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Christ Being in the Form of God
The word rendered “form” --μορφή (morpheō) occurs in only three places in the New Testament, and in each place, it is rendered “form.” In Mark 16:12, it is applied to the form which Jesus assumed after his resurrection and, likewise, when he appeared to two of his disciples on his way to Emmaus. “After that, he appeared in another form unto two of them” (KJV). This “form” was so unlike his usual appearance that they “did not know him”. The word properly means form; shape; bodily shape, especially a beautiful form; a beautiful bodily appearance; or a spiritual body. In Philippians 2:7, it is applied to the appearance of a servant--“took upon him the form of a servant” (KJV): that is, He was in the condition of a servant--or of the lowest condition. Philippians 2:6, it is applied to the appearance of God.
Christ’s trinity of “forms” illustrates and demonstrates the power of the Trinity of God. Jesus reveals His form as the Father (John 10:30), a human “bondservant” (Philippians 2:7), and the “form” He took after the resurrection in His immortal, resurrected body (Mark 16:12). This word often occurs in the Hebrew in three significant ways:
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As the translation of the word ציי--“ziyv”--splendor (Dan. 4:36; 5:6, 9-10; 7:28).
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As the translation of the word תּבנית--“tabnîyth”--structure, model, pattern--as in building, a stone or rock (Isa. 44:13).
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As the translation of תּמונה--“tĕmuwnah”--appearance, form, shape, image, likeness (Job 4:16; 18:1). 1
As a man is known from the appearance of his form, so is the majesty that shines in God (His figure, Jesus Christ). Therefore, before the foundation of the world, Christ was in the form of God because He had glory with the Father before the world was formed (John 17:5). Keep in mind that before He put on our nature, there was nothing humble or earthy about Him--only the magnificence worthy of being the Godhead.
The second critical factor is that the word “form” is equivalent to nature or being. That is, Jesus Christ was and is in the nature of God; His reason for existence was that of God, and He was and is divine. In support of this understanding, therefore, is why His power was seen in working miracles and in His divine appearances while on earth, i.e., “walking on water.”
The Power of God is God
When Christ deprived Himself of being God, He entered the humble state of “being” man. There was something He possessed, making it proper to say that He was “in the form of God,” which He laid aside when appearing in the form of a servant and in the likeness of human beings. This “something” was the Father; the Father was in Him. The Greek definition of “in” is “one” or the same “being.” Jesus said in John 14:11, "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”
In any case, be assured that His ability to perform “acts of the Father” is not of His moral qualities. Nor is there any conceivable sense that He deprived Himself of the power of working miracles so that He might take upon Himself the “form of a servant.” He maintained both elements of His humble state. All the miracles He performed when He maintained the form of a servant or in His lowly and humble condition were performed by the power of God (Life of God), which was in Him.
Once we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, He implants the Holy Spirit (Life of God) inside of us, then places us in Him, and hides in the Father (Col. 3:3). John 14:20 reveals this: "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”
Therefore, after Salvation, we believe humans can accomplish supernatural acts such as “casting out demons” and “healing the sick.” By going through the process in John 14:20, we inherit all the same attributes of Christ Himself, except one important quality--being God.
We, of course, cannot fully understand the manifestation of God’s glory that He may generate in the heavenly world--at least on this side of Salvation. Nothing forbids us, however, to suppose that we are given partial visibility to the manifestations, i.e., some splendor and magnificence of God in the view of the Great Sovereign of the universe.
“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen” (1 Timothy 6:15-16).
The Lord Jesus possessed God’s glory (visible manifestation or splendor), indicating the nature of God, before his incarnation and maintained it throughout His divine earthly ministry. This is truly worthy of an Amen!
Dr. Stephen Phinney
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