As I was thinking about Christ’s incarnation the past couple of days I couldn’t help pleading with God that He would shock me and awe me again with this stupendous truth. It’s grim how routine and normal it can all become. How I want to get to and stay at “Great is the mystery of godliness – God was manifest in the flesh!” Here are a few verses that I penned about this yesterday (audio link).

 

Shock and awe is a military doctrine,
To overwhelm a nation with aerial bombardment.
Rapid, massive, relentless attack,
Render futile and vain any thought of fightback.

No slow gradual increase of growing intensity.
Attack every building, and road, and facility.
Engulf and submerge in death and destruction.
Impact the senses with jolting sensation.

No more reasoning, logic, diplomacy, persuasion,
It’s now about feeling, vibes, and emotion.
Terrorizing, paralyzing, terrifying, petrifying,
Hundreds and thousands gladly surrendering.

………..

God shocks and awes with a special strategy,
Drops grace and truth in a human body.
Targets overwhelmed with life and salvation,
God invading via incarnation.

He had reasoned and argued with little return,
Laws, poems, and stories, but very few turn.
Thousands of words in Old Testament verse,
Now grabs our attention with Word made flesh.

……….

No more dreams or visions,
But God in skin and bones,
Shocking us and awing us,
To turn us from our sins.

No more mere human go-betweens.
But God, direct and real,
Shocking us and awing us,
To melt our hearts of steel.

It’s the end of all priests,
God suffers and bleeds,
Shocking and awing,
Changing hate to loving.

No more God in cloud and fire,
But God in body and soul,
Shocking us and awing us,
Drawing to Him as our goal.

Not angels in human form,
But God in human flesh,
Shocking us and awing us,
To save us from our mess.

Fully man and fully God,
Both in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Born for slaughter by the sword,
To pay a price none could afford.

……..

The truth gets so cold and routine,
Lots of facts but little feeling.
Shock and awe distant sounds.
We’re just doing the rounds.

First baby, first kiss, first flight,
Niagara Falls and Grand Canyon might,
We see, we hear, we sense, and we feel,
But God as a baby? It’s no big deal.

……..

O God, come and help us,
Start a fire in our hearts,
We know all the doctrine,
But want feelings not just facts,

Jolt, jar, jog, and jerk us,
Pop our eyes, drop our jaw,
Stop our tracks, light our love,
With renewed shock and awe.

God and man.
Decisive. Incisive.
Dramatic. Climactic.
Emotional. Sensational.
An eyeful. An earful.
A mindful. A heartful.
Powerful. Wonderful
Shock and awe.

God and man.
Thrilling. Startling.
Electrifying. Hair-raising.
Breath-taking. Heart-taking.
Marvelous. Scandalous.
Inscrutable. Incredible.
No precedent. No parallel.
Riddle. Mystery.
Shock and awe.

……

God shocks and then awes,
Our heart to impress,
That sin is so serious,
Word must be made flesh.

Real flesh, Not a phantom,
Not a counterfeit or con.
Weak flesh, not a superman
Tired, hungry, sad, alone.

Whole flesh, not a sample,
Fully human out and in,
From embryo to adult,
And all steps in between.

Holy flesh, though sorely tempted,
More than any ever born.
Spotless, pure, immaculate,
Though suffered every storm.

Dead flesh, still God.
Eternal flesh, still man,
And will forever be.
How great the mystery.

  • Phil

    Thanks so much for sharing this poem, David. Reading it was a great way to start my Christmas morning. May The Lord grant us to return to our First Love in 2014. Merry Christmas!

    • http://headhearthand.org/blog/ David Murray

      Thanks Phil.

  • mariep

    Love this, brother! Amen, what a mystery!

    • http://headhearthand.org/blog/ David Murray

      Thanks.

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  • jim delver

    Beautiful! thanks brother Murray!