place of those who do sin. The only option therefore was God’s sinless Son in place of us, sinful humanity. That makes sense at least as an equation for why God had to come and die. But the incarnation isn’t just about an equation. It’s about an emotion. God wanted us back. He wanted it the way it used to be. Nostalgia means “to return or go back home.” It is an emotion like homesickness. In my office I have several pictures. One is with my daughter Alli. She is standing with me in the Yellowstone River.