Sequel to the Incarnation

Many good stories have sequels. The greatest story ever told is the story of the Incarnation—"The Word became flesh" (John 1:14). The sequel to this story is the exact opposite—"The flesh became Word." The Incarnation of the Son of God has already occurred once and for all. But the sequel is still being written moment by moment, day by day, century by century.

After Christ became incarnate, after the Word became flesh, He commanded His disciples to "go and tell."

In obedience to Christ's command, human flesh became Word. After coming face to face with the Word made flesh, the disciples could do nothing other than become flesh made Word. "We cannot but speak" was the only defense they offered for their actions (Acts 4:20, KJV). The Word became flesh at Bethlehem. For the sequel, go to Pentecost: "Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd" (Acts 2:14). The flesh had become Word. Over Bethlehem's dark streets a star shone brightly when the Word became flesh.

Over a dusty road to Damascus the sun shone hot when flesh became Word. A voice from heaven, a trip into town, a visit with Ananias, and soon the heart of Saul of Tarsus burned hot as the sun beneath which he had been struck blind. Turn a page or two in the book of Acts, and "standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: 'Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me'" (Acts 13:16). The flesh had become Word. Again and again it happened!

It occurred with people like Chrysostom, Augustine, Francis of Assisi, and hundreds of others who allowed their lives to become words of witness. The centuries passed. The Word grew faint. Then a German monk with fire in his blood echoed the words of Habakkuk and Paul: "The just shall live by faith." It changed history, for in Martin Luther the flesh again had become Word. John Wesley searched among the intellectuals at Oxford and among the Indians in Georgia, looking for a vital faith.

In 1738, when he was 34 years old, he found it in an evening worship service on London's Aldersgate Street when his heart was "strangely warmed" as a leader described the changes God works in the heart through faith in Christ. For half a century after his "Aldersgate" experience, from the sanctuary and from his saddle as a traveling evangelist, Wesley proclaimed the message of perfect love. Once again the flesh became Word. "We are indebted to give every man the gospel in the same measure as we have received it"-and the flesh became Word again in Phineas F. Bresee.

Today the world is still straining its ears listening for a word of hope. We have the message. After we have been to the manger, to the Cross, to the empty tomb, and to the upper room, we realize with final certainty that "we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:20, KJV). As we speak those things, we write a new chapter in the greatest story ever told. May the flesh become Word again and again in each of us, so that people everywhere may learn that once for all the "Word became flesh."

Rob L. Staples is emeritus professor of theology at Nazarene Theological Seminary.

Holiness Today, November/December 2006

Please note: This article was originally published in 2006. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.