Is Jesus Christ God? "Though He was in the form of God..." Philippians 2:6

Philippians 2:1-11

Verses 1-4 “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in theSpirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

In verses 1-4 of Philippians 2 Paul exhorts all believers in Jesus Christ to exhibit oneness and unity.  The key to this oneness, Paul says, is humility.   Humility is the key to oneness because where there is no humility there can be no oneness. Apart from humility we are all left seeking our own selfish interests making life within the body a self-centered competition, and unity impossible.

Then in verses 5-11 Paul shares the secret of humility, and in reality the secret to a life that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ (1:27) “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 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.

Notice Paul’s exhortation in verse 5 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…”  Paul says the key to humility and to oneness, the key to rejoicing in the struggle, to steadfastness and striving for the gospel, the key to all that he has mentioned thus far is this; having the mindset of Christ.

In of our study in Romans chapter 8 you might remember that we discussed in the mind that is set on the things of the flesh which brings death and the mind set on the things of the Spirit which brings life.  The Greek word for mind in Romans 8 and here in Philippians 2 is “phroneo.”  In our English translation the word appears to be a noun; “Have this mind among yourselves,” but the word is actually a present tense verb denoting a continuous action and it refers to a mindset or a way of thinking.  So what Paul is saying here is “Continually, every day, think like Christ”  So then we as believers in Christ are called to live like He did, and to respond to others the way He responded to us. 

So the question is How did Christ respond?  What was His mindset?

Paul lays it out for us in verses 6-11.  In these verses he paints for us, in vivid detail, the mindset of Christ and he does this by first by laying out Christ’s identity and position, His humiliation, His work, and His exaltation.  These verses are incredibly rich in content so it is going to take us several weeks to take in all that is here so consider this message Part 1.

This morning we will focus in on verse 6 and then move to some other passages in the Scripture in order to zero in on the identity and position of Christ because until we have a proper understanding of who Jesus Christ is we cannot fully understand or appreciate the significance of Paul’s words in this text.

Last week at the close of the service I encouraged you to read ahead and to look up the word “kenosis.”  Those who did their homework know that the word means “to empty.”  The word appears in verse 7 where Paul says that Jesus “…made himself nothing…”  That phrase comes from the single word “kenosis.”  This is significant because Paul is holding Christ up as our example of humility and “self-emptiness” therefore it is only when we are able to comprehend the degree to which Christ emptied Himself, that we will be able to understand the degree of selflessness and humility that we are called to live out in our Christian life.

So let’s step back now and consider who Christ is and what exactly He gave up. 

So often we think of Christ only in terms of His earthly life but His earthly life is only a small part of the story.  Notice verses 5-6 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…”

Now, in verse 5-11 we see three Christ portrayed in 3 different ways;

1.) the preincarnate Christ (v.6) 
2.) the incarnate Christ, and (v. 7-8)
4.) the resurrected and exalted Christ. (v. 9-11)

When we use the word incarnate or preincarnate what we are simply saying is in-flesh or pre-in-flesh.  “Carn” is Latin for flesh (i.e. carnivore, carnal).  So when we speak of Christ incarnate we simply mean Christ in flesh, in a human body.  Preincarnate refers to Christ before He took on flesh.

So then when we read Paul’s words in verse 6 “…He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…” we understand that he is telling us about Christ before His birth in Bethlehem, His preincarnate state.  He is explaining something that is critically important for us to understand and that is this; Jesus Christ is the eternal pre-existent God, He is co-equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 The phrase “was in the form of God” is literally “being in very nature God.”  The word form is the Greek word “morphe” which speaks of the inner nature.  Jesus Christ wasn’t simply a copy of God, nor was He a created being simply bearing the image of God, He was in very nature God.  Jesus Christ is God.  This is made even clearer when Paul says that Christ “…did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…”  This is a fascinating statement.  Paul makes it clear here that Christ is equal to God, literally Christ = God, yet, Paul says, He did not consider His position of equality within the Godhead something He had to cling to as if He could somehow lose it but rather He willingly emptied Himself, as we will see next week’s study.

The Godness, or deity of Christ as it is often referred to, is critical to understanding what it means to say that He emptied Himself.

Let’s look elsewhere in Scripture where we see the identity and position of Jesus clarified.  turn to the gospel of John 1:1-3, 14.  Notice John’s words; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made….And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

The term “Word” here is the Greek word “logos,” which has the idea of “speaking, a message, or words.”  In our English translations Word is capitalized because it refers to a person.  John tells us three things about this Word here in these verses. 

First in verse 14 we see that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  This of course is speaking of Jesus Christ.  It is interesting to note that John says the Word “became” flesh making it clear that Christ existed prior to His becoming flesh.  To become flesh means to change form.  This leads us to the next thing we see about The Word, Jesus Christ, in verse 1 “In the beginning was the Word….”  

Here John is telling us that the story of Jesus has no beginning because when all things began He already was.  He is eternal; He is pre-existent meaning He had no beginning and of course we know that there is only one who is eternal and this takes us to the third characteristic of the Word “…and the Word was God.”  The apostle John leaves no doubt as to the identity and position of Jesus Christ?  He is the eternal preexistent God.

Now turn ahead several chapters to John chapter 8:56-58.  Here John records for us the words of Jesus as He answered a group of Jews religious leaders who were questioning Him concerning His identity; “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.  So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.”

A couple of things to note here; First, wee see that the Jews were angered by Jesus words and picked up stones to kill Him.  Why was this?  Why would they find the words “before Abraham was, I am” so offensive?  Well, it’s important to put yourself in the place of the Jews who heard this.  They knew the Old Testament Scriptures by heart so when Jesus spoke these words their minds were immediately taken back to Exodus 4:13-14 when God appeared to Moses in a burning bush; “Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”  Who is the I Am?  God is the I Am and Jesus here in John 8 clearly identifies himself as God.

The second thing to note here is what appears to be bad use of grammar.  Jesus says “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”  Why did Jesus speak this way?  Well, Jesus is making the point again that He is eternal, pre-existent, outside of time.  There is no past, present, and future with God He is not the I was, or the I will be He is the I Am.  Jesus says “Before the world began; I Am, after the world ceases to exist; I Am.  I Am eternal!”  It is a title that only the eternal God can claim.  When Jesus stated that “I Am” he was making the unmistakably claiming to be God.

Now turn with me to Hebrews chapter 1.  Hebrews 1 is in many ways a parallel passage to Philippians 2:5-11.  Notice verses 8-12 of Hebrews 1 “But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed.  But you are the same, and your years will have no end.”  The Son, Jesus Christ, is God.

Now it is important that we understand something before we move on.  You may have noticed that Jesus is referred to here and elsewhere in Scripture as God’s Son.  Many will ask “How can Jesus be God if He was called God’s Son?   They read this and they conclude that Jesus could not be God because he must been God’s offspring in the same way our children are our offspring, meaning He was created.  This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the term Son of God means. 

The Father and Son relationship within the Godhead has nothing to do with actual birth but rather it speaks of the special relationship which God the Father and His Son share.  It was a relationship which indicated equality with God.

Again the Jews understood clearly what the term Son of God meant.  Notice the words of John in John 5:18 “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”  The Jews understood Christ’s assertion to be God’s Son was a claim of equality with God.

Another point to consider is the fact that Jesus also refers to Himself in the gospels as the son of man, are we to conclude then that He is not a man?  Of course not.  If the term son of man means that Jesus is a man, does it not imply that the term son of God means that Jesus is God?

Notice again verse 8 of Hebrews 1 Notice “But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. Of the Son, the Father says “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever…”

Notice also verse 6 of Hebrews 1 “And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God’s angels worship him." Of the angels he says,” there is only One who is worthy of worship; God Himself.  So of the Father calls the angels to worship the Son then the Son must be God because for the angels, or anyone else to worship anyone besides God would be idolatry.

Finally turn with me to Colossians 1:15-20 Here Paul is once again writing of Jesus Christ; “15 He is the image (Gr. eikon; meaning portrait or manifestation) of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”  Jesus, Paul tells us here, is the image the icon of the invisible God. This is interesting because we know from the second commandment making a representation of God was forbidden.  But now God has sent us, in Jesus Christ, making visible the invisible.  We also see here in verse 19 that in Christ all the fullness, literally the completeness of God, was pleased to dwell, again indicating that Christ’s earthly body was the tabernacle or dwelling place of God with men.

There is one more important evidence that Jesus Christ is in fact God.  Turn to Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  The first verse of the Bible makes it abundantly clear that God is the creator of the heavens and the earth.  The rest of Genesis and 1 & 2 record the account of God’s creative act.

Now consider the words of John 1:3 “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”  Here John is very clear that Jesus is the creator of all things. 

Notice also the words of Paul in Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

So we have established from Scripture, just a few of many, the identity of Jesus Christ as God, now let us consider the position of Christ as described here in Colossians 1 verses 15-17 as we prepare to consider next week what it meant for Christ to empty Himself. 

Verse 15 "He is the image invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…” meaning He has the first place over all creation.  He is before it both in order and authority. 

The reference of Christ being the firstborn has nothing not to do with birth order as in natural offspring.  In Genesis God referred to Isaac as Abraham’s firstborn and only son yet we know that Isaac was not Abraham’s firstborn son, Ishmael was.  The term speaks of position of promise not literal birth order.

He continues in verse 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”  Again as we saw earlier Christ is the Creator of all things whether visible or invisible.  He created the Heavens and the earth, the angels, and mankind.  Not only were all things created by Him but they were also created for Him, in other words for His glory and His good pleasure, and the Scriptures are abundantly clear that it is only God who is to receive glory.

Verse 17 “And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  Here we see that Christ is the sustainer of all things.  He is actively, even now, holding all things together. 

Paul here says that in all things Jesus has the preeminence.  He is above all things.

He is the creator, sustainer, and ruler of the universe. 

He is holy, righteous, just, above us in every way.  As A.W. Tozer said when we think of God we often think of Him as being the best good our minds can comprehend but that is not who God is.  God is outside of us, He is above us.  He does not need the help of men, He does not need the fellowship of men, He does not need anything or anyone, He is completely and wholly self-existent.  He is the God of the Old Testament who, in all of His holiness, majesty, and splendor, and glory, was not to be approached by sinful men, lest they die.

What is so amazing about Paul’s words here as we will see next week is the fact that this God descended to men, to us.  This was the only way it could be for in order for God to dwell with man, He must lower Himself, because we are in no way able to raise ourselves up to Him.  When you consider then the great lengths God went in order to dwell with us it is absolutely staggering.

That is the point of these words by Paul.  He wants us to understand who Jesus is, and then understanding that we will be able to catch a glimpse, albeit a tiny glimpse, of the great humiliation He underwent for us.

John MacArthur writes this of verse 6 and its implications; “In light of the profound reality of Jesus' full and uncompromised deity, His incarnation was the most profound possible humiliation. For Him to change in any way or to any degree, even temporarily by the divine decree of His Father, required descent.  By definition, to forsake perfection requires taking on some form of imperfection -Yet without forsaking or in any way diminishing His perfect deity or His absolute holiness, in a way that is far beyond human comprehension, the Creator took on the form of the created.  The Infinite became finite, the Sinless took sin upon Himself. The very heart of the gospel of redemption is that the Father "made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21). Although that infinitely marvelous and cardinal gospel truth is impossible to understand, it is necessary to believe.”

As we close I want to challenge you this week to consider the gravity of what it means for God to become flesh.  It is much more than a fairy tale where a king dresses in the garb of a common man and walks about his kingdom to get a sense of what it is like to be a common man.  It is so much more.

(Sermon Transcript from 1-25-09)