in carne - In the Flesh

Not only is CONNECT about being Missional. CONNECT is about being Incarnational. While Missional is all about how we approach our faith, how we seek to live out faithfulness, Incarnational is how our words, our lives, and our relationships are to be.

The term Incarnational comes from the Latin, in carne, meaning “in the flesh.” This is a theological term used by the Church Fathers to describe the 2nd Person of the Trinity, the Eternal Son, becoming Jesus, the God-man. Look around you and you will see the impact that that moment in history has had upon the world. At this time of the year, two-thirds of the world is celebrating Advent (adventus – “coming”) of Jesus. Does two-thirds of the world recognize Him as God in flesh? Certainly not! But they realize that we have built a consumer-based holiday around this unique event in human history. While US retailers might be afraid to wish customers “Merry Christmas,” places like Tokyo, Japan are littered with references to the Incarnation, even if only to lure holiday shoppers to their goods.

So what’s the significance of the Incarnation? Scripture calls Him Immanuel, “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14). Look at the proclamation of Gabriel to Mary:

Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end… The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Luke 1:30-35

Look at what John wrote about this event and its implication:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and
truth. John 1:14

Now, look at how Jesus described it in this exchange with Philip:

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:8-9

It is clear that the reason for the Incarnation goes far beyond God taking on mortal flesh in order to die as a substitutionary atonement for humanity. The significance of Christmas is God giving Himself to us. Christmas is about God drawing near to us. We can know God because He walked among us. How important was the Incarnation to the early church? John wrote, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1).

OK, by now you’re saying, “That’s all fine and dandy. That’s Christ! But what about us?” Glad you asked! :o) Look at what Jesus prayed for us, His church just before He went to Gethsemane and His appointment with the cross:

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:20-23

The mission which was given by the Father to the Son has been given to us, His church. And, the evidence of the Father in Jesus is to be found also in His church. Jesus wants the world to look upon us and know about the love of God. Paul would write later that we are to have the same attitude as Christ who stepped down out of Heaven and set His rights as Creator God aside for the sake of His mission, even to the point of letting Himself be tortured and killed. I was going to end on this description, but the Word is powerful and beautiful. I’ll leave you with Paul’s exhortation to the Church of Jesus the Christ:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Philippians 2:5-8

CONNECT is Incarnational.

Merry Christmas! S