Musings on Spiritual Matters

God continues his missional activity through the incarnation of his son, Jesus.  There is no greater example of the missional ethos than God himself sending himself to earth to participate in the affairs of man.  The incarnation provides much of the paradigm of the missional church.  The term “incarnation” is not found directly in the inspired text, but comes from the actions of John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  In Darrell L. Guder’s ground breaking work called “The Incarnation and the Church’s Witness” he defines this term:

Incarnation is one of the distinctive words in the Christian vocabulary to summarize the gospel event of Jesus Christ…With this statement, the evangelist created a powerful picture of God moving into the flesh, in-carnus…It emphasizes that God is active and decisive, that God has taken the initiative in the healing of broken and sinful culture.[1]

The incarnation provides the paradigm for Christian missional activity.  Christians model mission on the mission of God in sending Jesus Christ to earth.  The incarnation is foundational theology for the missional movement.  Frost and Hirsch echo the same attitude in stating:

For us the incarnation is an absolutely fundamental doctrine, not just as an irreducible part of the Christian confession, but also as a theological prism though which we view our entire missional task in the world.  So when we talk of incarnational mission, we hope to, in some real way, directly draw inspiration and motivation from that unique act whereby God entered into our world and into the human condition in the person of Jesus Christ.[2]

Frost and Hirsch flush this doctrine out by providing four values in a missional incarnational approach.  First, incarnation provides a means by which the gospel can become a genuine part of the people without damaging the innate cultural framework that is amorally inherent with the people.  Second, incarnational mission will mean that in reaching a people, there is the need to identify with them in all ways possible without compromising the truth of the gospel itself.  Third, incarnational mission implies a real and abiding presence among the people.  Fourth, incarnational mission implies a sending impulse rather than an extractional one.[3]

There are two foundational verses in the incarnation.  The first one is John 1:14.  This verse speaks into the doctrine that the second person of the Trinity assumed human nature.  The message of the text is that the eternal Logos came to earth to meet the needs of the people as well as reveal God fully to humanity.[4] John shockingly mentions in this text that “the word became flesh.”  This was in contrast to some of the religious thought in the Hellenistic world.  If John had stated that the word assumed manhood or adopted a form of a body, this would have been in line with the dualism in the culture, but John boldly states that Jesus, the word, became flesh.  MacLeod defines this term “became” by stating: “that the Word without ceasing to be, or being any less, the Word, became also flesh.”[5]

In the sections before verse 14, the clauses allude to Exodus 33:7-34:35.  More than likely, verse 14 follows this line of thought.  In this section of Exodus, it is referring to the “tent of meeting.”  This is significant because this was the place where God would speak to Moses face to face, as friends.  Exodus 33:11a states, “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend….”  In Exodus, there is a flow of revelation to Moses from God.  Moses hears the divine word spoken by God, and this word is then given to Moses on two tablets of stone.  But now, according to John, this word has become flesh.[6] And this deity in the flesh was not an aloof presence above the people, but rather according to John, “dwelt among us.”   Another term for “dwelt” in this context would be “tabernacle” or “pitched a tent.”  The expression in the first century meant “settling down permanently in a place.”[7] This would fit within the context of John. During the time in the wilderness, the tabernacle was commanded to be erected by God.   This was the location where God was with the people.  Exodus 25:8 states, “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.”   Perhaps the image is provoked in the mind of John’s readers because of its associations with the Shekinah, or God’s presence.[8] This seems correct because of the later mention of “his glory” in the verse.  In the same matter, but more in a personal way, the word became flesh to dwell among the people of God.[9] And the text states that “we have seen his glory.”  The term “seen” is in the aorist tense, which indicates that it focuses not on a single event but the entire earthly ministry of Jesus.[10] Jesus was more than sent to earth by the Father; Jesus was sent to create a presence among the people.  This is the foundational understanding of the work of the missional church.  Instead of merely sending disciples to the lost, the incarnation of Jesus informs the church of the need to create a presence among the lost in order for sinners to see the glory of God.

The second pivotal verses concerning Jesus and the missio dei are Philippians 2:5-11.  This ancient hymn[11] is worded like this:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is a magnificent hymn.  There is a multiplicity of distinctive doctrines extolled in these verses.  The ideas of the preexistence of Christ, his deity, his equality with God the father, Christ’s incarnation and true humanity, his voluntary death on the cross, his glorious exultation, and his triumph over evil are mentioned in these concise verses.[12] For the purposes of this theology, the major points of this exegesis will surround the incarnation of Christ.  In this section of scripture, verse 6b notes Christ’s pre-incarnate choice.  The text states, “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.”  Jesus enjoyed the divine position of equality with God, nevertheless, he did not grasp on to this privilege.  Instead of accepting that divinity has honor and power, and instead of staking everything to himself, Jesus did the opposite which was giving everything away.  Instead of seeing deity as an opportunity to excuse him from the task of redemptive suffering and death, rather this perfectly qualified him for this role in the salvific history of man.[13] Jesus was willingly participating in the missio dei God.

Verses 7-8 note the incarnation of Jesus: “But made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  The second stanza of Paul’s great hymn mentions that Jesus “emptied himself.”  There is some debate among the scholars concerning the meaning and intention of this term.  MacLeod does an excellent job of outlining the various explanations for this idea. He ultimately ends his discussion by proving this definition of the term: “the thought, rather, is a poetic one.  Christ ‘poured out himself,’ that is, he put himself totally at the disposal of people.”[14] This seems to fit the context of the verse because of the late mention of the humiliation of Christ.  He became a slave so that man might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9).  Jesus purposely chooses to come to earth in order to carry out the mission of God.  The finality of this work is the crucifixion, which secures the salvation for all men who come to him in faith.  Once again, the expression of the second member of the Trinity provides a paradigm for the Christian community.  Instead of being a people of position and power, Christians are willing to sacrifice privilege and honor in order to be sent to declare the glory of God to the lost while participating in the culture around them.

Often the church has highlighted the death of Jesus in the missio dei, but this is only half of the story for the coming of Jesus Christ.  Jesus was also on earth to declare the kingdom of God with power.  Jesus did more than die for the sins of man, he declared to man the nature of the Father.  Jesus revealed the concerns of God.  One of the most insightful sections of verses outlining the mission of Jesus while on earth is Luke 4:18-19:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

In these verses Jesus is announcing the in-breaking of the kingdom of God.  Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1-2.  This reading defines what the Messianic role is.[15] Jesus was sent in order to restore the purity to the world.  Jesus’ mission was larger than merely salvific but was one of restoration.  Jesus proclaimed liberty, recovery, and favor to those who were oppressed through the powers of darkness.  As the church continues to model the mission of God, one of the most important aspects is this overturning of the kingdom of darkness.  Christians participate with Jesus in setting aright that which is wrong.  The church unites with Christ in accomplishing the work of the Father.  Often Christians respond to Jesus through a desire to merely imitate the characteristics of Jesus.  A Christian should desire to be loving, compassionate, merciful, and bold like Jesus, but there is more to following in the footsteps of Christ.  Andrew Purves states “the Christian life is participatio Christi, not imitatio Christi.”[16] As the Trinity participates in one another’s mission, the church participates in Christ’s mission.  The church joins with the Godhead in the restoration of creation.

[2] Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, The Shaping of Things to Come (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2003), 35.

[3] Frost and Hirsch, 37-39.

[4] David J. MacLeod, “The Incarnation of the Word: John 1:14” Bibliotheca Sacra 161 (2004): 73.

[5] Ibid. 76.

[6] D.A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 126-127.

[7] MacLeod, 77.

[8] Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John, Vol. 1 (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2003), 408.

[9] Carson, 127.

[10] MacLeod, 78.

[11] There is mostly agreement that this is an early Christian hymn that was produced by the community of Christ to exult Christ.  There is extensive debate over the origins of this poem, in reference to the tradition that is mentioned in the text to extra-biblical sources.  Ralph P. Martin and Gerald F. Hawthorne, Philippians, Word Biblical Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson 2004), 99-104.

[12] David J. MacLeod, “Imitating the Incarnation of Christ: An Exposition of Philippians 2:5-8 Bibliotheca Sacra 158 (2001):308.

[13] Ibid. 316.

[14] Ibid. 319.

[15] Fred B. Craddock, Luke, Interpretation (Louisville: Knox Press, 1990), 62.

[16] Andrew Purves, Reconstructing Pastoral Theology (Louisville: Knox Press, 2004), 40.

Related posts:

1. Missio Dei through the Holy Spirit
2. Review of “Why Jesus”
3. Not a Job for Jesus
4. Missio Dei through the Church
5. Individuality in Christ

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This entry was posted by Matthew on Wednesday, April 20th, 2011 at 10:43 am and is filed under Church News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.