Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. . .
— Philippians 2:6-7 (NLT)
Growing up as a christian, when my pastor or someone I admired gave me their interpretation of scripture, I chose to make it my own. However, in recent years, I have come to see that some of what I took in was not what the Bible really says.
So in my eighties, I choose to examine what I always thought about a subject and ask the Holy Spirit to show me what it really means. I do not want stubbornness to keep me from truth.
I say that because I am asking you to open your heart to examine the way you have always thought about something. Search it out with the Holy Spirit and ask Him to reveal the truth.
The scripture above is one I’ve read many times with the presumption that Jesus came down and yes became human, but still had some of the divine abilities He had before becoming human. After all, He is God’s Son. And because He is, in my mind, He couldn’t possibly leave all his divineness behind even if this verse said He did.
I had already formed my opinion – even if it wasn’t what the scripture really said. I pictured Jesus kind of like Superman who lived as Clark Kent and then threw off that identity to become the Hero for mankind.
I decided to read passages about His humanity slowly and ask the Holy Spirit to help me understand what it was saying. This scripture says that Jesus did not cling to His position as God. Then goes on to say He gave up, let go of, emptied Himself, poured out (different versions) His divine privileges and abilities.
Uh-oh! That’s not what I thought. Could my old belief possibly be wrong? Did He really leave behind His divineness? It says He did. And it says He became a slave meaning a genuine human being.
He chose to come into this world as you and I came into this world – through a seed in a woman’s body. Babies know nothing when born, only hunger and comfort. They grow in knowledge and understanding. Hmmm, but this was Jesus. Yet it says, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:52)
If Jesus were part divine, He would not have to grow in wisdom and knowledge. This is showing me that Jesus came not only to take my place on the cross but to show me how to live as a true human being.
So is my goal to “be right” or to “know truth”? I decided I wanted truth even if it meant I needed to change my long standing opinion.
Please open your heart and mind and join us in learning more about Jesus’ humanity from the Bible. This understanding is transforming our lives. What a magnificent and giving God! There is no other God like Him!
Seeing Jesus as fully human, suddenly makes all the promises within my reach!
“He entered my darkness as Everlasting Light.”
June 2024 Wallpaper