The Incarnation of Christ is the central event in Christian theology, signifying the eternal Son of God taking on permanent human flesh and nature. This foundational act explains Christ's role as Savior, King, High Priest, and example, and is essential for understanding God's promises, His revelation as Father, and the defeat of the devil.
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well we are back in our summer in the
systematic series our summer long study
of systematic theology and specifically
the subdiscipline of christology and so
far in this year's study we have looked
at the topics of the pre-existence of
Christ the deity of Christ the humanity
of Christ and the two Natures of
Christ and these lessons I believe I can
speak collectively have led us to that
that state of of blessed
despair uh these lessons have given us
those holy headaches because we've been
searching what ultimately is unknowable
as we seek to sound the bottoms of who
Christ is in his person um as mere
creatures we've been attempting to give
it the old College try as we search the
scriptures to comprehend Concepts like
eternity and pre-existence and two
Natures existing in one person and the
like uh tonight's lesson is going to
cause more headaches but I can assure
you they will be the good kind U because
I can assure you that along with the
headaches we are going to start this
gradual shift in this summer long study
of christology as we start to move on
from who Christ is in his person to what
Christ did what Christ continues to do
and what Christ will do in the future
and it all starts with our topic for
this evening which is the Incarnation of
Christ Christmas in July it worked
out um as with each and every category
and subdiscipline of theology
definitions are important definitions
are essential so what do we mean when we
speak of the Incarnation of Christ well
here's a solid definition from R Rolland
mun he says in Systematic Theology the
Incarnation refers to the INF fleshman
that's a fun word of God the son the act
whereby the second person of the Triune
God was embodied permanently in human
flesh and nature I think that's really
helpful because it picks up on the fact
that that Christ is eternally God he is
he's God the son as mun notes this
definition picks up on the fact that the
Incarnation describes an act or an event
meaning though Christ is eternally God
he was not always in eternity past
incarnate he was not always in flesh
rather as mchu notes it was through an
act namely through his virginal
conception in Mary's womb that he became
incarnate I also appreciate this
definition because it picks up on the
fact that Christ even today is in human
form he's in glorified human form to be
sure just check Revelation one on that
but he is in human form he is embodied
permanently in human flesh and nature so
that's a helpful definition to get us
started um here's another quote and this
isn't really a definition but rather an
observation from John wver he notes that
the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ
is the central fact of
Christianity upon it the whole super
structure of Christian theology depends
then he goes on to write and by the way
this is from his great work um Jesus
Christ Our Lord he says in one sense the
remaining discussion of christology as a
whole is an
amplification of the
Incarnation and that's absolutely right
with the Incarnation our subject of
study for this evening it it it leads to
all these different tributaries of
christology that we're going to study
for the rest of the summer things like
the Life of Christ and the
Transfiguration of Christ and the
crucifixion of Christ and the the death
of Christ the resurrection of Christ the
Ascension of Christ and the return of
Christ which we'll try to squeeze into
the rest of the summer uh in other words
using wal's quote here the fact that
Jesus is God incarnate really sets the
stage for the study of each of those
other subtopics but for tonight we're
going to zero in again on the
Incarnation of Christ and the
Incarnation by the way really ties
together a variety of different topics
and and subtopics like the enunciation
account that we've been studying in our
Sunday Morning series in Luke uh or the
necessity of a virgin birth which we've
also been looking at in Luke or the
account of Christ's birth which is laid
out in in Luke Chapter 2 and and Matthew
chapter 1 or some of the real deep
theological statements that we see in
places like John 1 or Philippians 2 or
Hebrews uh really the whole book of
Hebrews which is we're going to we're
going to touch on this evening and
tonight we have a really simple outline
and we have really we have just two
points you can see it on your worksheet
there um when you cover the Incarnation
there's so many directions you could go
and you're never going to reach the
bottom of it but I'm going to take us on
on on two broad tracks of thought here
first this is our first heading for
those of you who are going to be taking
copious notes tonight um point one will
be Christ took on the Flesh of man
that's our first blank and if you want
to turn it over and fill in blank two
already this is going to be the second
Point Christ took on the form of a
slave so Christ took on the Flesh of man
Christ took on the form of a slave we'll
start with the first one Christ took on
the Flesh of man um this first part of
our lesson this evening is going to be a
study of the the Incarnation proper and
that word Incarnation comes from the
Latin term incarn incarnati
um which means to embody in flesh that's
what we mean by the word Incarnation we
mean that Jesus Christ the Eternal Son
of God took on not only a human nature
that's what we studied last time when we
looked at the two Natures of Christ but
in doing so he took on flesh real joints
real bones real fingernails real eyelids
all the rest uh here are handful of
pertinent scriptures I'm going to lay
out here real briefly and quickly just
to give us sort of a running start into
the subject these are sort of your go-to
verses on the Incarnation if you kept to
Key Ring of of verses dealing with the
UN Incarnation you would want these on
your key ring John 1:14 and the word
became flesh and dwelt among us and we
beheld his glory glory as of the only
begotten from the father full of grace
and truth Galatians 4:4 but when the
fullness of the time came God sent forth
his son born of a woman born under the
law Romans 8:3 for what the law could
not do weak as it was through the flesh
God did sending his own son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and as an
offering for sin he condemned sin in the
flesh and then Hebrews 2:14 therefore
since the children share in Flesh and
Blood he himself likewise also partook
of the same that through death he might
render powerless him who had the power
of death that is the devil we're going
to work through each one of these a bit
later I just want to set up the topic
Tee It Up with some of these key
scriptures all right well we're going to
start tonight under that first heading
is we're going to look at first some of
the biblical
reasons for the
Incarnation why did christ the Eternal
Son of God come as a man why did he
encase himself in human flesh well there
are a number of different reasons which
are laid out for us all over the pages
of scripture we're going to start with
this one God the son became Christ
incarnate to confirm God's
promises going all the way back to
Genesis 3:15 and continuing on through
the Old Testament God at various times
in Redemptive history and in Biblical
history promised to send his son into
the world Isaiah 9:6 for a child will be
born to us a son will be given to us
Isaiah 7:14 therefore the Lord himself
will give you a sign behold the Virgin
will be with child and bear a son and
she will call his name Emmanuel and then
you if if you do a careful examination
of the Old Testament you'll see that
there are these two lines of prediction
concerning the Christ number one he was
going to come as a savior from sin and
two he was going to come as a
king the saving purpose of this coming
son is is prefigured in the Old Testament
Testament
sacrifices 1 Corinthians 5:7 alludes to
it clean out the old leaven so that you
may be a new lump just as you are in
fact unleavened for Christ Our Passover Lamb
Lamb
also was
sacrificed and it's predicted back in
places like Isaiah 53 surely our griefs
he himself bore and our sorrows he
carried yet we ourselves esteemed him
stricken smitten of God and Afflicted
but he was pierced through for our
transgressions he was crushed for our
iniquities the chastening for our peace
fell upon him and by his wounds we are
healed all of us like sheep have gone
astray each of us has turned to his own
way but Yahweh has caused the iniquity
of us all to fall on him so those just
give you a sense those passages of the
salvific purposes of the coming son and
the other purpose is is
kingship the the coming King that the
coming son the Incarnate one would also
be a king as foretold in some of the Old
Testament passages like 2 Samuel 7 this
is referring to the the davidic Covenant
of course says I will raise up one of
your seed after you who will come forth
from your own body and I will establish
his kingdom he will build a house for my
name and I will establish the Throne of
his kingdom forever and it goes on and
on and on deeper into this verse to lay
out the davidic promise and then there's
Psalm two but as for me I have installed
my king upon Zion my Holy Mountain I
will surely tell of the decree of Yahweh
he said to me you are my son today I
have begotten you ask of me and I will
surely give the Nations as your
inheritance so when he came came Christ
came in this double role of Savior and
King Gabriel told Mary we've seen this
in Luke that that God would give him
this this child in her womb the Throne
of his father David that that speaks to
his kingship that's Luke 1:32 he will be
great and will be called the son of the
most high and the Lord God will give him
the Throne of his father David so
there's a kingship reference Jesus
himself spoke in salvific terms Matthew
15 he says I was not sent except the
lost sheep of the House of Israel
however we know from John 1 that his own
did not receive him he came to what was
his own and those who were were his own
did not receive him and though in his
triumphal entry he entered as the the
son of David um when he rode into
Jerusalem on a donkey here's that scene
the the infamous hosana scene of Matthew
21 a few days later we know that these
same individuals who were welcoming him
were asking that he be
crucified and and he was in fact
crucified he he suffered and died
becoming the world's Savior and then the
Cornerstone of the church Ephesians 2
you are no longer strangers and
sojourners but you are fellow citizens
with the Saints and are of God's
household having been built on the
foundation of the Apostles and Prophets
Christ Jesus himself being the
Cornerstone and then here's a nice
summary statement of his salvific
purposes for I say that Christ has
become a servant to the circumcision on
behalf of the truth of God to confirm
the promises given to the
fathers and I cut off the quote there
and for the Gentiles to glorify God for
his Mercy that's the missing piece there
so one of the purposes for the
Incarnation of the Incarnation was to
confirm God's promises here's another
reason for the Incarnation to reveal the
father in the Old Testament we know God
is revealed as creator
God is revealed by his various
attributes and characteristics his
Holiness his power his patience Etc but
God isn't explicitly revealed as father
in the Old Testament it's through the
Incarnation Jesus reveals God as Father John
John
1:18 no one has seen God at any time the
only begotten God who is in the bosom of
the father he that's Jesus has explained
him that's God the
father Jesus taught that to see him was
to see the father he who has seen me has
seen the father Jesus taught that the
father himself loves us that's John 16
for the father himself loves you because
you have loved me and have believed that
I came forth from the father then you go
over to the Matthew's gospel these are
all uh references from the Gospel of
John you go to Matthew's gospel and you
see that Jesus revealed that the father
knows what things we need before we even
ask him Matthew 68 he says it just that
way your father knows what you need
before you ask him and then he says in
the very next verse that we are to ask
him Our Father who is in heaven Hallowed
be your name again it was only through
Christ's Incarnation that God was
revealed as Father John 14:7 if you have
come to know me you will know my father
also from now on you know him and have seen
seen
him here's here's another reason for
Christ's Incarnation it was to serve as
a faithful high
priest Christ came in his Incarnation so
that he could go through every Human
Experience apart of course from sin and
in doing so be qualified to serve as a
faithful high priest remember that in
the Old Testament the the high priests
were taken from among men that's exactly
what Hebrews 51 says for every high
priest taken from among men is appointed
on behalf of men in things pertaining to
God in order to offer both gifts and
sacrifices and sins that's referring to
Earthly High Priests look at the
parallel now between those types of
priests and the great high priest Jesus
our lord Hebrews 2 says he had to be
made like his brothers in all things so
that he might become a merciful and
faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God to make propitiation
for the sins of the people for since he
himself was tempted in that which he has
suffered he is able to come to help
those who are
tempted and as a result Hebrews 4:15
notes for we do not have a high priest
who cannot sympathize with our
weaknesses but one who has been tempted
in all things like we are yet without
sin what this means then is that the
very fact that our incarnate Lord
suffered things like like hunger pains
and and lack of sympathy and AFF ction
from others and and sleepless nights the
fact that he he grew weary at times and
experienced various types of Temptation
that come to man the fact that he was
misunderstood the fact that he was
forsaken the fact that he was persecuted
and then ultimately delivered up to
death it all rendered him a a perfectly
sympathetic high
priest here's another one another reason
for the Incarnation it was to deal with
sin this came up this morning in our
study of of the Gospel of Luke luk and
the account of those circumstances
leading up to our Lord's birth which we
know ultimately those circumstances
ended up with the and culminated with
the death of our Lord he came to
die and that's a truth we see all over
the New Testament he was born to die Hebrews
Hebrews
9:26 but now once at the consummation of
the ages he has been
manifested to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself manifested how
manifested in the flesh Mark 10:45 says
for even the son of man did not come to
be served but to serve and to give his
life a ransom for many that's an
incarnational verse and he needed to be
man in order to die for an atone for the
sins of mankind he needed to be human to
Die For
Humanity as is Isaiah said it
prophetically all of us all of us like
sheep have gone astray each of us has
turned to his own why his own way but
Yahweh has caused the iniquity of all
all of us to fall on him and then Christ
the Lamb of God we later see in John 1
129 is refer to this way as the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world
going back to the Isaiah 53
reference and because God cannot die
he's the Eternal God the perfect God the
all powerful God he needed to take on
flesh Humanity to die
which he did Hebrews
2:9 but we do see him who is made for a
little while lower than the Angels Jesus
because of the suffering of death
crowned with Glory and Honor so that by
the grace of God he might taste death
for everyone he was made a little lower
than the Angels that's an incarnational
statement so that he might taste death
for everyone through his
crucifixion 1 John 3:5 in that same V
says and you know that he was manifested
he appeared in order to take away
sins so while Christ certainly came to
this earth to teach men and he certainly
came to set a a holy example we'll get
into those in just a moment above all he
came to die he came to die for man's sin
the the sin which alienated man from God
was was dealt with Forever by the
sacrifice of our incarnate Lord 1
Timothy 1:15 it is a trustworthy saying
and deserving full acceptance that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save
Sinners that's a purpose statement among
whom I am
foremost here's another reason for the
Incarnation he came in the flesh to
destroy the works of the
devil uh shortly after John the Apostle
John says this in 1 John 3:5 and you
know that he was manifested that's an
incarnational statement in order to take
away sins and in him there is no sin
look what he says just a few verses down
in verse 8 the Son of God was manifested
again that's incarnational for this
purpose to destroy the works of the
devil the Bible teaches it similarly in
in Hebrews 2 he himself likewise also
partook of the same that through death
he might render powerless who had the
power of death that is the devil and
this was so as we see in the next verse
he might free those who through fear of
death were subject to slavery all their
lives so Christ coming and especially
his work on the cross resulted in his
victory over Satan so that Satan is now
a a vanquished foe he's a a defeated
devil and someday we know Christ will
finish the work when Satan is cast into
the Lake of Fire we see that in
Revelation 20 and the devil who deceived
them was thrown into the lake of fire
and brimstone where the Beast and the
false prophet are also and they will be
tormented day and night forever ever and
ever unless we think that this is just
some you know cold theological data that
I'm downloading to you on a Sunday night
with no practical application for us
today think of what John stot writes on
this topic he says if then the whole
purpose of Christ's first appearing was
to remove sins and to undo the works of
the devil Christians must not compromise
with either sin or the devil or they
will find themselves fighting against Christ
Christ
that's some good
application moving right along here's
another reason for Christ's
Incarnation to serve as our
example Christ is the believer's savior
we know that and we praise God for that
but he is also our example and the
example he set for us he set for us in
his incarnate life here on Earth 1 Peter
2:21 for to this you have been called
since Christ also suffered for you
leaving you and an example that you
might you should follow in his steps or
1 John 2:6 the one who says he abides in
him ought himself to walk in the same
manner as he
walked here's a helpful way to think
about it from Henry Clarence te in this
example idea he says to the unsaved the
Bible says believe and live to the saved
follow in his
steps now we've covered some of these
already but I'm going to highlight real
briefly here a section of Hebrews
chapter 2 which is just jam-packed with
incarnational truth um in this chapter
alone from Hebrews
29-18 there are something like six
different statements related to Christ's
Incarnation which answer the big
question I'm I'm getting at right now
which is why why did the Son of God
become incarnate why did he put on flesh
and Hebrews chapter 2 and this section
is going to give us six more reasons
some of which overlap with what we've
already gone over over but here's one
Hebrews 2:9 this would be the he became
incarnate to taste death for everyone
idea but we do see him who was made for
a little while lower than the Angels
Jesus because of the suffering of death
crowned with Glory and Honor so that by
the grace of God he might taste death
for everyone so our Lord's suffering in
his Incarnation was substitutionary he
died in our place so that we might live
he might taste death for everyone the
second reason given in Hebrews is in the
very next verse Hebrews 10 which tells
us that he would through his Incarnation
bring many sons to glory for it was
fitting for him for whom all for whom
are all things and through whom are all
things in bringing many sons to glory to
perfect the author of their salvation through
through
sufferings Bruce demerest gives an
explanation there he says Christ
descended to Earth to lead the redeemed
to the Heavenly
Home the third one is this from
Hebrews the reason another reason for
the Incarnation would be that he would
sanctify or or set apart us as his
Brethren Hebrews 2:11 for both he who
sanctifies and those who are being
Sanctified are all of one for which
reason he is not ashamed to call them
that's us
Brothers Christ coming to Earth then in
the flesh opened this door to this new
relationship between God and man man
where those who were once enemies can
now be called his friends and those who
were once aliens can now call themselves
privileged members of God's
family fourth is this and we just work
through this one but this is to destroy
the power of the devil Hebrews 2:14 I
won't repeat that one again fifth would
be to Deliver Us from the threat of
Eternal death which we see in Hebrews
2:15 he came to free those who through
fear of death were subject to slavery
all their lives because Christ came and
because he came in the flesh and because
he died in that flesh as his followers
we no longer fear death we no longer
fear the grave we instead say with Paul
in 1 Corinthians 15 oh death where is
your Victory oh death where is your
sting number six is this and we saw this
one earlier too he became incarnate to
become a perfect high priest for the
propitiation of our sins the sins of the
people therefore he had to be made like
his brothers in all things so that he
might become a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God
to make propitiation for the sins of the
people so those are some of the reasons
for the Incarnation that answers the
question or these answer the question
why Jesus came to Earth why he put on
flesh why he took on Humanity as
revealed for us on the pages of scripture
scripture
now we're going to go in a bit of a
different direction as we consider
biblical proofs for the Incarnation so
we've just looked at biblical reasons
for the Incarnation now we're going to
look at biblical proofs we've just
looked at the why now we're going to
look at the what and of course at the
heart of those Bible passages which
address the Incarnation is the prologue
to John's
gospel that would be John 1 1118 or 1-8
I'm not going to do a detailed verse by
verse exposition of John 1 1-8 tonight
uh but instead for the sake of our
systematic overview this evening I'm
just going to give us a few ideas here
um first the first 18 verses of John's
gospel they they they give us four
essential truths about the Incarnation
first would be the the focus of the
Incarnation namely that the eternally
Divine word of God the Eternal Son of
God the Lord Jesus
Christ was with God that he is God the
focus of the Incarnation is that is
Jesus he is God and the being beginning
was the word and the Word was with God
and the Word was
God second John's prologue highlights
the material of the Incarnation so we
see the focus of the Incarnation Jesus
himself now we get to the material of
the Incarnation and the word became
flesh and dwelt Among Us that that term
flesh there in scripture is is used in
in two different ways primarily uh one
would be to refer to the seat of sin in
man the the flesh is like it says in
John 3:6 here that which has been born
of the flesh is flesh and that which has
been born of the spirit is Spirit this
is referring to sin being flesh being
the seat of sin in man but in other
cases like here there's there's not
really a moral Association associated
with that Word Flesh John 1 but as many
as received him to them that he gave the
right to become children of God even to
those who believe in his name who were
born not of blood nor the will of the
flesh nor of the will of man but of
God or here there's clearly no moral
implication All Flesh is not the same
flesh but there is one flesh of men
another flesh of beasts another flesh of
birds and another of
fish by saying though in John 1:14 that
the word became flesh
John is teaching there that the Eternal
Son of God assumed complete Humanity
albeit without
sin third John in his prologue
identifies the location of the
Incarnation uh he says the Eternal
Christ dwelt Among Us in John 1:14 and
that word dwelt means to to pitch a tent
to to Tabernacle it has the picture of
the Tabernacle like God dwelt Among the
Israelites in the in the wilderness
wanderings in the Tabernacle in his
Incarnation the son tabernacled in his
flesh with his
people and then the fourth one is in
John's prologue here he records the the
witness to the Incarnation we beheld his
glory glory as of the only begotten from
the father full of grace and truth
meaning God's visitation to Earth in the
for in Christ was was no secret
operation it wasn't done behind closed doors
doors
no Christ's Incarnation him and his
Humanity it was all out there for all to
see we beheld his
glory now outside of this really Central
incarnational passage John 1 1-8 with
John 1114 being at the Hub as we read
through the rest of the New Testament
what we find it's really interesting is
that the New Testament authors like us
though they were Spirit directed and
though they were Spirit moved they were
still Bound by human language to
describe the otherwise Indescribable and
miraculous event of the Eternal Son of
God entering into human
existence right we have the we have the
gospel accounts like we're in Luke right
now which are going to give us an
account of the Lord's birth but as it
relates to this this idea of God putting
on flesh and and the Divine entering his
creation the you can you can just read
the New Testament authors and see the
ways they're grasping struggling to come
up with just the right language to
explain how this is all so like here's
Paul to Timothy great is the mystery of
godliness he who is manifested in the
flesh here's Paul to the Corinthians so
also it is written the first man Adam
became a living Soul the last Adam
became a life-giving spirit however the
spiritual is not first but the natural
then the spiritual the first man is from
the earth earthy the second man is from heaven
heaven
he's from Heaven here's some here's
several more examples I'm going to
Rattle these off fairly quickly it's a
trustworthy saying and deserving full
acceptance that Christ Jesus came into
the world to save Sinners and just to
preface this these are all going to be
incarnational passages but there's never
the direct word Incarnation ever used
it's it's providing the
concept in different words first John
3:5 and you know that he was manifested
in order to take away sins and in him
there is no sin
Philippians 2:6 and 7 we'll be here a
little bit later he did not re regard
equality with God a thing to be grasped
but emptied himself by taking the form
of a slave by being made in the likeness of
of
men 2 Corinthians 8:9 for you know that
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that
though being rich yet for your sake he
became poor so that you through his
poverty might become rich it's
incarnational Hebrews 2 but we do see
him who was made for a little while
lower than the Angels Jesus
Hebrews 10:5 speaks of a body you have
prepared for me Galatians 4:4 when the
fullness of the time came God sent forth
his son born of a woman born under the
law John 1:14 and the word became flesh
Hebrews 214 since the children share in
Flesh and Blood he himself likewise also
partook of the same it's
incarnational Romans 1:3 he was born of
the seed of David according to the flesh
Romans 8:3 for what the law could not do
weak as it was through the flesh God did
sending his own son in the likeness of
sinful flesh no it doesn't say sinful
flesh the likeness of sinful flesh Hebrews
Hebrews
21:17 he had to be made like his
brothers in all things so that he might
become a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God to make
make
propitiation for the sins of the people
see words fail us to to express the
realities of the glories and the Wonder
of the Incarnation but God has given us
his word and the statements like these
from these Spirit directed authors to
come to a clear understanding of what
the Incarnation was and what the Incarnation
Incarnation
entailed so that's a bit about the
basics of the Incarnation the biblical
reasons for it and the biblical proofs
for it next we're going to look at one
specific aspect of the Incarnation which
is the humiliation of Christ humiliation
not like embarrassment like when we get
humiliated when we embarrass ourselves
through a series of foolish choices or
decisions but humiliated as in humbling
Christ humbled
himself so we've seen already that this
is our first heading that Christ took on
the Flesh of man next we're going to see
this is the other side of your worksheet
there Christ took on the form of a
slave that's our second point for this
evening Christ took on the form of a
slave now when we refer to the
humiliation of Christ and his taking the
form of a slave what we are referring to
is what theologians call the kosis which
comes from a Greek verb Ken which comes
from Philippians 2:7 where he emptied
aenos himself and that then leads to
this natural question well of what he
emptied himself of what or of what did
Christ empty himself and to get to the
bottom of that question of what Christ
emptied himself
we're going to do a brief and I mean
brief exegetical survey of the pertinent
passage that you're all thinking of
right now as we quickly look through a
text that answers some of these
questions for us Philippians
25-8 it starts this way have this way of
thinking in yourselves which was also in
Christ Jesus that's the startup and
giving us some more context here we have
Philippians 1:27 where Paul exhorts the
Philippians to act with with humility
and sacrifice he says in that passage
that they are to be standing firm in one
spirit with one mind contending for the
faith of the gospel and you go down a
couple more verses to Philippians 2 3
and 4 and he exhorts the Philippians to
show concern and estem for others and he
says that they are to be doing nothing
from selfish ambition or vain Glory but
with humility of Mind regarding one
another as more important than
yourselves not merely looking out for
your own personal interests but also for
the interest of others it's possible
that those exhortations came from the
contention that was happening there in
the church in Philippi specifically
between two women named Yoda and centy
in Philippians 4:2 and so what Paul does
here in Philippians 2:5 is he uses Christ's
Christ's
self-emptying as the model for the right
type of behavior and the right attitudes
that that are to be demonstrated in the
church so then we get here to verse six
and now he's referring to Christ and he
says he was existing in the form of God
that that word form there is is
morphe think of the word morph and it
refers to the real essential
characteristics of a thing the real
essential characteristics of a person in
the context here the words the form of
God are rightly interpreted to mean the
very nature of God Christ in other words
is of the very nature of God he is God
not only that though but that verb there existed
existed
is in the present tense meaning this is
referring to a continuous or a continual
condition so what Paul is saying here is
that Jesus Christ was is and continues
to be God he is eternally God next in
verse 6 Paul speaking of Christ says
that he did not regard equality with God
a thing to be grasped and we're going to
break that into two first he says he did
not regard equality with god let's just
handle that one first equality here
refers to the relationship of Jesus to
God the father and what is highlight
what's this is highlighting is that that
relationship between God the son and God
the father is one of
equivalence so that Christ has not only
existed eternally in the form of God but
there has been this eternal equality of
essence between God the father and
between God the son and though
he existed eternally as God and equally
with God the Father the rest of verse
six tells us that he meaning Christ did
not regard equality as a thing to be
grasped and that word there
grasped it's referring to something that
Christ already possessed it's not
something he was trying to grab or get
it's referring to something he already
had his
existence eternally and equally with God
specifically so what this is saying here
in verse 6 then is that as part of God
the father's Plan of Salvation and
Redemption God the son didn't clutch or
cling to his eternal equality with God
as a reason to not go on the mission
mission
instead as a posture of his humility we
see here in verse 7 he emptied himself
aenos that's our word our our our
concept his self s emptying and then
right after this where he says he
emptied himself Paul explains what he
means by taking a form of a slave by
being made in the likeness of men those
two Clauses taking the form of a slave
and being made in the likeness of men
are the Holy Spirit inspired commentary
on what it means to say that he emptied
himself let's look at those both
starting with the fact that he took the
form of a slave that word form there
next to the word slave is again that
same word Moray so just as he Christ was
eternally in the form of God as we saw
back in verse 6 in his Incarnation
Christ took on the characteristics of a
slave in his Humanity he took on the the
form of a slave now to take on the form
of a
slave does not mean that Christ was no
longer in the form of God it's not like
he substituted one out for the other he
didn't exchange the form of God in order
to become in the form of a slave if that
were the case if he traded one out for
the other he would no longer be in the
form of God and if that were the case he
would cease to be God rather to say that
he took the form of a slave means that
this form of of slavery was in addition
to the form of God that he already had
the form of God that he's eternally
possessed here's a helpful quote on this
passage it says a Divine Paradox is here
he emptied himself by taking something
to himself namely the manner of being
the nature or form of a servant or Slave
at his Incarnation he remained in the
form of God and as such he is Lord and
ruler over all but he also accepted the
nature of a servant as part of his
Humanity in short Christ was and is the
god man as we saw last
time now as for for his being made in
the likeness of men the other part of
verse 7 that doesn't mean that he was
created it doesn't mean that he was or
is less than God rather the word
likeness in verse 7 means resemblance
likeness uh similarity and the whole
phrase there in verse 7 and six
testifies to Christ's genuine Humanity
he truly was not only fully God but also
fully man the one who is by nature God
became man which brings us right back to
the the key passage here John 11:14 and
the word became flesh he assumed a human
body as we saw already a body you have
prepared for me so that Paul could say
in Colossians for in him all the
fullness of deity dwells
bodily next we learn in the next part of
this Philippians passage in verse
8 that he was found in appearance as a man
man
now that word appearance schema it's
spelled like scheme but with an a at the
end in Greek it it stresses Christ's
external outward appearance meaning how
he appeared to other people those who
encountered him in his Earthly Ministry
among other things appearance here would
refer to his his physical features his
dress his his Customs his mannerisms and
the like in other words being found in
appearance as a man means that that
people weren't confused as to whether or
not this was truly a man that he truly
was a man was evident to
all and then these words still in
Philippians 2:8 he humbled
himself the the self emptying one the
the God man the servant went further and
humbled himself and we see how he did so
in the remainder of the verse by
becoming obedient to the point of
death even death on the
cross and by the way that link between
between Christ's obedience and his
suffering and death is also picked up in
Hebrews 58 which says although he was a
son he learned obedience from the things
which he suffered and those words by the
way which are not limited to the Cross
certainly include the
cross before the Incarnation as Donald
McLoud notes Christ possessed all the
Majesty of deity performed all its
functions and enjoyed all its
prerogatives he was adored by his father
and worshiped by the Angels he was
invulnerable to pain frustration and
embarrassment he existed in unclouded
Serenity his Supremacy was total his
satisfaction complete his blessedness
perfect but then as a result of the
Incarnation Christ was bruised and and
he was beaten he was bloodied and he was
tortured he was he was murdered on a
Roman cross so that our sins would be
laid on his shoulders
and thereby
forgiven and that's a good reminder for
us this evening that Christ's
Incarnation what we're studying this
evening is not just some some abstract
theological truth no let's never forget
that his Incarnation his humiliation his
big word kosis ultimately led him to his
death which then led to our
Ransom here's McLoud again says every
moment in that Journey from Bethlehem to
Calvary was chosen and every Mo moment
on the cross from the 3rd to the 9th
hour was chosen every day of the Lord's
life he reenacted the kosis the the
emptying renewing the decision which had
made him nothing and choosing to move
further and further into the shame and
pain it involved he loved his own and
when eventually it became clear that
what that love love would cost he went
forward trembling to be what his
people's sin
deserved that's right and because of its
link to our new lives in
Christ knowing what we know about the
Incarnation really ought to transform
the way that we live and think and
function again McLoud gives a good word
here when he says christology is
certainly beset by the danger of arid
intellectualism a man may be an expert
on the Incarnation and yet be totally
lacking in faith and love that is really really
really
convicting and I know we're here in
summer in the systematics and Sunday
night you know we're not enjoying the
nice warm weather outside we're here
instead studying these deep things of
God but and that's great but let's not
become these Aid intellectuals that he
love we've just done this brief walk
through Philippians 2 and what it
teaches on its face about the
Incarnation of Christ the mystery is
great the truth is clear unfortunately
the clarity of those biblical truths has
not prevented some from engaging in all
sorts of wild speculation about what
they think happened in the Incarnation
and it hasn't prevented some from
suggesting that Christ emptied himself
of more than what the scriptures
actually testify to uh let's take a few
moments now to go into some of the dark
history surrounding this whole doctrine
of the kosis the the self-emptying the
Philippians 2:7 idea will start in
Germany a lot of bad theological ideas
start in Germany just so you know uh
we'll start with a German Theologian
named gotfried
tomus who argued that in becoming
incarnate Christ abandoned some of his
inherent attributes of deity like his
omnipotence like his omniscience his
ability to know all things his his
ability to be all powerful but this man
argued that Christ still retained other
attributes like his Holiness and his
love Now by drawing that distinction
what tomus did is he took the position
that Christ's life on Earth was lived
entirely within the conditions of of
manhood just like you and I live which
would make him really no different than
you and I
so that's one idea out there there's another
another
German named Wulf gang Friedrich guess
who went even further than tasus and he
argued that Christ's kosis his
self-emptying was
absolute meaning he emptied himself of
all of his attributes not just
attributes like omnipotence and
omniscience his ability to know all
things and be all powerful but
attributes like his Holiness and his
love which when you really think about
it would not only make him less than God
but less than
human well that form of thinking
eventually moved over from Germany to
Great Britain where men like Charles
Gore an Anglican priest spoke about
Christ abandoning certain prerogatives
or attributes of of divinity or deity he
he said that that Christ laid aside
whatever was incompatible with a truly
Human Experience you see the the
humanistic way of thinking there and
because human hum for instance for
instance aren't omniscient we don't know
everything he maintained that Christ
must have laid aside his omniscience in
the Incarnation to be more like us in
fact here's a quote of Gore this is a a
British Theologian he says that he
willed so to restrain the beams of deity
as to observe the limits of the science
of his age truly humanistic thinking
another one he says he never exhibits
the omniscience of bare godhead in the
realm of natural knowledge such as would
be required to anticipate the results of
modern science or criticism that's a
bunch of words salad but what it's
effectively saying it's just it he's
saying Christ wasn't like he couldn't
have been fully omniscient because he
wouldn't be like us it's flipping the
idea around We should strive to be like
Christ he's saying Christ needs to be
more like
us here's PT foresight he was a Scottish
Theologian uh he spoke of Christ
renouncing the conditions
of infinity in his
Incarnation now the fundamental flaw of
every one of these arguments whether
German or British or Scottish is that if
Christ were to have fully divested
himself of any of his attributes at any
time he would have ceased to be God and
that's because the attributes of God
going back to two summers ago are the
essence of God God is what his
attributes are so to subtract from or to
to diminish Christ's attributes in any
way like here with foresight saying he
renounced the conditions of infinity
that would be to change his Essence and
then he would no longer be
God so back to Philippians 2 and when
Paul says in Philippians 2:7 that Christ
emptied himself he could not have been
speaking of Christ emptying himself
divesting himself of his Divine
attributes like the German and British
theologians I've mentioned said he did
well most groups of theologians had
their critics and rightfully so and
here's an example and by the way when I
say German and British theologians I'm
I'm talking about like in the 1850s and
onward that's really the heart of this
form of what's called canotic
theology but here's a Critic of those
theologians William Temple who wrote in
that same time frame he's writing
against the guys I've just quoted he
says what was happening to the rest of
the universe During the period of our
Lord's Earthly life so he's saying if we
take your presuppositions that he really
wasn't omniscient and he really wasn't
omnipotent what was happening to the
rest of the universe during that period
to say that the creative word was so
self-tied so as to have no being except
in the Infant Jesus is to assert that
for a certain period the history of the
world was let loose from the control of
the creative
word and apart from him very nearly
everything that happened that happened
at all during 30 odd years both on this
planet and throughout the immensities of
space guys like this wrote in Far More
Words than they needed to back then the
point he's making is the world would
have fallen apart if Christ wasn't
upholding everything by the word of his
power in fact that's what we see from
scripture Hebrews 1:3 Christ is the
radiance of his glory and the exact
representation of his nature and upholds
all things by the word of his power he
didn't take a break for 30 years during
his Incarnation to do
so or Colossians 1:17 he is before all
things and in him all things hold
together again there's no Hiatus Clause
here to say that oh except for when he
was walking the
Earth well as an alternative view to the
one I've just
articulated another view that's been
offered to explain the Philippians 2:7
passage is one that says that Christ
didn't give up any of his attributes all
he did was give up the use of his
attributes that view recognizes that to
say that Christ actually gave up his
attributes would make him cease to be
God as we've just seen so they they try
to strike this Middle Way by saying he
only gave up the use of those
attributes the difficulty with that view
though is that to suggest that he
retained attributes but did not use
those attributes is really the
theological equivalent of not having
them at
all and not only that and more
importantly there is clear biblical
evidence that Christ did exercise his
attributes use his attributes at various
points of the Incarnation I mean
starting with his
omniscience his his what he knew as a
blanket statement did Christ give up his
omniscience during the
Incarnation absolutely
not John 224 he knew all men 225 he
himself knew what was in man John 18:4
he knew all the things that were coming
upon Him Luke 9:47 Jesus knowing that
they were think what they were thinking
in their heart 6 John 664 he knew from
the beginning who they were who did not
believe John 16:30 now we know that you
know all things John 21:17 that scene by
the the Lakeside with Peter he said to
things then we think of his omnipotence
his power which he still exercised
regularly and fully during the
Incarnation during his incarnation he
rebuked the wind he miraculously fed the
hungry he healed the sick he cast out
demons he raised the dead those are all
evidences of his omnipotence on display
what about his omnipresence he said this
in Matthew 18:20 for where two or three
have gathered in my name I am there in
their midst and then here are a couple
other examples of his expression of
deity during his Incarnation uh he
demanded worship he who does not honor
the son does not honor the father who
sent him
he's acting as God there John 10:28 he
granted eternal life during his
Incarnation that's about his Godlike as
you can get I give eternal life to them
and they will never perish ever and no
one will snatch them out of my
hand here's another theory I'm going to
mention uh an alternate theory about
what happened in Philippians 2:7 and
what the kosis is all about this other
view I'm going to mention I don't have
any slides for this one but it says that
Christ emptied himself by acting as
though he didn't possess fully all of
the Divine
attributes um so he was playing
along two objections come immediately to
mind on that one one is that that would
involve Christ in pretense deception
which would be totally inconsistent with
his perfect character and
Holiness second when we think about the
kosis that that passage in Philippians
2:7 and the context of it it totally
undercuts that view that Christ was
playacting in his Incarnation because
Paul's whole point there in Philippians
2:5-11 when he wrote what he wrote was
to encourage genuine selflessness on the
part of the Philippian Believers there
in that church a genuine self
selflessness that was backed by the
genuine self-emptying of Christ they
were to follow the Philippians were the
example of
Christ in his Incarnation which was actual
actual
so where should we land on this on this
matter of the kosis Philippians 2:7 on
Christ's self-emptying of what did he
empty himself how are we to think about
the Incarnation his humiliation what
could he do in his incarnate State what
could he not do I've intentionally left
myself four minutes
to dodge that that final question we'll
get to it eventually the best way to say
it I think would be this he did not
surrender his Divine attributes and he
didn't even surrender the use of his
Divine attributes but what he did do was
give up the independent use of certain
of his attributes and that the word I'm
stressing there is
independent meaning during his
Incarnation this is the this is the the
witness of scripture not just me riffing
and giving you some opinions up here the
witness of scripture that he willingly
submitted himself to the will of God the
father and he willingly subjected
himself to the con controlling influence
of God the spirit and he did so in his
Humanity so that he could more perfectly
and fully identify with
man think of it this way in eternity
past before his Incarnation Christ
existed in the Glorious presence of both
God the father and God the spirit right
that that's that's picked up in John 175
right here the glory he speaks of the
glory which I had with you he's speaking
to the father there before the world was
but in his incarnate State during his
Earthly life and Ministry what do we see
we see deference to the father and we
see dependence upon the spirit let's
start with his deference to the father
to show you what I mean our Lord spoke
of the things that God the father had
shown him for the father loved the son
and shows him all things that he himself is
is
doing I speak the things which I've seen
with my
father Jesus spoke of things that the
father taught him John 8:28 I do nothing
for myself but I speak these things as
the father taught me my teaching is not
mine but from him who sent me for I do
not speak from myself but the father
himself who sent me has given me a
commandment what to say and what to
speak he he also refer to the things
that the father had given him to do the
works which the father has given me to
finish the very works that I do bear
witness about me that the father has
sent me he referred to the fact that the
father had given him certain Authority I
have authority to lay it down speaking
of his life and I have authority to take
it up again this commandment I received
from my
father and the father had anointed him
with the Holy Spirit and with
power and ultimately we know that Christ
was subservient to the father's will
father if you are willing remove this
cup from me yet not my will but yours be
done so the testimony of scripture is
him deferring in his Incarnation to the
father he also showed dependence upon
the spirit this is a trinitarian
matter we're told that he cast out
demons by the power of the spirit but I
C but if I cast out demons by the spirit
of God then the kingdom of God has come
upon you we're told that he by the
spirit gave Commandments to the apostles
picking it up Midway there he had by the
Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles
whom he had Chosen and he offered
himself to God through the spirit how
much more will the blood of Christ who
through the eternal spirit offered
himself without blemish to God cleanse
your conscience from dead Works to serve
the Living God we also know and I'll
just blaze through these that he was led
by the spirit Into the Wilderness to be
tempted by the devil Matthew 4 Luke 4
and Mark 1 describes this leaning or
this leading by the spirit very strongly
the spirit drove him the the Greek verb
there is ebalo it means to throw like he
he threw him out the spirit threw Christ
out into the
Wilderness and then after that period of
testing Jesus is said to have returned
to Galilee in the power of the spirit so
what are we to make of all this what
conclusions are we to draw what did
Christ empty himself of here are a few
quotes from some reputable theologians
who I would find myself with agreement
on this and we'll close soon after that
Marshall says to become like a man he
had to empty himself a verb which is
best taken to refer to the abandonment
of the Glorious and lordly prerogatives
which go along with equality with God in
order to take on the humble form of a
servant and die the point is not that
Christ gave up any Divine attributes but
simply that he did not behave as one who
was equal with God might have expected
might have been expected to behave but
as a humble
servant here's John walber he says the
act of kosis that's our word from
Philippians 2:7 says may be properly
understood to mean that Christ
surrendered no attribute of deity but
that he did voluntarily restrict there's
our word their independent use in
keeping with his purpose of living among
men and their limitations and that's the
key it was voluntary
meaning what Christ gave up whatever he
gave up was in keeping with his own
power and his own Divine prerogatives
which is highlighted neatly here by mun
he says this emptying did not involve
the son's laying aside his attribute of
sovereignty rather it proved his
sovereignty that is he sovereignly
limited the use of his sovereignty
showing he has sovereignty over his
sovereignty or power over his power
that's right so he deferred to the
father he depended on the spirit so that he could identify with man and in doing
he could identify with man and in doing so he wasn't giving up power in any way
so he wasn't giving up power in any way but rather was as mchu notes Here
but rather was as mchu notes Here demonstrating his power that is enough
demonstrating his power that is enough for one evening enough for one day I'm
for one evening enough for one day I'm going to close with my favorite stanza
going to close with my favorite stanza from my favorite Christmas Carol there's
from my favorite Christmas Carol there's my family photo I don't I thought I had
my family photo I don't I thought I had the slide here okay you're just going to
the slide here okay you're just going to look at a couple of faces here the the
look at a couple of faces here the the is hark the herald angel sing um it's
is hark the herald angel sing um it's it's it is my favorite Christmas uh
it's it is my favorite Christmas uh Carol Christmas hymn and my favorite
Carol Christmas hymn and my favorite stanza reads like this I'm not going to
stanza reads like this I'm not going to sing
sing it Christ by highest Heaven adored
it Christ by highest Heaven adored Christ the Everlasting Lord late in time
Christ the Everlasting Lord late in time Behold Him come offspring of a virgin's
Behold Him come offspring of a virgin's womb veiled in flesh the godhead sea
womb veiled in flesh the godhead sea hail the Incarnate deity pleased as man
hail the Incarnate deity pleased as man with man to dwell
with man to dwell Jesus R
Jesus R Emmanuel hail the Incarnate deity let's
Emmanuel hail the Incarnate deity let's pray Lord thank you for a chance this
pray Lord thank you for a chance this evening to go through another one of
evening to go through another one of these deeper studies through a a topic
these deeper studies through a a topic and a doctrine that can tie us in knots
and a doctrine that can tie us in knots and can confuse us but I pray that we
and can confuse us but I pray that we would all just go back to the word and
would all just go back to the word and what it says and trust that you have
what it says and trust that you have given us exactly what you would have us
given us exactly what you would have us have um in terms of what you've revealed
have um in terms of what you've revealed to us for this time and this generation
to us for this time and this generation I pray the study though a lot has been
I pray the study though a lot has been encouraging I pray it reminds us of your
encouraging I pray it reminds us of your great plans your great wisdom and and if
great plans your great wisdom and and if we were able to figure it all out that
we were able to figure it all out that would actually be a little concerning uh
would actually be a little concerning uh I thank you that there's mystery behind
I thank you that there's mystery behind what we've studied I thank you that
what we've studied I thank you that you've revealed what you've chosen to
you've revealed what you've chosen to reveal I thank you that we have the
reveal I thank you that we have the spirit to guide us as we study what
spirit to guide us as we study what we've studied and I pray that these
we've studied and I pray that these promises are true and sure not only
promises are true and sure not only about Christ CH in his purpose and
about Christ CH in his purpose and Christ in his person but what Christ
Christ in his person but what Christ will do in the future as he comes for
will do in the future as he comes for us God thank you for a wonderful day of
us God thank you for a wonderful day of worship may you be glorified in our
worship may you be glorified in our lives this week we pray in Jesus name
lives this week we pray in Jesus name amen
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