An Incarnated Life
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
Became Flesh – Soon we will celebrate the Incarnation, that moment when Jesus set aside His divinity and took upon Himself the form of a man. John uses the words, “became flesh” (sarx egeneto). This event changed everything. It is worthy of worldwide rejoicing. But in the midst of honoring the God Who redeems, we may overlook the fact that the Incarnation is not simply an event. It is a way of life, intended to become the operating principle of all of the followers of the King of kings. You and I are supposed to live incarnated.
What does it mean to live incarnated? It means that the Spirit lives within us. In the simplest of terms, it means to live like Jesus. If He is the perfect image of God indwelling Man, if He is the perfect representation of what it means to be truly human, then living incarnated is living as He would live. “What would Jesus do” is right on target here.
That all sounds nice, but how does it affect the way that we behave? First, we must (it is not optional) shift our way of thinking and being from the post-modern, Greek viewpoint to the Biblical, Hebrew viewpoint. That means that we are oriented toward action, not simply information. We seek the benefit of others (including enemies) rather than pursue self-interest. We view life as a pilgrimage leading to full fellowship with God, not as a path toward self-fulfillment ending in an escape from this world. We see suffering as a necessary part of the development of godly character. We don’t seek it out, but neither do we live lives that avoid it. We do not weigh our actions according to what best serves my interests. We spend more time in direct participation with others; less in developing plans and programs for others. We believe that discipleship is the mark of a Christian, not verbal recitation of beliefs. We follow leaders of godly character, and we strive to be one of them. We see that evangelism is a function of exhibited transformed living, not a method of attracting “souls” to a building. We embrace transparency, even when it requires serious ego deflation. We do not allow “image” to cloud our judgment. And, we forgive, as we have been forgiven, taking the burden of consequences on ourselves rather than deflecting the punishment to others. We are far less concerned with “correctness” than we are with “benevolence” toward others at cost to ourselves. We serve.
The incarnated life is radical. It is not extreme; it is simply the real Christian life. Jesus called His followers to a different way of behaving; a way that confronted every natural instinct of fallen men and women. Christmas celebrates that incarnated life. It demands attention – and submission.
If this is not the life that you have in Christ, then whom are you following?
