By Mattie MacDonald
Advent is the perfect time to celebrate God’s mystery. In this season, we celebrate the Incarnation, a perfect example of God’s incomprehensible creativity, complexity, and deep love for His children. We marvel at the mysteries inherent in the birth of the God-Man and that He’s coming again. Our God chose to live as one of us and die for us. It is unfathomable, but that doesn’t make it less true.
There are a multitude of questions I circle back to when dealing with the mysteries of faith. How is Jesus fully God and fully man? 100% + 100% = 200%, doesn’t it? How do we have responsibility for our actions if God has decreed they are to happen? How is God fully in control if we make our own decisions? How do we reconcile divine sovereignty with the existence of sin and pain? How are we infinitely worthy but also completely unworthy of the love God has lavished on us? As a person who loves clear and direct answers, these murky and tension-filled aspects of God sometimes leave me unsettled, but I’ve had to face them head on this semester. This has sometimes left me full of questions that I, being decidedly NOT God, can never fully answer.
What has been confirmed to me from the discussions the Fellows have during roundtable, class, and with one another is yes, these questions are hard! We can dig and dig and dig, scour scripture, and discuss these questions at length, but we may never fully have the answer. However, what I’ve learned is how okay that is. Instead of the intense frustration of not “getting it,” I’m beginning to see the call to humility and reverence that is inherent in discussing these mysteries of God.
At a recent roundtable, we talked about how the problem of sin is impossible for us to solve. The solution of the God-Man Jesus is an answer only God could have come up with. God says in Isaiah 55:9, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Of course God can come up with solutions and have characteristics that are incomprehensible to us. Our creator is so much higher than us, and that’s wonderful! Recognizing God’s greatness compared to our frailty makes Jesus’ death on the cross more meaningful, our adoration sweeter, and us humbler.
I am never going to stop asking questions and trying to find answers. And I shouldn’t. By asking these questions, I learn more about who God is and understand the beauty of the resurrection more fully. However, these last few months have taught me to say “Wow how awesome is our God” instead of being consumed by displeasure when I ask a question that my human brain can’t fully understand. God’s mystery shows me how worthy of praise He truly is.
Pictures from the Week
Some of Capital Fellows Season 14 Christmases past...Can you guess them?
Become A Capital Fellow in 2021-22
We are now receiving applications for Season 15 of the Capital Fellows program!
The next program year runs from late August 2021 through mid-May 2022. If you are a college senior or recent college graduate - or know someone that is - we would love to hear from you! The Winter Application Deadline is January 15!
Want to learn more before you apply? Join an upcoming informational webinar. Click here for dates and times.
Pray for the Capital Fellows
Thank you for praying for the Capital Fellows each week!
This is the last week of the Capital Fellows Fall Semester. Wow - that went by fast! Because of COVID, the program has been virtual since Thanksgiving and they have are already home with their families. They are finishing up papers for class and assignments for work this week. Please pray that they would see Jesus in new ways this Christmas, finding refreshment and rest in him. Pray for them as they work on their Winter Break project of vocational discernment, especially the elements designed to be done with family and friends.
Want to pray for the Capital Fellows throughout the year? Download this handy prayer guide for your phone or tablet.
Benefits of The Fellows Initiative
You probably already know that Capital Fellows is one of 30 fellows programs in The Fellows Initiative network. But, did you know that the sponsors of TFI offer great benefits to Capital Fellows alumni? For example, Reformed Theological Seminary offers a 33% tuition discount for 5 years. You can learn more about TFI's sponsors by clicking here.
If you know of a graduate school, seminary, employer, or other organization that would be interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact TFI by clicking here. Thanks!
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