The Incarnation Is Not a Bunch of Flowers - Why Does it Matter?
What is the Incarnation and Why Does it Matter?
Incarnation is not a bouquet of flowers. It was the real event that took place where God became man, lived in Mary’s womb and was born into our world. But why? The obvious answer is to provide for us what we couldn’t, namely salvation that is a result of grace through faith, from a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8,9 NKJV) For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
But there is a lot more that has been accomplished by God through the incarnation. In fact, there may be one thing you hadn’t thought of.
Today, is an excellent day to settle this out.
Who are you?
No, really.
Who are you in point of fact. Are you defined by where you came from? Are you defined by your family of origin? Are you defined by who you are in relationship with, or what you do for a living? Are you defined by your hobbies and recreational activities?
Intimacy and Identity
What is your identity?
What if God is not the “window we look through to see who we are becoming,” but, the “mirror in which we look to see who we already are? - Chris Gore
Look at the quote above, “What if God is not the “window we look through to see who we are becoming,” but, the “mirror in which we look to see who we already are?”
One of these is full of striving, the other is a natural outcome of intimacy. Let me explain.
Remember a few months ago I spoke of our RAS (reticular activating system)? (You can read the article here.) As you direct your mind to focus on something that it filters out all other information, which is always abundant, and instead you see what is now deemed important. That is why a couple of weeks ago in my teaching, I spoke about the lunacy of focusing on sinning less, rather than being consumed by being with Him. Even in the negative, if I focus on not sinning, I will begin to be shaped by the sin rather than the solution, Jesus.
Now back to our “window/mirror” quote by Chris Gore. If I look through the window and constantly see what I am not, and what I have to do to get there, my focus will be on what I lack, my effort, and the space between. That is a sad condition indeed!
Now, dial into this, the Bible says that if I hold to this view and do not see the “mirror” as a reflection of who I already am, that this is a “vain imagination” which must be broken and replaced with the truth that, I am “in Christ” already, and being changed by Him into something altogether new! I must fix my eyes to see what is real, and not what I think is real.
The Bible addresses this look into a mirror in one of my favorite passages.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NKJV) Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
A mirror image is close, intimate and denotes you are seeing what is, not what could be and you are not. His glory, His personage and being, are what we are being transformed/transfigured into, as we stay focused on Him.
Remember the promise of Isaiah? The words are bit different, but the promise and principle are there.
Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
We need upgrades in trust that we are like God and dial into Him and “keep our mind stayed” on His newness, nearness and union with us.
Becoming Reattuned
How do I mine into this reality that I am already like Him?
First, renewing your mind.
I get it, everything comes back to renewing the mind around us. Well, it’s true. In this case, we have to agree with God that He is in us and we are in Him, in perfect union. I would begin by studying this in the word to give you Biblical structure to arrange your thoughts (your meditation) around.
Then, I would delve deep into intimacy. At home, I would worship. I know that some of you have too much to do to devote time to worship, but try this: Set your heart on God and turn your affection to Him. Then, put on some worship music to play around the house, and go about your business. Watch what happens as your are able to complete your work and set an atmosphere of praise.
At work, if you have control over your work space, try doing the same thing. If you cannot do that, then start your day by inviting His presence into your work routine, whether desk, store, or classroom. When you take your breaks or lunch, schedule an alarm and label it “Turn to God”. When the alarm goes off, take a moment and again, turn your affections to God. Talk with Him about work challenges, successes, and everything else in-between. He is experiencing these things with you because you are in Him and He is in you.
You can never be disconnected from God, but you can heighten your consciousness to be more aware of Him.
The more you invite Him into your reality, and spend time with Him, the more you are developing intimacy with God. Then, when you come to our family gatherings on Sunday, your worship will come from a spring of abundant water and flow out to God with the brothers and sisters!
You see, His incarnation (being born into our world as fully God and fully man, experiencing life without sin and disconnection with God, death, burial and resurrection, etc.), wasn’t just about us being saved, but about us being His and His being ours. Union. Intimacy. Identity. It’s what we were born again for. These things give us the alignment we need for our assignment that we invest in.
A Final Word
So, even in this busy season of the holidays, in fact, I would say that this season lends itself to this reflection much more interestingly because we are celebrating the incarnation, set your heart to draw near to Him.
This is the season to get your identity settled and run next year's race with a new, true perspective!
We really want to invite you to join us for Vanguard 2022, our annual prophetic conference! There will be deep worship, powerful ministry and amazing speakers to help us possess our prophetic futures. On tap for this year is Pastor Jacob Schriener of New Life Foursquare Ministries in Laurel, Montana. Jacob brings a pastoral prophetic perspective to our gathering. Also speaking and ministering this year is Sonny Weimer, a powerful prophetic intercessor who has ministered around the globe and is connected with FCOP Cildren's homes in Cambodia. Click here to sign up, IT'S FREE! and join us January 21-23, 2022
For Fun
Order Chris Gore's book here!
