‘In the beginning was the WORD
(logos), and the logos was with God, and the logos was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and
without Him not one thing came into being.
What has come into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of
all people. The light shines in the
darkness and the darkness did not overcome it…The true light, which enlightens
everyone, was coming into the world…And the logos became FLESH and lived among
us, and we have seen His glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of
grace and truth…From His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ. No
one has ever seen God. It is God the
only Sopn, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made Him known.’ (John
1:1-5, 9, 14, 16-18)
We call this movement – from the
DIVINE toward HUMANITY, from the HOLY toward the COMMON, from the PURE to the
UNCLEAN, from WORD to FLESH, the Incarnation.
At the root of this theologically pregnant word is the Latin word
“carne” meaning ‘flesh’ or ‘meat.’ Quite
literally, ‘the flesh that covers the bones.’
The Incarnation shows us what God is like with skin on.
In the words of Pastor Eugene
Peterson, it’s as if the Divine put on flesh and blood and ‘moved into the
neighborhood.’ In the words of the
apostle Paul to the church in Colossi, it’s as if the Divine – who previously
was invisible, became visible in the person of Jesus. He is the most clear picture of God – His
way, His truth, and His life – that we have.
We no longer have just the skeleton
of the written word. We’re no longer
held captive to the shackles of the structure of the Law. God is revealed no longer through just words
on a page (or papyrus). The WORD became
FLESH and took action. So the question
is, “What would it look like if we followed God’s lead?”
What bright future could we
envision for our world if we mirrored the Incarnation in our everyday
lives? What would it look like if we
followed Christ into the fringes of society, aligning ourselves in solidarity
with the oppressed and marginalized?
What if we shared the GOOD NEWS that God is on their side, and not just
“ours”?
What if we lived Incarnation-ally?
Be Blessed!
No comments:
Post a Comment