Phil. 2:1-11, What do ya’ know: Jesus is the God-Man (2)

Let’s begin with another quote, with some things highlighted by me.

… one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten recognized in TWO NATURES, WITHOUT CONFUSION, WITHOUT CHANGE, WITHOUT DIVISION, WITHOUT SEPARATION; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics or each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ. (Council of Chalcedon, 451 AD)

In support of this let us call upon two great passages in Scripture on this doctrine: John 1:1-18 and Phil. 2:5-11. (More extensive studies of these passages are found in previous posts on our blog: Nov. 28-Dec. 5, 2014; Feb. 14-28, 2019.)

i)      John 1:1,14: The Word was God and the Word became flesh.  The word “became” tells us there was a change from the eternal nature of the Son and the nature of the Son in the Incarnation and forever after. 

ii)   Phil. 2:6-8:  This passage describes the voluntary “humiliation” of the Lord Jesus.  The word “form” appears twice.  To begin with, Jesus was in the form of God (v6).  Then He took on the form of a bondservant coming in the likeness of men (v7).  We need to think about this term “form.”  Being in the form of something or someone means having all that is necessary to be that thing or that person. 

(1)                        What did it mean that Christ Jesus was “in the form of God?”  It did not mean that Jesus had the same “body” of God because the Bible teaches that God does not have a body.  He is “spirit” (John 4:24).  But He was fully God, from eternity (since God, be definition, is eternal). 

(2)                        What did it mean that Christ Jesus “took on” the form of a bondservant coming in the likeness of men?  It means He took on all that it takes to be a man, including a body (Heb. 10:5-10, Jesus had the body God prepared for Him.  Man also has a soul and a spiritual component by which he can have a relationship with God.  Jesus had these as well.  On the other hand, remember that Adam was a “Man” before he sinned.  Jesus had no sin nature because sin is not essential to being a Man. 

(3)                         How could the eternal lifegiving Son of God become the Son of Man, able to suffer and to die, without becoming less God or being less Man?  The answer is in v7: He “made Himself of no reputation.”  Literally this means He “emptied Himself.”  He emptied Himself of the right to live as God in this fallen world.  He did not cease to be God, but He did not diminish His humanity in any way by using His divine powers to shield Himself from sin.  This is the only way that satisfies our need to believed all that the Bible says about Jesus.