing but our own choice.