Over the course of the next several weeks will be encountering theological terms that many of us are most likely not familiar with. At least they probably aren't part of our everyday vocabulary. Hopefully, during this time, not only will we become more familiar with them, they will become useful to us in our desire to both know Christ and to make him known. This week, within the context of our teaching time, we will be looking closely at the term "incarnation". Let me tell you upfront that you won't see that term anywhere in the Bible. It is not a biblical term, it is a theological term that describes a biblical reality...much like the term trinity. "Incarnation" techinically is the term that describes the idea in John 1 which tells us that "The Word (meaning Jesus) became flesh". That is known as "Incarnation" (big I). It applies to us "incarnation" (little i) as is taught by Paul in Phillipians 2 as it is ascribed to Jesus and then indicated that we are to model it. There is both the theological truth and the accompaning action that is required for us to model that truth. This week we will see that this will lead us to two terms that may be a bit more "everyday" language for us to wrestle with. These are the terms proximity and presence. One term deals with location and one deals with a personal investment in the location. Feel free to read ahead, either in our texts (John 1:1-18, Philippians 2:5-11) or in chapter 2 of "Missional Essentials". I would encourage you to pray over these texts and see how they are revealed to you in the coming days as we prepare for Sunday.
Based on all the stuff we often experience as humanity everyday (how we feel, think, act and what we say) it is sometimes hard to relate to even the dot above the "i," let alone the little i itself.
ReplyDelete