IN: Incarnation & Inclusion, Abba & Lamb

The question addressed in this brief work is how Christ-followers might hold the tension of these two abiding and complementary truths: 1. Christ’s one-of-a-kind revelation 2. Abba’s all-inclusive love. Brad Jersak believes that Sacred Scripture and Christ himself affirm both these doctrines in a mind-blowing fullness. And yet those who enthusiastically profess either one of these two truths frequently do so at the expense of their complement. Jersak is neither an exclusivist nor a pluralist. He argues for both the unique revelation of Christ and the inclusive love of Abba. IN lays out biblical and experiential evidence for integrating and celebrating both these truths together, espousing the beautiful gospel of Christ’s unique revelation of Abba’s all-inclusive love. By “Christ,” Jersak refers not to some abstract, ethereal or disincarnate spirit. Following the Apostolic tradition, he specifies Christ as" our one Lord Jesus Christ,” the Lamb crucified and risen, whose singular revelation unveiled God as our eternal, cruciform and loving Abba. His primary lens for this synthesis is the prologue of John’s Gospel, where we see: God’s One and Only Lamb, crucified and risen—this Word who speaks ALL into being, this Light who shines on all and in all, this Life who breathes life into all, this One unveils God as Our All-merciful, All-embracing Abba. God’s banqueting table is wide open because of Christ. The higher our Christology, the wider we will perceive the reach of Abba’s love. The banquet metaphor is a way to think about both the uniqueness of Christ and the inclusivity of his Abba. The Master of the feast instructed his servants to invite and compel all to join in the feast. There’s a seat and setting reserved for every human in history. IN magnifies both these glorious truths clearly.