A Faith Question

Recently I was listening to a couple of gentlemen, that I don't agree with, who were speaking about the heretical messages coming out of Bill Johnson and Mike Bickle regarding miracles, and the nature of Jesus. Without getting into the whole thing, they are talking about how these two teachers were teaching wrongly about Christ's divinity. They said they (Bill and Mike) were misinterpreting the passage from Philippians where Paul speaks about Jesus emptying himself to become like man. The speakers indicted that they (Bill and Mike) were wrong in how they said that passage relates to our lives as Christians, being called to do the same things as Jesus, because He was ministering not out of his divinity, but as a man, filled with the Holy Spirit. Quoting the verses here:

Philippians 2:5-11 NIV
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; [7] rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. [8] And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death---even death on a cross! [9] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, [10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The NASB reads a bit different:

Philippians 2:5-8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

5 Have this attitude [a] in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be [b] grasped, 7 but [c] emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death [d] on a cross.

As one reads all the commentaries, and looks at so much of the scriptural foundation that relies on an understanding that these verses do clearly mean exactly what Bill and Mike say, there can be no other way of translating this that makes sense to the greater witness of our faith. Christ had to come as a man, to fulfill the requirements of the law, as a man. To do so as God, would have not satisfied the requirements set in place by God. To do all the things He did by relying on His own divine nature would have made it impossible for the apostles to do the same things, for they possessed no divine nature, yet they healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, and cured lepers, as Jesus commanded them to do.

Paul, under the unction of the Holy Spirit, wrote that Jesus emptied Himself, speaking of His existing in the form of God. It was this form of God that He emptied himself of, not His divinity. He became a man, which required that He take on a new lesser nature than His form as God. This was a choice that Jesus made and the Father allowed. Paul speaks of Jesus being obedient, and that also requires the nature of a man, for Jesus in His Godly form, is an equal in the Trinity, and thus never subservient, but in unity with the Father. Obedience requires a higher entity or authority. In this case Paul says He was obedient unto death, which we know was under God, so Jesus was clearly operating as a man, in His obedience.

Finally, I believe that Jesus spoke quite clearly on the manner and called us do what He did, and even greater still. John 14:10-12 NIV:"Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. [11] Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. [12] Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

I always find it interesting to see how the Word gets interpreted by others. Other are so many who believe they have the truth, and yet are in significant disagreement with others. I know I don't know the truth fully, nor would I ever say I did, but I do know what I believe and what makes sense to me. I think it is healthy for us to be challenged in our believes, for this causes us to think things through, and hopefully understand why we believe as we do.

Lord we pray for clarity and unity to be poured out to Your Body here on earth. Let the truth of who You are be known to the whole world, for we know that one day every knee in Heaven and Earth will bow to Your name.