How Do We Share the Incarnation? (John 1:14–18)

Well, hello Bridges. This is Pastor Joshua, and the sermon question this week revolves around the incarnation. The sermon we had earlier this week was on John 1:14–18, which describes this idea of God becoming man, or the incarnation. And the question revolving around that text this week is, how do we share the incarnation?

There’s so much mission gospel here in these verses, 14 through 18. God in his heavenly realm comes down to earth to save sinners and save the world. He takes on human flesh, doing what we could not do so that we could enjoy what we were made for, dwelling with God. How in the world are we supposed to share this with our secular friends and neighbors, or with those who are not really religious, or those who are practicing other religions here in the Bay Area?

Two things I want to point out to you. First, do as Jesus did. God came down to dwell. That’s the unbelievable statement of this passage, that God, needing nothing in all of his perfection and glory, comes to dwell in the darkness. And this is an example for us. The question I want to pose to you, Bridges, is how are you dwelling with the darkness? Not participating in the darkness, but being a light in the darkness.

We can take cues from our Lord himself. But do not think that when you dwell with the darkness, when you are inviting people that are outside of the faith into your life or going to them, that they are necessarily going to accept you and embrace you and enthusiastically support you. That’s not what they did with Jesus. The darkness had rejected him, and how much more, in following in the steps of our Lord, they might reject us.

But the second thing I want to say to you, an encouragement to you, is that Jesus has completed the ultimate work. Jesus has come down and done what we could not do for both you and your neighbor, both you and your co-worker, both you and your family member that is not following Jesus, so that they could see their need for God and embrace him.

In practical ways, what does this look like? We’ve only been here a few weeks, but we are getting together with one of our neighbors. He lives a few houses down, and we walk in our neighborhood and we have our kids with us, and he has kids as well, and we struck up a conversation. By all accounts, it doesn’t seem like he is a Christ follower. So how can we dwell with him? We have this on the calendar: we’re going to hang out with him, have a play date, do a dinner with his family.

Me and my wife are on the hunt for, what are the things that you are after in life that only Jesus can satisfy? The typical things that are going to be on the list surely are career, family, financial security, romance. And with the incarnation of Jesus, I’m looking for inroads to say, how is that working out for you?

I’m also looking for ways, as we continue to dwell and develop our relationship, of what are those ways where sin is destroying him. Now, as I talk with him, and as I am deciphering and I’m on the hunt kind of like a detective, I’ll need to continue to dwell with him, both loving him but also bringing the truth of the incarnation to him.

And I have to be in prayer. It’s sort of scary, but I know that I’m not doing anything that my Lord has not already done a hundred thousandfold before me in becoming man as he was God. So hopefully that’s an encouragement to you as you think about how to share the incarnation with those who do not know the great thing that God has done in Jesus Christ, the incarnation.