Fully God, Fully Man

The following is from Greg Laurie, Pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, Riverside, California. www.harvest.org

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

— Philippians 2:5–7


Because Jesus was God, we might ask, did He have full knowledge of God as a little baby in the manger at Bethlehem? Or did this knowledge come to Him over a period of time? When Jesus was born, could He have turned to Mary and said, "I am God Almighty, the Messiah of Israel. I am God in human form. And by the way, Mary, the Earth is round. Some people are going to say that it is flat, but I am telling you it is round. I made it myself."

Jesus didn't do that. Instead, He squealed and giggled and made noises like any other baby. And He had a human mind. The Bible says of Jesus, "And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him" (Luke 2:40). When Jesus was 12 years old, Mary and Joseph found Him in the temple after the Feast of the Passover, "sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions" (verse 46).

Then in Luke 2:52, we read that "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men." This would appear to be saying that Jesus went through a learning process like anyone else. Yet at the same time, He did not have the limitations that sin brings on one's life.

Jesus walked the earth in a human body and died like a man, in the sense that His body ceased to function just like ours do when we die. And though He was God, He emptied himself of the privileges of deity and walked among us as a man.

- - - Greg Laurie