There are those who teach that when the Son of God left heaven to come here and live in a human body, He left his divinity in heaven and came here as only a man. When confronted with the fact that He did supernatural things or had supernatural knowledge, they reply that he did it though the Spirit, much as the apostles or prophets did.
One idea behind this false teaching is the odd idea that if Jesus came to earth as the divine Son of God, the fact that he could resist sin would be meaningless. They say, “How could a divine being be tempted with evil?” They wish to make his coming here to earth a demonstration that Jesus, stripped of his Godhood, living here as just a man and only a man, could resist sin through the Holy Spirit. From that they draw some sort of consolation that they can also (although I never saw one who could honestly claim that they, in fact, consistently have done such).
While this idea seems somewhat plausible on the surface, if you look deeper, the Scripture clearly condemns it and also never teaches that the Savior’s purpose for coming here was to demonstrate any such thing! He came to be our sinless sacrifice, and in that way provide salvation for all who would truly believe.
In reality, this is not a new and brilliant idea, as those who propose it might think. It is, in reality, an old error that, as is the case with some of the weeds that we find in the yards of our homes, simply refuses to die. In 451 there was a council that recognized a need to publish these words, “…teach people to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man,….” The error of teaching that Christ emptied himself of his deity when he came to earth seems to have continued in various forms and modifications down through the centuries.
One very common argument for this false teaching is a misunderstanding of Philippians 2:7.
“but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ” (ESV)
The Greek word here translated “made himself nothing” means to empty oneself (so translated in the ASV). Some have misunderstood this to mean that he emptied himself of his very nature and became just like any other man. But, we must not force the passage into saying something that does not fit the context or attempt to make it say something that it does not say.
To best understand the passage, we must look at what the Spirit was teaching in Philippians 2. He was saying that just as the Son of God had a right to do what pleased or favored him, but gave up that situation up temporarily to serve mankind, so the child of God should always look for the good of others, and not what pleases him, even if this means suffering or difficulty. What exactly was he asking them to give up. Was he asking them to give up their powers or capacities? Was he telling them to cease being who they where? Of course not! That was not the point at all! He was teaching them to give themselves up in service to one another, just as Jesus did. This passage does not teach that he gave up any powers or that he quit being the divine Son of God!
Another way that we can tell that a part of the Scripture has been twisted and misused to teach something that it does not, is to look closely to see if the resulting teaching is in agreement with other clear teachings of the Scripture. If it is not, it is a false teaching, no matter how plausible it may seem. The first such Scripture to be considered is Matthew 1:23:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). This was a quote from Isaiah 7:14. Here the Spirit of God revealed that the most glorious significance of this Old Testament passage referred to Jesus. The meaning is literally, God with us. If the Son of God had left his God-like attributes and power back in heaven, this name would not have been appropriate. Also, notice that in John 1:14-18 the word tells us:
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'”) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
When the disciples saw Jesus, they did not see just a feeble human being with all that entails, but the glorious, divine Son of God. How could seeing Jesus reveal God, the Father, (see verse 18), if Jesus when he came here were merely a man without the attributes of God? If he were just a man, how could John the baptist say that he outranked him (verse 15). Did not Jesus say that among men, there was no man at the time greater than John? (Luke 7:28) As a man, He could not have outranked John.
John 8:19 says: They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”
This He said claiming the same Spiritual image as the Father. This would be impossible if Jesus were a mere man.
In John 14:8-9 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
How could they see the Father in Jesus if he left his divinity back in Heaven?
Hebrews 1:3-6 says clearly of Jesus:
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? 6 And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”
How could Jesus be the “radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature,” if he left that all back in Heaven. And how was he holding the universe together all that time he was here, if he gave up that power??? And, how could God command upon the introduction of Jesus into the world that the angels worship him if at that point, he was only a man. Angels do not worship men!!!
And again in Colossians 1:15-17
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
If all things hold together through him and he left that power back in heaven, who was holding all things together while he was here???
In Isaiah 9:6-7, we find the following:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Here the child, Jesus , is called “Mighty God” in this prophesy concerning his coming. When Jesus was born, the wise men came to worship him, as we see in Matthew 2:1-2:
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Men do not worship a man; they worship God. That Jesus was divine at his birth. He is called “Mighty God”, not Diminished Power God, Emptied God, nor Temporarily Disabled God!!!
It is important to understand that this teaching demeans the Son of God and thus opens a Pandora’s box to a plethora of false teachings. Please see, in the light of the Scripture, the error of this idea. Someday we will stand before Jesus, the Christ, in judgment. How sad it would be if we have dishonored Him with our theories!!!