The Way: Incarnate (incarnate means God “appears in flesh”)
I. The Introduction:
Many years ago there was a man that stayed at home while his wife took his children to the Christmas Play at church. The play, which was about Jesus’ birth, was put on every year by the local children of the church. This year, he decided to miss the play. Besides, he was not Christian and he was having trouble understanding why Jesus had to manifest himself in the flesh to get his point across.
So, instead, he stayed home. The weather outside was bitter cold and the wind was blowing hard. He settled down in front of the fire and began to read a good science fiction novel. He was just getting started when a little bird began to tap on the window near his chair. Apparently it was drawn to the light of the lamp beside his chair and the fire, with its promise of warmth for the little bird.
At first, the man tried not to pay attention to the little bird, but it was soon becoming an annoyance. He looked at the bird and felt sorry for it. So, he got up and went outside to the barn and turned on the light out there, hoping the bird would be attracted to the light and find the warmth that it needed in the barn.
He returned to the house, sat back down in his chair. The bird was still there, tapping on the window. He turned off the light beside the chair. The bird was still there, tapping on the window! “Little bird!” he cried, “Go out to the barn, it’s warm out there!” But still the bird remained tapping, tapping, and tapping. The man looked closer at the bird; its little beak was beginning to bleed and the little bird was showing signs of collapsing. Then, “It’s the fire! I’ll put out the fire. Then you’ll go away.” The man said. So he did. But the bird refused to moved, it remained tapping, tapping, and tapping.
The man sat down in the chair by the window, frustrated. He didn’t know what to do. “Little bird,” the man said. “I’ve provided a wonderful place out there in the barn. I’ve provided a light for you. I have shown you how to survive, yet you continue to stand there hurting yourself and not go toward the light. What more can I do? If I could somehow become a bird so that I could tell you the way…..” The man stopped in mid-sentence, went to the closet, got his coat, went out to the car and went to church. He suddenly realized he needed to get closer to the light……
Here’s another story, (Matthew 21:33~40)
"Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. 35 "The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ’They will respect my son,’ he said. 38 "But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ’This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 "Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
In previous messages we have discussed:
· The Way: Described
· The Way: Promised (Part I)
· The Way: Promised (Part II)
The title of today’s message is, The Way: Incarnate.
The points for the message are:
The Way: Incarnate
1. In Genealogy
2. In Chosen Men
3. In the Non-Believer
II. The Message
1. In Genealogy:
As we have mentioned previously, we said how God began reconciling the world to Him from the very moment that sin entered the world. Again, in Genesis 3:15 we see:
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
God began to implement His reconciliation plan at this time. He didn’t waste time and give man the chance to think that all was lost, that there would no longer be a way to God. He didn’t give man the chance to think that all fellowship with God had become a thing of the past. God got to work right away. Why, because God wants what is best for us, and because He loves us:
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Because of His love for you, God has repeatedly stepped into time throughout the Bible to direct us along His path back to Him. Demonstrating and directing the path to Him through, as it says it Hebrews 1:1,
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.”
The path to God is Spiritual and True, it is Physical, and, it is found in Genealogy.
Spiritually, because Jesus tells us in John 4:24,
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Meaning we are lead by the Spirit of God in our lives that we live for Him, and, in our Worship, which we direct to Him.
Physically, because Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-10,
“That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
Meaning we must involve our own spirit, mind, and body in cooperation with the Spirit of God that dwells within us as He directs us along the path that He has laid out for us. But, this is not like riding on a train then getting off at the next stop. We have to take an active role in our own development. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:12
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence--continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…”
Additionally, we are strongly pressured by Jesus in Matthew 7:17, where He says,
“Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
In 1 Corinthians 12:3,
“Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, "Jesus be cursed," and no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit.”
Paul again references the physical role our bodies must play, in Romans 6:12,
“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”
Working these two [spiritually and physically] in each one of us, God is able to work through us genealogically. He is able to touch those generations that stretch out before us in time.
God took a man, Abraham, and, already knowing the outcome, set into motion spiritual and physical worship of Him by that man and his family. He was able, through Abraham, to establish a genealogical line that would lead span more than 14 generations, to Jesus Christ.
As we have mentioned before in a previous message, any generation that is not schooled or taught the Word of Truth about God, may have terrible, drastic results upon any future generations. The Bible tells us, and for good reason, in Proverbs 22:6 “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”
Do you want your grandchildren or great-grandchildren to grow up without God? Then train your children today. God works His will and His way through every generation.
The Bible is very explicit when it comes to genealogy.
(Genesis 9:12) And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:
(Genesis 17:7) I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
(Genesis 17:9) Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.
(Deuteronomy 23:2) No one born of a forbidden marriage nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation.
(Judges 2:10) After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.
God works outside of time and along all generations. Generations are very important to Him! They are so important that the word Generation is mentioned in the Bible 73 times and the word Generations [plural] occurs 79 times
It gives us an even better understanding and appreciation of God when we realize the tremendous knowledge, wisdom, and power that are needed in arranging specific events that are promised to happen at specific times through specific individual families throughout man’s history.
God is a God that is concerned with genealogy and the impact it has on our lives, namely, our salvation. He reached out into time and brought forth a line of descendants through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Joseph, and on down to David, with others, such as Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, and down to Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
2. In Chosen Men
God does work and will continue to work in and through generation after generation that love Him. Additionally, and most importantly, He also has worked “mightily” in men and women throughout history [his story].
The Bible is full of noble men and women that exhibited just a little more faith than others. Noah, a man of faith, was called upon to endure the ridicule of his neighbors for over 75 years as he labored on the ark. Think about that!
God worked mightily through his judges and prophets. There was Joshua, Deborah, Othniel, Isaiah, Jonah, Daniel, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Martha, Mary, Peter, Paul, and others, just to name a few.
If you were to go back and read the story of Samson, you would see that every time a special action was to be performed by Samson, it was always associated with the phrase, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him.
Other verses in the book of Judges are very similar.
(Judges 3:9~10) But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them. 10 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The LORD gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him.
(Judges 11:29) Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. [[Jephthah also made a bad decision when he asked the Lord to deliver the Ammonites into his hands]]
Just like you and I, these were people that relied upon the same childlike faith that is inherent in everyone that believes in God. They used that faith to rest in the fact that God was real to them. They used that faith to rest in the fact that He could and would manifest Himself to them through visions, dreams, power, people, animals, and weather to reveal His direction for them.
One such person was Gideon. Gideon lived in a time where everything was going wrong in Israel. The Israelites had turned away from the Lord once more, and they were feeling the repercussions, the consequences, of their actions. Things were getting so bad that many of the Israelites had taken to living in caves, mountain clefts and strongholds to escape invading armies. These armies were ruining their crops by marching across them and camping on them, and, stealing their crops and animals. It wasn’t just one group of people either, but the Bible tells us it was several groups of people [Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. (Judges 6:3)]
Let’s look at the story and the ‘type’ of faith that Gideon had. In Judges 6:11~22, the angel of the LORD meets Gideon and convinces Gideon to drive the invading armies out of Israel. We find out that Gideon’s faith seemed to be kind of weak compared to some of the other ‘chosen men & women’ of the Bible.
Gideon.questioned the LORD, (Judges 6:15) “But Lord, Gideon asked, how can I save Israel?....”, Not only did he question the Lord, but he also asked for signs, (Judges 6:17) “…give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.”
Is that any way for a man of God, a judge of Israel to act? Well…sometimes a person needs a little more confirmation that God is going to move. Sometimes a person needs a little more information about what God is about to do. Sometimes a person needs to feel more secure in the direction that God is leading them. There is nothing wrong with that! However, there is something wrong with a lack of assurance or belief. Gideon never doubted God’s power. Once Gideon found out ‘it’s the LORD,’ Gideon never doubted the power, wisdom, and will of the Lord. However, Gideon doubted himself. Gideon doubted that “HE” could deliver Israel. In Judges 6, Gideon said he [Gideon] could not save Israel. Then, with the fleece [putting the wool mat out] Gideon wanted to be sure that he [Gideon] was the one that was to save Israel. The only doubts that Gideon had were in himself. The only doubts we have are in ourselves. Which is justified, because Gideon did not do it alone. He used a few men, but, (Judges 7:22) “…the LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.”
It was the LORD that handed the enemy to Gideon, to Joshua, to Moses, and to Abraham, and it is the LORD that will hand the enemy over to YOU!
God manifested Himself to Abraham before He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. God manifested Himself to Gideon before He [the Lord] delivered Israel from Her enemies, and it was God, 2000 years ago, Who manifested Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ, who was God and is God and appeared unto men.
(1 John 1:2) “The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.”
3. In the Non-Believer
God has a plan for every human being. Whether they choose to follow the wonderful plan of life that He has to offer is another story. Sometimes they do, but, more often, and as the story of Noah and Abraham’s nephew Lot tells us, they do not. God has worked in, through, and over many non-believers throughout history for His own good. The Bible tells us that He hardened the heart of Pharaoh.
(Exodus 9:12) “But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said to Moses.”
Then later He washed him [Pharaoh] away in the Red Sea.
God worked through Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon {hard to tell if he became a believer later}. He worked through a donkey. He worked through Herod, who later fell down consumed with worms. He worked through Pilate at Jesus’ trial and He will continue to work through various other non-believers as we continue through “His story.”
