Phil. 2:5-8; Isaiah 6:1-7; Heb. 1:1-3, The form of God (2)

The Bible makes it clear that Jesus’ existed before He was conceived in the womb of Mary and born in Bethlehem.  Jesus claimed this (John 8:58; 17:1-5).  His Apostles claimed it (John 1:1).  It is confirmed in Phil. 2:6 as well.  He was in the form of God before He was found in the likeness of man.

At this station what we see is that Jesus did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.  Your translation may say something like this: He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.  Being in the form of God means He was God.  His Deity came easy, so to speak; He did not have to take it undeservedly as if He stole it or grasped it.  It was His! 

We have noted that God’s form is invisible.  This may raise a question about many “appearances” of God in the Old Testament.  If God appeared in a visible form that would seem to deny He is by nature invisible.  Further, there are times when humans said they “saw” God (e.g. Isa. 6:1; Ex. 33:18-23).  Sometimes what they saw was the appearance of a “man” (Ezek. 1:26; Ex. 33:18-23).  More than once people saw “the Angel of the LORD” and realized they had seen God (e.g. Jud. 6:22-24; 13:17-23).  How can that be if He is invisible?  And if they “saw” God how can Jesus say no one has seen God at any time (Jn. 1:18)?

The truth rests in the principle that we must accept all that the Bible says about God.  God cannot by nature be “visible” and “invisible.”  The only way to understand this is that people saw God manifesting Himself in a particular form that was significant in the situation.  What Isaiah saw (and it appears John saw the same scene in Rev. 4) was different than what Ezekiel saw which was different than the brilliant “shekinah glory” that the Israelites saw at Sinai.  As for the “Angel of the LORD” the above passages in Judges make us believe that this was a particular form chosen by God by which He manifested Himself and communicated to men in particular situations.  Read the story of Abraham in Gen. 18 when he meets three men, two of whom are angels and One is “the LORD” to Whom Abraham prays (18:22-33).

God appeared at various times and in various ways in the past (Heb. 1:1).  If these were appearances that reveal the essential form of God which one would it be since there were so many?  None of these appearances had the intimacy and permanence of the Incarnation.  God graciously visited men in these ways; but nothing compares with the way He has, in these last days spoken to us by (His) Son (Heb. 1:1-4).

Let us rejoice with David: What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him (Psa. 8:4)?  The Incarnation is a signal event when God became Man, truly, in reality.  What a God of grace!