The scandal of the Incarnation

The scandal of the Incarnation is that God inhabits imperfection!!

A provoking thought from Stephen Hill:

“We must believe that God is happy to indwell sinners. Mary became pregnant with the Fullness of the Godhead. This is a scandal and an offence to the religious mind!  

The Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was ‘invented’ to get around this scandal. For those who don’t know, the Immaculate Conception is NOT about the conception of Jesus: it is about the conception of Mary.

The question was asked: How can Mary conceive and carry Jesus if she is a sinner too? That was offensive so the Church at the time had to find a way around that. This is what they did. Establish a new idea that Mary was born without sin.

Do you believe in the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus? That is up to you: I am not here to argue with you.

If your answer is this, however: “No, I do not believe that the Virgin Mary was sinless” then you MUST accept by faith that God is pleased to unite with a sinful person.

How about you then? Can you become spiritually pregnant with Christ? What disqualifies you? It cannot be your own weakness and brokenness or the fact that you sin!

The scandal of the Incarnation is that God inhabits imperfection!!”

Living – Hidden in Christ

Stephen Hill, from his book: Our True Identity, An interpretation of Galatians.

The big shift happens when you realise and begin to live out of the reality that you are in Christ and He is in you.  Your life is hidden with Christ in God, so you don’t need to worry about your success or failure in living the Christian life. You cannot live the Christian life so don’t even try to.  The Christian life is lived in you, for you and through you by someone else – Jesus Christ the Son.  No one  but no one can be justified in God’s family by trying to work at it.”

Stephen Hill was born in Belfast Northern Ireland, and lived there until 2009, when he moved to New Zealand. He  now lives in Taupo with his wife Becky who is from the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand.

He met James and Denise Jordan of father Heart Ministries in 2008. What he heard and experienced profoundly altered his understanding of Christianity.  Stephen has been with the Fatherheart Ministries team in Taupo since 2010, working closely with James and Denise Jordan and Mark Head.

See more on Stephen’s website