His existence has no beginning. The Son of God is eternal, just like his Father. In this post we look into his coming down to earth as the Son of God and even God in the flesh in the New Testament. This is called the Incarnation.
Here’s the image with the big title:
I.. Overview of the Image
A.. Scripture
This passage of Scripture is foundational for the image.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:5-11)
Many scholars agree that these verses are part of an early hymn. This is a remarkable fact. Philippians was written between AD 53 and 61. The hymn likely circulated around the Christian community before this timeframe. This means that not too long after Christ’s resurrection and ascension, the believers understood and celebrated the deity of Christ as established doctrine. It is often believed that much later Christians, in the fourth and fifth centuries, for example, fabricated the idea of the deity of Christ. But this early hymn or passage in Philippians contradicts this belief. The incarnation was a very early belief.
B.. Stages
The states in Jesus’s life are as follows, starting on the left:
Preincarnate Son of God in heaven → Kenosis (Self-emptying) → SERVANTHOOD → Birth → Life → Death → Burial → EXALTATION → Resurrection → Ascension → Session in heaven → Return to earth
Many theologians prefer to see the states as integrated rather than successive, and this is true. But for convenience, let’s take each state one at a time.
C.. Heavenly Existence
In heaven he is the preincarnate, eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity.
D.. Kenosis
His kenosis means self-emptying of his glory and privileges and environment of heaven, but not his divine attributes. He humbled himself in the form of a human servant—hence Servanthood. Many theologians call it the State of Humiliation or Humbling.
E.. Servanthood
Here are the states or events in the Servanthood stage:
1.. Birth
He was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit. This is his incarnation.
2.. Life
He lived a sinless life and fulfilled the requirements of the law and most importantly God’s will.
3.. Death
His death, particularly on the cross, is the ultimate form of humiliation and servanthood.
God loves us so much that he sent his Son to humble himself to the point of death.
Some Scriptures indicate he went down into hades to proclaim to the spirits there. Some Bible interpreters say no. Please see this article:
10. Do I Really Know Jesus? Did He Descend into Hades to Preach?
F.. Exaltation
1.. Resurrection
His resurrection means he bodily rose from the grave. His body was transformed into an immortal, glorified, nail-scarred one, but he could still eat or drink with it. His identity remained the same—the same Jesus whom the disciples knew before his resurrection.
2.. Ascension
In his ascension, he went up into heaven. He is the God-man who has a glorified, transformed, and nail-scarred body.
3.. Session
Session or sitting means he is seated at the right hand of the Father, signifying his victory and highest status, and receiving the governance over all the Church and the entire universe. This governance will be fully manifested to us at his return to earth.
4.. Return
As King and Lord and Judge, he will return to earth in power and glory, his divine attributes in full display. We explore this topic in the section on eschatology.
G.. Summary
Christ’s humbling and exaltation go together. We must not see Christ’s incarnation and exaltation as distinct or placed in neat and tidy categories. It is exaltation in humiliation. It is the progression through humiliation. He is exalted through his redemptive suffering. The apex is his death on the cross. Then the Father exalted him to sit at his right hand (Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, p. 842).
II.. His Preexistence
A.. Definitions
“Preexistence” in this case means before he existed as a human. Let’s introduce the concept with this quotation:
The eternality of Christ means he is not limited by time, has no beginning, and will have no end. The preexistence of Jesus Christ means he existed before his birth in Bethlehem. Because Christ existed before his earthly birth, his eternality gives him godlike qualities. This concept of preexistence and the proofs of eternality support the proofs of the deity of Christ. (Towns p. 118)
The Bible gives some hints and some bold statements about his preincarnate or preexistent state.
B.. Christ is eternal.
That means he existed before he was born as a human. He had no beginning and will have no end. God did not create him out of nothing. He is eternally uncreated, but generated—a Father-Son term that speaks of intimacy.
58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
God is eternal, and Jesus was the second person within the Godhead. Therefore he too is eternal.
When Did Jesus ‘Become’ the Son of God?
C.. He is the creator.
The Scriptures make it clear that he was the instrument by whom God made the heavens and the earth.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:3)
This verse says he made everything, even spiritual things:
16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. (Col. 1:16)
Note that the God made the universe through his Son.
[…] 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. (Heb. 1:2)
And now he sustains creation:
17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col. 1:17)
D.. He was active in the Old Testament as the Angel of the Lord.
Jesus as a messenger is different from a created messenger, like Gabriel (Dan. 8:16, 9:21; Luke 1:19, 21) or Michael (Dan. 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 1:9; Rev. 12:7). Jesus is uncreated, but he served as the Angel of the Lord (a messenger) and was also called God or the LORD.
Here are some examples.
As to the life of Hagar the Scripture says:
9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count.” … She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Gen. 16:9-10, 13)
Note that the Angel of the Lord is called God in v. 13.
During the near-sacrifice of Isaac, the Scripture reads:
11 But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. 12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” (Gen. 22:11-14)
He is called LORD in v. 14.
In the burning bush, the angel (messenger) appeared. He can only be the preexistent Son of God.
2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. (Exod. 3:2-6)
He is called LORD and God in vv. 4 and 5, above.
For more Scriptures, you can go to my website drjimsebt.com and search the article:
Who Was the Angel of the Lord?
III.. His Self-Emptying
A.. Brief into.
This Greek word means “emptying.” In context Jesus emptied himself. He gave up something, but what? Did he empty himself of some or all of his divine attributes? Then he was not fully or true God, because God does not give up his nature. Of what then did he empty himself?
B.. What do theologians say?
In this case, let’s look at one. Wayne Grudem:
Therefore the best understanding of this passage is that it talks about Jesus giving up the status and privilege that was his in heaven: he “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (or “clung to for his own advantage”), but “emptied himself” or “humbled himself” for our sake, and came to live as a man. Jesus speaks elsewhere of the “glory” he had with the Father “before the world was made” (John 17:5), a glory that he had given up and was going to receive again when he returned to heaven. (p. 687, emphasis original)
C.. Jesus did not give up his divine attributes.
But then how do we account for the humanity and deity of Jesus in the four Gospels, where the humanity seems to dominate? Surely he gave up something, or did he? Here is how Millard Erickson answers the question: Jesus did not give up the divine attributes, but he freely surrendered the ability to act on them on his own accord. He exercised them only in dependence on his Father. “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19). Whenever he exercised his divine power to perform miracles or reading thoughts, for example, he called on his Father and the power of the Father-directed Spirit. Both his Father’s will and his will were necessary, but his will was submitted to his Father.
D.. Illustration
Then professional theologian Millard Erickson uses the illustration of a safe-deposit box. Two keys—the banker’s and the depositor’s—are needed to open it. When Jesus exercised his divine attributes, both wills had to agree to it.
So there is divine cooperation between the Father and the Son—and I add the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Messiah or Anointed One by the Spirit (Acts 10:38). His miracles were done by his divine nature through the power of the Spirit, by the Father’s will. So the Tri-unity (Trinity) was working together during the Son’s humiliation.
E.. Summary
Erickson concludes:
The humiliation entailed all of the conditions of humanity. Thus Jesus was capable of feeling fatigue and weariness, pain and suffering, hunger, even the anguish of betrayal, denial and abandonment by those closest to him. He experienced the disappointment, discouragement, and distress of soul that go with being fully human. His humanity was complete. (p. 705)
For more details, please see this post:
4. Do I Really Know Jesus? He Took the Form of a Servant
IV.. His Incarnation
A.. Meaning of the word Incarnation
Literally it means “the process or act of (being, coming) in flesh” (-carn– means “flesh”). It refers to the eternal Son of God taking on, assuming, or becoming the flesh of humanity.
God becomes man, deity and humanity in one person, Jesus Christ. He took on human nature at his conception and birth.
B.. It is not the same as reincarnation.
Not at all. Reincarnation means you were here on the planet in a previous life, like a cow of chimp. You died as a cow or chimp, and you were promoted to a human because you were a good cow or chimp. You will die as a human, and then you will come back either as a lower life form, which means you are a bad human now, or you will come back as a higher human, which means you are good right now. This whole process is called samsara—life-death-rebirth. Jesus sets us free from samsara. You are born once, you become born again by receiving Jesus by his Spirit, you die, face judgment of the loving Father through Christ. If you have Christ as your advocate, you will enter heaven. If you don’t have him as your advocate, you will go to hell. Simple, but serious. Choose Jesus.
Now let’s return to the biblical Incarnation of the Son of God.
C.. What does the word theanthropos mean?
The– means God, and anthrop– means human (it is pronounced they-AHN-throw-poss, and the -os ending is masculine nominative), but let’s go traditional and call him the “God-man,” which is a perfect word for Jesus’ incarnation and the union of his two natures, in one person (later in this series). During his state of humiliation, he was both fully God and fully man.
D.. Scriptures
Jesus was conceived by the Spirit: Matthew 1:18, 20, Luke 1:35. The Father sent the Spirit to conceive his Son. So his origins were divine. Human nature was added to his divine nature.
His birth was prophesied in Isiah 9:6-7, and he is called “mighty God.” Matthew 1:22-23 incorporates this exalted divine status. “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet. ‘The Virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him “Immanuel.” “God with us.”
22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means, ‘God with us.’” (Matt. 1:22-23; cf. Isaiah 7:14)
A major theme in the Gospel of Matthew is Christ’s fulfillment of Old Testament promises and prophecies. This quotation from Isaiah is Christ’s first fulfillment in Matthew.
Please see this post:
How Christ Fulfills the Law: Matthew 5:17-19.
Also see this article, which has a long table of Old Testament and New Testament verses:
Jesus was the Word who created the world and who became flesh. Recall that carn’ in Incarnation means “flesh.”
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that was made […] 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him […] 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (John 1:1-3, 10, 14)
John always views the Old Testament in the background to his Gospel, and this passage is a clear reference to Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” […]. As noted above, the fuller New Testament revelation says that God the Father created all things through the agency of God the Son (note the word “through” in verse 3). Blessedly, the Word became flesh and lived among us.
Jesus repeats a theme about his being sent by his Father, often using such clauses as “He has sent me” or “I have been sent” (Matt. 10:40, 15:24; Mark 9:37; Luke 9:48; John 4:34; 5:24, 30, 36; 6:38). In the larger context of Jesus’ ministry, he has been sent down from heaven.
For example, John 5:24 says: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
Paul the Apostle, formerly a Rabbi and a strict Pharisee whose knowledge of the law was deep, records his understanding of Christ’s Incarnation that also circulated around the earliest Christian communities. See once again Phil 2:5-11, above.
D.. Jesus will forever be a man.
When he was born, crucified, resurrected, and exalted to heaven he did not lose his human nature and his (spiritualized, glorified) body. He will be a man forever. He told his disciples to see and fell the nail prints in his hands.
25 But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:25-28)
He had flesh and bones:
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.” … 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence. (Luke 24:37-29, 42)
Angels promised he would return in the same way he ascended:
11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
In heaven Jesus is called a man:
For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Tim. 2:5)
In the Book of the Revelation, Jesus still appears like the Son of Man:
13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. (Rev. 1:13)
Jesus did not temporarily become a man, but he will be a man forever. He is now both God and man, yet one person: Jesus.
E.. Purpose of the Incarnation
1.. He revealed God to us.
Without the Incarnation, we would only have a glimpse of a veiled God. We needed clarity and intimacy.
18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (John 1:18)
If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father. That how closely Jesus is the exact representation of the Father:
7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. (John 14:7-11; see also Heb. 1:3)
Now we have a much fuller and clearer picture of God.
2.. He can be an effective substitutionary sacrifice for our sins.
16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. (Heb. 2:16-17; also see Heb. 10:1-10)
He loved you so much that he sent his Son into this broken world to die for your sins, so you would not have to die for them. You can’t die for your sins because you are a sinner and degraded, in contrast to a perfectly holy God. You needed a sinless, perfect savior, a substitute.
3.. His incarnation destroyed the works of the devil.
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. (1 John 3:8)
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil. (Heb. 2:14)
Now you have authority over the devil in Jesus’ name.
4.. He fulfilled Bible prophecies.
They spoke of a Messiah to come, and God would not allow his promises to fall to the ground. Please see a long table of Messianic prophecies at my website:
5.. He fulfilled the Davidic covenant.
God spoke through Gabriel that his Son would inherit the throne of David.
31 “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:31-33)
6.. He is now a sympathetic high priest.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Heb. 4:14-16)
He understands our weaknesses, because he too was a human and was tempted in every way, but without sin.
7.. He is a mediator between God and us.
5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Tim. 2:5)
This ministry is similar to his being a high priest. We needed him to stand before God and introduce us to him.
8.. He reveals to us what our bodies will be like in their resurrected state.
This verse is about his and our resurrection. Jesus’s resurrection is the “first fruits,” which means that the rest of the harvest is like it. Our bodies will be like his: “23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him” (1 Cor. 15:23).
Next, his body was raised in glory and power to be a spiritual body. Ours will be like that. We will be recognized by our friends and family in glory / heaven.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. (1 Cor. 15:42-44)
His being the first-born from the dead is like his being the first-fruit. He is the pattern for our bodies.
18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Col. 1:18)
9.. He fulfilled God’s original purpose for man to rule over creation.
Ruling over nature means that he conquered the ultimate degradation of nature: death.
9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. (Heb. 2:9)
In the next verse he commissioned his disciples. Since he has been given all rule and authority, we too can spread the kingdom of God under his Son. “18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “’All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’” (Matt. 28:18)
God placed all things under the feet of his Son: “22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church” (Eph. 1:22).
In God’s original purpose, he put humankind here to subdue it and to be a caretaker—to take care of it, not to destroy it. Now, in Christ, man and woman can be restored to their original purpose of subduing nature.
10.. He set an example for us to follow.
We must live the crucified life. We surrender all to God, not to the devil or circumstances or humankind’s evil ways. To God alone we surrender our lives: “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).
The next verse says it clearly: “6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did” (1 John 2:6).
Part of following his example is to do his works. We must complete the picture by seeing healing from disease, deliverance from satanic attacks, and the power of the gospel in our preaching to save people and grow them up in Christ. Through him we can do greater works than these (John 14:12).
See this article:
What Does ‘Greater Things’ Mean in John 14:12?
11.. He is now a righteous judge because he is the Son of Man.
22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son […] 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. (John 5:22, 27)
This commentary on the image of his entire existence continues in the next post, and in final post of the three posts, there will be an application.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 