God in the Flesh

(1) God’s Incarnation

In the beginning was the “Logos” – the Greek word translated “Word”.

To the Jews “Logos” would mean … ‘the self communication of God’ or ‘God revealing Himself’. To the Greeks “Logos” would mean … ‘the rational principle behind all reality’.

So, the gospel of John begins, placing Jesus at the centre of all spirituality and all life. This, the fourth of the biblical gospels to be written, broadens Jesus origins even beyond being born of the Holy Spirit, to having an equal role with God in the creation of the world.

As Genesis begins: In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth…, so John begins telling us that, in that same beginning, Jesus ‘The Word’ partnered with God in all creation.

Within the awesome mystery of the Trinity, we have Jesus being “with God”, thus being a distinct and separate entity – sharing fellowship (or community) with God; whilst still being in essence God (“the Word was God”) – part of a unified whole, sharing the same nature and purpose.

Whilst this is difficult to get your head around, it provides an exciting and wonderful picture of perfectly functioning relationship, each Divine role being exercised in an entirely complimentary way. God in Three Persons – Father, Son & Holy Spirit – blessed Trinity, superbly modeling what true community should look like.

This view of a unified God in three persons also helps us to understand how it is that God could visit earth as he did some 2000 years ago, and through Jesus demonstrate His commitment to humanity and the sort of loving intimate relationship that indeed God desired to have with all people. The Son’s role within the Divine purpose was to redeem humanity back to God.

[The analogy given last week was that this process of redemption was like God going to “Cash Converters” to use the currency of Jesus to buy back what we had sold off. People, who go to places like “Cash Converters” are often selling things they actually want or need, but have to do so to try and get themselves out of financial trouble. In life, we might have got rid of those things that are most important (even our very souls) whilst chasing after things of seeming importance, but of little real value. We get to that point where we just can’t find a way to successfully return to “Cash Converters” to get back what we’d given away; thus Jesus does this for us, gets back our lives for us, buying us, at his expense, our freedom.] This would take a sacrifice that only God could provide – a sinless death on the cross.

And so, the “Logos” (the “Word”) entered into a new dimension of existence through the gateway of human birth, and took up residence amongst the human community of Palestine. From here Jesus could teach, minister and heal with unparalleled integrity, at the same time identifying with the human dilemmas of temptation, rejection, grief, isolation, pain and mortality … yet overcoming these things through the strength of his relationship with God.

I sure want to know this Jesus personally! For Jesus can not only save me from my destructive side, but also guide me onto the path of doing God’s will.

Verse 18 teaches us that if we want to know God, if we want to understand the heart of God – then we have only to look to Jesus. Jesus is a window through which to view God at work!

"Because Jesus participated fully in the two natures – human and divine, he was able to make God fully known and also to be perfectly the way to Him" (Smalley, 212).

God came to humanity, so that humanity could come back to God. God entered into the depths of our life, sounding the invitation for us to enter into the heights of God's life.

There’s even more to it than this! God has reached out to us through becoming one of us, at the same time demonstrating how he wants us to reach out to others. This act of sacrificial incarnation is an example of the sort of love God wants us to express to those around us. God did not remain aloof or standoffish from us, despite how we might have disappointed Him … God sought to connect with us. In the same way, God asks us to seek to connect with others, becoming a stepping stone to their new experience of faith.

(2) Our Incarnation

We, as members of the Kingdom of God, and God’s local congregation, should be about the business of changing lives and changing communities (obviously for the better)! We don’t have to become ‘super-spiritual’ or ‘super-together’ to do this; the good news is that we can participate in this mission by being ourselves, with just one added imperative – 'redemptive intent'!

It’s good to make friends with people, but that’s not the end, just the beginning.
We are seeking to lead them somewhere. And, not to our favourite soap-box agenda – but to Jesus – which does require of us to be (at the very least) growing in our knowledge of and relationship with … the one we are following, and seeking to lead other people toward.

Of course, this is not a secretive mission, we should be upfront about our faith and our allegiance, and then live it out. To have a ‘redemptive intent’ is to make connections with people in such a way as to eventually save them from whatever separates them from (their loving creator) God.

However success is going to depend on forming a foundation for relationship through honesty, vulnerability, trust, fun & laughter, sharing pain, and exploring and learning together.

As part of my work toward my ‘Masters’, I’ve studied “The Shaping of Things to Come” by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch. They write that the truly ‘missional’ church … "disassembles itself and seeps into the cracks and crevices of a society in order to be Christ to those who don’t yet know him" (12).

This explanation of being “incarnational”, or following the example of Jesus,
certainly makes clear the need to be moving out from comfort zones and outside of institutional buildings to connect with people in their own settings. In this way people may be able to "experience Jesus inside of their [own] culture and in a way
that is seamlessly connected with life" (41). This is a dynamic ‘infiltration’ into
the ‘cut and thrust’ of community life (42).

The clear purpose of such engagement is the living out of the life of Jesus in such a way as to creditably present an alternative life-orientation. The question could be asked, as to whether I imagine myself (albeit imperfectly) as (being) Jesus, when I’m with people!

It is very challenging to see some of the lengths that some committed Jesus-followers have gone to – in practically expressing their love for people. However, one should not be deterred by this, rather accept that each Spirit-indwelt person can be incarnated at the point of their own uniqueness. Not everyone can connect well with the homeless person on the street, but most should be able to relate effectively with their next-door neighbour based on their common neighbourhood interest.

When a collection of intentional encounters and sets of relationships – through which the gospel can travel – does begin occurring in the streets, community facilities, schools and shopping centres, the social fabric of the community will be enhanced and newly ‘flavoured’ [or, ‘salted’] (42).

As people simply make themselves available to share the journey of life with others, the potential of everyday conversations is released toward a ‘whispering into souls’ and the nurture of new faith.