Dr Paul Allen

Before the Incarnation Since the Son of God is eternal, we begin with noting his work before the incarnation, before Christ took upon himself a human nature. With the Father and the Spirit, Christ was involved in creation (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16–17; Hebrews 1:2). More on this in chapter 22, where we consider his lordship. Another important aspect of Christ’s Old Testament work was delivering God’s messages. The “angel [messenger] of the LORD [Yahweh]” normally is understood to be Christ himself, and the technical term for these occurrences is theophany (appearance of God).  These are pre-incarnation manifestations of the Son of God in human form— Christ took upon himself human appearance to accomplish something specific before taking upon himself a permanent human nature (in the incarnation). This “angel” is no ordinary angel. For example, when Hagar fled into the desert after conceiving Abram’s son, the angel of the LORD told her to name her son Ishmael and to re...

Radical liberal theologians such as Rudolph Bultmann maintain that Scripture is not revelation—that neither words nor nature reveal God. We must look to wordless “encounters” or mystical experiences. God reveals himself in many ways. First, let us focus on the necessary relationship between God’s acts and God’s words. Perhaps the best illustration of this relationship is the crucifixion of Christ, which surely is the central event of history. But what do we know about this event? What does it mean? Here is a Jew being crucified outside Jerusalem. How would you interpret this event? How does the Man on the center cross differ from those crucified on either side of him? Does his death differ from theirs? The Roman interpretation is that this man has been charged, probably falsely, with insurrection. To prevent trouble, however, they will play along with the Jewish leaders. The Jewish Sanhedrin is partly concerned that this Man’s teaching will bring down Roman wrath upon Israel. The...