Missional ReadingMissional Reading

The Incarnation

The Son ExperiencedThe Son Experienced

Hunger (Matthew 4:2)Thirst (John 19:28)Tiredness (John 4:6)Homelessness (Matthew 8:20)Pain (John 19:34)

 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,  7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—          even death on a cross!  9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

What The Son AcheivedWhat The Son Acheived

Victory over Satan (Col. 2:15)Reconciliation of Creation (Col. 1:20)Redemption (Eph. 1:7)

But this isn’t what we are interested in!

The Son Revealed GodThe Son Revealed God

God became open to human senses (1 John 1:1,2)

Demonstrated God’s Glory. (2 Cor. 4:6)

The Medium is the Message!

Jesus Versus The Bible!Jesus Versus The Bible!

Which is the most important revelation?– Can see Jesus in the Bible– In Church Tradition– Through the Work of the Spirit– In the Lives of Others

The Authority of the BibleThe Authority of the Bible

The Authority of the Bible Comes from God – Not the Other Way Round

The Incarnation as TranslationThe Incarnation as Translation

Incarnation is translation. When God in Christ became man, Divinity was translated into humanity, as though humanity were a receptor language. Here was a clear statement of what would otherwise be veiled in obscurity or uncertainty, the statement “This is what God is like.

Andrew Walls

The Incarnation as TranslationThe Incarnation as Translation

God’s loving desire to restore all creation to God’s self resulted in the joyful event and message of Jesus. The incarnation translates and embodies God’s love for creation.

Daryll Guder

The Son Was Not Generic HumanityThe Son Was Not Generic Humanity

He was born into a specific time, place, culture and language.

Acts: The Gospel TranslatedActs: The Gospel Translated

The early church took the translation of the Gospel from a Jewish to a gentile context very badly.

Compare: Acts 10:34, 35 with Galatians 2:11-14

Acts 15 – Council of Jerusalem

Messiah Becomes LordMessiah Becomes Lord

In this situation, translation involved devising a new Christology in which this familiar Jewish title became a proper name, now explained and applied by the addition of a word immediately recognized in the Gentile world, the ambiguous term ‘Lord’. The New Testament thus charts a progression in which the confession ‘Jesus is Messiah’ is expanded in the wider world shaped by Roman concepts to become ‘Jesus Christ (Messiah) is Lord’

David Smith

Messiah Becomes LordMessiah Becomes Lord

Jesus is Messiah – a Religious Statement.

Jesus is Lord – a Political One.

Moving the Gospel to New Cultures Unveils New Truths.

Translation of the GospelTranslation of the Gospel

“Translatibility is not merely a linguistic passage, limited to words, but a cultural appropriation for which the language becomes the primary medium and symbol, and the practices of faith become the tangible demonstration. The result of the process of translation was the formation of a mission community, a people of God in a particular place, sent and empowered by God to be gospel witnesses in that cultural context.” (Guder)

Incarnation is a Risky BusinessIncarnation is a Risky Business

So is Translation!

Problems in Translating the GospelProblems in Translating the Gospel

SyncretismChanging the MeaningIs Never CompleteChristians Don’t Like to Do it!

The translatability of the gospel is a challenge, even a shock for rebellious humans. As beings who are so concerned about control, we find the cultural openness of the gospel offensive. A translatabable gospel is fundamentally not controllable. It unsettles us to discover that faithfulness to Christ can, in clutures different from ours, look different from the patterns we have evolved . (Guder)

Translated Gospel: Good or Bad?Translated Gospel: Good or Bad?

What effect does a translated gospel have on a culture?

Translated Gospel or Bible?Translated Gospel or Bible?

Translating the Bible is a part of the process of translating the Gospel to produce authentic, indigenous Christian groups.