The Unlikely Apostle Pt. 7: “He Emptied Himself”

This week, I read a heartbreaking year-old article about a British rapper named Jahaziel who renounced his faith in Jesus after being a Christian for around two decades. Other articles give a fuller explanation for his departure from Christianity, but some of the reasons listed are commonly cited by atheists and agnostics.

In Jahaziel’s written statement, his main issues with the faith derive from problems he sees in the Bible. He cites the slaughter of men, women and children, apparent contradictions in the text, flaws in gender roles and other grievances.

If one studies the Bible, it should not come as a surprise that a disciple of Jesus would find certain things God says, does or allows troubling. The apostles that Jesus chose spent over three years with Him and were often confused, shocked and even angered by some of the choices and statements He made. He was constantly challenging paradigms and presuppositions they brought to the table, and drastic changes in worldviews are almost never smooth transitions.

Similarly, whenever people become followers of Jesus, they bring with them different experiences, spiritual beliefs, political views and personality traits that often filter the way they read the Bible, interpret life events, view God and perceive their ability to make a difference in the world. This is a concept that I have written a great deal about in New: Wineskins and the Simple Words of Christ.

Repeatedly, though, the New Testament authors call us to view God and everything else through the lens of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, God with us. One of the classic examples in Scripture that displays Jesus as being the image of the invisible God is Philippians 2.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:5-11

Early Christian writer, Novation, penned a treatise on the Trinity, which is considered a most valuable contribution to Ante-Nicene theology. Within this masterful work, Novation spends much time in Philippians 2, demonstrating both that Jesus is God, and that He reveals the humble, servant nature of God the Father.

He has “received a name which is above every name,” which assuredly we understand to be none other than the name of God. … Since Christ is said to be in the form of God, and since it is shown that for His nativity according to the flesh He emptied Himself; and since it is declared that He received from the Father that name which is above every name … consequently He is not man only, from the fact that He became obedient to the Father, even to death, yes, the death of the cross; but, moreover, from the proclamation by these higher matters of the divinity of Christ, Christ Jesus is shown to be Lord and God, which the heretics will not have. – Novatian 257CE, Volume 5, p. 1111 [CD-ROM]

Philippians 2 is a powerful passage, especially for people who are in pain or those who are perplexed by their circumstances. It reveals to us a God who loves us so much that He was willing to embrace a life filled with suffering on our behalf. It displays a God who chose to empty Himself and empathize with our sorrows, rather than merely observing our agony from a safe heavenly place of splendor.

What the apostle Paul demonstrates to us in Philippians 2 is the reason we can have hope and confidence in the character of God when things don’t seem to make sense. We can trust God because above all other examples, Jesus shows us He is trustworthy.

If you are having a moment like Jahaziel did, disturbed by things in the Bible or perplexed by tragic events in our world, I encourage you to fix your eyes on Jesus. Jesus shows us that God is good and cares immensely about His creation.

Jesus gives us confidence that even if we can’t currently comprehend God’s reasons for doing or allowing some of the things He does, one day the perfect loving wisdom behind all of God’s decisions will be plainly understood by all of His faithful servants. And we will marvel at the majesty of our humble King.