LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Word Was Made Flesh
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... And the Word was made flesh" (John 1:1, 4).
The word Word here, in the Greek, is Logos, which is also translated Word. Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh. That which up to that time was only heavenly, became also earthly. That is why he is also called Emmanuel, which means: "God with us". The great wonder of the gospel is that God took the form of man; that the ineffable came to men in human form and with the language of men.
God's will is that not only Jesus is the Word incarnate, but also those who belong to Jesus, the children of God. When the message reaches man, it first touches his spirit, to vivify it, to begin its transforming work from there, through the soul and even the body. The message of the gospel is not fundamentally for the mind, but for the heart. It is to transform the person, not merely to inform him.
"The Word became flesh". This wonderful phrase was perfectly fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only what he said was the Word of God, but also what he was demonstrated that it was the Word. How necessary it is that this also be fulfilled today in the children of God.
"Now I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD is truth in thy mouth" (1 Kings 17:24), said the widow of Zarephath to Elijah, after he had brought her son back to life. This woman would not have said that if Elijah had multiplied the flour and oil, but she would not have been able to solve the problem of the boy's death. Elijah was fully living the coherence between faith and experience. His level of growth, of maturity as a servant of God, allowed him to embody the Word.
A man who knows theology or the Bible is so different from one who eats, breathes, embodies and inspires the faith he professes. He may be a simple man, without much human knowledge; he may not possess that which society esteems as 'cultured', but in him, the truth of God has left its stamp. He may not be refined, nor conformed to social customs or usages; yet there is something in him, almost indefinable, that brings us the aroma of heaven, an effortless holiness, an unadorned frankness, a true love.
Many days and nights will probably have to pass; there will have to be many pains and tears and many "birth pangs", with successive acts of renunciation, of repentance and self-judgment, before this precious incarnation is possible in every Christian. Nevertheless, it is necessary for the Word to become flesh again.