Theology in the Raw - 715: #715 - Christmas in the Raw

Episode Date: December 24, 2018

On episode #715 Preston gives you a teaser of what is inside his Patreon membership. This teaser includes a clip of reading of a different kind of Christmas story that Preston shared with his Patreon supporters. To support Theology in the Raw for as little as $5/month and access this (and other) Patreon-only podcast(s), go to https://www.patreon.com/theologyintheraw Support Preston Support Preston by going to patreon.com Connect with Preston Twitter | @PrestonSprinkle Instagram | @preston.sprinkle Check out his website prestonsprinkle.com If you enjoy the podcast, be sure to leave a review.

Hello, friends, and welcome to Christmas in the Raw. What you're about to listen to is a short teaser episode of a rather different kind of Christmas story that I read to my Patreon supporters. If you want access to the full-length episode of this podcast, you can go to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw. That's patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw. Support the show for as little as five bucks a month and you get access to the full-length episode of this podcast and others like it.

Thanks so much for your support and enjoy this short reading of a raw Christmas story. Jesus was human. The incarnation colors our black and white view of grace. The incarnation takes Edenic intimacy to new Himalayan heights. God is in control. He makes up the rules. He could have ordained whatever means he wanted to to save us from our sin. If he wanted to, he could have waved his cosmic arm over the earth

and forgiven all of our sins. He could have snapped his fingers, clapped his hands, or simply spoken a word and we would have been forgiven. He's God. He can do whatever he wants. But our Edenic tent God doesn't just want to save us. He actually wants to be with us. He doesn't just love us. God actually likes us. So God removes his royal robes and steps down from his throne to experience for the first time what it is like to be human. God is omniscient, which means he's all-knowing. There's nothing in the universe, no piece of information, no fact, no statistic that he doesn't know.

The hairs on your head, the zits on your face, he knows about every one. But until the incarnation, God hadn't experienced human nature. Since zits aren't sin, perhaps Jesus had them too. God knows every hair on your head, but through the incarnation, God knows what it feels like to have your hair ripped out. God knows about tiredness, but through the incarnation, he experiences exhaustion. God knows about many molecules that it takes to shoot a hunger pain from your stomach to your brain, but through the incarnation, God knows what it feels like to starve to the point of death.

Through the incarnation, God has enjoyed the same warm wave of sunlight that splashes across your face on the first day of spring. When you bathe in it, God smiles because he's bathed in it too. He's been refreshed by a night's sleep after a long day of work, warmed by a toasty bed on a cold winter night,

enjoyed a glass of wine while celebrating with friends. God authored creation, but through the incarnation, God experienced creation and he encountered joy under the bridge. He also experienced pain, relational, psychological, emotional, and physical agony. God has suffered the misery and brokenness of the same sin-saturated world that oppresses us every day. The pain of being rejected, beaten, abused, unloved, uncared for, mocked, shamed, spat upon, and disrespected as an image-bearer of the Creator. God knows all of this.

He's experienced all of this, and he willingly endured it to bring you back to Eden. If you want to access this podcast, you can go to patreon.com forward slash theology in the raw and support the show for as little as five bucks a month.