The Word Became Flesh: The Body Of Christ

The Word Became Flesh:

The Body of Christ

The Word Became Flesh is how John describes the incarnation of Jesus. Incarnation is from Latin which means “in-flesh-ment.” God became flesh and lived among us.

John 1:1, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

What an awesome reality! Jesus, equal with God and Creator of the universe, became a human being just like you and me. He did not merely appear as a man or “possess” the body of a man. He became just like us. This remarkable activity served to reveal the Father to us. He was Immanuel, God with us.

John 1:18  No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

Matthew 1:23 The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel“–which means, “God with us.”

If you’ve seen Jesus, you have seen the Father.

John 14:9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

No more is God to be seen as cold, detached, or far away. He is not to be identified solely through his mighty works or stories in a book. Jesus is the in-the-flesh revelation of the heart and character of God. Jesus’ compassion, love, self-sacrifice, passion, and holiness serve as a message from God about Himself. Furthermore, as a man, Jesus provides a path for us to follow.

Sunday’s lesson deals with this latter point. As followers of Jesus, we carry on his ministry to bear witness to the heart and character of God. Unlike Jesus, we are not God, but as his life is lived through ours, the word becomes flesh again through us. Consider, how the church is described.

1 Corinthians 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Ephesians 4:11-13 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The chorus of Casting Crowns’ If We are the Body communicates well the point I wish to share.

But if we are the body

Why aren’t His arms reaching?

Why aren’t His hands healing?

Why aren’t His words teaching?

And if we are the body

Why aren’t His feet going?

Why is His love not showing them there is a way?

There is a way…