CHRIST DID NOT EMPTY HIMSELF OF HIS DEITY: HE CONCEALED HIS DEITY!

                                  By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D

     Jesus Christ was, is and always will be God the Son, in the Bosom of the Father: "No man hath seen God at any time; the Only Begotten Son, which is in the bosom of His Father, He hath declared Him." (John 1:18).

     When He was incarnated (God in human flesh), He humbled Himself and was obedient to His Father according to the Divine Plan and Purpose of God in the Redemption of mankind. (Phil. 2: 5-11)

    Although He was True Man because of His virgin birth, He nevertheless remained True God  from eternity! 

    Before His incarnation, Isaiah saw His glory in the Temple. (Is. 6:1)

    When He was transfigured on the mountain, Peter, James and John saw His glory. (Luke 9:28-35). It was the same glory Saul of Tarsus saw on the Damascus Road, after Christ's resurrection.(Acts 22: 6-10; 26: 13-19 )

                                 EMMANUEL, GOD WITH US!

  Isaiah called Him "Emmanuel, God with us." (Is. 7:14; 9: 6). Seven hundred years later, the Angel Gabriel confirmed that it was "The Son of God"  that was born! (Luke 1:25).

    The HOLY BIBLE declares: "Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call Him Emmanuel, which is GOD WITH US." (Matt.1: 22, 23)

    Jesus said: "...Ye are from beneath, I am from Above; ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins." (John 8: 23,24)

    St. Paul wrote: "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily." (Col.2: 8,9)

     False teachers promulgate that Jesus emptied Himself of His Deity when He was incarnated. That is not true. If that were the case He would have ruined the immutability of the Godhead. 

     Even the demons understood that Jesus Christ was God the Son, the Eternal One. The Holy Bible says: "And, behold, they cried out, What have we to do with Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?" (Matt.8: 29)

    "And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit: and he cried out, saying, Let us alone: What have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee Who Thou art, the Holy One of God." (Mark 1: 23, 24)

               ANGELS ORDERED TO WORSHIP JESUS!

   God said, "For I am the Lord, I change Not." (Mal.3: 6); "And again, when He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, He saith; Let all the angels of God WORSHIP HIM...

  "But unto the Son He saith, Thy Throne, O God, is forever and ever...They shall perish, But Thou remainest...Thou art the same." (Heb.1: 6-12)."Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever."(Heb.13: 8)

   R.C. SPROUL states: "If God laid aside one of His attributes, the immutable undergoes a mutation, the infinite suddenly stops being infinite. It would be the end of the universe. If one Person of the Godhead laid aside His duty it would undermine the monotheistic distinction of the Godhead." 

    St Paul stated: "For by Him (Jesus Christ) were all things created, that are in Heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers;  all things were created by Him, and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." (Col. 1: 16, 17)

   If Jesus had emptied Himself of His Deity at His incarnation, the whole universe would have collapsed!

     The Bible states: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with

God but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of

a servant and was made in the likeness of men.

   "And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Phil.2: 5-8)

    St. Paul states that when 'GOD THE SON' was incarnated (God in human flesh) , He humbled Himself to meet the demands of Divine Justice for the sins of the world and laid down His life for us all.

   The Bible says: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God... And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us! (John 1: 1, 14)

     Jesus was the Word and the Word became flesh! When He humbled Himself (emptied Himself) He poured out His life, He was still True God and True Man!

    St. Paul stated: "To wit (That is), that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself." (2 Cor. 5: 19)

 JOHN CALVIN stated: "In order to exhort us to submission by His example, he shows us when as God  He might have displayed to the world the brightness of His glory, He gave up the right and voluntarily emptied Himself, that He assumed the form of a servant and contented with that humble position, suffered His Divinity to be concealed under  'a veil of flesh.'

    "Neither Christ's Divinity, nor His Divine attributes, nor the use of those attributes, nor His glory, was in any way emptied. Rather, these were concealed under a veil of flesh."

   Calvin was certainly referring to these words of St. Paul: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holiest by the BLOOD OF

JESUS, By a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh." (Heb.10: 19,20)     

  There is a definite and distinct difference between emptying and concealing!

   ARIANISM is the totally false doctrine that was discredited and condemned as heresy at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. The Jehovah's Witnesses fell for the ARIAN deception and are deceived to the point that they have mutilated the original texts in their New World Bible. They are teaching heresy!

   This doctrine teaches that Jesus Christ was not truly God; that He was not the only begotten Son of God. It teaches that Jesus was first created being and exalted, but less than God; that the Blood of Jesus Christ was less than divine and therefore not able to cleanse away sin!

   The CREED OF ATHANASIUS says: "The Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is God, but there are not three Gods, but One God. The Father is Omnipotent; the Son is Omnipotent; the Holy Spirit is Omnipotent, but there are not three Omnipotent Beings, but One Omnipotent Being. We distinguish among the Persons, but we do not divide the substance."

     Concluding this short lesson, the Holy Scriptures teach that God the Son did NOT empty Himself of His Deity like many false teachers postulate.

    Jesus Christ our Lord concealed His glory, but did not limit it in any way. He was, is and always shall be the Second Person in Eternal Almighty Godhead! Praise His name forever!

Please Note: There will be more to come! M.S.