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HEBREWS, Part 1

Published August 30, 2011 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: eternal glory, Hebrews, Incarnation, Son of God

The letter to the Hebrews is different from all other New Testament letters. For one thing, it is anonymous. With respect to the KJV, the apostle Paul almost certainly did not write it. The simple fact is, we have no idea who is responsible for writing this most remarkable letter. However, as we read it, we realize that while the human agent may be unknown, the Holy Spirit is clearly behind each and every sentence.

We also don’t know who the intended recipient or recipients were. The salutation is non-existent. Based on the content of this letter, we can be sure that the author is writing to Hebrew Christians; but beyond that, we don’t where they lived, when the lived, or where they went to church. However, given the nature of this letter, it could easily have been written to any group of believers, in any location, at any time in history. Hebrews transcends time and space. This is the dynamic, spiritual quality of the Word of God.

The first four verses constitute a powerful introduction of the Person and work of Jesus Christ. The author points to Jesus as being superior to all heavenly beings. In the Greek, these four verses are one, single, powerful sentence designed to show the difference between the old, partial revelation from God through His prophets and the new, complete revelation through His Son.

1. The God who spoke, 1:1-2a

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways…

It is significant that the subject of the very first verb is “God.” In this letter, God is continually on the mind of its author. He uses the word 68 times in throughout the letter, which is an average of about once in ever 73 words. No other book in the New Testament mentions God as often.

As was mentioned, the author dispenses with the usual greetings and salutations and dives right into his subject. With this first phrase, the inspired writer refers, not to a general revelation to all people, like God revealing Himself through nature or man’s conscience, but to a special revelation, given to specific men (prophets) of the nation of the Hebrews.

In Genesis, the first thing God is seen doing is creating the material universe. Here in Hebrews, the first thing God is acknowledged as doing is speaking in a variety of ways. How did God communicate to His people? Consider:

Moses and the burning bush, Exodus 3;

Elijah in a still, small vice, 1 Kings 19;

Isaiah in a vision in the Temple, Isaiah 6;

Hosea in his family circumstances, Hosea 1;

Amos in a basket of fruit, Amos 8

In the Old Testament, in the days before Christ, God spoke in a variety of ways to individuals. He may have spoken in dreams and visions, through angelic visitors in the night, through the Urim and Thummin, through symbols, or through nature. There seemed to be no end to the variety of ways God used to get His message through to certain individuals so they in turn could give it to the nation of God’s people.

When the author uses the term “prophets,” he isn’t necessarily referring to only to those who preached and prophesied, but also to those who wrote the books of the Old Testament and those who read them. Moses, David, Ezra, and Nehemiah would be included, along with the likes of Jeremiah and Malachi. What God said through Moses to the Israelites in the desert, He also spoke to Ezra and Nehemiah and their people through the Books of Moses as they were read aloud.

God spoke in the past, then, through what the Old Testament writers recorded in written form as history, psalm, proverb, and prophecy. As far as the writer to the Hebrews was concerned, the “prophets” were simply all those saints, called by God and anointed with His Spirit to speak and write the Word as a progressive revelation that pointed toward the coming of Christ, thousands of years later, as God’s final and complete Word to all mankind. Peter echoed a similar sentiment over in the New Testament:

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things. (1 Peter 1:10-12)

…but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son… (verse 2a)

“In these last days” is a striking contrast with “In the past,” signifying that though the days or times may have changed, God has continued to speak to His people. God’s revelation, in other words, cannot be disassociated from the history of the world. In fact, the opposite is true: the events of history served to buttress the truth of God’s Word.

And even though “in these last days” God has effectively stopped speaking the way He did “in the past,” both parts of God’s revelation–the old, fragmented part and the new completed part–constitute one, single unit of revelation because there is but one Revealer. There is ONE God, therefore there is ONE revelation. The Word spoken by God to the forefathers in the past does not differ in essence from the Word spoken to us by His Son. There is a continuity between the Old Testament and New.

There is, however, a difference. Jesus Christ is seen throughout Hebrews as the complete and culminating revelation of God to man. He is God’s full and final Word to all men. Everything prior to Christ is partial and preparatory. Every word after Christ is merely the restatement or clarification of what God spoke through His Son.

But it wasn’t just through the verbal teachings of Jesus that God spoke; it was through all the remarkable events of our Lord’s life and ministry: His virgin birth, His sinless life, His work of redemption, His death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus Christ’s whole existence, His whole reason for being, was to deliver, personally, the full revelation of God to man.

2. The Incarnate Son, 1:2b-3

a. His mission, verse 3d

…he had provided purification for sins…

Note how the author states what Christ’s mission was: He provided purification for sins. Jesus Christ did it; He did not attempt it. The mission of Christ is an accomplished fact. The word “purification” comes from the Greek katharismos, and usually means “ritual cleansing,” but here it refers to the complete and absolute removal of sin. Not only that, the idea of cleansing cannot be ignored. Sin stains. Sin corrupts the sinner. Christ’s work of cleansing not only removes the sin from the sinner, but it cleans the sinner! As if that’s not enough, the verb “provided” is in the aorist tense. The cleansing done for every repentant sinner is based on a past action: Christ’s action, once and for all.

b. His Person, verses 2b-3

These Hebrew believers needed to understand that the humiliation of our Lord was but a brief interlude between His preexistent glory and its resumption after the Ascension. While these Hebrews were undoubtedly Christian converts, they were in danger of drifting back into their old way of thinking. Remember, to the Jew, the Cross was an offence; it was a sign of weakness and defeat instead of victory and power. These Hebrew believers needed to be reminded of what the Cross really meant in terms of Jesus Christ. So, just who is the Son of God?

First, He is seen as the agent of God’s awesome power, verse 2.

…through whom also he made the universe…

As “the heir of all things,” Jesus Christ is the lawful owner of every created thing in the universe. The power and significance of this thought cannot be overstated. As the lawful owner of all creation, Jesus did not come to negotiate with Satan, but to defeat him.

While God may be the Creator, it was through His Son that He created all things. The word translated as “universe” is tous aionas, means literally “the ages.” What a staggering thought. Jesus Christ, the originator of time, and all the things that fill it. Jesus Christ, the eternal Logos–the eternal Word–that proceeded from the mind of God.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (John 1:10, 11)

Second, the Son is the expression of God’s Person, verse 3a

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…

The word “radiance” is useful word and may be translated in different ways. Perhaps a better way to understand it is “reflection.” Jesus Christ is the very reflection of God’s glory. The moon receives its light from the sun and we see that reflected light here on earth. The moon itself doesn’t generate light, it has no light apart from the sun. Similarly, we may picture Jesus Christ as the radiant light coming from the Father as sunlight comes from the sun. In other words, we see the glory of God in the Son of God.

But even more than that, Jesus is the exact representation of God’s being. This is much more than the image of God in which man was created. The word for “exact representation” is an rare and unusual Greek word, charakter, and it refers to the image stamped on a coin, for example. The RSV translates charakter in such a way as to bring this out:

The Son…bears the very stamp of his nature…

The Amplified Bible renders the phrase:

He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature…

Third, Jesus Christ, the Son of God is the Sustainer of all creation, verse 3c

…sustaining all things by his powerful word.

Not only is Christ the great Architect of the ages, He literally holds it all together; He is the superglue that keeps all the atoms from blowing apart! The word “sustaining” really means “to carry forward.” In other words, the Son of God holds the universe together and is carrying it to its designated end. What’s truly remarkable is that Jesus does this work simply with a mere utterance. The mighty Son of God, ruler of the universe, says one word and all things listen in obedience to His voice.

As awesome as that thought may be, the final phrase speaks of the the greatest work of the Son:

After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

The redemptive work of Christ is the main theme of this letter. It is through this work that the Son of God has made God’s nature known to man. Through the ministry of Jesus, we see God’s unparalleled love, grace, mercy, justice, holiness and righteousness. Thanks to the work of Christ on the Cross, all sin is purged from all creation; our personal sins and all creation is purged from sin. This amazing work was done once, for all. Our Lord accomplished it by Himself.

The last phrase of verse 3 affirms the Son’s Lordship. “Sitting at God’s right hand” signifies far more than rest. It is a way to illustrate enthronement. Jesus took the seat of honor and authority after His work was finished. Having completed the work of revelation and redemption, He assumed His rightful place of honor and authority that was His from all eternity.

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17:5)

Today, there is a lot of “God talk.” North Americans are obsessed with a kind of pseudo-spirituality and a “generic faith” in God. But believing in God is not sufficient. Anybody can believe in God. If belief in God was enough to get you into heaven, then Jesus wasted His time. The fact is, the measure of anybody’s faith in God is their response to Jesus Christ. The burning question of this age is one that Jesus asked over 2,000 years ago:

What do you think about the Christ? (Matthew 22:42)

(c) 2011 WitzEnd

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, 3

Published February 2, 2010 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Incarnation, John

The Word Becomes Flesh, John 1:6—18

This group of verses continues the history of Jesus Christ with an emphasis on the differences between John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. If we keep in mind one of the reasons John wrote his Gospel was to combat some false teachings and misrepresentations of Christ, then these verses make perfect sense. By the time he wrote it, there was some confusion about the nature of Christ; was He a god? Was He a glorified man? Was a He God in the flesh? What was the difference between Jesus Christ and other preachers of the Gospel? These are the questions John answered in these verses.

1. Jesus and John the Baptist, 1:6—8, 15

⁶There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. ¹⁵John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ “

These verses introduce the reader to the human agent that introduced the Word to the world. His name was John the Baptist, who, we would later discover was a human cousin to Jesus, and who the Gospel writer used as an example of the constant shining of the light. Some had come to believe that John the Baptist was more than a human being; this error is corrected here, where he is clearly portrayed as a man who was commissioned by God to point the world toward Jesus Christ, the Word. Since John the writer was also a disciple of John the Baptist, he was well-qualified to comment on the job of the Baptist.

The author chose his words carefully, writing “There came a man,” which literally means “there came into being or history a man.” His “becoming” is not to be confused with the “being” of the eternal Word, which we will deal with later in this study.

Very little is said about John the Baptist; John the disciple seemed to take for granted his readers knew who the Baptist was, and so he concentrates on his mission, not his character. The main point is that John the Baptist was “sent.” As a side note, John the Baptist represents the “old order” as prophet and priest (Matthew 11:9, 10), but acted as a herald of the new order, represented by Jesus Christ.

John wrote that the Baptist’s job was to “witness,” which is one of his favorite concepts, very pertinent in his Gospel. To bear “witness” is to establish by adequate testimony the claims of Jesus as the Son of God. This John the Baptist did in his preaching, a well-established fact on which all the Gospels agree. He was the forerunner of Another, in whom all men might believe. Men may believe through John the Baptist, but the Object of their faith must forever be in the eternal Word, Jesus Christ.

Here is a great application for every Christian, who is commissioned to the same type of mission as that of John the Baptist. We are to point sinners to Christ; He came to seek and to save those who are lost; that is to be our message. And like John the Baptist, sinners may come to believe in Christ as Savior through our witness.

2. The Word among men, 1:9—13

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

Generations before the coming of Jesus, the prophet Isaiah wrote these stirring words—

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1)

Prophecy is fulfilled; the true Light had come, and this Man, Jesus Christ is the “true” Light. While other “false” lights may be seen and mislead people, that is not what John meant when he used the word “true.” The Greek word translated “true” means “real,” “ideal,” or “genuine.” There may have been other “lights,” but all those other “lights” are imperfect or shadowy and unsubstantial. One may say that John the Baptist was a light, for he certainly functioned as a light, but he was not the “true light.” The Word is the “perfect light” in whose brilliance all other lights seem dim.

The “true Light” illumines every human being. But what did John mean by that? Some have taught the following:

Christ grants spiritual illumination to every human being without exception.
He gives spiritual illumination which renews the heart and mind to every covenant-child, elect or not.

These two views, though similar, are different but are both wrong. The Gospel of John teaches limited atonement; not every human being will be saved and only those who remain saved are saved (John 10:28). Limited atonement means that only those who call upon the Christ as Savior may appropriate the benefits of His atonement.

He gives to every human being, without exception, the light of reason and conscience.

There is some merit in this view; however the “light of reason and conscience” is given only to those who have named Christ as Savior. The finished work of Christ on the Christ which alone can save souls from eternal damnation is effective only for those who by faith appropriate its benefits.

Christ grants spiritual illumination to every human being who is saved. True spiritual illumination for the child of God can come from no other source.
Christ illumines every human who hears the Gospel. That is, He imparts a certain degree of understanding concerning spiritual matters to all who are genuinely saved.

These final views must be the correct ones. The Light that is Jesus Christ benefits no human being until they call upon Him for salvation. It goes without saying that the Light draws men unto Himself, but the appropriate response is man’s responsibility alone.

As phenomenal an event as the Incarnation was, John using the simplest language possible gives the reader the fact, purpose, and outcome of the Incarnation.

The fact: He was in the world. The Son of God came into a world of His own creation.
The purpose: He came to His own people.
The outcome: Man’s response to God’s move toward man was failure to know Him, and refusal to receive Him.

God’s purpose and man’s refusal are shown here in stark contrast. Literally, verse 11 looks like this: “He came into His own things, and His own people did not receive Him.” It was not the natural world that rejected Him, it was “His own,” refusal and rebellion came from the hearts of men. Yet this refusal to recognize who Jesus was came about because His people had no inkling of who this Man Jesus was; no flash of awareness concerning His real person. For all they knew, the Son of God was merely “the carpenter’s son” (Matthew 13:55).

Just as verses 4 and 5 show the sharp contrast between darkness and light, in verses 12 and 13 there is a direct contrast shown between rejection and reception. Even though many, many reject Him, there were many who actually received Him. Here we have an excellent working definition of “believe,” which is equated with “receive.” When Jesus Christ is received for Who He is, He gives those who received Him the right to become part of God’s family.

The word “becomes” is loaded with implications. First, it shows that human beings are not naturally God’s children, for if the were they would not need to “become” that which they already are by nature! The Bible does not teach the universal fatherhood of God; the only children God has are the saved. Second, the verb used for “become” indicates a complete change of nature. This is completely in line with Paul’s teachings on the “new creation.”

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Verse 13 is the key in understanding what happens the moment a sinner puts his full faith and trust in Christ: they become God’s tekna, that is, “God’s little ones.” The Greek tekna is a beautiful term of endearment describing a familial relationship based on a spiritual relationship, not a physical one. Becoming a tekna does not imply adoption, but transformation. Elsewhere, the Bible does speak of adoption into God’s family, but here John is speaking of something much deeper. To John, becoming a believer is the impartation of life; that is, God gives the repentant sinner a new life which immediately transforms him into God’s tekna.

3. The Incarnation, 1:14—18

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ” ¹⁶From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.

Verse 14 is the key to Christian theology. The first thing we notice is a change of wording from verse 1 to verse 14. In the first verse, John states that the Word “was,” referring to His permanent condition or state. In verse 14, the Word “became” flesh, involving a change of state. The verb “became” is a very special word holding very special meaning. It does not imply “became” in the sense of ceasing to be what He was before. William Hendriksen does a great job of explaining this word:

When the wife of Lot becomes a pillar of salt, she ceases to be the wife of Lot. But when Lot becomes the father of Moab and Ammon, he remains Lot.

The second thing we notice is the use of the word “flesh.” Why flesh? Why not “man?” John chose his words very carefully, and it was very important that his readers understand that Word did not merely come into the world in the form of a man; that is, Jesus had merely the “appearance” of being human. This was what the Docetic Gnostics of John’s day were teaching; that Jesus was merely a “human appearance” of God, sort of like an OT theophany—God in human form. On its surface, that sounds good, but it is awful theology, for it says that the Word never really became flesh and blood; He never really became a man, which is what really occurred at the Incarnation. This is the most basic statement of the Incarnation: the Word became flesh, yet never ceased to be the Word.

Consider the ramifications of that statement. The Second Person of the Trinity was able to assume human nature without laying aside the divine! Later on and throughout his writings, John insists that these two natures, human and divine, were somehow fused together, fully united forever. The Son of God did not become a man for about 30 years then go back to the way He was before; He became a man forever at the Incarnation; humanity was added to His divinity, never to be taken away! It is hard to imagine and even harder to put into words. These ideas will be explored further as we go deeper into John’s Gospel.

What did the Word do when He became flesh? This is probably one of the most majestic and poignant phrases in all of Scripture: the Word “made His dwelling among us.” That whole phrase means literally, the Word “pitched His tent” and “dwelled temporarily” among men. Once again, we marvel at how deliberately John chose his words. The theology of the Incarnation, something every Christian should be able to explain and usually cannot, is this: The eternal Word, which assumed the nature of man permanently—though not permanently in its weakened condition—pitched His tent for a while among men, living among them. (Hendriksen)

After penning those phenomenally deep words, John adds that he was an eyewitness, along with others, of this Incarnation: “We have seen his glory.” The statement indicates a personal observation of something glorious, likely the Transfiguration when Jesus appeared as the Man He was, surrounded by a full manifestation of His Divine radiance (Matthew 17:2—8; Mark 9:2—8; Luke 9:28—36). At that event the voice of God was heard acknowledging Him as His beloved Son.

The Incarnation never happened before or since for Jesus is the “one and only.” The Greek is monogenes, coming from a root meaning “kind” or “species,” means literally “one of a kind” or “unique.” John’s wording couldn’t be clearer: the Word has no equal and never will. Jesus Christ, then, is uniquely qualified to reveal the Father. God’s revelation to man in Jesus Christ has no parallel; it never will be repeated.

Verse 16 is an attempt by John to communicate to his readers that by way of the Word, those who have faith in Him may receive an endless supply of grace. This idea of God’s “abundance” is a prominent theme in John, which will be explored fully in subsequent studies. In Christ, God’s children may receive blessing upon blessing upon blessing; there is no end to God’s grace toward those who love Him.

To close out this section, John very briefly contrasts Law and grace as God’s way of dealing with men. In the Law, we see clearly what God expects from man in terms of how man should live. Grace, however, is God’s attitude toward those who have discovered that they cannot keep the Law. This attitude was depicted in graphic form in the Person of Jesus. He came to show those striving yet failing to keep the Law a better way. We read a parallel thought in Hebrews 3:5—6,

⁵Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. ⁶But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

The Son is far superior to the servant; a servant can only carry out orders and make sure the rules of the house are followed correctly. The Son, because He is “over God’s house,” is able to act with ultimate authority, ruling even the servant of house. This adds some power to the words of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard it said…But I tell you…” (Matthew 5:21—22; 27—28; 33—34; 43—44).

In the Incarnation, then, we see the eternal Word becoming a human being, but better than a human being because He remained God. The God-Man left the Father’s side in glory to pitch His tent for a time in the world He Himself created, to live among those He created in His image. He did this to show them a better way to live, to recreate them, making them better than they were before, and to give them the ability to live this new life He wanted to give them. The Word came to the world of man with an abundance of blessings to share with them. A whole new way of living was presented by the Word, and all man had to do was reach out and lay hold of it by faith. In the end, God’s gifts to man through Jesus Christ were rejected by most, and received by few.

(c) 2010 WitzEnd

Veiled in Flesh Appearing, Part 3

Published December 28, 2007 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Godhead, Incarnation, Paul, Philippians

Philippians 2:5—11

As we conclude our look at these remarkable verses in Philippians, Paul turns from conveying the fact of the Incarnation to describing the incredible depths of humiliation to which Christ descended. Verse 6 describes the Son of God in His eternal, preincarnate state: before Christ became a man, He existed from all eternity in the very essence of God. In verse 7, Paul tells us what Christ did and what He became, and finally, as we now consider verse 8, we see how Christ appeared to man.

1. The depths of humiliation, verse 8

[B]eing found in appearance as a man.

Notice, this is how man “found” Christ; this is how He appeared and looked to regular people. This short phrase describes man’s estimate of Christ—He was just another man from all outward appearances. In fact, there was nothing unusual about Christ; there was nothing to distinguish Him from everybody else. Even this was a mighty condescension for the One who possessed the form of God! So, this would be the first “movement” in Christ’s humiliation, but not the last.

The next phrase describes Christ’s further humiliation—

[H]e humbled himself and became obedient to death.

Can you imagine being so committed to the will of God that you would obey it even if it meant your death? Hebrews 5:8 gives us some more detail on this—

Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.

The Son of God, obeying His Father, actually learning, from what He was suffering; the text doesn’t say what Christ learned. Being God, He already possessed all knowledge. It’s always a risky proposition reading too much into Scripture when it is silent on something, but perhaps it’s not a stretch to picture Christ learning about being a man. Maybe, as He suffered all that He did, Jesus was better preparing Himself for His ultimate sacrifice. When He experienced all that man experiences, in terms of suffering, disappointment, sadness, sorrow and pain, He would gladly lay His life down to save lost man.

Even more significant that merely death, it was a horrible death.

[E]ven death on a cross!

There was no more humiliating way to die than to be crucified. Without question, it was the cruelest form of capital punishment in the ancient world. It had been practiced in the ancient world by the Phoenicians and the Persians, but the Romans had perfected it, and it was reserved for lowest of criminals: slaves and foreigners.

So we see how far the Son of God condescended. We see how much He actually humbled Himself to walk among us. And as we consider this, do we not appear very small in His sight? Do our sacrifices pale in the light of His? This is the kind of humility we are all called to practice.

2. Christ’s exaltation, verses 9—11

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above very name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Paul now turns to the subsequent exaltation of Jesus following His humiliation. The Greek word translated “exalted” is hyperypsonen, which suggests a kind of “super exaltation,” or exaltation beyond what would be expected. Paul is referring to the events after the crucifixion: the resurrection, ascension and the glorification of Jesus, whereby all that Jesus laid aside was finally restored to Him and much, much more besides. Part of this exaltation of Christ is the coming acknowledgment of His triumph over sin and His Lordship, which will be seen by every living thing.

But there is a purpose to the glorification and exaltation of Jesus. Not only did He return to His former state, but the purpose is that all living beings might bow in acknowledgment of the name of Jesus. Now, this hasn’t happened yet, but there will come a day and a time when all Creation will recognize Christ’s sovereignty. Note the wording of Isaiah 45:23—

By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.

Paul is obviously building on that verse, and the context of that verse in Isaiah is the sovereignty of God; that God declares He will do certain things and He keeps His word. Because of His sovereignty, because of His mighty power to inject Himself into the affairs of man, when man at last sees this, man will have no choice to bow in humility before God. This will be a universal acknowledgment of Christ that will include all the angels and saints in heaven, people living on earth, the demons of Hell and the lost souls of Hell. What a day that will be. The purpose of Christ’s humiliation on earth will be to make this day a reality.

There will come a day in the future when the friend of Christ and His enemies will see and acknowledge Christ for who He truly is. Paul is not teaching a kind of “universal salvation” here. Every being ever created will confess Christ’s lordship, whether with joyful faith or with resentment and despair.

3. Vindication through humility, verse 11b

Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This exaltation of Jesus includes the “name.” The “name” of Jesus is equated with “Lord.” The word “Lord” with all the dignity and honor that accompanies it means that every living creature will recognize what we Christians have always known to be true: that Jesus Christ is truly God.

Of course, the Son in his nature has always been God, but the exaltation following His humiliation of the Cross granted Him the dignity of station commensurate with His nature and far superior to His humble state while on earth (Homer Kent, Philippians).

And yet, Paul ever the master theologian and apologist, never loses sight of the fact that there is a divine order. Jesus Christ is God, but God is the Father of all; and we must always view what Christ did for us in the Incarnation as part of God’s plan for man’s redemption, and Christ’s obedience, while it brought Him exaltation, it ultimately brought glory to God.

This amazing picture of Christ’s humiliation and subsequent exaltation was designed by Paul to encourage his readers to adopt the kind attitude Christ had. If we call ourselves Christians, then we must demonstrate His characteristics. This means we must be humble as Christ was humble. Yet, Paul didn’t stop there. Paul’s admonition included the reminder that victory followed humiliation and that God’s glory will ultimately prevail and be seen through us.

Veiled in Flesh Appearing, Part 2

Published December 12, 2007 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Godhead, Incarnation, Paul, Philippians

Philippians 2:5-11

As we continue our look at these tremendous verses, our attention falls away from ourselves and onto Christ. The first four verses of chapter two dealt with our relationships to each other in the body of Christ, that is, the local church. Paul admonished the Philippians to watch out for the needs of the other person, to work to provide for their own needs and to exercise genuine humility. In simple terms, Paul wanted this church to get along. If ever a message was timely for the Church of Jesus Christ in the 21^st century, it is this one: Just get along. This message was so important to Paul, that he now gives the supreme reason for getting along: copying the humility of Jesus Christ.

1. Have the mind of Christ, verse 5

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus

The KJV translates verse 5 like this:

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus

What Paul is about to discuss is having the mind of Christ. The one thing that characterized the mind of Christ was humility; He is the great example of humility. This reminds us of Ephesians 4:1-3,

I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Again, we see the call to unity within the church linked to humility. Even though verses 5 through 11 make up what is arguably the most significant statement of Christology in the NT, we must note that they were written to illustrate that very point.

Believers are to have the mind of Christ or the same attitude of Christ when it comes to this issue. The fact is, human beings have a hard time with genuine humility. We find it hard to be humble. Some people have pride over being humble, and that cancels out the humility! Because we don’t have the “humility gene” in our bodies, the best we can do it look to Christ as our example. Note that while believer can’t hope to copy the exact ministry of Jesus, we can live lives that display the same attitude.

2. The preincarnate deity, verse 6

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped

This verse does not suggest that when Christ was at the right hand of God the Father, He was hanging on to that position for fear of losing it. In one sentence, Paul states the preincarnate status of Christ unequivocally: He was God. Period. In the dateless past, Christ existed with God yet did not consider that status a prize to be held onto at all cost.

The first phrase is remarkable in its scope: [B]eing in very nature God. The Greek word used here is morphe, which means an outward manifestation of the inner essence. The reason why this word is so powerful is because it stands in contrast to a statement in verse 7-

[B]ut made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

Here, the word used is schema, (“likeness”) which refers to an outward appearance that is temporary. So we see an amazing thing here: Christ’s sonship with the heavenly Father-His divinity, if like-is a permanent thing, it is an eternal thing, where as His humanity was merely temporary.

Further strengthening the eternity of the Son of God is Paul’s use of another Greek word, hyparchon, which is translated as “being,” or can also be translated as “existing.” Paul used this word in the present tense, which denotes a continuing condition. Christ’s divinity didn’t have a beginning, He existed with God, being in the same essence as God. In other words, Christ possessed the very nature of God and never ceased to posses it; that is the continuing condition. Even as a man, He possessed the very nature of God, even though temporarily He appeared as a man, which we will get to in due course.

The phrase equality with God is equally as powerful. In the Greek it is isa theo. The first word, isa, is actually an adverb and describes the manner of existence: Christ existed as God. He did not merely have the “form” or “appearance” of God, but rather, Christ existed as God. The reason why this is so powerful an assertion is that this existence does not depend on an outward appearance or outward circumstances, it has to do with the essence of Christ. Christ had the essence of God before He became a man, He had it after He became a man, and He retains it to this day. Regardless of what Christ looked like or where He lived, He never ceased to be of the same essence as God. And that is a powerful thought. Whether as the shining Star of the Morning, the Babe in the manger, or the soon-coming King of Kings and Lord of Lord, Jesus Christ was/is and will always be God!

The next phrase, something to be grasped, harpagmon, the Greek noun, seems to have been interpreted in different ways by different Biblical scholars. Does it refer to something that has been grasped, or something to be grasped? Depending on how you view this phrase, you can come to at least three different conclusions that change the complexion of the whole passage:

The preincarnate Christ was already equal with God, and He determined not to hold onto it;
Christ had no need to grasp at equality with God because He already possessed it;
Christ did not attempt to grasp His crowning prematurely, as Adam had tried to do, but He was willing to wait until the right time, after His work on earth had been accomplished.

As always, we need to let the context be our guide. We know that Paul is writing about Christ’s preexistence, and we know there is a parallel passage in 2 Corinthians 8:9, which reads-

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Christ already existed in the glory of God, He already possessed the riches of heaven, so that eliminates the third option. The second option, that He already possessed equality with God, is true, but doesn’t nearly far enough, based on what Paul says in the following verses.

3. The incarnate deity, verses 7 and 8a

[B]ut made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself.

Paul’s two main thoughts are: He made Himself nothing and He humbled Himself. Let’s consider the first of these two thoughts-

He made Himself nothing. The Greek is ekenosen, means literally, “but himself he emptied.” The question is, of what did Christ empty Himself? The text doesn’t say, but it does imply that He divested Himself of something. Think about this: the One who was in essence God from all eternity took on the form of a servant. The word used here, labon, “taking,” does NOT imply an exchange, but rather an addition. In other words, Christ did not exchange His deity to become a man, Christ’s humanity was added to Him. Christ could not give up the essence of God because that would mean that He ceased to be God and, as we have just learned, that’s not what happened. When our Lord became a man, He took on the form of a lowly servant, thus we see the prime example of humility. The word for likeness, homoiomati, does not mean an “exact representation” or “intrinsic essence,” like morphe does. It means “similar to” yet with differences. What Paul is trying to teach us is this: While Christ became a genuine man, He was not absolutely like other men. He was different. For example, He did not have sin nature, as all other men do.

Christ did not empty Himself of His deity, but He emptied Himself of the prerogatives of deity. As Lightfoot observed, Christ did not lay aside His divine attributes, but the “insignia of majesty.” Perhaps an illustration from Mark Twain will help us on this point. In The Prince and the Pauper, the son of Henry VIII temporarily changed positions with a very poor lad in London. Christ, when He came to earth as a man, laid aside the independent use of His divine attributes. While on earth, during the Incarnation, Christ used His divine powers and displayed His glory under the direction of God the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.

What a magnificent example of humility! Having the ability to do miraculous things on a routine basis, like creating food out of thin air, not needing sleep, healing every single sick person, yet stopping short of exercising that ability, waiting on permission to do so. Imagine the immense power it took for our Lord to restrain Himself as a man. If you can, then you can get an inkling as to what genuine humility is all about.

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