Phil. 2:5-8; John 4:19-26, The form of God

As we study the “humiliation” (2:5-8) and “exaltation” (2:9-11) of Christ let us be careful to maintain the context.  Paul is encouraging believers to stand fast in one spirit (1:27) and the key to this oneness is to let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus (2:5).  This call to a crucified life should be no surprise; Jesus said that to follow Him one must take up his cross (Mt.16:24).

In Phil. 2:5-8 seven statements detail Jesus’ humiliation, His leaving the glory of heaven in a journey that would end at the cross.  I like to call these the true Stations of the Cross, if you will.  We see step by step the process by which the Son of God became the Son of Man and the Savior of the world.

·        Station #1: who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.

What does form mean?  The root meaning is “outward appearance; the mode in which a nature reveals itself.”  If you see a creature with wings and a beak you know it is some sort of bird; it has the form of a bird.  If you see a creature that stands up straight on two legs you know it is a human; that is its form.  Thus in this phrase the question is, What is the form of God?

Before we answer this from Scripture let us note three other terms from the Bible that speak of Christ in the form of God.  In Heb. 1:3 Christ is the exact representation of God.  In Col. 1:15 Christ is the image of God.  And in John 1:1 Christ is the Word of God.  All these “titles” make it clear that Jesus was (and is) what God is; but since Jesus is a Man you may think therefore that God has a human form.  That is a lie; the Bible does not teach this.

To deny what the Bible says about Jesus in this matter is heresy and is a fundamental identification of a “cult.”  Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, claim Jesus was an “angel” (angels are spirit beings, Heb. 1:14).  But before coming to earth Jesus was in the form of God, not in the form of an angel.

In the Book of Mormon this confusion is seen in a passage which reads: “I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood” (Ether 3:8).  This fits the foundational Mormon teaching: “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.” 

Here is what Jesus actually said, from the Bible.  First He said, God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24).  Then the resurrected Jesus said to His disciples, Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Handle Me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have (Lk. 24:39).  In other words the form of God does not involve anything that can be seen.  God is by nature invisible as the rest of Scripture confirms (Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16).  In His essential nature God exists in a form that is not physical, that cannot be seen. 

We must continue at this station tomorrow.  For now let us commit to worship God in spirit and truth.  Truth means we accept and affirm all that the Bible says about God.