I Topic: The Deity and Incarnation of Christ
A Scripture Readings: Philippians 2:5-11 And John 1:14-18
B If you study the religions of the world, most emphasize our need to reach out to God or to become a god ourselves. Christianity is unique in that it believes that God reached out to us when God became human. As John 1:14a states “…the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,…”
We call this phenomenon of God becoming man the Incarnation, literally “in the flesh”. God embraced humanity. When I was in seminary, the Red Cross was enlisting volunteers to hold so called “crack babies” babies born of crack addicted mothers. They believed it was therapeutic. I remember hearing once that babies in orphanages who were not held by their caregivers died at a higher rate then those who were held. Here in prison you all know the value of an embrace since they are so rare. With the Incarnation, God literally embraces humanity by becoming a man.
Today we will study this truth of our faith, show its Biblical basis and it’s significance.
II “…Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God…” What does this mean?
A The English word “form” is confusing for us. Today the chow hall served something we like to refer to as “fakin bacon” it is in thin, flat strips like bacon but we know from the taste that it isn’t. We might say it is in the form of bacon, in that it looks like bacon but isn’t. In Greek the word translated “form” is “morphe” and it has a different meaning then our current usage of the word.
B The language of the text.
1 Vine’s Dictionary states regarding the Greek word “morphe” “…is therefore properly the nature or essence, not in the abstract, but as actually subsisting in the individual…” Regarding this verse in particular Vine’s further states “…it includes the whole nature and essence of deity…”
2 The New English Translation has this footnote for verse 6 “The Greek term translated form indicates a correspondence with reality. Thus the meaning of this phrase is that Christ was truly God.”
3 As John Chrysostom stated centuries ago “’Form’ implies unchangeableness, so far as it is form. It is not possible that things of one substance should have the form of another, as no man has the form of an angel, neither has a beast the form of a man. How then should the Son?” In other words only the Divine can have the form of God.
C The Early Christian Church:
1 ST. Basil of Caesarea (Letter 261) several centuries ago wrote “If, then, the sojourn of the Lord in flesh has never taken place, the Redeemer paid not the fine to death on our behalf, nor through Himself destroyed death’s reign. For if what was reigned over by death was not that which was assumed by the Lord, death would not have ceased working his own ends, nor would the sufferings of the God-bearing flesh have been rustle our gain; He would not have killed sin in the flesh: we who had died in Adam should not have been made alive in Christ; the fallen to pieces would not have been framed again; the shattered would not have been set up again; that which by the serpent’s trick had been estranged from God would never have been made once more His own.”
2 Another early church writer stated “That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is all one, the Glory equal, the Majesty co-eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Ghost uncreated. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible.The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal”. (Creed of Athanasius)
D The Scriptures:
1 Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Seed is not normally associated with the female and implies the virgin birth prophesized in:
2 Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (note: Immanuel means “God with us”).
3 Isaiah 9:6 “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” Here the child is actually called God even to the point of referring to him as the Father.
4 In the New Testament, John writes in the first chapter of his gospel “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:1,14)
5 Hebrews 1:5-6 states “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”
a Christ himself said “…Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:10b
b If worship belongs to God alone and God the Father tells the angels to Worship the Son then Christ must be God the Son. If that is not convincing enough the Father states in verse 8 of Hebrews 1:
6 But unto the Son [he saith], Thy throne, O God, [is] for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness [is] the sceptre of thy kingdom. Hebrews 1:8
7 To me it is difficult to read any of the Scriptures, from the fulfilled Old Testament prophecies to the statements in the New, for me to not see the Bible proclaiming the Deity of Christ. I’ll expand upon that later but lets look at some of the objections to the Incarnation.
III Jesus acknowledged the Father as His God - There is one verse that I can see could cause some to believe that the Son is not equal to the Father:
a John 20:17 “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and [to] my God, and your God.”
b The phrase “and to my God” is problematic and there are many interpretations. For me, if God the Father can call Jesus God in Hebrews 1:8 it is no problem for Jesus to refer to the Father as His God in John 20:17. Some things I accept as being outside of my finite understanding, especially when it pertains to my understanding of an infinite God.
IV Was he just a god as some of the Cults state and not God Almighty?
A John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Some of the cults translate this verse as “..the Word was a god.” But there is no indefinite article in the verse. It has to be added to force their theology into the verse.
V The Son is a created being
A “The Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Ghost uncreated.” (Creed of Athanasius)
B He is referred to as the firstborn of every creature.
1 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created by Him and for Him”. (Col. 1:15-16)
a Firstborn does not mean first one to be born it is a title of honor Exodus 4:22 “And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel [is] my son, [even] my firstborn:” Psalm 89:27 “Also I will make him [my] firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
b Revelation 1:9a “And from Jesus Christ, [who is] the faithful witness, [and] the first begotten of the dead,…” Obviously Jesus was not the first person to ever die.
2 Is there an apparent contradiction in Hebrews 2:9? “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man”.
a This verse can be interpreted in two ways:
i Jesus was made (created) and when it happened he was lower than the angels. If that is the case he had to have been created after the angels. But Colossian 1:16 says he created all things. John 1:3 reiterates it “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
ii Jesus is eternal and was greater than the angels and made a little lower. The statement “made a little lower than the angels” does not mean he was created. Note that three years ago that the Michigan Department of Corrections made me chaplain of OCF. The MDOC did not create me and I existed prior to the year 2000. Hebrews 2:9 is similar to that analogy. He existed from before time began John 1:1a states in part “In the beginning was the Word…” When everything else began, he was already in the past tense. When the incarnation happened 2000 years ago he was made man.
1 Philippians 2: 6-8 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”
2 Christ pre-existed all creation John 17:5 “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Jesus had suspended His glory when He came to the earth. When it was nearing time for Him to return to heaven, He prayed in John 17:5 to be returned to the glory He previously had before the world began. The "glory" of God is equal to fullness, completeness. It is any quality of God that is impressive to the human mind. When Moses saw just the back of God’s glory in Exodus 33:18-23, he "glowed" for a long time.
3 Was he just the first creation?
a Exodus 20:11 “For [in] six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them [is], and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
b Isaiah 44:24 “Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I [am] the LORD that maketh all [things]; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;”
c If he was he would have had to be created on day one and the Scriptures say in John 1:3 “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
d If Christ created all things and was himself created, he would have had to create himself. This seems more improbable then saying he is uncreated.
VI Why is he called the Son of God?
A How many of you have children? Are they any less human then you are? Of course not and God the Son is as much God as God the Father.
B “The only begotten son of God” John 1:14, 18,; 3:16, 18.
1 The word “Begotten” is a translation of the Greek word “Monogenetos” is a composite of two words “Mono” or one “gennetos” which can refer to conception but can mean set aside as in:
a John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
b I John 2:29 “If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.”
c In neither case is the process of conception needed or implied.
2 Strong’s concordance say of the word Begotten “monogenes”
1) single of its kind, only
1a) used of only sons or daughters (viewed in relation to their parents)
1b) used of Christ, denotes the only begotten son of God
3 The NET Bible footnote for John 1:14 states “Or “of the unique one.” Although this word is often translated “only begotten,” such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12, 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique (only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clem. 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac (Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant., 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham’s only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the child of the promise. Thus the word means “one-of-a-kind” and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT. While all Christians are children of God, Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18).”
VII Does this mean that there are two or three Gods?
A Absolutely not! God is supremely perfect and infinite and cannot have an equal.
1 As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not three Almighties, but one Almighty. (Creed of Athanasius)
B Deuteronomy 6:4 ""Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!"
1 Deuteronomy 4:39 “Know therefore this day, and consider [it] in thine heart, that the LORD he [is] God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: [there is] none else”
2 Isaiah 45:5-6 “I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else, [there is] no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that [there is] none beside me. I [am] the LORD, and [there is] none else.”
3 But there are three persons in that one God ““For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost.” (Creed of Athanasius)
4 Genesis 1:26 27 "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Note the mixing of singular and plural, not uncommon in the Old Testament. Eg. El with the plural verb or Elohim with the singular.
VIII Is Jesus divine in the same sense as the Father is?
A In John 10:30 33 we see Christ asserting his divinity ""I and My Father are one." 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."" Notice that Christ did not correct them and say “You misunderstand me, I am not saying I am God”
B Jesus is worthy of worship, a practice reserved for God:
1 Matthew 14:33 "Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, "Truly You are the Son of God.""
2 John 5:23 ""that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
3 Philippians 2:10 11 "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
4 Revelation 5:14 "Then the four living creatures said, "Amen!" And the twenty four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever."
C He is sinless:
1 I Peter 2:21b-22 “…Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:”
2 Hebrew 4:15 “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.”
D He is prayed to:
1 Acts 7:59 “And they stoned Stephen, calling upon [God], and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
E Jesus possesses the attributes of deity :
1 Eternal John 17:5 "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."
2 Omnipresent Matthew 28:20 ""teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."
3 Omniscient Colossians 2:3 "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
4 Omnipotent John 5:19 "Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner."
5 Immutable Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
F He is Called God: We already mentioned Hebrews 1:8 and Isaiah 9:6 but there are others:
1 John 20:28 29 "And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.""
IX The Baby born in Bethlehem was God made man.
A "He who made man was now learning what it felt like to be man." (Packer)
B One of my teachers would tell me “Jesus was as fully God as if he had never been man and as fully man as if he had never been God. The only 200% person”
C Hebrews 2:17 "Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."
D Who would you want to represent your case if you received a ticket here in prison, a corrections officer or a fellow prisoner? Most would prefer the second as he can identify with your problem. Christ became a man so that He could identify with our problems. Hebrews 4:15 "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness’, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."
E Athanasian Creed "Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man... perfect yet he is not two, but one Christ; one, not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh: but taking of the manhood into God.”
F People rarely want to admit to having unsavory relatives. I remember a woman who tried to sue the Department because her son’s photo was in a Prison Newspaper. She told her friends and neighbors that he was in the military. A woman from the neighborhood had a son in prison who was in the same photo. She showed it to friends and the first woman’s lie was exposed. Why did she want to sue the prison? She was ashamed of her son’s incarceration and upset when it was exposed. Yet Christ tells us in his genealogy of several unsavory relatives.
1 Bathsheba - She committed adultery.
2 Tamar - committed incest
3 Rahab - was a prostitute
4 Ruth - was a pagan Moabitess of incestuous origin.
5 Therefore - Whatever your background or identity, whatever your crime, you can relate to Christ because He can relate to you.
X How are we to think of the incarnation?
A As it is incomprehensible our proper response is worship and love. 2 Corinthians 8:9 "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." it is a wonder of grace.
B Yesterday was 8 days after Christmas and Christ was circumcised according to the Law on the 8th day so our service emphasized His placing himself under the law and one of the prayers of the day stated.
1 “Thou Who art by nature God, didst without change take human form,/ O most compassionate Lord,/ and in fulfilling the Law of Thine own will didst receive circumcision in the flesh,/ to banish hades and roll away the veil of our passions./ Glory to Thy goodness; glory to Thy compassion;/ glory to Thy condescension, O Word.” (Troparion of the Feast of the Circumcision) His condescension refers to how others looked down upon him in a disdainful manner. He in his humility bore that disdain so as to be an example of humility.
XI Did Jesus lose His Deity when he became man? The Kenosis theory: Philippians 2:7
A KJV Phillippians 2:7 "but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men."
B TLB Philippians 2:7 "but laid aside his mighty power and glory, taking the disguise of a slave and becoming like men."
C NCB Philippians 2:7 "But he gave up his place with God and made himself nothing. He was born to be a man and became like a servant."
D NRSV Philippians 2:7 "but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,"
E NIV Philippians 2:7 "but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."
F Does this coupled with 2 Corinthians 8:9 "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." imply that a certain reduction of Christ’s deity was involved in His incarnation? No!
G What Christ laid aside was his glory and dignity
1 John 17:5 ""And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was."
2 R. C. Sproul wrote “I think the context of Philippians 2 makes it very clear that what he emptied himself of was not his deity, not his divine attributes, but his prerogatives -- his glory and his privileges. He willingly cloaked his glory under the veil of this human nature that he took upon himself. It’s not that the divine nature stops being divine in order to become human.do n” (How Could Jesus Be Both Divine and Human?)
3 Example: Say a rich man wanted to know what it was like to be poor. He places himself on a strict limited budget. Maybe he takes a low paying job. All the time he has hundreds of thousands of dollars of credit cards in his wallet. He only identifies with the poor as long as he refuses to use those credit cards. Sure, he might be hungry one day and want to go to a nice restaurant but he cannot use those credit cards. If he does, he can’t say he knows what it is like to be poor. Jesus in like manner chose not to exercise his divine attributes.
H Christ retained his divine attributes:
1 Eternality Omnipresent Omniscient Omnipotent Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
2 “The Son appears in the Gospels, not as an independent divine person, but as a dependent one, who thinks and acts only and wholly as the Father directs.” (Packer, p. 54)
3 John 5:19 "Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner." This is not a limitation on Christ’s abilities, those that deny the Deity of Jesus concentrate on the first part of the verse but ignore the second that states that the Son can do what the Father can. The first part of the verse only speaks of the unity of the Trinity.
4 John 5:30 ""I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me." As in the prior verse we see that the Son is one in mind and will with the Father. The next two verses reiterate this.
5 John 6:38 ""For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."
6 John 8:28 "Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things."
7 Mark 13:32 ""But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
a Calvin wrote of this "until he had fully discharged his (mediatorial) office, that information was not given to him which he received after his resurrection." His limitation of knowledge can be explained in terms of the will of the Father.
b Christ had the ability to erase that information from his mind. As with his other divine attributes he chose not to use his divine knowledge.
Example: say you knew a football game you were playing was rigged, that the outcome would be your team wins no matter how hard you play. Are you going to play to your best? Probably not.
XII Conclusion the message of the incarnation:
1 Humility - Philippians 2:5-6 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”
2 A voluntary restraint of power
3 Dependence upon others, (as an infant Mary & Joseph, as an adult Simon the Cyrene)
4 Acceptance of suffering – Remember at any time during the crucifixion he could have called down legions of angels to end his suffering, but he didn’t.
5 A mediator who understands our situation. We can’t say to Jesus “You never been where I was.”
a Suffering under a hot sun working? - He worked construction in Israel.
b Sick? – I’m sure he had his illnesses.
c Here in prison and wrongly accused of a crime? – He was arrested and he really was innocent.
6 God’s grace – John 1:16 “And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace”
7 Power over death – I Corinthians 15:55-57 “O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory? The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law. But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
8 This gives us
a An example for a godly life
b Hope for ruined humanity
c Reassurance of Love
d Expectation of pardon
e Anticipation of future peace
f An example of humility Philippians 2:5 "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus," We want to be like God as I stated earlier several world religions say you can be a god or you already are one. We want to compete to be first. But the God of the Bible lowered himself to our level and that should be a lesson of humility.
XIII Conclusion:
A C.S. Lewis said regarding Christ “We are now faced with a frightening alternative. This man we are talking about either was (and is) just what He said or else a lunatic or something worse.”
B If he is a liar – he would go down in history as the greatest liar. One who has fooled Billions of people, many of whom have accepted death rather then deny Him.
C If he is a lunatic – how is it that so many religions admire him as a prophet or a great example.
D Is he something worse? Just one of many ways, just another truth, an example for others... that just brings us back to Him being a liar as he stated in John 14:6 ”Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
E This leaves only one option - C.S. Lewis goes on to say “Now it seems obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend; and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God.”
F ST. Basil of Caesarea (Letter 261) who I quoted earlier also wrote “Every man who fears the Lord, and is awaiting God’s judgment, I charge not to be carried away by various doctrines. If any one teaches a different doctrine, and refuses to accede to the sound words of the faith, rejecting the oracles of the Spirit, and making his own teaching of more authority than the lessons of the Gospels, of such an one beware.”
NB: When at all possible I attempted to cite sources, some are unfortunately from memory and the author is not credited. Ultimately, all credit belongs to my LORD and Savior Jesus Christ. If there are any errors in this lesson please bring them to my attention.
