“In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make. Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”.
“So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.” (John 1:1-5; 14 NLT)
Within the last few years there has been a dramatic increase in the interest of the supernatural, the paranormal, and the extraterrestrial. I am convinced that we must proclaim and provide access to the supernatural in the message we share of Jesus. I see a generation of people coming along who don’t see much hope or fulfillment within the world as we now know it, nor in the not-to-distant future. They will seek access to the supernatural elsewhere if we do not show them that through the risen Christ, who transcends this world and the world unseen, they can find the true access into the realm of the Spirit. We could lose millions of them if we do not…
It really doesn’t matter what model of ministry we use or what approach we take in conducting ‘church” to reach the lost. What should be of utmost importance is having the desire to help these new travelers participate in and experience the power of the resurrection in their daily lives, not just occasionally in a "magical" night at some “Holy Ghost” rally. Sharing the risen Christ proactively and relationally will have a far greater impact than changing the format of your church to the latest “fad” espoused by futuristic church “guru’s”.
I remember as a young believer, just starting my spiritual journey, that I would walk in and through the presence of God effortlessly. I lived and breathed the supernatural. The anointing was powerful! Then I went to Bible School and was told those things don’t happen anymore. So, I began to focus less on my experiential knowledge walking WITH Jesus and more on increasing my cerebral knowledge ABOUT Jesus. Now, twenty-five + years later I am back to growing in the passionate heart knowledge OF Jesus. The anointing is fresh and new every morning, growing stronger each day. I don’t ever want this to be a memory, I want it to be a living reality!
How can we reveal the true reality of the spiritual universe to the generations to follow? What can we do? How can we make their walk with Jesus an authentic incarnational experience flowing and breathing in and of the Spirit? How can we show them how to transcend the cares of this world through the supernatural?
Incarnational ministry finds its origin in the love and care of God for His creation. God demonstrated, in a concrete way, His care for humanity by becoming human. It must be this love of God that takes hold of us and inspires us, in turn, to care for others.
Outreach to the unchurched must consider the issues of incarnation by going where people go, and living in their world. The methods we use to reach them must be based upon developing relationships that are authentic. We must model a lifestyle of Christ-likeness in the context of friendship. The church must meet the needs of the unchurched within the world in which they live whether they be Builders, Boomers, Busters, Gen X, Post-Modern’s, or…
Because Jesus is love incarnate, He chose to leave the comfort and glory of heaven and dwell among men. Think about this… God the eternal Son Jesus chose to become flesh - human flesh.... just like you and me… to dwell side by side with each of us and to get caught up with the garbage and the sweat and the blood and the tears and the pain of our world. Why? Because God is love! God so loves each of us that He was willing to give Himself so that we could have life everlasting… starting today! This is the God we can entrust our hearts to! Now we must prove through our lives that man can still dwell eternally side by side with God.
When God the Father gave the honor of giving birth to the Savior of the world to an unmarried teenaged girl, the created bore the Creator. Her maker, her Creator was to grow within her and be raised by her, nurtured by her, taught by her...loved by her…
Incarnational ministry is not just about remembering an event in the past but the events of the future as well. We must come to realize that the best days are ahead of us, not behind. The Kingdom of God is just around the corner. We must stop yearning for the good old days and begin to look forward with joyous anticipation and excitement that the best is yet to come. God is yearning to be incarnate in our life...today and in all our tomorrows. The Kingdom of God is just ahead of us. Now is time to look farther down the road because the fullness of His Glory is still yet to be revealed !!
Without giving up His divine qualities, Jesus became fully immersed within the culture of the people to whom He brought the Great News. He was part of their culture, yet transcended it. He lived easily within their culture, yet was an agent of transformation. The incarnation is a challenge to understand and live within the world of the unchurched culture. We must make the Great News culturally relevant to them, and take it into their world.
Although the incarnation first took place 2000 years ago in the life of a young girl, it continues to happen every time you share His love with others...when you speak words of life in His name….when you offer a shoulder to cry on…when you offer a helping hand...a touch to heal ...a handshake of welcome and acceptance…when you give a cup of water in His name…It happens whenever and wherever the name of Jesus is lifted up…every time you choose to forgive....
And it will continue to happen each time someone offers a prayer of simple faith...“Lord Jesus, come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. I need you to forgive my failures and faults. I give you my life as you have given yours. I surrender to you all of the hidden things of my heart.”
How can we expect the God of the universe to entrust us with the souls of spiritual seekers if we are not living an incarnational reality? Incarnational ministry is a challenge to understand and live within the world of today and of the future. We must make the Great News culturally relevant to all people. Just as God chose to become like us to prove His love, we must now choose to become like Him, and learn to walk in the Spirit, breath by breath, overflowing in the power of the Resurrection so that Jesus will become incarnate in every heart we touch.
