I'm preaching a short series on the Christian spiritual life from the illustration of a jigsaw puzzle. It makes a picture. It's made of pieces. And there is a process of assembly. That's the series: the picture, the pieces, the process.
The series concludes this week with a brief overview of the process of of spiritual transformation into Christlikeness.
The action of God the Father by the Incarnation of the Son and the sending of the Spirit supports, sustains, and completes this process of spiritual transformation.
"What God has given the world in Christ is . . . an actual divine humanity, a real presence of God in human history, not a new idea about God, but God made man, and calling men into fellowship with Himself. And having taken humanity upon Himself He has not again divested Himself of it. As Son of Man He is at the right hand of the Father and His Spirit is given to the Church which is His body on earth. In Him, heaven and earth are truly joined. He sends His apostles forth to be His representatives and He promises His presence with them always. They are the beginnings of a real continuation of the divine humanity—though in a different mode—through history, until its consummation at His coming again."
-Lesslie Newbigin, The Household of God: Lectures on the Nature of the Church.
The Word:
(Click on the links below to read Sunday's passages)
First Reading: Isaiah 7:10-17
Second Reading: Romans 1:1-7
Gospel Reading: Matthew 1:18-25