The Spiral of Adoration

The Hermeneutical Spiral is a book that I never read, but the title changed my life. Well, perhaps “changed my life” is an exaggeration, but it really helped me understand Bible study. The idea is that knowing what whole books are about helps understand what individual verses mean, which in turn helps understand the whole book, which helps understand the verses, and so on. The process of understanding the Bible is “the parts interpret the whole interpret the parts, etc.”

I’d like to suggest that something similar happens when we meditate on the Incarnation. It has been well said that we completely miss the significance of the stable in Bethlehem unless we keep fully in mind Who it is that is lying in the feeding trough. The story slides into sentimentality unless we remember that the helpless Baby born in squalor is the very God who created the heavens and the earth with a word… who in judgment for sin, wiped the entire human race from the planet except Noah’s family… who demolished the global superpower Egypt to rescue slaves and make them the His own special people... who sent them into exile when the rebelled against Him… and promised them a restoration beyond hope. Unless we remember that it is this same God of creation, covenant, exodus, exile, and restoration who is now lying in a manger, we miss the entire point of Christmas.

But we need to go one step farther. God incarnate in Jesus reveals the God of Sinai in ways that are unthinkable otherwise. How would we know about the humility of God if it were not for Jesus? His gentleness with sinners? His joy? Gratitude? Courage? The Son interprets the Father for us.

As we meditate on the Incarnation, let us remember that it is Yahweh who became flesh – and that through His flesh He revealed what we could never have known about Him any other way. It is in this “spiral of adoration” that we will find ourselves, as Wesley wrote, “lost in wonder, love, and praise.”