Posted on 12/09/2024 5:17:49 AM 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?
From Strength for Today by John MacArthur Copyright © 1997. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.com.
Studying God’s Word ping
Well, if He had been born into those demographics, He would have looked like them.
I couldn’t possibly care less what He “ looks like”’just as long as He smiles at me and lets me in.
Simple as that.
Isaiah 52:14-15 describes the Messiah as having no beauty or majesty to attract notice, but as being despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. There is no explicit description of Jesus’ physical appearance in Isaiah.
That,too,is a reasonable attitude. However,human beings like to see images of people. I guess it’s part of our basic nature.
We know from the woman at the well event that she recognized Jesus as being a Jew. Whether this was from his clothing or how he looked or a combination we don’t know. If we go to the image from the shroud of Turin and assume it is Jesus at the moment of resurrection this is what we get. He was about 5’10” in height. Reasonably fit in shape. Long hair and a beard. Long nose. Likely his skin color was olive and his eyes brown but that is speculation. His sufferings with the scourge, crown of thorns, pulled beard, carrying the cross, nails in him and the spear when he was dead were off the scale to what we could imagine. How he appeared though isn’t that relevant to how we interface with him today though but that is what we have at this moment on how he looked.
Through the resurrected body and the union of believers with Christ’s body through the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christ has become all “races” and nationalities:
Colossians 3:11 NKJV
There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.
See: “CHRIST IS ALL.”
2 Corinthians 5:16 NKJV
Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
Jesus came for the first time as a Jew, but now He is more than a Jew. He is the head of a new human race that dissolves all former divisions and distinctions.
AMEN!
So sorry...looked at the title and did not see it was protestant. Still true, but wasn’t meaning to raise hairs.
At least we DO know what His mom looked like.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.