SCRIPTURE:
Though he(Jesus) was in the from 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. (Philippians 2:6-7)
OBSERVATION:
"He was in the form of God". This scripture is talking about Jesus Christ before He came to earth. In this scripture the word "form" means the true and exact nature of something, possessing all the characteristics and qualities of something. It is talking about His divine essence that he laid aside to become a man. This scripture also tells us that Jesus had "equality with God", but he took on the from of a servant and was born as a man. So it comes down to this, God himself became a man. Jesus was not an angel or a great prophet, He was God almighty in the flesh!
APPLICATION:
These scriptures are very important to the teaching about who Jesus is. We need to know that it was God Himself who died on the cross for our sins. There are many religions that would say that Jesus is not God, but we see here that He had the form of God and equality with God. There are also many other scriptures that make it very clear that Jesus is God. We usually don't think about these things until we have someone knocking on our front door, who would have us to think that Jesus was an angel and not God.
Why is this so important? If Jesus is not God, then it would be blasphemy for us to worship Him. If Jesus is not God, then it would be idolatry for us to put our trust in Him alone! If Jesus was not God, then our sins are not forgiven. The death of the highest angel in heaven would not be enough to pay the price for the sins of the entire world. The death of a good prophet would not pay the price before a holy God. Only the death of God Himself, the sinless spotless lamb of the world, could satisfy the wrath of God. Aren't you thankful that God Himself came to earth and died in your place?
PRAYER:
Dear Lord
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9 comments:
Greetings Carlo Provencio
You said "God himself became a man"
However GOD said
I am not a man!
[Num 23.19, Hosea 11.9]
You said:
"Jesus was not ... a great prophet"
Well GOD promised Moses, that He would indeed raise up "a great prophet"
[Deut 18.15,18-19]
"That Prophet" was identified as
Jesus of Nazareth in the NT
[Acts 3.22-23, 7.37, John 1.45, etc]
Jesus identified himself as "That Prophet" spoken of by Moses
[John 4.25-26, 5.46]
You said:
If Jesus is not God, then it would be blasphemy for us to worship Him.
True! That is why we ought to know who Jesus truly is, so that we can worship him scripturally for who he is;
that is: the King Messiah, the Son of GOD!
Please see:
The Worship of Christ
Defining the Term "Worship"
You said:
"If Jesus is not God, then it would be idolatry for us to put our trust in Him alone!"
That is why, Jesus commands us to put our trust in "both" the Father and in him!
John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
(Compare Exo 14.31)
You said:
"Only the death of God Himself"
Dear Carlo, with all due respect,
GOD CANNOT DIE! HE ALONE POSSESSES IMMORTALITY
[1 Tim 6.16]
Immortal means "One cannot die" So, GOD cannot die!
It was the death of the sinless man, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of GOD, which atoned our sins.
And Romans Chapter 5 makes it clear that seeing that through the disobedience of a man namely Adam, sin & death came into the world;
it took the obedience of another man, namely, Jesus of Nazareth to bring about righteousness and eternal life.
So a sinless man qualified as the sinless spotless lamb of the world. And that sinless man was Jesus the Son of the ONE GOD [John 1.34]
Therefore Carlo Provencio, for more info on
who Jesus really is,
I recommend this video:
The Human Jesus
Take a couple of hours to watch it; and prayerfully it will aid you to reconsider "The Trinity"
Yours In Messiah
Adam Pastor
Adam, thank you for commenting. You seem to be a very educated man but you dont seem to understand the nature of our triune God which is a very basic doctrine.
Lets see what Scripture says:
Isaiah 9:6 - For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, MIGHTY GOD, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 43:10,11 - “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no Savior.”
Revelation 1:17-18; Revelation 2:8 - (Jesus is the First and the Last)
Isaiah 44:6 - (God is the Redeemer)
2 Peter 1:1 (Jesus is the Redeemer) - “To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ”
Isaiah 44:24 - (God created the world by His self alone)
John 1:3; Colossians 1:16 - (Jesus made all things)
John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
John 5:17,18 - “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” Therefore the Jews sought to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
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.
John 8:24 - “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM He, you will die in your sins.”
John 8:58 - Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
John 10:30-33 - Jesus answered them, “I and My Father are one.” Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?” 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.”
John 14:6-7 - Jesus said to him, “I AM the way, the truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 14:9-11 - Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?”
John 20:28 - And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Acts 4:12 - “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 20:28 - (God purchased us with His own blood)
Revelation 1:5,6; Revelation 5:8-9 - (Jesus' blood purchased us)
Philippians 2:5-7 - Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant, and coming in the likeness of men.
1 Timothy 3:16 - And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
Titus 2:13 - looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ
Greetings Carlo Provencio
The majority of the verses you posted are addressed in the video,
The Human Jesus
So please take a couple of hours to watch it; and we can then proceed with the discussion.
Thanks
Yours In Messiah
Adam Pastor
Adam, I will watch your video and in the mean time you can read this article. Sorry I'm not sure how to make it a live link so you'll have to copy and paste the address!
http://vintage.aomin.org/EGO.html
I watched 1 hour of the video, very weak arguments, they did not address hardly any of my scriptures. These men didnt even seem like they believed what they were saying half of the time. If they wanted to build a strong case they should have examined more scriptures. very deceptive to anyone that does not know the Bible. I pray that the Holy Spirit will illuminate you with truth!
Carlo,
very weak arguments!!
Hmmm!
In the video,
Isa 9.6, John 1.1, 8.58, 10.30, 20.28, 1 Tim. 3.16;
are all addressed.
Please persevere to the end of the video.
Thanks.
Adam Pastor
The Human Jesus
I watched the whole thing, I cant believe they didnt address Colossians 1 where Paul calls Jesus Creator of all things! Their arguments were very desperate, and incomplete. Now I have a video for you to watch, I will post the link later.
also, where can I find a link to your testimony of how you came to faith in Jesus Christ?
Here is the link of a Muslim and a Christian debating the deity of Christ, its a long video but so was yours
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tqlKW8qQ5A
Carlo
Thanks for taking the time to watch the video;
thanks for your comments;
and thanks for the link.
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