In his letter to the church at Philippi the Apostle Paul makes clear that the One called Jesus of Nazareth, had not always been Who and what He came to be later in life. This Biblical Truth presents THE model for everyone who seeks to spend eternity with Him. He is the standard, the pattern for those whose ONLY goal is to “walk as He walked” so as to “be as He was” while on this earth as the servant of His Father on behalf of His most cherished creation–mankind. The God of the universe reveals His great love for man by giving him the opportunity to spend eternity with Him in paradise. So powerful is this wish that He wrote a Book of Instructions that, if obeyed by man, will result in man doing exactly that. And He offers that privilege to ungodly man when he (man) is at his lowest level of ungodliness. He gave His best as a sacrifice. His best willingly sacrificed His all for all who would give Him their all. All is the operative word.

My favorite hymn begins with these words concerning the One who became Jesus of Nazareth: “Leaving the splendor of heaven, knowing His destiny, on the lonely hill of Golgotha, there He lay down His life for me. And if that isn’t love ….” The question asked in this series concerns Who and What was Jesus before He became a carpenter? Who and what was the being about whom John wrote in the introduction to his Gospel (1:1-4,14)? To answer this important question we will study Philippians 2:5-15. But first let us turn to John’s Gospel where we will be introduced to Jesus before He was Jesus.

In John 1:1-4,14 we find these Words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was (a) God. The Word was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him (the Word), and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. We (who knew Him) beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and Truth (God’s Word).” In the beginning (of creation) Jesus was called “the Word”–LOGOS–meaning Spokesman. To whom did the Word speak? When? Where? What did He say? Let us let find out.

The short version of how His spokesmanship worked is this: God spoke to the Word through His Holy Spirit. Jesus then did what He was told by the Father using the power of the Holy Spirit–He created the universe. As the Psalmist said in 33:6-9: “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made. All the host of them were created by the breath of His mouth …. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it (the universe) stood fast.” In other words, the Word spoke to nothing and everything that is came into existence. But didn’t He speak to man? How did that work?

Relative to God’s Words being given to the Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles, Jesus received the Words from the Father through the Holy Spirit and spoke them to His ministers through the Spirit. His messengers spoke and wrote what they heard from Him. Nothing has changed. I routinely hear God’s Spiritual voice. Many times I have set down at this computer in the wee hours of the morning having no idea what I am supposed to do. The previous series, as well as this one came at approximately 12:30 and 12:40 A.M. respectively after being roused from a sound sleep. Romans 8:14 tells us that only those who are led by His “voice”–the Holy Spirit–are God’s true children.

God NEVER tells us to do anything contrary to His Word. This includes commandment #4–the Sabbath commandment that billions of people refuse to obey every week, thereby making themselves what Jesus calls “… workers of iniquity”–Lawlessness (Mat. 7:21-23). As Jesus said, not every one who calls Him their Lord has made Him their Lord. A Lord must be obeyed. Warning: If He is not one’s Lord (Master) in this life He will not be one’s Savior in the next life.

The above information explains Who and what Jesus was before He was Jesus. Understand that the Word was not initially the son of the other God. The Word became His Son by being born of a woman who had been impregnated by the Holy Spirit. This is brought out by God Himself Who said of Jesus, “You are my Son; this day I have begotten You” (Acts 13:33), meaning that He (God) had brought about His (Jesus’) development in Mary’s womb. Read Matthew chapter one in the King James Version relative to the act of begettal. We call the phenomenon “conception.”

Now let us turn to Philippians 2:5-15 to learn what we will one day become IF WE OBEY HIS WORDS/LAW/COMMANDMENTS IN THIS LIFE. Read Matthew 19:17/John 15:10, 21,22,24 and First John 2:5. By studying the focal passage we will treat ourselves to one of the most wonderful teachings any prophet or apostle ever inscribed. As is the case when studying any part of the Holy Bible, we must remember that “ALL SCRIPTURE is written under the inspiration of God (through His Holy Spirit) and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for training in RIGHTEOUSNESS” (2 Tim. 3:16,17). Question: Why study to achieve righteousness if all we need to receive instant salvation is faith? Read Romans 5:21 and 6:22. Truly, “Satan has deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9).

In verse five we find Paul telling the church: “Let this (the same) mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” “Let” indicates that we can choose to have the same mind as Christ–or choose not to. Jesus said that only a few salvation seekers would choose to do so (Mat. 7:13,14/22:14). “The many,” He said, would choose to receive the mind of Satan. Man must choose one or the other. Revelation 3:14-20 tells us that the modern (Laodicean) church has chosen the mind of Satan. For this reason God compares her to vomit.

Adam and Eve chose to receive Satan’s mind, which is man-centered for a reason. Read Mark 8:33. Satan, the former Lucifer (Isa. 14:12-14/ Eze. 12:2, 12-19), wanted to overthrow God and take over the universe. In the Ezekiel passage Lucifer (Satan) is called the King of Tyrus. Lucifer had failed to conquer God and rule the universe by his own efforts. Therefore, he would have to settle for second best–ruling mankind, which he managed to do, beginning with Adam and Eve who, like the angels and all human beings after them, have been given free moral agency. This enables man to choose whom he will obey–, WHOSE MIND HE WILL ACCEPT.

Adam, Eve and Cain, their firstborn son, accepted the mind of Satan. Abel, their second son, chose to receive the mind of the Lord. Because of his choice God called him “righteous” (Mat. 23:35). Adam, Eve and Cain chose the way of self-direction and self-determination. Only a few of their descendants have chosen to be led by God’s Holy Spirit whose “voice” can only be heard by those having the mind of the Lord which is singular in all things. Read Romans 12:5/ First Corinthians 12:12/Ephesians 4:4-6. Within the true Church of God (not the denomination) there is ONE WAY ONLY. This was brought out by Jesus when He said that His sheep hear His voice and obey IT, that they will not follow another shepherd’s voice (Jn. 10:27,5). GOD HAS ONLY ONE VOICE–HIS HOLY BIBLE. Any contrary voice is of Satan.

This ministry was created for the church, to warn those within her who have ears to hear and a mind to believe God’s Truth. The message is simple–the teachings put forth by the Institutional (Catholic/Protestant) Church are contrary to the Word/Truth of God, as the Scriptures confirm. For this reason the Lord commands those who would spend eternity with Him to come out of professing Christendom and to have nothing to do with her. Then, and only then will He be one’s God and one will be His child (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1).

In verses six and eight of the focal passage Paul tells us that, prior to His coming to earth as Jesus of Nazareth, the Word had the same “form”/”fashion” as the other God in the Godhead. The TWO Gods were both spirit beings. Read The Trinity. Key word–Trinity to learn the Scriptural Truth about the trinity doctrine, where it came from and how it became “truth” to billions of people. The home page of this website provides a list of church “truths” that are Satanic in origin.

Notice in verse 6 that, prior to the Word’s coming to earth as Jesus the Christ (anointed one), the Word and God were equal in every respect. As in any situation involving two beings working to create one result, one of them must be in charge. One must agree to follow the lead of the other. This was the case with the two (spirit bodied) members of the Godhead in the beginning. As stated, Jesus voluntarily gave up His Godship to come to earth as a man and to live like all other men. He was different from other men in only one way–He obeyed God. His life demonstrated the result of that obedience, the same result any other man could have had by obeying the Lord God. Understand this: ALL MEN CAN WALK AS JESUS WALKED IF THEY BELIEVE GOD AND OBEY HIM AS DID GOD’S MESSIAH. God is no respecter of persons; what He will do for one He will do for anyone. The choice relative to one’s God (whose mind one will embrace) is man’s to make.

Those extremely few who believe and obey God today are as different from their peers as Jesus was from His peers. He walked in obedience to and was empowered by the Holy Spirit. He would occasionally grow angry at His disciples because they could not do what He did because they did not obey God as He did. John 14:12 describes those extremely few who truly believe and obey Him. The world will soon see John 14:12 come to pass on a scale that will make the Book of Acts pale by comparison. There is a season (time) for everything the Lord does (Eccl. 3:1). The season for God to exhibit His power before all the world is “at the door.” God has been speaking this message to me for several years. I recently questioned Him about what I had been “hearing” in the spirit. His answer came in the form of an incredible miracle. Read about it in The Gun series. Key word–Gun. L.J.

In verse five Paul