Early Christian Conviction of the Humanity and Deity of Jesus Christ

Scripture — Philippians 2:5-11 (CEB)

Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus:
Though he was in the form of God,
he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit.
But he emptied himself
by taking the form of a slave
and by becoming like human beings.
When he found himself in the form of a human,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore, God highly honored him
and gave him a name above all names,
so that at the name of Jesus everyone
in heaven, on earth, and under the earth might bow
and every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Devotion

Today’s devotion is unusual, though not unprecedented. During the 19 years in which I’ve been writing devotions, every now and then I take a little thematic detour to address issues that are relevant to my readers, even if they’re not devotional in the ordinary sense. It’s part of my calling to help you understand Scripture well and be prepared to live as an informed believer in a world that is increasingly hostile to Christian faith.

Critics of Christianity sometimes say something like this: “The early followers of Jesus didn’t think he was divine. They thought of him as a man, an inspired human being. That’s all. Jews were strict monotheists who never affirmed the divinity of human beings. Later, as Christianity made its way into the Greco-Roman world, the gentile followers of Jesus adopted Hellenistic ways of thinking. There, the line between human and divine was frequently crossed. The later Christians took the human Jesus and turned him into some kind of god so they could compete in the marketplace of religions. But that was a late and unfortunate addition to authentic, early Christian belief.”

When you hear this sort of thing, you may be intrigued, or even worried. It’s certainly true that Jews were distinctive in the Roman world for their insistence that there is only one God. In Judaism, human beings weren’t ever divine. So, the idea that the early followers of Jesus, who were Jewish, would have considered him to be divine does seem curious, even scandalous. Moreover, it makes sense that as Christianity spread into the Roman world, the formerly gentile followers of Jesus would adapt the faith to Greco-Roman ways of thinking. Yes, perhaps they even turned the Jewish man named Jesus into their god.

But if this is true, then Christian faith as we know it is not true. Those of us who believe that Jesus really was “truly God and truly human,” as affirmed by the Chalcedonian Definition of 451 A.D. and by millions of Christians today, are mistaken. We have accepted a later addition to Christianity that the earliest Jesus followers would have rejected.

Though this theory can appear to be reasonable, in fact, it doesn’t square with the facts of history, not to mention theology. The New Testament provides ample evidence that the earliest Christians, who were, indeed, Jewish, did something utterly unprecedented by affirming that the human Jesus was also God, not just a god, but the one true God. They might have been wrong, of course. But they did not, as it is often claimed, believe that Jesus was merely an inspired human being.

The second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Philippians offers strong evidence for the early Christian belief in the deity of Jesus Christ. After urging the Philippians to “Adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus,” he adds, “Though he was in the form of God, he did not consider being equal with God something to exploit” (2:5-6). When Paul says that Jesus was “in the form of God,” he means much more than that Jesus was, like all human beings, created in God’s image. The NIV makes Paul’s meaning more obvious when it translates the first part of verse 6 as “being in very nature God.” Paul is affirming that Christ, prior to his incarnation, was truly God.

Paul was deeply and proudly Jewish. In the next chapter of Philippians, he describes himself as, “from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew born of Hebrews” (3:5). Yet this profoundly Jewish man was affirming the deity of Jesus without hesitation. Amazing!

Given the likelihood that the letter to the Philippians was written no later than A.D. 62, what we find in chapter 2 is the profession of the deity of Jesus by a Jewish man writing only about 30 years after Jesus died. Many scholars, by the way, believe that the “Christ Hymn” found in Philippians 2:6-11 was actually composed well before Paul used it in his letter. Thus, it’s possible that the Christology of this passage goes even further back into early Jewish Christianity.

What does this mean for us? It doesn’t prove that Jesus was actually God, of course. But it does show that those who insist the “deification” of Jesus was a late addition to Christian faith are wrong. It can give us confidence about the truthfulness of Philippians 2:6-11, which provides a firm foundation for the call to watch out for others more than for ourselves.

Thus, what I’ve been writing about here is important, not only for Christian theology and apologetics, but also for us as we seek to live and lead for the good of others. We have seen how Paul urges us to “watch out what is better for others” than for ourselves (2:4). Why should we do this? Because, as Paul writes, we should “adopt the attitude that was in Christ Jesus” (2:5). If we’re going to comprehend this attitude or mindset, then we need to believe that Christ Jesus was not an ordinary man. Though he was fully human, he was also fully God. Yet, as one who was truly and fully God, Christ did not hang on to the privileges of deity. Rather, he “emptied himself,” “taking the form of a slave,” and much more, as we have seen in recent devotions.

When we reflect on who Jesus Christ truly is, someone both fully human and fully God, and when we consider what he sacrificed for us and our good, we will be moved and empowered to live and lead for the good of others, in imitation of our Lord and Savior.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Your Back’s Covered.