The Way: Incarnate Series

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: