“. . . Being found in appearance as a man.” - Philippians 2:8
Many people view Christ only as a man, but He is God.
After winning a gold medal at the 1924 Olympics in Paris, Scottish runner
Eric Liddell served as a missionary in China; he died in a prison camp during
World War II. The camp’s prisoners loved Eric, for he served them so
unselfishly. It was only at his funeral that they first learned he was an
Olympic hero. They had had no idea of his full identity.
Most people didn’t
realize Christ’s full identity either, for He was “found in appearance as a man”
(Phil. 2:8). At first glance that phrase seems like a repetition of the end of
verse 7, “being made in the likeness of men.” We could paraphrase verse 8 to
read, “He was discovered to appear as a man.” The difference between that and
verse 7 is a shift in focus. In verse 8 we view the humiliation of Christ from
the viewpoint of those who saw Him. Christ was the God-man, but as people looked
at Him, they saw the “appearance” (Greek, schema, “outward form”) of a man. Paul
was implying that though Christ appeared to be a man, there was much more to Him
that could not naturally be seen.
For Christ to become man was humbling enough. For Him not to have been
recognized must have been humiliating. He performed miracles and taught
authoritatively, yet the typical responses were: “You are a Samaritan and have a
demon” (John 8:48) and, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and
mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” (John
6:42). Because their minds were darkened by sin, people recognized His humanity
but could not see His deity. They could not recognize who He really was. They
not only treated the King of kings as a man but as the worst of men—a
criminal.
Unlike people who don’t recognize Christ’s true identity, let’s honor Him
through a life of worship and obedience.
~John MacArthur, Strength for Today devotional
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