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JESUS IS GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH

Boyce Mouton · 7 pages · 3,257 words

JESUS IS GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH

“And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” (1 Timothy 3:16 kjv)

LET’S GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:1-2)

In the beginning, before there was anything else, there was God! The Hebrew word translated as “God” is “elohim” which occurs 2,600 times in the Bible. Since God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the word “elohim” is plural. The plural nature of God is obvious from Genesis 1:26: “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness.”

It is obvious that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all involved in creation. Jesus is the “Word” of God. Just as a “word” explains things, Jesus explains God. John wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.” (John 1:1-4) First we are told that “God” created everything, then we are told that “Jesus” created everything. There is no contradiction because Jesus is God. Next we find that the Holy Spirit was also involved in creation. In the beginning: “The earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) The Hebrew word translated as “hovering” is “rachaph” which is used in Deuteronomy 32:11 to describe how an eagle hovers over her young: “like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.” (Deuteronomy 32:11)

Yes! The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all involved in creation!

YET, GOD IS ONE

The Hebrew word “shema” means “hear”. Since the following prayer begins with the word “shema” this prayer is called the “Shema”. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4- 9) The devout Jew repeats this prayer every day!

The Hebrew word for “one” in this prayer is “echad”. This is the word used in Genesis to describe the union of a man and his wife in marriage: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24)

The Hebrew word that means “one alone” is “yachid” and is never used of God. The Scriptures are clear, even though God manifests Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, He is still “One”.

THE SEED OF WOMAN

As you know, Satan appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent. After the serpent successfully deceived Eve by his cunning: “the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:14-15) This is the first time that Jesus is specifically mentioned in the Bible.

Thus it was common knowledge that someday a woman would give birth to a little baby that would grow up and crush the Serpent’s head. NO ONE, HOWEVER, DREAMED THAT THIS LITTLE BABY WOULD BE GOD HIMSELF!

Peter wrote: “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.” (1 Peter 1:10-12) The details of the Serpent’s destruction were a mystery until Jesus was born!

This quotation by Paul from Isaiah 64:4 states it clearly: “No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:7-10)

“No one has ever seen God, but God, the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.” (John 1:18)

When Jesus was born Matthew remembered Isaiah 7:14 and wrote: “The virgin shall be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel – which means God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)
Isaiah also wrote in another place: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7)
On the night before Jesus was crucified: “Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 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’?” (John 14:8-9)
“Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (John 14:23)
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19-22)
“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19)
IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT ARE “ONE” AND DWELL IN OUR HEARTS BY FAITH!

THE UNITY OF GOD IS AN EXAMPLE TO BELIEVERS

Also on the night before Calvary Jesus prayed for his apostles and asked God “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (John 17:17-19)

Then Jesus prayed that everyone who believed in him through the message of the apostles would have the same unity with one another that He had with the Father: “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be

one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)

The concept of “synergy” can help us to understand the unity for which Christ prayed. Synergy is defined as “The joint action of agents so that their combined effect is greater than the algebraic sum of their individual effect.” R. Buckminister Fuller provides this illustration in his book, Synergetics. Chrome Nickel Steel is formed by melting together four different metals – iron, chromium, nickel, and carbon. The tensile strength of iron is 60,000 lbs. p.s.i.- chromium – 70,000 lbs. p.s.i. - nickel 80,000 lbs. p.s.i. - carbon 50,000 lbs. p.s.i. If you make a chain of these four metals it will break at 50,000 lbs. for this is the weakest link in the chain. If you weave these four metals into a cable you add their strength and the cable will support 260,000 lbs.

If, however, you melt these four metals together so that each individual metal loses it’s identity, you produce a brand new metal alloy known as Chrome Nickel Steel which will support 350,000 lbs. This new metal is stronger than the algebraic sum of its individual parts. Without this new metal the jet engine would not be possible.

There is therefore a sense in which we also as Christians gain new power when we die to self and lose our own identity in Christ. Paul wrote: “ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

This death to self and new life in Christ is beautifully symbolized in baptism: “don’t you know

that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” (Romans 6:3-7)

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:1-3)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

THE MIND OF CHRIST

The church at Philippi was having problems and disagreements. The problem, was serious enough that Paul mentioned two of their women by name: “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche, that they agree with each other in the Lord.” (Philippians 4:2)

In chapter two Paul lists several reasons to get along with one another: “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Philippians 2:1-4)

This list includes”

They were united in Christ.
They were comforted by the love of Christ.
They all shared the same Holy Spirit.
As new creatures in Christ they had tenderness and compassion.
If they had the same love, the same Spirit, and the same mind they would make Paul’s joy complete.
Therefore they were to “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

JESUS IS OUR EXAMPLE

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)

Even though Jesus is God, He not hold on to His Deity, but took 7 steps down from His Deity!

Step
1 – He made Himself nothing.
Step
2 – He took the form of a servant.
Step
3 – He was made in human likeness.
Step
4 – He was found in the appearance of a man.
Step
5 – He humbled Himself.
Step
6 – He became obedient unto death.
Step
7 – Even death on a cross.

Remember these words of Jesus: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12) Thus when Jesus humbled Himself, God exalted Him!

Here are 7 steps upward that God took to exalt Jesus:

Step
1 – God therefore exalted Jesus to the highest place.
Step
2 – God gave Jesus a name above every name.
Step
3 – That at name of Jesus every knee should bow.
Step
4 – In heaven.
Step
5 – On earth.
Step
6 – Under the earth.
Step
7 - “and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12-13)

Note that God working in you produces both the desire and the ability to fulfill His purpose in your life.

THE STUDY OF GOD

The following remarks have been taken from the book KNOWING GOD by J. I. Packer (pp 13- 14) They were spoken by C. H. Spurgeon on January 7, 1855 when he was only twenty five years old.

“It has been said by someone that the proper study of man is man. I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God’s elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy which can ever engage the attention of the child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in the contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast that all our thoughts are lost in it’s immensity; so deep that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can compass and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self content, and go our way with the thought ‘behold I am wise’. But when we come to this master science, finding our plumb line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass’s colt; and with solemn exclamation, ‘I am but of yesterday, and know nothing’. No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind than thoughts of God.

But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. He who thinks often of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe. . .The most excellent

study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ, and Him crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.

And whilst humbling and expanding, this subject is eminently consolatory. Oh, there is, in contemplating Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietness for every grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you lose your sorrow? Would you drown your cares? Then go plunge yourself in the Godheads deepest sea; be lost in His immensity; and you will come forth as from a couch of rests, refreshed and invigorated. I know of nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the swelling billows of sorrow and grief; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as the devout musing upon the subject of the Godhead. It is to that subject that I invite you!