God In The Flesh.

Philippians 2.5-8

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Lots of people believe that Jesus existed. Many religions teach that He was a great teacher and a good moral person. Islam even teaches that Jesus will return as the enforcer of the programs of the Mahdi. So to many, Jesus was a great man but nothing more and He certainly is not God. However, the passage above teaches something different altogether. In teaches us that Jesus is completely God and completely man in one unique person.

The phrase "in the form of God" and "to be grasped" could be paraphrased as: "Who, though of the same nature as God, did not think this something to be exploited to His own advantage". Jesus possesses the same nature and attributes of God yet while He was on the earth, He did not exploit His Divine power to His own advantage.

But instead He "emptied Himself" and took the form of a "bond-servant". The self emptying of Christ is the veiling or cloaking of His divine attributes. The phrase "bond-servant" in the Greek implies, "one who gives himself up to anothers will, devoted to another to the disregard of one's own interests". So now we see that Jesus Christ never lost His divine nature but He chose, willingly to cloak it while He was on the earth. He then humbled Himself to the will of His Father, He gave Himself up to the will of another. And the will of the Father was for His Son to take on the form of a man and ultimately die on our behalf.

The Creator became one of His creatures.

Jesus Christ went beyond that. Not only did He veil His deity, not only did He humble Himself by becoming a man but He went so far as to die on our behalf. The Creator became one of His creatures and then allowed those creatures to nail Him to a cross on which He died.

Three days later, Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. He is currently sitting at the right hand of God and will one day return to establish His kingdom on the earth.

Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. That is what separates Christianity from the religions of men.