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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who...being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man.
Philippians 2:5, 7b-8a
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Jesus was one with God, His Father and ours, and yet He didn’t use this equality as an advantage. Instead, He showed us what true humility looks like by making “Himself nothing” by assuming “the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-7). Our Savior didn’t use His high standing to claim special privilege. Rather, He came fully devoted to the needs of others. This was the first thing we learned about who Jesus was and is in yesterday’s first message in this series.
Today, we add to this by looking at the end of verse 7 and the start of verse 8. Here we see the Apostle Paul telling the Philippian Christians that Jesus didn’t come to earth as some super Spirit that moved from point to point while inhabiting people and saving them. Nor did He come to earth as a god as people may have thought one of His stature would come. Yes, Jesus performed amazing miracles and works that no ordinary person could carry out but He was “made in human likeness” and walked the earth in the “appearance of a man”.
Need biblical proof that Jesus was made in human likeness?
Consider that He was conceived in a womb just as any other human being would. Yes, His conception was divine by way of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:26-38) but everything beyond that was normal. Mary, the woman chosen by God to bear His Son, went through a normal pregnancy and Jesus was born as any other child albeit in a Bethlehem manger (Luke 2:1-20).
Jesus was then circumcised and given His name as set forth by the Law on the eighth day after His birth as was any other Jewish male child (Luke 2:21). This was followed by His dedication at the temple, forty days after birth, the period of time needed for Mary, Jesus’ mother, to go through her period of purification. There, Joseph and Mary offered up the prescribed sacrifices and encountered two people who had been anticipating Jesus’ arrival, Simeon and Anna. Each gave thanks to God for finally getting to see and hold the long awaited coming of the Messiah (Luke 2:22-38).
Immediately after completing the requirements of the Law at the temple, the scriptures tell us that Joseph and Mary “returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth and the child grew and became strong...filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on Him” Luke 2:39-40).
In regard to Jesus’ upbringing, we don’t read about Him again until at the end of Luke, chapter 2. Having reached the age of 12, Jesus traveled with Joseph and Mary to Jerusalem for the Passover observance. Unfortunately, Jesus’ parents got caught up in the crowds leaving Jerusalem and traveled for a day, believing He was in their company which included their relatives and friends. After realizing He was missing, they rushed back to Jerusalem and searched for three days before finding Him in the temple with the teachers. As you might expect a parent would do, Mary rebuked Jesus only to have Him reply:
“Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Luke 2:49
And with that, they returned to their hometown of Nazareth where the scriptures tell us Jesus was obedient to His parents as He “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:51-52).
This is what we know about Jesus’ early years but the point is He had a childhood because He was made in human likeness. He was brought up by His parents like any other boy would be and nurtured into adulthood where the scriptures would detail his final three years immersed in ministry and carrying out the will of His Father.
Our takeaway here is that although Jesus was one with God, He was made here on earth in human likeness and had the appearance of a man although there was no other man before or after Him that could be His rival. Others could relate to Him because He was in every way like them except for His sinless nature and the holy power of God He possessed within.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
