THE FORM OF GOD
by Ivan Maddox
Philippians 2:5-11 is often used as a text to prove the deity, or godhood, of Christ.
Philippians 2:5-11. (KJV)
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I’d like to focus in this study on verses 5 and 6.
Most Trinitarians interpret verse 6 to mean essentially: “Who, being Himself God, considered Himself God’s equal.” In fact, the New Living Translation translates verse 6:
Philippians 2:6 (NLT)
6 Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God.
The Contemporary English Version reads:
Philippians 2:6 (CEV)
6 Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God.
The Worldwide English New Testament puts it this way:
Philippians 2:6 (WE)
6 He was in every way like God. Yet he did not think that being equal to God was something he must hold on to.
The Message renders this verse:
Philippians 2:6 (Message)
He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all.
Even the New International Version handles the first part of this verse:
Philippians 2:6 (NIV)
6 Who, being in very nature God…
What is the word that the King James Version translates “form,” and that some other translations render “in very nature” or “in every way like” or “had equal status with” something similar? The Greek word is MORPHE, which means:
1) the form by which a person or thing strikes the vision, or
2) external appearance
The first part of verse 6, then, is talking about outward appearance, not inward reality. The first part of this verse might be better translated” “Who, giving the outward appearance of being God…”
So what does this mean? Did the man Jesus Christ look like God looks? When he walked down the streets of Nazareth or Capernaum or Jerusalem, did people mistake him for God? The scriptures teach no such thing, and we as Christians, for the most part, imagine no such thing.
The scriptures tell us that no man has seen God at any time (John 1:18; I John 4:12), and that God is not a man (Numbers 23:19). The fact that Jesus was visible at all, and looked like a man as well, means that Jesus did not literally in outward appearance look like the invisible God (Colossians 1:15; I Timothy 1:17.)
It is clear, then, that the first part of verse 6 cannot be meant literally. What, then, is it taking about?
To be “in the form of” something does not mean that you are the thing itself, or that you are even the equivalent of the thing you are “in the form of.” Outwardly a thing may appear to be what it is a form of, but inwardly it is something else entirely. Otherwise, it would not be called the form of something, but the thing itself. A copy of a Michelangelo sculpture may be in the form of the original, but one thing is certain; it is not the original. Otherwise, it would not merely have the form; it would actually be what was being referred to. The copy only looks like the original.
In Philippians 2, Jesus is said to be in the form of God. To the unbiased mind, this is as clear a statement as you can get that, whatever else he may be, Jesus Christ is not God. He only looks like God on the outside. But even that is saying a lot!
How was Jesus “in the form of God?” In what way or ways did Jesus look like God to others? We don’t have to guess about this. Jesus himself explained this to us. There were at least three aspects to this.
1.
Jesus did not
speak his own words. He spoke his
Father's words.
John 14:10.
10 Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak
unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth
in me, he doeth the works.
When you listened to him, you were hearing the voice of his Father, not because
he was God, but because he faithfully spoke his Father's words instead of his
own.
2.
Jesus did not do his own will. He faithfully did his Father's will.
John 5:30.
30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as
I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but
the will of the Father which hath sent me.
When, therefore, you saw what Jesus did, you understood what God would do. If,
for instance, you want to understand God's will concerning healing, look at
Jesus Christ, who always did his Father's will. You will see that no one
who ever came to him for healing after he began his ministry was turned away
without being healed. What he did was the working out on the level of man
of his Father's will.
3. Jesus' character was the same as his Father's character. The fruit of the spirit is the character of God encapsulated, and all of the fruit are abundantly evident in the life of Jesus. When, therefore, you saw the character of Jesus, you saw God's character as well.
The result of these things is that Jesus could say to his disciples that "he who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9.) Jesus was not his Father; but Jesus, by his words, his works and his character, accurately and faithfully portrayed to man for all time, on a level man could understand, what the invisible God is like in words, in deeds and in character.
We have the same responsibility toward Christ as Christ had toward God, for "as the Father has sent me, so send I you." (John 20:21.) We are to be in the form of Christ to this world, just as Christ was and is in the form of God. We are not to speak our own words, but his words. We are not to do our own will, but his will. We are not to bear our own character, but rather, we are to be conformed to the image of His son. (Romans 8:29.)
It is for this reason that we are told in Philippians 2:5 to "let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."