Now, I’d like to share 5 things that we learn about God through the incarnation. The incarnation is a theological term which basically refers to God sending His Son to earth to become a man. The Son of God became a man, He became flesh and dwelt with us. He lived among us. Your first reaction might be, why do I care? I don’t want to study theology. I’m not a seminary student. Why should I care about the incarnation? I’ll tell you why. Because the incarnation demonstrates that God is madly in love with you. This is why the Bible uses the metaphor of marriage to describe our relationship with Jesus. He is the bridegroom, we are the bride. He is passionate in his desire to be with you. And he will stop at nothing to have you.
Why should you care about the incarnation? Because if you leave it out, all you have is religion. And we too easily settle for religion instead of a love relationship. And because we too often settle for religion, deep down inside, you and I don’t really believe that God loves us. God loves me–yeah, I believe it the same way that I believe in gravity or that I believe that the sky is blue. It’s there. It’s descriptive. But it’s just a fact. A principle. Not something that radically re-orients my view about life, and God and my self-identity. It is my prayer that these 5 things will give you a new framework to know without a shadow of a doubt that God loves you.
Outline
1) The incarnation starts with the love of God, not our love for him.
2) The incarnation demonstrates that everything in Scripture points to Christ.
3) The incarnation did not end with Christ’s resurrection and ascension, but now as believers, Christ dwells, tabernacles with us.
4) The incarnation goes beyond this life and points to future glory.
5) Lastly, because of #1-4, the incarnation produces in us a sense of longing.
1) The incarnation starts with the love of God, not our love for him.
Please turn with me to 1 John 4:8-10.
1 John 4
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Let’s stop there. 1 John 4 defines the essence of God as love. And John says, if you don’t know love, then you don’t have a clue who God is. Because love and God are the same thing. Love is the definition of God. How did God show love to us? v9 – by sending his one and only Son into the world–that’s the incarnation.
And in case there is any confusion, John adds v10–
1 John 4
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
The starting point is that God loved us first, NOT that we loved God. The order is critical. Why? We want the verse to read, this is love, we loved God and He took notice. We loved God and therefore He rewarded us with love in return. We loved God and therefore we are worthy of salvation. We want to be in control. We want to come to God on our terms. We want to build a tower that reaches the heavens. Through our efforts and our sacrifices and the goodness in our hearts, we want to extend our hands and touch God.
But John sets us straight. He says, you and I are hopelessly lost in your sins. Even if God allowed us to live for a million years, we would never be able to find our way to God. From the beginning, the only way that we could be saved is God had to come down to our level. He had to descend down to the pits of hell and pluck us out by His mercy and grace.
Why did God send His Son into the world? Why was there an incarnation? What purpose did it fulfill? God’s Son was sent to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus was born into the world to die on a cross. For your sins and mine. He came to reconcile sinners with God. This is the gospel. As sinners before a Holy God, we deserve death. Yet, Jesus died in our place as an atoning sacrifice. His blood was shed so that we could be spared.
The incarnation starts with God’s love for us. Period. God loves us. Not the other way around. Our love for God was insufficient to save. Our love for God was too weak and our sin too great. Our love for God is only a response after we realize that God loved us first.
2) The incarnation demonstrates that everything in Scripture points to Christ.
How do I know this? Jesus says it himself in John 5. He is addressing the Jewish religious leaders when he says in v39-40–
John 5
39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
This is so important. You can diligently study the Scriptures and completely miss the point. You can be a biblical scholar or a seminary professor, but if you’re goal is off, then at the end of your career, all that you have is some lifeless trivia and facts. Why do we study Scripture? What are they pointing to? Christ. They testify about Christ. They encourage us to draw near to Christ as he has already drawn near to us. When you read Scripture, you have to have the right lens. How do I see Christ through this passage? The lens is Christ. You always have to be on the lookout for Christ as you read Scripture, or you are missing the point.
Take for example the tabernacle, the movable tent in Moses’ day, or the temple, the permanent structure in Jerusalem in Solomon’s day. These were pointers or types of heaven and ultimately to Christ. In Exodus, why are there 10-20 chapters about how to build the tabernacle? Because this is going to represent heaven on earth.
Do you know what you see when you go into the tabernacle? Deep blue, some scarlet, some purple, and you would see angels. Smoke from the sacrifices outside. Incense burning from inside. Think about the scene as you walk in. There would be smoke, it would be cloudy, misty, hazy, it’s like the set of a low budget B movie. No special effects because there is not enough money to add CGI and 3D. Walking into the tabernacle, you were meant to be transported to heaven on earth.
The tabernacle was always set up in the center of the camp. God was trying to communicate, I dwell with you. I will be a God to you. And you will be my people. God dwelling in the midst of his people. God has always been interested in incarnation.
Connecting this imagery of the tabernacle as heaven on earth, Jesus says in John 2:19–
John 2
19 …“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
Jesus is speaking about his own body. He is the new temple. He made his dwelling with us.
Every time we open Scripture, we are trying to get a glimpse at Jesus, we are trying to hear from Jesus.
Related to this, Jesus is more than a temple out there. He’s more than the external Other.
3) The incarnation did not end with Christ’s resurrection and ascension, but now as believers, Christ dwells, tabernacles with us. Actually inside us.
In Col 1:26-27, Paul reveals that the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations is now revealed and it is this. The Christ who incarnated, the Christ who left the glory of heaven to take on human flesh, the Christ who is the new temple, the Christ who died for your sins and mine, THIS Christ is now in you. Meaning, he has tabernacled with you. He dwells in your heart. What a radical concept that the God of the Universe, Christ, is in us. It’s hard to get our minds wrapped around that concept. It’s awesome. It should blow us away.
In 1 Cor 6, Paul adds that our bodies are now the temple of the Holy Spirit. Christ is in us, and also the Holy Spirit is in us, not only is Christ the temple, but we, too, are the temple. In addition, the incarnation can be seen in the language of the Holy Spirit being given to us as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. The Holy Spirit’s job is to remind us of Christ, His death and His work on the cross. The Holy Spirit constantly, continually points us to Jesus.
But in the context of 2 Cor 1:21-22 and the Holy Spirit being given to us as a deposit, the Holy Spirit has another function. The Holy Spirit is a guarantor. He guarantees what is to come. You put down a deposit when you are about to purchase something or you are making a reservation. And you are basically promising, this deposit is my commitment that I am going to make good on this promise to give you the rest of the payment later on.
What does this deposit of the Holy Spirit guarantee? It guarantees Christ’s return. It guarantees that Christ is going to return for you. It’s like an engagement ring. You give an engagement ring to your fiance as a promise, I will marry you. In Revelation, at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, the church is referred to as the bride of Christ. It’s a big, cosmic wedding feast. In preparation for that day, Christ has given his bride-to-be a deposit to ensure that he will return for everyone who has repented of their sins and placed their faith in Christ. He will return for us because he is madly in love with us.
The incarnation is all about love. The Word became flesh. There are times when the Word of God is spoken or read and it’s like the words leap off the pages. It happens at important times in your life. A critical juncture, a big decision, a tragedy and the Word of God comes alive. That’s Jesus incarnating in your life. The Word becoming flesh. It is in those moments when Jesus reminds us, don’t worry, I know it’s tough, but hang in there, trust me, I love you. I dwell with you. I’m coming back for you. Here, in case you don’t believe that I’m coming back, here’s the Holy Spirit. Here’s my deposit. That’s incarnation.