Toward an Incarnational Theology 08-21-15

The door to encountering God (wherever God chooses to show up) is being able to accept the possibility that God will show up anywhere God wants to show up. Central to this theological paradigm is the incarnation, God’s choice to show up on earth in the human form of Jesus of Nazareth.

Here’s the way the gospel writer John (a disciple of Jesus) put it: “So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.” (John 1:14, NLT)

The phrase “lived here on earth” literally means “pitched his tent” in the original language. This is a direct allusion to the Old Testament story of how God gave directions for the people of Israel to build a portable temple, a large tent or “tabernacle” to house the presence of God. The design of that tabernacle (including compartments, furniture, lay out) was later incorporated into a permanent structure in Jerusalem built of stone by King Solomon which became one of the great wonders of the ancient world.

It’s important to note that even at this early stage, some people were able to recognize that God did not and could not dwell in an earthly structure. Take a look at the words Solomon himself prayed, at the dedication of that temple: “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built.” (1 Kings 8:27, NIV)

Still, to most Jews, this tabernacle or temple was considered the most sacred place on earth because God’s presence was there. If you wanted to encounter God, you went to the temple in Jerusalem or you stood outside the tabernacle in the wilderness wherever the tabernacle was set up as the people wandered from their slavery in Egypt to the promised land of freedom in Canaan. The point is, the presence of God was localized in a structure, first the mobile tabernacle and later the permanent temple.

So, as John the disciple wrote, when Jesus came, He (the new tabernacle of God) brought the presence of God into human flesh and took that presence with Him wherever He went. No longer was God only in the temple. God was now in a person. And the stories of Jesus in the Gospels describe what happened when people encountered God through Jesus.

But then the theology became even more transformational. According to the New Testament, after Jesus left earth and returned to God, (whom Jesus had the nerve to call “Father,” claiming a shocking intimacy of relationship) the believers became the body of Christ. Jesus now lived on through the life of the new spiritual community established in His name. God’s presence was made manifest through the wider body. “Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27, NLT)

God was choosing to incarnate Himself, not just with Jesus anymore, but with His followers. Notice the language of temple and tabernacle in this text: “We are God’s house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:20-22, NLT)

This radical paradigm suggested that God chose to bring His presence into not just one location in the desert or at Jerusalem, and not in just one person in the form of Jesus, but now in many people in many places all over the globe. God’s presence is made manifest through His people.

That’s why John the disciple, when he wrote some letters to believers in the Middle East, expanded this paradigm by suggesting a powerful and profound implication: “Let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8, NLT)

God exists where love exists. God’s presence is experienced and encountered when love is experienced and encountered. In fact, the text suggests that even people who may not know Jesus or God personally but who manifest genuine love and compassion are providing an encounter with God.

So now the incarnational theology extends full length: God is in the tabernacle moving around in the desert; God is localized in the temple in Jerusalem; God is in the person Jesus all over Palestine and Judea; God is manifested through the global community of believers; and God is even encountered through people who genuinely love and care even though they may not know God or Jesus personally. Wherever love is, God is, because God is love.