“The Form of God”!!

 Text:  Philippians [shows Christ our Joy]

This letter was written to the first church founded in Europe about A.D.51, in the early part of Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 16).  Paul was called there by the vision and the cry, “Come over into Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9).  Paul urges the Church to have Christian unity and joy.  This letter shows how unity among Christians can be broken.  Paul was showing them that Christ is the secret of joy.  He said to them, in chapter 3: Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice”!

Philippians chapter 2 is about “the humility of Christ”:

·         Verse 5: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  vs 6: Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery, to be equal with God:  vs 7: But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant:  vs 8: And being made in the likeness of men, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”.  

Form (Webster) [L. “forma”], meaning, shape; general structure; the figure of a person or animal; mold; a particular mode, kind, type, etc; arrangement; style; a way of doing something requiring skill; a customary or conventional way of acting; ceremony; ritual; a printed document; condition of mind or body; fashion; train; instruct; develop habits.

In this verse in the Greek, “form” is morphe’, meaning shape; (fig) nature [the basic or inherent features of something, especially when seen as characteristic of it].  When something is “inherent”, that means existing in something as a permanent, essential, or characteristic attribute.

Jesus was God in flesh form:  St. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and:  vs 14: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

But Jesus laid aside His “Divine form” and took on the “form” [(morphe’), meaning shape; (fig) nature of God.  Then it goes to mer’os denoting the idea of adjustments of parts); to get as a section or allotment; a division or share; portion; part] of a servant (dou’los, a slave).  Why?

·         Matthew 20:28: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (diakone’o) [to be an attendant; wait upon (menially or as a host); friend; teacher; serve], and to give his life a ransom for many.

·         Philippians 2:7-8: But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Reputation is from the Greek word keno’o, meaning to abase, neutralize:  make void; make of none effect].  So Jesus abased, neutralized, made void who He originally was, so to take on the form (morhphe’) of a servant or went through a metamorphosis moving out of His divinity into humanity!   Though He was man, yet He was God!! 

·         St. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God:  vs 14: And the Word was made flesh.

Philippians 2:5-6 states:  “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  who being in the form of God thought it not robbery (thievery), to be equal with God”.  

Equal is the root word I’sos (ee’sos) meaning, through the idea of seeming; similar (in amount and kind):  agree together; as much; like.  Jesus being in “the form of God” was not just because He had on a flesh body but because He had the “same mind set” His Father had! That’s why He thought it not thievery to totally agree together with His Father in all things, to be like Him, or to know that He was God, even being in a flesh body!

·         John 3:34: For he whom God hath sent speaks the words of God:  for God gives not the Spirit by measure unto him.  Vs 35: The Father loves the Son and hath given all things into his hand.

What was His equality with God?   His “equality with His Father” was in power and works, judgment, honor, giving eternal life,  His self-existent life, having power over death and destiny, and absolute justice in his own right (John 5:19-30).

Before Jesus became a flesh man He was equal with both the Father and the Holy Spirit in the Godhead with all the attributes and powers like them, but in becoming “man” He laid aside His God-form and took upon Him the “form” of a servant and was made in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:7).

In laying aside His “God form” He laid aside immortality:

·         Psalm 16:10: For thou will not leave my soul in hell; neither will thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

·         1 Corinthians 15:3: For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; vs 4: and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.

·         1Peter 3:18: For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.

He laid aside His authority in heaven and in earth, which was given back to Him after the resurrection:

·         Matthew 28:18: And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth”.

·         Philippians 2:9-11: Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name.  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

·         Ephesians 1:20-23: Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.  And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church:  which is his body; the fullness of him that fills all in all.

·         1peter 3:22: Who is gone into heaven (not out beyond the blue) and is on the right hand (place of power) of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

He laid aside the glory He had with the Father before the world was:

John 10:14: I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.  vs 15: As the Father knows me, even so know I the Father:  and I lay down my life for the sheep.  Vs 17: Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again.  Vs 18: No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.

·         Matthew 16:27: For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels:  and then he shall reward every man according to his works.  (Philippians 2:5-11).

·         John 12:23: Jesus answered them saying, “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified”.

·         John 17:5: And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

He stepped out of glory (not from beyond the blue), but glory being (dox’a, glory (as very apparent [visible]) in applications of dignity; honor; praise; worship).  This meaning He stepped from the nature, and acts of God into self-manifestation or the embodiment (personification) of God as a man.

·         Isaiah 11:1: And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:  vs 2: The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD:  vs 3: And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD:  and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:  vs 4: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth:  and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

As a “man”, Jesus could only do what He saw His Father do! 

·         John 5:19: Then answered Jesus and said unto them (the Jews), “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he see the Father do:  for what things so ever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise”.

As a “man”, how was Jesus able to do these things that He saw His Father do?  Matthew 3:13-17 (Jesus’ baptism):

·         Vs 16: And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water:  and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:  vs 17: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”!!

The “heavens opened unto Him” was Jesus taking on the mind of His Father with the ability to see and understand things of higher order in the higher realms of heaven (spiritual elevation).   Why?  Because the prefix of the word “opened” is “op” which denotes vision.  Anything in relation to vision in the natural is dealt with by an Optometrist or an Ophthalmologist.  And the latter part of “opened” is “ened”.  When the “heavens” were opened unto Jesus, His vision as a man had “ended”!  He now was seeing as His Heavenly Father saw with full spiritual vision of things in relation to the beginning and the ending!

Why was the “Spirit” of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him?  Because the “dove” backward is “evod” or “ephod”.  This was part of the ceremonial dress of Aaron the high priest of Israel, which was of gold (God’s divine nature), blue (His might), purple (royalty; priesthood) and scarlet (red [blood of redemption]), to which the breastplate of judgment was attached that carried the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and to which the oracle pouch containing the Urim (light) and Thummim (perfection) was connected.

·         Exodus 28:28: And they shall bind the breastplate by the rings thereof unto the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be above the curious girdle of the ephod, and that the breastplate be not loosed from the ephod.  Vs 29: And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goes in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually.

Knowing now that Jesus is our High Priest and as Aaron carried Israel on his heart, so does Jesus carry the Israel that NOW is, which is His body, the Church on His heart and through the Urim (light) and Thummim (perfection) of the Father, He has wrought deliverance for us the “ephod” (His body the Church) that He’s dressed with, bringing us out of darkness into His marvelous light, from death unto life, from sickness unto health, from corruption to incorruption, and from mortality unto immortality.

The heavens being opened unto Jesus and the Spirit of God descending and lighting upon Him was also “the anointing” given unto Him that would remove burdens and destroy yokes!  This fulfills Luke 4:18 for you and me as well:

·         The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

In Philippians 2:7-8, Jesus as a man took on the human nature of men, but yet was without sin.  But in order for Him to deliver man, He had to become what man was, and that was flesh.

·         Romans 9:29: And as Isaiah said before, “Except the Lord of sabaoth (Lord of hosts) had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma and been made like unto Gomorrha”.

Sodoma (sod’oma) and goes to another root word (Cedom’) meaning to scorch; burnt.  Within man (mankind – male/female) are concealed or hidden obscure thoughts or habits of man.  Gomorrha: (gom’orrha) is a place near the Dead Sea and it’s from another root word (Amorah’), meaning ruin.  This is the state of mind in man, that’s adverse (in opposition) to the Spirit God.  These “cities of the plain” (Genesis19:23-25) in man must be burned out of him/her by God’s fire before he/she comes into a realization of the promised “Son of God” or “the Christ” (The Anointed One and His anointing)!!

·         Matthew 16:15: Jesus said unto the disciples, “But whom say you that I am”?  Vs 16: And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God”!!  This is the revelation that causes us to possess the keys (badge of authority) to the kingdom of heaven!

I stated before that Jesus as a man took on the human nature of men, but yet was without sin.  

·         2 Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

·         Hebrews 2:16: For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.  Vs 17: Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.

That’s why it’s stated in Hebrew 2:14: Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.

But let us take a look at the wording of Hebrews 2:14a: Forasmuch then as the children (paidi’on) [a child; infant; half-grown boy or girl; an immature Christian] are “partakers” (koinone’o) [to share with others; communicate; distribute]/(koinonos’) [a sharer; associate; companion; fellowship; common; sharing fully] of flesh and blood:

What does Galatians 4:1 say about the “child”?  Now I say, “that the heir, as long as he is a child (ne’pios) [implying negation {to deny; make ineffective)]; not speaking; an infant (minor); a simple-minded person; an immature Christian; babe]; differs nothing from a servant (dou’los) [a slave; bond (man; woman), though he be lord (ku’rios) [supreme in authority, ie controller; master; having power or authority] of all.

·         1 Corinthians 15:22: For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 

It is that “first man Adam”, that earth man that’s frail, sensitive, fleshly and carnal that has to be brought up out of the “dust” (state of death; ignorance; misery; destruction).  “In Adam all die”:  so that the “second man” (the Lord from heaven) might be made in the image and likeness of God so that he/she can live:  “Even so in Christ shall all be made alive”!!

·         Hebrews 2:14b: He (Jesus) also himself likewise “took part” of the same:

“Took” and “part” are from the same root word metech’o, meaning to share or participate.  So Jesus took part of the same, not all of the same.  And the “part” that He “took of” was the “flesh aspect” of man, not the blood!

·         St. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God:  vs 14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

Jesus was born of a woman just as we were:  Matthew 1:16: And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.  Galatians 4:4: But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.  But His blood came from His Father by supernatural conception. 

When Adam was made in the image and likeness of God, God put His own blood in Adam (male/female)!  Adam’s name in the Hebrew means to show blood in the face.  So Adam’s blood at that point had to be and was innocent or pure, but when he listened to the woman and “partook” of the fruit (lie of the enemy), so to keep fellowship with her (his wife), his blood became contaminated with the venom (poison) of the serpent.   But God had an antidote that detoxed the venom (poison) of the serpent (not a snake but the devil and Satan that was working through people) and took it out of the blood of men and transfused mankind with the “innocent (or not guilty) shed blood” of Jesus!  Remember, God the Creator saw the "ending" in the "beginning".

·         Matthew 27:3-4: Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders , saying, "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent (not guilty)  blood”.

When a woman becomes pregnant, none of her blood goes into the baby, that let us know that the blood has to come from God Himself, to give life to breathing creatures, because the life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11), and life only comes from God.

We’re still talking about “the form of God”!

·         St. John 1:11-13: He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

When he said, “not of blood”, he certainly wasn’t talking about the “blood of Jesus”, because the only way one can be born again is by the “blood of Jesus”.  That tells us man’s blood came from God Himself!

·         1 John 5:7: There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost:  and these three are one.

·         Vs 8: And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood:  and these three agree in one (homothumadon’) [unanimously, with one accord, with one mind].  So to actually have “the form of God” we have to be of “one mind with Him” and not just because you have on a flesh body!

Agree is the Greek root word eisi’ (i-see’), meaning, they are, be, were, have, is. Then it goes to (eimi’ - i-mee’) meaning I exist; I am, it is I, be, I was, have been.  This definition confirms what Jesus said about Himself in Revelation 1:8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.  And it states also 1John 4:17, “As he is, so are we, in this world”.  We to are “in the form of God” in the earth!!  Jesus was God’s house in flesh form and He had His Father’s mind and was “the form of God” in the earth!!  So are we!!

So because God’s Spirit is in us, His blood is also in us!!  Remember God is Spirit (John 4:24), He is the Word (St. John 1:1), and the life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11), and life comes only from God.   (John 5:26): As the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself:  (John 14:6) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”!  This is the “life” He has given us, eternal and everlasting life!  (John 3:15-16) Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal (quality) life:  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting (unending) life.

That’s how Adam took on “the form of God”.  It wasn’t just because he had a flesh body, that he had God’s form. He took on the form of God when the “breath” of God was “breathed” into him which contained God’s blood, God's mind!

·         Genesis 2:7: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground:

Formed in Hebrew is the root word yatsar’, meaning to mold or squeeze into shape as a potter.  “The dust” in Hebrew is aphar’, defined as (powdered or gray); clay; earth; rubbish; ashes].  Why “gray”?  Because gray is the ashy color of death.  Why rubbish?  Rubbish as a noun is waste material as valueless, nonsensical.  As a verb, rubbish means reject; worthless.  As an adjective, rubbish is something that is useless.

This is what “man” was even as that living creature that the earth brought forth in Genesis 1:24,  valueless, nonsensical, reject, worthless, in a state of death, until God got hold of him (male/female) and made him in His image, after His likeness (Genesis 1:26-27).  Now in Genesis 2:7, the LORD God who is now in charge of the creation, “formed” man (male and female), or He squeezed and pressured him out of the state of death he was in and forced him into “God’s form” and brought him into the life of God Himself!  The “dust of the ground” is not the “dirt” people walk around on.  The “ground” here is adamah’, meaning soil (from its redness); husband (man) (ry), not erets (eh’rets) [earth].  Adamah’, meaning, arable (suitable for plowing and tilling), used or suitable for growing crops in relation to land.  Adamah’ is also from adam (aw-dam’) meaning, to show blood (in the face); red; ruddy.  It’s also adam (aw-dawm’) meaning ruddy, ie a human being (an individual or mankind); Adam; hypocrite; common sort; low; man; men; person(s).

Man was a mere “human being” of the common sort (without special rank or position; lack of taste or refinement) ; low (not high; below the normal level; shallow; depressed in spirits; not of high rank; inferior).  Yet, he was “arable ground” (used or suitable for plowing and tilling; growing crops) in relation to land.  Man was God’s “husbandry” (His cultivation [preparation for use]), and God made man (male/female) His representatives in the earth.  It was the “forming” (squeezing into shape by pressured processes) that the LORD God put man through which took place in man’s mind that caused the spirit, soul, and body of man to become one unit in God!  Spiritually, we are God’s “lands” !

·         Psalm 100:1: Make a joyful noise unto the LORD all ye lands.

Noise is patsach’ (paw-tsakh’) meaning to break out or break forth (in joyful sound).  The physical dirt (land) can’t do that, only people can break forth in joyful sounds unto God!  It goes on to say, vs 2: Serve the LORD with gladness:  come before his presence with singing.

So God took “man” (male & female) and made them (us) His “husbandry” (cultivation for use).

·         1 Corinthians 3:9: We are laborers (fellow-laborers; helpers; companions) together with God:  you are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.

 Husbandry is the Greek word georgos’, meaning a land-worker; farmer; husbandman.  We are God’s building (oikodome’) [architecture (a complex designed structure)] of Christ’s flesh body in the earth. 

·         Ephesians 5:30: We are members (limbs; parts) of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Man is not in the “form of God” just because he has a flesh body.  But man being in “the form of God” started internally, not externally!  God is Spirit (John 4:24).  The only way God could be seen physically, is in a flesh body as “man” with a spirit, soul, and mind housed in that body!  Someone may ask, well, “How do you know that man being in “the form of God” starts internally”?  Because when you read Isaiah 26:3:

·         Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose MIND is stayed on thee:  because he trust in thee.

Mind is the root word (yet’ser) a form; conception (ie purpose); thing framed; imagination.  Then it goes to yatsar’, meaning to squeeze into shape; to mold into a form; as a potter; to determine (form a resolution); fashion; make; earthen; purposed; to press; be narrow; be in distress; be straitened (in straits); be vexed. 

This word “mind” in Isaiah 26:3, is from the same root word that “formed” is from in Genesis 2:7:  And the LORD God “formed” (yatsar’) man the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Breath is the Hebrew root word neshamah’, meaning a puff, ie wind, angry or vital (absolutely necessary; essential; full of energy; lively], divine inspiration (inhaling; or being inspired mentally or emotionally; any stimulus to creative thought or action by an inspired idea, action); intellect (the ability to reason or understand).

The LORD (Jehovah) God (Elohiym) breathed into man’s “nostrils” (aph) [the face; countenance; forehead] (mind) the breath of life and he (male and female) became a living (quickened /made alive) soul (Genesis 2:7).  So when “man” (Adam) “inhaled” the breath of the LORD God, he was taking in God’s mind through the blood that had God’s life in it, and this is what made man become a “living soul”!  It was the “God life” that took over the total man, his spirit, soul, mind, and body!  The Adam race of people became God’s representatives in the earth walking in the wisdom, and knowledge of God, in dominion, authority, and power, immortality and incorruption!  Same God then is the same God now!  Through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, He has returned and restored us back to the place Adam was before he fell in power and immortality!!  God has done all of this through the “gospel” (the good news of Jesus the Christ)! 

·         2Timothy 1:8: Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner:  but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God:  vs 9: Who hath saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.  Vs 10: But is now made manifest by the appearing (manifestation) of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:  vs 11: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles (anyone that need this gospel).

Remember, 1 Corinthians 15:22: In Adam all die, even so in Christ, shall all be made alive!

So take your rightful place right now being the form of God in the earth as His ambassadors, for we are made unto Him kings (rulers) and priests (intercessors)!

·         Revelation 5:10: And hast made us unto our God kings and priests:  and we shall reign on (over) the earth. 

Live and walk in “the form of God” that He has chosen and ordained us to be for His glory!!

Pastor Gracie Perry