"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... and the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:1, 14

THE DEFINITION OF INCARNATE. To incarnate is to give substance or bodily form to something. Jesus was the incarnation of God as He took on human, tangible, physical form and dwelt among us. Jesus was the incarnation of God's love to lost people. Today we are the incarnation of His love to lost people. Believers give substance and bodily form to the Gospel. We are the Gospel in flesh and blood ... His good news in human, tangible, physical form.

LOVING LOST PEOPLE. God is our model for loving lost people. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" John 3:16. Jesus came to us ... loved us ... and died for us while we were lost. We need to follow God's example of love. We should love lost people. He has given us instructions in how to love the lost, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

JESUS AND PAUL. Jesus taught about how we should incarnate the Gospel in His parables about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the two lost sons. He also demonstrated it in His interactions with lost people. He incarnated the Gospel as He made meaningful contact with the woman at the well in Samaria ... as He made meaningful contact with the tax collector Levi ... and as He made meaningful contact with the businessman Zaccheus. We should follow the example of Jesus. Paul taught about incarnating the light of the Gospel as ambassadors and as clean vessels. Paul also demonstrated incarnation in giving his life to lost people. Paul's life was an expression of God's love for the lost. We should follow his example.

OUR INCARNATION. We are the incarnation of the Gospel in our dark and lost world. Following the instruction of the Word and the examples of Jesus and Paul, we should make meaningful contact with non-believers. Incarnating the Gospel involves taking the Gospel to them ... demonstrating it ... living it ... and offering it. Incarnating the Gospel is not a program ... not a project ... not a gimmick ... and not a harvest mechanism. It is a way of life ... a life of loving the lost ... a life of living for them. Incarnating the Gospel is God's love flowing through us to lost people.

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