Jesus coming to earth to be one like us is a story that always astounds me. Paul, in just a few verses, lays out the power of this story. I will need to take two days to break it down so watch for the rest of the story next week.
"being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men." Philippians 2:6,7
There are many ways people describe Jesus. Some call him a good teacher, a moralist, a prophet but Paul, in this verse, makes it clear who He is! When Paul uses the word "being" the Greek meaning of our translation is eternal existence, the first, the original. Paul is making it very plain that Jesus has always existed. Jesus birth in Bethlehem was not His beginning, He has and always will, exist.
Paul goes on to describe Jesus pre-birth existence. Jesus was in the "form" of God. This means He looked just like God, in fact, the Greek understanding isn't that He just looked like God but that He was God in every way, all His glory, splendor, and power, so much so that no flesh would be able to stand it. He was in such glory that no human mind would ever be able to comprehend it. Yet, He desired to pay the price to get us back from the devil's grasp so He had to step out of that glory and clothe himself in human flesh so that we could grasp who He is!
What Paul is describing to us is someone who had everything, who is everything, and willingly let it all go so He could meet with us face to face. He laid everything down to take on your sin and my sin. He always was and is God but for a brief moment in time laid it all down so we could understand His love, grace, and mercy from our limited perspective.
This just starts the story. Think about it for a week then we will finish the story next week. Please remember God always wants to make a connection with us because of His great love for us. He comes to us in a way we can understand because He first loved us!
No comments:
Post a Comment