Discipleship: Incarnation

July 2010

God’s purpose, past, present, and future is that every believer become like Christ (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18; 1 John 3:2). If we claim to follow Christ we must be like Christ in the way we think, speak, and act (1 John 2:6). That the life of the Christian is to resemble the life of his Master is no secret. Jesus himself stated it in Luke 6:40, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but when the disciple is fully formed he will be like his teacher” (see also Eph 5:1-2; Phil 2:1-11). A definition of a disciple is one who is learning to become like Jesus for the sake of others.

In his “farewell book” to the Church called Radical Discipleship, John Stott offers a simple outline Christlikeness: to live like Christ in his incarnation, service, love, endurance, and mission. Today my goal is to struggle with an understanding of how Christians follow the example of Christ in his incarnation (becoming human).

Every follower of Jesus must be like his Master in his incarnation. An aspect of the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in us is to make of us little “Christs” or incarnated copies of Jesus in our world. The incarnation of Christ proper is an event never to be repeated. No one else will die for our sins, will be born the Son of God and the Son of Man at the same time, will live a sinless life, is God in the flesh appearing to take humanity unto himself in Jesus of Nazareth.

But this is not the end of the matter. We are in deed called to follow the example of Jesus in his incarnation:
Have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:
Who being in very nature God,
Did not consider equality with God something
To be used to his advantage;
Rather, he made himself nothing
By taking the very nature of a servant,
Being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human being,
He humbled himself
By becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

The incarnation is the supreme act of humility; the act where God takes humanity into his divine self in Christ. Four words spoken by Jesus at the last supper guide us into this humility of Christ, which we are to copy: Taken, blessed, broken, and given. I am suggesting that what Jesus spoke he also lived as God in the flesh and can be a model of incarnational or humble living for his followers.

Now the last time I checked I was not going out of my way looking for humility. But pride confronts me constantly! I come by it naturally being human and all. So my challenge and yours is to cultivate humility, that is, to copy Jesus in being taken, blessed, broken, and given.

To live in the world as Christ lived in the world in humility we too must be willing and actually go through the same humiliation as our Master. This earns us nothing. We can only do it by grace. But it will show the world that we are not above our Master.

TAKEN: Jesus accepted his humiliation, the denying, mocking, rejecting, insulting, belittling, spitting, and crucifying in obedience to his Father’s will. What he prayed in the garden was a repeat of what the Father and the Son agreed upon eternally! HE was willing to be taken for the good of the world, so must we.

BLESSED: As Jesus humbled himself by being a blessing to foes, fiends, and friends, so must we. Wherever Jesus went, he brought a blessing with him. The blind see, the lame walk and the poor have the gospel preached to them, a cup of water here, a visit to the jail there we become the blessing of Christ to our world. Some stuck up religionists did not receive him. These too he blessed by forgiving them “for they knew not what they do”. Living humbly in the manner of Christ is to determine to live in such a way as to be a blessing to someone each day.

BROKEN: As Jesus humbled himself by being broken sacrificially without demanding his own way or his rights, so must we. As a sheep going to the slaughter he opened not his mouth. He was willing to be broken on behalf of us all. He entered the broken lives of every willing person around him. There is no shortage of brokenness around us. Enter and bring a blessing as you do.

GIVEN: As Jesus gave all, not keeping any of his energies or resources (divine and human) for the sake of others so must we. When much is demanded of us, we shirk not the opportunity to be given for the good of the world. We give of ourselves and our energies and resources without expecting a return on investment in this life but with the assurance that we give not in vain.

Incarnational living, living in the humility of Christ, is what those who are intent on walking with the Master do. They do it humbly in the full assurance that to be taken, to be a blessing, to be broken, and to be given for the sake of the world is their primary calling in life. May it be yours and mine!

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