Chapter VIII Addendum – The Character of Christ: His Exaltation
For let this disposition be in you, which is in Christ Jesus also, Who, being inherently in the form of God, deems it not pillaging to be equal with God, nevertheless empties Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming to be in the likeness of humanity, and, being found in fashion as a human, He humbles Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God highly exalts Him, and graces Him with the name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should be bowing, celestial and terrestrial and subterranean, and every tongue should be acclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, for the glory of God, the Father. Last Bit At this point, we believe the two theories – that Christ “is God,” or “1/3 of God,” and that Christ “did not exist” prior to His birth – have been thoroughly debunked. At the height of revelation, Paul’s language evokes the necessary middle ground. Christ is not God, but the Image and Form of Him. Christ did exist at the beg...