We are considering passages that tell us what is so special about God speaking in His Son. Let’s consider today’s passage, which describes the humiliation of Christ (the incarnation, v5-8) and His resulting exaltation (v9-11).
·
First, before the incarnation, Christ was God in
His essence or “in very nature God.” The
Greek word morphe refers to the form or shape of something. Scripture does not say He was in the “bodily
form” of God; that would mean He had the same body (and of course God is spirit
and invisible, not having a physical body, John 4:24, Col. 1:15). Rather, it says He was in the “form of God,”
everything that God is Christ was before He came to earth. In terms of God speaking “by His Son,” it means
that Christ was fully capable of speaking for God because Christ was
God.
o Christ
was not an angel. “Angel” means messenger. Christ was the “Messenger of the covenant”
(Malachi 3:1). He often appeared in OT
times as “the Angel of the LORD.”
Yet, we say He was not an angel.
Angels are created spirits who serve God. Some are mighty with great authority given to
them. But Christ was God. He spoke the Father’s message as an angel
would, but at the same time, He was God.
As Heb. 1:4-14 makes clear, He was “so much better than the angels.” He was God the Son.
·
Then, it says He took on “the form of a
bondservant.” It means He submitted
Himself as the Son of God to God the Father.
What this means in terms of God speaking “by His Son” means that
whatever the Father wanted revealed the Son revealed. He was a perfect conduit for the revelation
of God.
·
What the “bondservant” means in Phil. 2 is that,
in submission, Christ became a man and died the death of the cross. We must remember that God’s speaking “by His
Son” involved the entirety of Christ’s earthly life. God is powerfully “revealed” in the cross
(His love, grace and mercy) and the empty tomb (power, authority, life).
·
Some will say that Christ could not be both God
and man while on earth, that He had to lay aside His deity in order to be fully
Man. But that is not the case, and
cannot be the case. Philippians says He “made
Himself of no reputation.” Scripture is
clear: in the Man Christ Jesus dwelt the fullness of the godhead (Col. 1:19;
2:9). This is the reason for His
absolutely unique birth. The virgin
birth gave Him true humanity, being born of Mary. At the same time, it maintained His true
Deity. Mary asked specifically how this
could be, and the answer given by Gabriel tells us all: The Holy Spirit will
come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore,
also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God (Lk.
1:35).
o What
does it mean, then, when Paul says He humbled Himself? It means He laid aside His glory. He looked like an average human being (Isa.
53:2). He didn’t have a halo or some
special look. And He did not enhance His
“humanity” by His deity. What we mean
is, He did not make His life easier by exercising His divine power. His miracles, signs performed to demonstrate
His deity, were exceptions and not used to make His life easy. As John said, we beheld His glory
(John 1:14). In the miracles He manifested
His glory (John 2:11). These things
He did in complete submission and obedience to His Father (John 17:4). At the end of His earthly ministry, His
request of the Father was, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory
which I had with You before the world was (Jn. 17:4).
What a powerful, clear, unhindered message God
gave to the world when, in these last days He spoke by His Son.
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