It is wonderful and edifying to look at the panorama of his life, from his eternal past to his brief life on earth, to his eternal future.

Here’s the panoramic image:

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.

“Preexistence” in this case means before he existed as a human. He has no beginning and has no end. 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.

D.. Kenosis

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.

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.

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.

E.. Servanthood

Here are the states or events in the Servanthood stage: Some call this his humiliation.

1.. Birth

He was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit. This is his 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.

He is the theanthropos. 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.”

2.. Life

He lived a sinless life and fulfilled the requirements of the law and most importantly God’s will. He was baptized with the Spirit and then ministered in the great power. The Scripture calls him Rabbi, teacher, prophet, the Son of David, the Messiah or Christ, the Son of Man (or Humanity), Lord (the epistles quote from the OT and apply YHWH to the Lord Jesus Christ), the Son of God (his Sonship is eternal), king, and I am.

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. The purpose of his death shapes the entire Christ event—his birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension.

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. His ascension is also called his exaltation. The two terms are interchangeable. Recall Philippians 2:9a: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place. […].

3.. Session

The word session comes from Latin sessio, which means sitting. Jesus accomplished the story of redemption: birth, life, ministry, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension back to heaven. Therefore, Christ’s session on God’s throne and at his right hand means he has received all authority and power dominion. Sitting on the throne of God, the God-man exercise governance over the entire universe and over his church, his body.

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. Are you ready to meet him? You can be ready, if you surrender your entire being and life to his Lordship, with a simple, heart-felt prayer. “Jesus, I surrender my entire life to your Lordship.”

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. Y-H-W-H = KYRIOS (LORD) = THE LORD JESUS

A. Table of Scriptures

The Septuagint (pronounced sep-TOO-uh-gent) is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, done around the second century B.C. It is abbreviated LXX for the (supposed) seventy scholars who translated it. It very often translates Y-H-W-H (Yahweh) as KYRIOS (pronounced KOO-rih-oss or KEER–rih-oss) or LORD.

Here is a table that illustrates the original Old Testament and their quotations and application to Jesus in the NT. The NT writers and Jesus also applied this exalted title or name to himself.

YAHWEH = KYRIOS = THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
	Old Testament	New Testament
1	Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God (Ex. 20:9-10a).	The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath. (Mark 2:28)
2	9 He [THE LORD] said, “Go and tell this people: “‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ 10 Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (Is. 6:9-10)	37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. (John 12:37-41; cf. Matt. 13:14-15)
3	The Lord says to my lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (Ps. 110:1)	“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ 45 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” (Matt. 22:44-45)
4	“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. (Mal. 3:1)	And you, my child [John the Baptist], will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him (Luke 1:76)
5	The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not lack (Ps. 23:1)	“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11)
6	The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. 14 He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. (Is. 8:13-14)	Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Rom. 9:32-33)
7	And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls. (Joel 2:32)	9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9-13)
8	“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. (Is. 45:23)	It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” (Rom. 14:11) 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. 2:10-11)
9	“But let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. (Jer. 9:24)	It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:30-31)
10	Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor? (Is. 40:13)	16 “Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Cor. 2:16)
11	When you ascended on high, you took many captives; you received gifts from people, even from the rebellious—that you, Lord God, might dwell there. (Ps. 68:18)	This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” 9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) (Eph. 4:8-10)
12	People will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. (Is. 2:19 see vv. 2, 21)	This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (2 Thess. 1:7-9)
13	See, the Lord is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. (Is. 66:15)	2 Thess. 1:7-9 (see above)
14	He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins. (Ps. 130:8)	While we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:13-14)
15	In the beginning you [God] laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 26 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. 27 But you remain the same, and your years will never end. (Ps. 102:25-27)	He also says, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. 11 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. 12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” (Heb. 1:10-12)
16	Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail. (Is. 51:6)	Heb. 1:11, see above
17	Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. (Ps. 34:8)	Now … you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Pet. 2:3)
18	The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread. (Is. 8:13)	But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. (1 Pet. 3:15)
19	“And I [the LORD] will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. (Zech. 12:10)	“Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen. (Rev. 1:7)
20	“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jer. 17:10)	Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Rev. 2:23)
21	“And with you, Lord, is unfailing love”; and, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.” (Ps. 62:12)	“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”  (Rev. 22:12)
22	See the Sovereign LORD comes power, and he rules with his mighty arm. See his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. (Is. 40:10)	Rev. 22:12, see above
23	“This is what the Lord says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. (Is. 40:10)	I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last (Rev. 22:13)
Source: Frame, Systematic, p. 452, significantly revised here.

B. Quick example

Let’s take an example which was important to Jews of the first century. As noted, in Mark 2:28, Jesus said he was the Lord of the Sabbath. Now consider Ex. 20:9-10a, which says the Sabbath belongs to Yahweh. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God” (Ex. 20:9-10a). It is holy to him (Ex. 20:8, 11). Now Jesus owns the Sabbath; he is Lord over it.

C. Question and Answer

Question: If Jesus is the Son of God, how can he be Yahweh?

Answer: Jesus is the Son in relation to his Father, and very often God in the NT is the Father (see the post 1 the Trinity: the Basics. Therefore he is the Son of God or the Son of the Father. The NT writers also referred to the Father as KYRIOS or LORD, which proves the divine title (Matt. 1:20; 9:38; 11:25; Acts 17:24; Rev. 4:11).

Next, recall the posts on the Trinity. They are three persons contained within one God. (See the triangle inside the one circle.) All three persons share the same Godness.

The NT writers give Jesus the title KYRIOS from the OT, which often translates Yahweh. So KYRIOS is a title.  As the Lord Jesus is revealed in the New Testament, he was Yahweh all along in the Old Testament. Jesus is Yahweh come in the flesh.

The bottom line: the title KYRIOS (Y-H-W-H), used of Father God and the Lord Jesus, proves the equal divinity of the Father and Son. It is a title revealing their shared divinity. Don’t make it more complicated than that.

III. Reflections

A.. Bigger perspective

We now understand more clearly his entire existence. The upsweeping arrow puts things in perspective. It reveals God’s entire plan of salvation. It reveals Christ’s humanity and deity.

B.. Incarnation

The fullness of deity lives in bodily form in Jesus (Col. 2:9). There is nothing inherent in God’s nature that blocks him from stepping down into time and showing us a better way and redeeming us and offering us the gift of eternal life with him.

God sent his Son because he loves the world: ¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

C.. His resurrection is a game-changer.

Jesus was raised from the dead, bodily, as the earliest Christians said it was (Mark 16:1-8). Jesus came with the express purpose to preach the good news of the kingdom, to live a godly life, and to die as a sacrifice for our sins. And this purpose shapes his birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension.

Jesus was destined by God to die for the sins of the world. Before his death, however, he healed many with illnesses and even demon possession, in an atmosphere of faith. His mission was to set them free of ailments.

Jesus forgave his crucifiers. He prayed for a criminal and promised him that he would be in paradise. Jesus knew where he was going—back to heaven where he originally came from.

D.. His appearances are proofs of the resurrection.

They potentially change the whole world. Reports are now circulating and growing in number that Jesus is appearing to Muslims, either in dreams or personally in his body. They are converting to Christ.

Without the resurrection, his mission would like any other world religion—just preach some sort of message, and in Islam’s case, if they don’t convert, force them. But the Spirit of Jesus woos and draws people—not ravishes them.

Jesus’s resurrection ushered in the Church Age, when he sent his Spirit to the upper room (Acts 2), probably the same one in the above list.  When he was alive he said it would be advantageous for him to go away into heaven, because he would send the Spirit (John 16:7). Now he can direct the Spirit to guide his Church. Personally, his Spirit guides you. He presents Jesus to you—all due to Jesus’s resurrection.

E.. His ascension means victory is won.

Christ publicly, bodily, and visibly was raised up from the earth and went into the clouds, possibly clouds of glory or just ordinary clouds. When he was out of their sight, he disappeared and went into the heavenly dimension, where dwell God, his throne, angels, cherubim, Old Testament saints and other beings and things. He is now the heavenly God-man, after acquiring a new state: humanity.

I like to imagine big cheers thundering across heaven as the nail-scarred God-man processed towards the throne, where he was about to be seated at the right hand of the Father and receive all praise and glory (Rev. 5:12).

F.. Through Jesus, the Church now has authority.

By God’s will we the church participate in his rulership over dominions and authorities and powers under him.

This remarkable and stunning and brand-new idea and reality is confirmed in this verse:

And God raised up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).

What does it mean to submit to Christ’s authority who in turn gives us his authority over all those things in vv. 19-21?

Let’s apply his session to our world.

Does it mean authority over Satan? Yes.

Does it mean authority over disease because disease is part of the natural world and has a kind of power in its natural realm? Yes.

Does it mean authority over political injustice? Yes.

Over oppression and slavery and anti-liberty policies? Yes.

Over any mental strongholds and arguments and pretensions? Yes.

The list could go on because dominion and authority and power are all encompassing.

Through Christ and submitted to him we have rulership over all of it. And the best way to exercise rulership over it is to preach the gospel.

What is the purpose of Christ’s session when it grants us so much authority under him? Ephesians 2:7 says, “In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

So, the purpose is to display grace and kindness. Believers who rest in Christ have authority, but they also glorify Jesus for the awesome grace and kindness of God, which he applied to us, unworthy though we were. God gets the glory, not us.

G.. The Second Person of the Trinity

Throughout these states, even during his State of Humiliation or Servanthood, he was and will always be the Second Person of the Triunity, from eternity past and into eternity future. The second person is now both God and man. His human nature was added to his divine nature.

H.. Our worship life is changed forever.

The more you get to know a good man, the more you appreciate him. We serve more than just a good man. We serve the risen Lord. Our life of worship can now be clearer because we can see his entire existence laid out before us. We can respond in our soul and spirit with much greater appreciation of who he is and what he had to go through for us.

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LONGER POSTS

These posts have lots of Scriptures.

Sec. 6, 1 Christology, Doctrine of Christ: His Entire Existence in One Image

2 The States of Christ

3 The States of Christ