Posted on 12/09/2021 7:51:16 PM PST by metmom
“. . . Being found in appearance as a man” (Philippians 2:8).
Many people view Christ only as a man, but He is God.
After winning a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, Scottish runner Eric Liddell served as a missionary in China; he died in a prison camp during World War II. The camp’s prisoners loved Eric, for he served them so unselfishly. It was only at his funeral that they first learned he was an Olympic hero. They had had no idea of his full identity.
Most people didn’t realize Christ’s full identity either, for He was “found in appearance as a man” (Phil. 2:8). At first glance that phrase seems like a repetition of the end of verse 7, “being made in the likeness of men.” We could paraphrase verse 8 to read, “He was discovered to appear as a man.” The difference between that and verse 7 is a shift in focus. In verse 8 we view the humiliation of Christ from the viewpoint of those who saw Him. Christ was the God-man, but as people looked at Him, they saw the “appearance” (Greek, schema, “outward form”) of a man. Paul was implying that though Christ appeared to be a man, there was much more to Him that could not naturally be seen.
For Christ to become man was humbling enough. For Him not to have been recognized must have been humiliating. He performed miracles and taught authoritatively, yet the typical responses were: “You are a Samaritan and have a demon” (John 8:48) and, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” (John 6:42). Because their minds were darkened by sin, people recognized His humanity but could not see His deity. They could not recognize who He really was. They not only treated the King of kings as a man but as the worst of men—a criminal.
Unlike people who don’t recognize Christ’s true identity, let’s honor Him through a life of worship and obedience.
Suggestions for Prayer
Worship Christ for who He really is—the King of kings and Lord of lords. Praise Him for this truth in your prayer time.
For Further Study
Christ was not only fully man but also fully God. Read the following verses in which Christ Himself bears testimony that He is God: Luke 22:69-70; John 10:30, 37-38; 12:45; 14:7-10. What else should one find in these verses?
Studying God’s Word ping
This is a devotional thread.
I forgot to tag it as such in the title.
MetMom; I don’t usually read these articles, at least not all the way through, but I still want to thank you for helping us here at FR to keep Jesus Christ in the front of our minds.
Just reading your headlines always gives me something to ponder.
This is nourishment for the Soul, no matter how small the serving.
Well and truly stated. Indeed focusing on Jesus the Christ nourishes the soul of those who are born again, and CAN draw an unbeliever to Him, gently.
There is the prophetic description of Jesus in Isaiah.
Isaiah 53:1-5
1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
AMEN!
Let’s keep her in our prayers!
and AMEN!
and AMEN!
***Many people view Christ only as a man, but He is God. ****
We were never taught this, in the highly legalistic religion we were shackled with when I was young.
Thankfully a Grace Believer shattered the chains of Legalism I was shackled with back in 1973. Have never regretted it.
Since there was no Grace Church where we lived back then he said “If you can’t find a Grace Church, then go to a Baptist Church. Doctrines are virtually the same.”
So I have been going to a Baptist Church since 1973.
“5 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
Years ago, I happened to flip the TV channel to TBN and there was Jan Crouch hawking a “description of Christ” she would send to you for a donation.
As I listened I knew this was a 14th century fabrication to give artists of the time an idea of what to make their paintings of Jesus look like.
“When Jesus comes back he’s not going to look like Ted Nugent.......He’s coming back as Charles Bronson, and he’s gonna be pissed off!” - Robin Williams
I feel for those poor souls who contribute to the television charlatans.
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