The Paradox of Christmas: Part 1

The Christmas story gives us a precedent for paradox in the Bible. One person, Jesus, is both fully God and fully man. It took theologians of the early church hundreds of years to agree on this simple conclusion. Why? Because it flies in the face of what we call human reason.

Paradox: a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. (dictionary.com)

The Bible is filled with Paradoxes - things which may seem contradictory but in reality are not. Since the Bible was written by God (1 Tim. 3:16) it only makes sense that much of its contents would be difficult, in a sense, to understand. The more amazing part is that we can understand it at all! God is the ultimate cross-cultural, cross-language missionary.

When the Bible gives us two statements or ideas which appear to be contradictory, the paradox of Christmas ought to give us pause before simply tossing one out in favor of the other. There are many examples, the one I'll mention today is one of the most difficult: God's sovereignty over evil and his righteousness. (His control over all evil acts and his sinless-ness). Here are some examples from Scripture:

1) Job. In Job 1, the devil is given permission to afflict Job. When Job's family dies in 1:13-19 we are to understand that the devil brought this about. But in 1:21, Job says

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

And just in case we think that Job is wrong in attributing his loss to God, the next verse says

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong

In chapter 2 the devil attacks Job's health, and Job responds in a similar way:

"Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this
Job did not sin with his lips.

2) Paul's thorn. In 2 Corinthians 12, Pauls tells us about his "thorn in the flesh". We can't be sure what this thorn is, but it definately constitutes suffering. In 12:7, Pauls calls his thorn "a messanger from Satan". But in the same verse, he says that the thorn was given "to keep me from being conceited." I don't think that the devil's purpose in sending the thorn was for Job to become more humble. I think it's right to attribute the good purpose of the thorn to God. So the thorn was sent by the devil, and it was sent by God.

What does it mean? It's hard to find language to express this in a way that someone will not find offensive or heretical. But basically, we see that God brings about evil but is not morally responsible for it. Since the Bible is clear that God is holy and righteous (Deut 32:4, Gen. 18:25), it is wrong to attribute sin to him. But because he sovereign (Isa. 46:10, Ps 33:11, Deut 32:39), it is wrong to say that he is not in control of evil and sin.

Hard to wrap your mind around? You're not alone! While many theologians find what they consider satisfactory ways of understanding this notion, it certainly qualifies as a paradox. The paradox of Christmas, of Christ, helps us to stand in the middle of God's sovereignty and righteousness and declare that both are true.