Jesus, The God Man by Larry Sparks

Day 7 of the “What Child is This?” Advent Devotional

Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! (Philippians 2:6-8, Amplified)

This might be one of the most shocking passages in the entirety of Scripture! As best as the Apostle Paul could articulate, he describes the process by which God willfully stripped Himself of all privileges and rightful dignity at deity and became man.

While He humbled Himself to become the Seed that took up residence in Mary’s womb for nine months, even before then, He made a decision to lay aside all divine privilege to do ministry as a Man, Anointed by the Holy Spirit. We often over-emphasize the Truth of Jesus as a baby at Christmastime in order to ignore the radical process of God humbling Himself.

I’m convinced that passages like Philippians 2 make us uncomfortable, not because we inherently disagree with what is written. Theologically, we agree that Jesus was 100% Man and 100% God. The problem is when theology hits too close to home, and the invitation is served our way—the invitation of actually living like Jesus. Yes, in love, compassion, and purity, but I am also speaking of power and authority.

Consider how Henry and Melvin Blackaby, authors of Experiencing the Spirit, describe this process:

When Jesus took on human flesh, He chose to live under the limitations that come with a physical body. That doesn’t mean He ceased to be divine, but get this—He willingly set aside His rights as God and lived as human. And being limited by His physical condition, He was forced to rely upon the Holy Spirit as His source of wisdom and power.

This tells us that Jesus did not perform His miracles as God (although He could have), but rather, as the Anointed Man filled with the Spirit. In the days to come, we will examine this in a more detail. Could Jesus have healed, delivered and raised the dead as God? Absolutely. But God made a very intentional choice in coming to the Earth in the Person of Jesus Christ.

God had complete control over this process. Likewise, Jesus never ceased being God. That is heresy. Jesus was, is, and always will be God. However, God is sovereign and supreme. If He wants to impose limitations upon Himself, guess what—He is the only One is the cosmos that is capable of doing it!

Advent Prayer

Holy Spirit, give me eyes to see the lifestyle that Jesus modeled and made possible for me to experience.

Empower me to step into the supernatural life He made available for me to live. It’s not a different version of Christianity; it’s my inheritance, and I thank You, Jesus, for coming to the Earth and showing what would become possible for me as one anointed by the same Spirit that was upon You.