A number of Scriptures tell us that in order to be God’s people we must be like His Son–“… walk (live) as He walked,” “… be perfect (mature) as He is perfect,” “… be pure even as He is pure,” etc. (1 Jn. 2:6/Mat. 5:48/1 Jn. 3:3). The Scriptures are clear: TO LIVE WITH JESUS IN THE NEXT LIFE WE MUST LIVE LIKE HIM IN THIS LIFE. This diametrically opposes the church’s contention that man must sin due to a sin gene inherited from Adam and Eve. Therefore one cannot do what is written in the Bible relative to one’s personal life. Another excuse for not taking God’s Words on the subject seriously is the contention that Jesus came to earth as a God, having the advantages of deity, and for this reason He could do what He did without failure. In other words, the fix was in for Him when it came to doing battle with Satan. Therefore His command that we “… overcome (Satan) even as I overcame Him” (Rev. 3:21) in order to live with Him throughout eternity is merely a religious sound byte and not to be taken seriously. Did Jesus of Nazareth have an advantage over His contemporaries (and us) when it comes to resisting Satan’s temptation to sin? Was He in reality God in human form, having retained some or all of the power, knowledge, etc. of His former status? If so, He cannot be our life’s example, and His requirement that we resist the devil as He did is unreasonable, deceitful and a faith destroyer. Was He being cruel in making such demands on mankind? As an earth-bound entity did He have a distinct advantage over the rest of us? Was He in fact a God in every way except appearance? Was He a fake man? Let Scripture answer these questions.

Philippians 2:7: “Let THIS MIND BE IN YOU WHICH WAS ALSO IN CHRIST JESUS Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to we 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.” Let us carefully study this passage in order to glean its exact meaning.

God’s true saints have the same mind Jesus Christ had when He walked the earth. Man is incapable of thinking above the human level on his own. Jesus had the same mind as His fellow man, otherwise men could not possess the same mind that Jesus possessed as a man–the mind we are commanded to have (Phil. 2:7). In His pre-advent status  He was “… EQUAL WITH GOD” the Father. Upon coming to earth He deliberately “… made Himself of no reputation.” The construct “made Himself” in Greek is KENOO, meaning to empty out, drain. Jesus emptied, drained Himself of all of His deity, making Himself like His human brethren in every way (Heb. 2:17). Before coming to earth as a man, Jesus was a God (Jn. 1:1-4,14), having a God mind. Being a God, He could neither sin nor die. Having become human, He was able to both sin and die. The man Jesus Christ died. The only part of Him that did not die was His human spirit which returned to God at the moment of death, as do the human spirits of every human who will ever live (Eccl. 12:7). Everything else about Him died and was placed in the tomb. This proved that He was totally man and in no way a God. God cannot look upon sin (Hab. 1:13); Jesus looked at sin every day and “… became sin” (2 Cor. 5:21). God cannot die; Jesus died. To be continued. If you have a comment or question contact me at LPJaques41,42@gmail.com