The Incarnation

Appalachian Rhapsody in Blues/“He Will Come to Us Like the Spring Rains” (Incarnation Series) 

by Grace Carol Bomer 

An abstracted landscape of the North Carolina mountains.

“The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows forth his handiwork.” Scrawled into the paint is the verse from the prophet, Hosea. “He will come to us like the spring rain watering the earth, so let us press on to know the LORD.”

One Who Came on the Waters of Time (Incarnation Series) by Grace Carol Bomer

From Strength to Strength (Incarnation Series) by Grace Carol Bomer

“Human redemption comes through divine involvement, and not by an act of divine magic. The incarnation is the narrow point in which the large claim of universal salvific validity stemming from a particular life and death must balance. The human condition is such that it cannot be dealt with simply by an authorized representative (the Hebrew idea of shaliach), however inspired, but it requires actual divine participation. It is therefore essential, if Jesus is Savior, that God is fully present in him throughout. In Athanasius’ words, ‘He became man that we might become divine,’ so that we might share in the life of God and consequently that the life of God might be in him. Yet the Redeemer is not a gnostic Christ imparting the secrets of divine wisdom, who could indeed be a heavenly figure in human disguise. The mystery of our redemption is something altogether deeper than that. It proceeds, not from the outside by illumination, but from the inside by participation. We need transformation, not information.”

~John Polkinghorne