Incarnational spirituality is the concept of word becoming flesh! John 1:1-5, 14 tells us …
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He (Jesus) was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
Jesus literally became the Word and He materialized all that was spoken. This means that all the law and all the prophecies were consummated and fulfilled in Him becoming flesh.
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)
The purpose of God becoming flesh was to fulfill not to abolish. There is an underlying subconscious belief that the law and the prophets became null and void because of Jesus. This has led us to a subconscious disregard for Biblical principles and precepts that are necessary even required in our life. You can actually hear a bit of frustration in Jesus’ voice when he spoke to His disciples in Luke 24:44 -
“He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” (Luke 24:44)
His presence within us in a literal manner by His Spirit empowers us to live out the law and the prophets. Another way of putting it is to flesh out the Word through Jesus living in us! This means that whatever is lacking in our lives with regard to obeying what is in the Word, indicates that we are coming up short of fulfilling the purpose of God in us. It is a sure way to not display Christ in me and therefore miss out on the glory of God!
- When we fail to pray and interact with the Father as Jesus did, we miss the glory!
- When we fail to spend time in the Word, we miss the glory of God!
- When we fail to walk a pathway He has chosen for us, despite the difficulty, we miss the glory!
- When we fail to fellowship with the Body of Christ and interact, we miss the glory of God!
- When we decide to refrain from true worship and respond to our flesh, we miss the glory of God!
- When we do not submit to the prophetic plans of God for our lives but choose our own ways and understanding, we miss the glory of God!
- When we do not obey God by holding back what He requires through the tithe, we miss the glory of God!
- When we do not love our neighbor and do good unto others, we miss the glory of God!
Do you understand? We are called to fulfill the law and the prophets just as Jesus did. The incredible thing about this is that because He has already accomplished the work, we are simply to submit to what He has done and allow His fulfillment of these things to work out through us in this world. This is what is meant by, “Christ in me, the hope of glory!”
“Let the same mind be in you as was in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)
In other words, let the same focus and purpose that was in Christ Jesus be the same focus and purpose for your own life! To understand this more deeply, we need to observe Colossians 3:1-11. I want you to notice what theologians call “the already-not yet” principle. We already have what we have in Christ, but we haven't really fully realized all of it yet.
"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your heart on things above, where Christ is seated at right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things, for you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which are idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge and the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all."
Values Issue: Set You Heart and Your Mind
The evidence of being raised with Christ is revealed by what you set you heart and mind on.
Value on Personal Purity: Right Standing with God
Value on Sacrificial Service: Right Interaction with Man
Value on Generous Giving: Right Connection with Kingdom
Humility Issue: Hidden with Christ in God for Christ is Your Life
The evidence of being dead to self is revealed by being positioned so that Christ alone is visible. This requires humility. What is Humility? Humility is not primarily an attitude toward oneself but towards God and others. It means:
A willingness to let God be God—to depend solely on His power.
To adopt the perspective and ways of the Lord as one’s own.
To accept in contrition the judgment of God when one falls short.
Humility is not a synonym for: 1) selflessness, 2) contempt for self or 3) a divinely sanctioned inferiority complex. Biblical humility is not negative but positive; it can lead us to lay down our lives for others (John 15:12-13). The best way to understand humility is attempting to see ourselves through God’s eyes rather than our own. Charles Spurgeon said that, "Humility is making a right estimate of one’s self."
Revelation Issue: At His Appearance, there will be Glory
Reject Idolatry
"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which are idolatry."
‘Put to death’ means to take action to destroy. It means to make a decision that this thing will no longer exist in me. We must reject the idea that it is a power too strong for me to deal with. This simply exalts the thing as a god (an idol) in my life. Therefore, I reject …
Sexual Immorality - Thoughts and Actions
Impurity - Thoughts and Deeds
Lust - Thoughts and Desires
Desires and Greed - Selfishness and Stinginess
Unless decisions are made from the heart to live a disciplined life of rejecting the earthly nature, the revelation of Christ released through me will not be experienced by others. The glory of God is hindered!
Refuse Hypocrisy
"Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self,"
‘Do not lie to each other’ simply means to be true in your new nature – the divine nature. To fall back into the patterns of the old self while making claims of spirituality or even Christianity, is to be a hypocrite!
Hypocrisy can also be defined as ‘a life contrary to the Word’. If the Word gives us instructions concerning a principle or a discipline to be lived out and we do not do it, yet we say we are a follower of Jesus Christ, we are liars and hypocrites! There is no excuse or justification for our actions contrary to the Word of God!
- The Word says to LOVE and Jesus the Word LOVES, but if we do not love as the Scriptures instruct, we’re hypocrites and the truth is not in us.
- The Word says to GIVE and Jesus the Word GIVES, but if we do not give as the Scriptures instruct, we’re hypocrites and the truth is not in us.
- The Word says to SERVE and Jesus the Word SERVES, but if we do not serve as the Scriptures instruct, we’re hypocrites and the truth is not in us.
Renewal Issue: Renewed in the Knowledge and the Image
"which is being renewed in the knowledge and the image of its Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all."
HERE – where? In the Knowledge and the Image of Christ! It is in this place that there is no Jew or Greek, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free. In other words, there is no status, rights, privileges, ethnicity or any thing else that could be a stumbling block to humility in Christ and the revelation of Christ. Thus, we give all that we are or hope to be in this life so that Christ is exalted and glorified! We are to constantly renew our lives to the process of incarnation by recommitting ourselves …
In the Knowledge – the ethical and divine application of truth.
The knowledge of Jesus means and intimate insight into the depths of God heart as expressed through the Word and the Spirit. This intimate insight drives us to a life of holiness and faithfulness. The lack of such is evidence of no intimate insight into God. By being positioned in this knowledge, all that I know of myself begins to fade including any ego, pride and feelings of self-sustainability.
In the Image – the exact representation of the expression of Christ.
The image is Jesus as the image of God.
“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, 16 for by Him all things were created both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:13-17)
We were made in the image of God that means that we were made in the image (Christ Jesus). Therefore, it is a process for us to be remade in that image upon being justified by grace through faith. This requires a constant renewal in the things of God.
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