Doctrine of Hypo static Union.

DOCTRINE OF THE HYPO-STATIC UNION

INTRODUCTION

Since the first Advent, it is no longer the divine nature alone which is expressed in the person of Jesus Christ, but the human nature as well.  There is God. There are angels.  There are humans.  And there is the God-man.  Jesus Christ is God with all the attributes of God.  All the attributes of deity adhere to His deity and never cross over and become humanity.  All the attributes of humanity adhere to the humanity of Christ and never become deity. Jesus Christ had to become perfect humanity to be our Savior, to be our High Priest, to be the mediator between God and man, and to fulfill the promise of the Davidic covenant that David’s son would rule forever.

Point 1.  Definition

In the person of Jesus Christ since His physical birth [incarnation], there are two natures, undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. These two natures — human and divine — remain distinct and are inseparably united without mixture or loss of identity, without loss or transfer of attributes. This means that the Lord Jesus Christ [TLJC] is just as much God as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.....and at the same time He is also just as much human as you and I. He is undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever.

It is important to note that the two natures of Christ maintain their complete identity while being joined in personal union forever. The characteristics of His human nature belong to the human part of Him; the characteristics of His divine nature belong to the God part of Him. Each nature has its own attributes that adhere to that nature. In other words, there is no mixture of the two natures. He is never half-God and half-man or half-man and half-God.

Sometimes He operates from His human nature only, as in Matthew 4:2, And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.1 or John 19:28, After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.”   He would say such things as in John 14:28, “For the Father is greater than I.”
Sometimes He operates from His divine nature only, saying in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.” or John 5:23, “in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.”
Sometimes He operates from both natures together but not mixed when He says such things as in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”

Many cults exist and deny the deity of Christ because they don't understand this doctrine. The point is that the human nature in Christ always remains the human nature and the divine nature always remains the divine nature. This is why we can refer to Him as the God-man.  The two natures are united without transfer of attributes or qualities.  It is impossible to transfer an attribute of one nature to the other nature without destroying that nature.  If God is added to man then man is no longer true humanity!  If man is added to God then God is no longer undiminished deity.  A change of attributes involves a change of essence.  Therefore, there is no change in the essence of deity or the essence of humanity.

The doctrine of the Hypostatic Union is documented in many passages, including John 1:1‑14, Romans 1:2-5, 9:5, 1 Timothy 3:16, Hebrews 2:14, Philippians 2:5‑11, 1 John 1:1-3.

1 Timothy 6:15 says, which [a reference to the Rapture of the church] He [TLJC] will bring about at the proper time — He who is the happy one and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

The word “hypostatic” comes from Hebrews 1:1-3, God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

The word for nature is the noun hupostasis which means “substance, essence, standing under or taking a thing upon one­self.”  TLJC took upon Himself true humanity. “Hypostatic” refers to the whole Person of Christ as distinguished from His two natures, divine and human.  The fact that Christ will be true humanity forever indicates that humanity can live forever — but not in the original body which comes into the world through physical birth; that body is subject to death.  The resurrection body is never subject to any kind of death which is another unique characteristic of  Jesus Christ, and the believer will have the same kind of body as His — minus, of course, any scars, Philippians 3:21.

The second chapter of Philippians contains one of the greatest passages in the Word of God on the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union and the Celebrityship of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness [lust ambition] or empty conceit [pride and arrogance], but with humility of mind [grace-thinking] let each of you regard one another as more important than himself.

Humility of mind is grace-thinking.  Grace-­thinking is the state of mind which submits to the divine order and does not exalt itself; it eliminates all human viewpoint from the soul.  Grace-thinking is regarding other believers as better than self.  It is not done through some system of hypocrisy, hypnosis, group therapy, or the sensitivity training of “cosmos diaboli­cus”, the devil's world!  Grace-thinking is accomplished by the believer being so occupied with the Person of Jesus Christ that in his relationship with other people he does not judge, malign, criticize, ridicule or intrude on their privacy.  This attitude does not rest on feelings toward others but upon a true understanding of the facts.  The believer becomes so relaxed from his relationship with the Lord, that others cannot take away his happiness and joy!

Paul goes on to say in Philippians 2:4, Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. This is the concept of respect for the privacy of the priesthood of other believers. The believer cannot learn Bible doc­trine while another is interfering in his life.

A.T. Robertson says that this literally means not keeping an eye on #1 or not looking out for #1.  This is the result of occupation with Christ.  Remember that our attitude towards others reveals our attitude towards the Lord!  In Matthew 25:40, And the King will answer and say to them, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, {even} the least {of them,} you did it to Me.”

One day in Acts 9:4-5, Saul of Tarsus, who became the apostle Paul, had an encounter with TLJC: And he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”   And he said, “Who art Thou, Lord?” And He {said,} “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”  Now, TLJC was in heaven at this time, so how was Saul persecuting him?  “To the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”  So the key here is unselfishness! How can the believer be so relaxed about other people, minding his own business, and avoid judging and condemning in any way? He must find someone who is so much better than anything or anyone else in life so that other people and other things will no longer be an issue.  Paul is setting up this principle, under the minis­try of the Holy Spirit, to present the Celebrityship of Jesus Christ.  The Celebrity of Christianity demands the attention of every believer!  He is so wonderful and so marvelous that occupation with Him changes the entire picture!  Many be­lievers are petty, bitter, jealous, vindictive, implacable and full of gossip and maligning because they have no concept of the Celebrityship of Christ.

So many “Dog and Pony” substitutes are out there and ridiculous practices and programs have crept into the church.  The church has lost sight of Jesus Christ as the only true Celebrity. This condition exists pri­marily because pastors are not teaching Bible doctrine.  Occupation with Christ means that the believer harbors no men­tal attitude sins toward others.  The believer builds his happiness on WHO AND WHAT CHRIST IS, not who and what people are. There is no shortcut to this relaxed mental attitude. It takes work!  It takes commitment and devotion.  It requires the daily function of perception, metabilization and application of Bible doctrine, meaning that the pastor-teacher is consistently commu­nicating doctrine and the believer is learning doctrine on a daily basis. The only purpose for the worship service and for the existence of a pastor-teacher is to enable believers to advance to the highest stage of super-grace — living in the sphere of the recognition of the Celebrityship of Jesus Christ.

In Philippians 2:5 Paul says, Have this attitude [this mental attitude] in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.

The Greek word for attitude, phroneite, is the present active imperative of phroneo, which means “to think objec­tively”, “to have a certain frame of mind”.  When the believer’s mental attitude meets the standards of the Word of God, he has arrived at the highest and noblest point in the Christian life. Mental attitude divine viewpoint is having the mind of Christ, 1 Corinthians 2:16.  This is the objective and command for every believer.  The only way he can obey this command is to have doctrine in the right lobe of the soul, or in what the Bible calls the heart.  To do this the believer must begin with Jesus Christ and the true concept of the Word of God. Believers are commanded here to let the mind of Christ be in them!  No one can make this happen apart from three things:

Having the H.S. leading and directing their soul [rebound, the filling of the spirit].
Submitting to a local assembly with an accurate pastor-teacher communicating the Word of God.
Positive volition toward doctrine.

This is the only way anyone reaches occupation with Christ and recognition of the fact that He is Lord!  Basic doctrine will help the believer to recognize the Celebrityship, Kingship and Lordship of our Lord.  Remember, there are many super-grace heroes but only one true celebrity.

Philippians 2:5-6 Have this attitude [this mental attitude] in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God [or as in the Greek, preexisting in the essence of God], did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped [a treasure to be retained].

The pre-incarnate Christ [before He was born as a man]:  who is this Jesus Christ that we love and learn so much about?
John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Think of it, the same One who was equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit and occupied the highest place of deity “was made flesh and dwelt among us”.

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. This is the One whose name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor. Isaiah 9:6, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Think about it:

He who is called the Son of God was born of a woman and died on a cross.
He whose name is Wonderful, was spit upon by men.
He who is called Counselor is rejected by men.
He who is the Mighty God was crucified on a cross.
He who is the Eternal Father or literally the Father of Eternity is a Son who learned obedience by the things He suffered.
He who is the Prince of Peace must suffer Himself the divine indignation and wrath of God.
He who created all things, COL 1:16, was laid in a manger because there was no room for Him in the inn, Luke 2:7.
He who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners was made to be sin on behalf of others, Hebrews 7:26, 2 Corinthians 5:21.
He who said in John 6:35 “I am the bread of life” was Himself hungry, Matthew 4:2.
He who was the giver of the supernatural water of life, John 4:13, was Himself thirsty, John 19:28.
He who was dead is alive forevermore, Revelation 1:18, “I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.”   That is why in Hebrews 13:8 we read, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.

The Lord is equal to the Father and the Spirit.  In fact, the Lord has Himself declared that in John 5:23.

John 5:19-23 Jesus therefore answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless {it is} something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”

The Son is dishonored when assigned a lower place than the Father.  Here's the issue.  In the world, the deity of the Father and the Holy Spirit are universally admitted, but the deity of the Son is challenged.  This doubt would not have arisen had the Son not become human, but He did.  However, the Scripture leaves no doubt as to who TLJC is.  From the Old Testament to the new passage after passage reveals His deity:

Colossians 1:15 He is the exact image of the invisible God.
Hebrews 1:3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Colossians 1:16  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created by Him and for Him.

Isaiah 40:3 Jesus Christ is called Jehovah and Elohim, Isaiah 40:3, A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord [Jehovah] in the wilderness; make smooth in the desert a highway for our God [Elohim].”
Isaiah 9:6 Jesus Christ is called the Mighty God, the Eternal Father.

Isaiah 7:14, Jesus Christ is called Immanuel, God with us.  Matthew 1:23, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, [which translated means, “God with us”].
John 20:28 Thomas calls the Lord “My Lord and my God!”  Therefore, for the Lord to receive worship from Thomas if He was not equal to God, it would have been blasphemous. This is important because in Revelation 19:10 John fell at the feet of an angel to worship him and the angel said “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God.”
Titus 2:13 Jesus Christ is called our great God and Savior.
Hebrews 1:10 And, you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands.

Acts 20:28says that God has blood, Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. Now, God the Father doesn't have blood.  God the Holy Spirit doesn't have blood.  Only God the Son, TLJC has blood.  Malachi 3:1 says that Jehovah would come to HIS temple, and in Matthew 21:12-13, TLJC called the temple His Temple. The temple could not be Christ's Temple, or house, unless He was Jehovah.  Consider the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was Jehovah's day, Isaiah 58:13, and in Matthew 12:8, For the Son of Man is Lord [Jehovah] of the Sabbath.

The Jehovah's Witnesses, who are really the Devil's witnesses, say that Jesus Christ cannot be Jehovah because Jehovah is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.  The Bible says in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:9-18  I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle. And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. And in His right hand He held seven stars; and out of His mouth came a sharp two‑edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”

How could God the Father or God the Holy Spirit be killed?  They could not!  Therefore, who is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End?  It is none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Did TLJC ever say that He was equal to God?  He certainly did! In John 5:18,  For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.  In Isaiah 41:4, Jehovah makes a claim, “Who has performed and accomplished {it}, calling forth the generations from the beginning?  ‘I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’ ”

The apostle John states that Christ is the first and the last throughout the book of Revelation, in Revelation 1:17, 2:8, 22:13.  In John 1:3, All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  Nothing was made apart from Jesus Christ doing the making, as in John 1:10, He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.

Colossians 3:13 and Acts 5:31 say TLJC forgives sins.  Colossians 3:13, Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Yet in Isaiah 43:25, 44:22, it is only Jehovah that can forgive sin.  This is why the scribes and the Pharisees said in Mark 2:7, “Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?”  Let us examine the “attributes” or the “characteristics” of God:

God is the supreme being of the universe, He is king of heaven and earth.  In Isaiah 46:10, God says “My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure.” And that's why Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 “All authority is given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
God is also justice, He is the judge, and Jesus is called the righteous judge in 2 Timothy 4:8. In John 5:27, He has all authority to execute judgment.
God is perfect righteousness.
Jesus is said to be holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, Hebrews 7:26.
In 1 John 2:1, He is called Jesus Christ the righteous.
God is love, 1 John 4:8, there was no greater manifestation of love than the Lord’s willingness to lay down His life for mankind, 1 John 3:16.
God is eternal, TLJC is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
God is omniscient, He has all knowledge, Jesus knows all things, John 18:4, Matthew 9:4, And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?”
God is omnipresent, everywhere present, TLJC promises to be with you always, Matthew 28:20.
God is omnipotent, He has all power, Jesus is declared to be the Son of God with power, Romans 1:4.  In Hebrews 1:3, He upholds all things by the word of His power.
God is immutable, He doesn't change, Malachi 3:6, in Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever.
God is veracity, absolute truth.  Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth.”

Some indirect Biblical implications that Jesus Christ is God and became a man are found in the following:

John 1:14 “He became flesh”
John 17:18 “He was sent into the world”
Hebrews 2:14 “He partook of flesh and blood”
Philippians 2:8 “He was found in fashion as a man”
John 8:23 “I am from above”
John 17:14 “I am not of the world”
John 3:13 “He descended out of heaven”
John 1:15 “He that cometh after me was actually before me”
John 3:31 “Jesus came down from heaven”

All these and more were the very reason He was stoned and rejected by men.

John 8:56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw {it} and was glad.”
John 8:57-59 The Jews therefore said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”  Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”  Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple.
John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”
John 10:31-33 The Jews took up stones again to stone Him.   Jesus answered them, “I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning Me?” The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out {to be} God.”
John 17:1-5 These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life. And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do. And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.”

John 17:5 teaches us the following:

Jesus, as the Son, had glory with the Father before all creation.
He stripped Himself of that glory to become a servant.

With the believer being provided all this information concerning the deity of Christ, it is shocking how the majority of believers cannot defend the deity of Christ.  He is the only Celebrity of the Christian life.  All believers should know how to defend Him and prove to others that He is Jehovah.

What is a “celebrity”?
Is it someone who is glamorous, someone who has status in life, someone with great ability or talent? What happens to celebrities in the human realm?  They deteriorate. They lose their ability and their popularity.  They grow old.  Their glamour fades.  And then they die!
A true celebrity is perfect. A believer with any knowledge of doctrine would never make a celebrity of a human being!  If he does, however, he enters into iconoclastic arrogance.  Iconoclastic arrogance is defined as subjective preoccupation with other people. This results in creating a role model or an icon out of people. More than anything in the world, iconoclastic arrogance demonstrates the fact that people are divorced from reality because they will not take the responsibility for their own decisions.

Iconoclastic arrogance is four-step process:

An excessive admiration or personal love creates an idol out of a person.
This is followed by the idol showing their feet of clay (doing something wrong).
When the idol does something wrong (real or imagined), there is a reaction by those who created the idol.  They become disillusioned or disenchanted.
Then iconoclastic arrogance seeks to destroy the image the person has created.

You created the idol, the idol does something wrong, now you do not like the idol, so you seek to destroy the idol.  The believer in iconoclastic arrogance is divorced from reality in human relationships because of either ignorance or rejection of Bible doctrine.  Iconoclastic arrogance indicates lack of impersonal love for all mankind on the one hand and lack of occupation with Christ on the other hand. TLJC is the only celebrity or idol or icon in the Christian way of life.  The believer in iconoclastic arrogance destroys friendship, romance, marriage, business, professional relationships, Christian fellowship, the authority of a spiritual leader of some kind.  If iconoclastic arrogance is directed toward a spiritual leader, inevitably it results in the believer’s rejection of Bible doctrine. Therefore, iconoclastic arrogance is a major cause for apostasy among believers.  Disappointment with friends, loved ones, or those in authority over us is normal, but disenchantment and disillusion from idolizing that person is failure on our part.

Principle:  The sooner a congregation has attained impersonal love, the sooner it will overlook the idiosyncrasies, mannerisms, habits, and failures of those in spiritual leadership.

Jesus Christ, our true Celebrity, is perfect; He has neither a beginning nor an end as in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

In Philippians 2:6, who, although He existed in the form of God [or as the Greek says preexisting in the essence of God], did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped [or a treasure to be retained].

The word “existed” is the present active participle of huparcho which is from the word huparchon which means He “always existed” in the form of God.

There never was a time when He was not God. He is eternal and He never grows old. The word translated “form” in the English morphology does not refer to outward shape but to inner character or essence.  From eternity past, Jesus Christ possessed sovereignty, righteousness, justice, love, eternal life, omniscience, omni­potence, omnipresence, immutability and veracity.  He has never changed His essence for anyone or anything.  His char­acter remains intact and will continue to do so throughout time and eternity as in Hebrews 13:8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. The true Celebrity of Christianity knew every person in the world from eternity past.  He has always known every need, every problem, every heartache, every frustration in the believer’s life. He has gone through the entire angelic conflict without being inconsistent or unstable in any way. That's our Celebrity!

He is and was and always will be God — coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

No one can enter into occupation with Christ or appreciate His character until he understands that Jesus Christ is God.

Also, in Philippians 2:6, our Celebrity did some thinking. In scripture, the meaning of a word is determined by its first use in its context. “Thinking” was used in verse 3 of this passage for “grace-thinking.” Philippians 2:6, Who, although He preexisted in the essence of God, did not regard equality with God [a treasure to be retained].  Not only are Jesus Christ’s thoughts infinite, but He thinks about us in terms of grace.

There never was or ever will be one believer who has earned or deserved anything from God. His grace-thinking toward us indicates that He is the only source of blessing.  If the believer has anything that is wonderful, worthwhile or valuable, it is because Jesus Christ is ultimately the source, no matter what.  Now, an intermediate agency may be involved but He is the source!  No matter what we receive, He is the source of every blessing which is worthwhile, wonderful, and marvelous, all things come from His grace!  This gives Him all the honor and glory.

One fact that characterizes the believer who has the capacity to appreciate the Celebrityship of Christ is that to him the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is more important than anything else in the world.  So, in grace-thinking, our Lord did not regard equality with God a treasure to be retained.  The treasure is Christ's deity and His equality with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  There is nothing greater or more valuable than the essence of deity; yet He did not consider His deity MORE IMPORTANT than our souls!  He considered our souls to be more important than His deity to remain deity alone.  So, humanity was added to deity!

After weighing the facts He considered it a treasure not to be retained.  The very nature of deity precluded the fact that ANY Member of the Trinity could be judged for sin.  For example:
God is eternal life but eternal life can neither be born nor die!
God is holy and holiness cannot have anything to do with sin.
God is omnipresent; omnipresence cannot be reduced to one point, the Cross.
God is immutable, immutability cannot change.  Therefore, since nothing can be subtracted from deity, something must be added.

To be able to go to the Cross and pay the penalty for sin, deity must also become true humanity.  And Jesus Christ was so occupied with us in eternity past that He did not consider His equality with the other Members of the Trinity a treasure to be retained so He took upon Himself a human nature.

In Acts 2:23, He was delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.  In Revelation 13:8, He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

There never was a time when Christ was not occupied with us.  We were “the joy”, Hebrews 12:2, that occasioned His Incarnation and His substitutionary death on the Cross with all its shame and pain.  We were in His thoughts when all the grace blessings were provided in eternity past.  We were the joy that was set before Him in eternity past.

Hebrews 12:2 Be concentrating on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our doctrine, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame…

It's time that some of you wake up and realize how much TLJC values your soul!  Your soul was so valuable that He did not consider His deity a treasure to be retained.  He can't change His deity so something had to be added to it i.e., humanity, and therefore humiliation.  He thought it not a treasure to be retained to be equal with God as in Philippians 2:6, who [our Lord Jesus Christ], although He preexisted in the essence of God, did not regard equality with God [a treasure to be retained].

The word “equality” is very interesting, it is an adjective and it is in the plural, isa, which means to be equals.  Don't miss the plural here.  It is a nominative plural.  Our Celebrity is equal not with just one but two members of the Godhead — the Father and the Holy Spirit — the Trinity.

It is important for the believer to realize that he now has the privilege of occupation with Him as Colossians 3:10, Put on the new self [this is the new nature] who is being renewed by means of doctrine according to the image of the One who created him, and Colossians 3:11, a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

When the believer reaches this stage — Christ is all — the Celebrityship of Jesus Christ will be a reality in his life.  And although the believer will have tremendous capacity to enjoy all the blessings that God will pour into his “cup,” they will seem insignificant compared to the One who gave them.  Now, how can the believer become occupied with Him, and what exactly is “occupation with Christ”?

The basis for occupation with Christ is the consistent or daily intake of Bible doctrine through the function of perception, metabolization and application of that doctrine.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

With doctrine, the believer has maximum category one love toward God and he is designated philos Theou — “friend of God,” or literally, “lover of God.”
Occupation with Christ also includes total dependence on the grace provisions of God. Psalms 37:4, Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Stability, confidence, inner happiness and capacity for life are related to occupation with Christ.

Psalms 16:8-9a, I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices [super­-grace].

Again, in Philippians 2:5-6, Have this attitude [this mental attitude] in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God [or as the Greek says preexisting in the essence of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped [a treasure to be retained].

And, in verse 7, Philippians 2:7, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond‑servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

The correct translation of Philippians 2:7 is as follows:  But he deprived himself of the proper function of deity, having assumed the form or essence of a slave, having become in likeness of mankind [without the old sin nature but with the human spirit].  This verse sets up a contrast between the treasure of Christ's deity and the sacrifice of its function.

The word for “emptied” or “deprived” is the aorist active indicative of the verb keno, from which the Doctrine of Kenosis came, which means “to deprive oneself of a proper or normal function,” or “to debase or lower oneself.”  In the aorist active indic­ative here, kenoo describes a function in eternity past. This was when Christ made His decision to make the sacrifice.  The actual event did not occur until the time of the virgin birth.   The aorist tense also refers to that point of time when our Lord came into the world after a physical body had already been prepared for Him.

Hebrews 10:5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, but a body Thou hast prepared for Me;”

In the active voice, Jesus Christ produced the action of the verb by depriving Himself of a proper or normal function of His deity.  The indicative mood declares the reality that Jesus came in the flesh.  In becoming humanity, Jesus Christ had to deprive Himself of the normal function of deity; but His deity could not change or lose its quality.

Some believers will never realize how important it is to understand that Jesus Christ thought about them in eternity past. He did not suddenly say, when He saw man's sinful condition, “I think I'll do something for man.”   We think in terms of time, but God is not confined to time.  Part of occu­pation with Christ is to understand that problem-solving goes back to this principle: Christ was cognizant of our problems billions of years ago.  Billions of years ago He was occupied with us, now it's our turn to be occupied with Him.  We yell “Help!” in time; Jesus Christ answered before time began!

Isaiah 65:24 “It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer.”

Deity has certain functions which are totally incompat­ible with humanity. There is no limitation in the function of deity as a Christophany (post-resurrection appearances of Christ) or a Theophany (preincarnate appearances of Christ); but when deity becomes a true Member of the human race, it is an entirely different concept.  Deity “assumed the form” in Philippians 2:6, Who, although He existed in the form of God.

The word form is the word morphen which indicates His inner essence.  This word is in contrast to the word schemati found in Philippians 2:8, And being found in appearance [schemati] as a man, [overt essence].

If the believer is ever going to understand the uniqueness of the Person of Jesus Christ, and why He is the revealed Member of the Godhead, and why the Holy Spirit glorifies Him today, and why He is the only Celebrity of Christianity, he must be familiar with the Doctrine of Kenosis. The glory of Christ was veiled, but never surrendered.  This glory was temporarily revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration, and at the garden of Gethsemane there was just a flash of that glory, John 18:6,

So when He said to them, "I am He," they drew back and fell to the ground. Matthew 17:1-2, And six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and brought them up to a high mountain by themselves.  And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.

It is always important to remember that TLJC is said to be “non posse peccare”, meaning not able to sin.  This refers to the deity of Christ.  As God, Jesus Christ is not able to sin.   But Jesus Christ is also said to be “posse non peccare”, meaning able not to sin.  This refers to the humanity of Christ inside the PPOG for His life!  The humanity of Christ was tempted in all ways that we are tempted and far beyond any temptation we have ever experienced, and He remained perfect and He did not sin.

The humanity of Christ was both temptable and peccable; i.e., He had the ability to sin because His humanity had volition.  The deity of Christ was neither temptable nor peccable; therefore, He was impeccable.  Impeccability qualified our Lord to become a lamb without spot and without blemish.  Therefore, He could go to the cross and be judged for the sins of the world.  He became “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

Point 2.  The Importance of Understanding KENOSIS

The doctrine of Kenosis (the addition of human­ity to deity) is a technical doctrine which must be explained in our doctrine of the Hypostatic Union.

Kenosis is derived from the Greek verb kenoo, meaning “to deprive oneself of proper function”, in this case, the function of deity.  He voluntarily restricted the independent use or expression of His divine attributes in order to comply with the Father's Plan for His life. This does not at all suggest the loss of the characteristics of deity.  It is blasphemous to say that any characteristic of deity can be limited, canceled, removed or even emptied out as some of the translations say.  Comparing some of the translations will indicate which of them are incorrect and which are correct.

Let's look at the incorrect ones first:

Philippians 2:7 But He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond‑servant, {and} being made in the likeness of men (NAS).
Philippians 2:7 But He emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (RSV).
Jesus Christ can't empty Himself of deity. The Living Bible is a little bit closer when it says in Philippians 2:7, But He laid aside his mighty power and glory, taking the disguise of a slave and becoming like men (TLB).
The King James is a little vague, Philippians 2:7, But He made himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men (KJV)  The NIV says in Philippians 2:7, but He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness (NIV).

The correct translation of Philippians 2:7 is as follows:  But he deprived himself of the proper function of deity, having assumed the form or essence of a slave, having become in likeness of mankind [without the old sin nature but with the human spirit].  This verse sets up a contrast between the treasure of Christ's deity and the sacrifice of its function.

In the incarnate state (Christ on earth), He was both undiminished deity and true humanity in one Person (Hypostatic Union) forever. So Christ, being both true God and true Man, did not empty Himself of His deity. To assume that He did so is a false version of the doctrine of Kenosis. Deity was not changed; it was retained at the point of the virgin birth. Under true Kenosis, Christ did not surrender any attribute of His deity in coming to this earth.

He voluntarily restricted the independent use or expression of His divine attributes in order to comply with the Father's Plan for the Incarnation.  In becoming the God-Man, He was in subjection to the Father's Plan of the Cross. Now, although in His deity, Christ is coequal with the Father, in His humanity he was submis­sive to the Father.  To accomplish this, He had to have free will, as in Matthew 26:39, like all members of the human race.

This is why He said in Matthew 26:39, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

The entire issue in the angelic conflict is human volition, which coexists with divine and angelic volition.  In order to submit His will to the Father's, Christ limited His omnipotence.  The only way He could do this was to re­fuse to use His omnipotence, omniscience, etc., for His own benefit or His own glory.  His Kenosis was challenged in the great temptation of Matthew 4:1-10 and Luke 4:1-12.

The temptations by the devil were unique; they could only have been directed at the God-Man, the unique Person of the universe.  In His humanity, our Lord advanced through the various stages of spiritual adulthood!  For example, in Luke 2:40, And the Child continued to grow [our Lord's humanity] and become strong [He had fantastic physical strength but this refers to His spiritual strength], increasing in wisdom [momentum from metabolized doctrine reaching spiritual self esteem inside the PPOG]; and the grace of God was upon Him.

In His advance to spiritual independence, or spiritual autonomy, Luke 2:52 says, And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom [momentum from metabolized doctrine] and stature, and in favor with God [His personal love for God] and men [His impersonal love for all mankind].  This is a reflection of His spiritual autonomy, or spiritual independence!

His advance to spiritual maturity is found in passages like John 1:14 and others, And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and doctrine.  Because He arrived at spiritual maturity, He was qualified for evidence testing which is Satan's cross‑examination of every witness presented by God in the historical trial of all fallen angels.

From Matthew's viewpoint, when our Lord began His public ministry He had already attained spiritual maturity and the baptism of our Lord was the beginning of that public ministry!  In Matthew 3:16-17, the immediate context of our passage, we read, And after being baptized [the water represented the will of God the Father for the humanity of Christ], Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him and behold, a voice out of the heavens saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well‑pleased.”

These verses indicate that everything has been fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ and He is now ready for suffering for blessing or evidence testing which will glorify God in a unique way in the angelic conflict!  In the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, when our Lord was here on earth, Satan did everything in his power to try and destroy the humanity of Christ through temptation and attempted assassination to keep him from reaching the Cross.  In all of this, he failed.  The work of Christ on the cross destroyed the works of the devil.

There were three unique temptations from Satan to our Lord Jesus Christ during the Hypostatic Union dealing with our subject of Kenosis.  These were temptations to His humanity only, for as God he could not be tempted.

The first one is the temptation to rely on His deity rather than the ministry of God the Holy Spirit, Matthew 4:1‑4, Luke 4:1-4.

Luke 4:1-2 And Jesus [a reference to the humanity of Christ in Hypostatic Union], full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.

God the Holy Spirit actually led Him to this spot.  When a believer reaches spiritual adulthood, Satan is permitted by God to cross examine every witness that God enters into the historical phase of the angelic conflict!  However, it is always handled under the principle that Satan would take unfair advantage of anyone who reached spiritual maturity and God will not permit that!

God the Holy Spirit is not the one who puts us to the test, He is the one who leads us to the test!  The Holy Spirit will lead us to the test but He will not tempt us!  The word “tempted” is the Greek word peirazo which means to make proof of, to test, to scrutinize, to examine, to try or test one's faith, virtue, or character by enticement to sin or to act independently of God.

Why was Satan allowed to test TLJC? An inferior creature, Satan, was allowed to put our Lord through a test, because there is an angelic conflict!  Remember 2 Corinthians 2:11, Make sure no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

If TLJC uses His own power as God just once during this test, then He cannot go to the cross and die for the sins of the whole world, therefore, He will not only be tempted like us but He will be tempted far beyond anyone of us!

Hebrews 4:15  For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things, yet without sin.

The devil is the agent who does the cross-examination in evidence testing!  The Holy Spirit leads the mature believer to the test but Satan is the one who gives it!  The wilderness, which really refers to the desert, can be very beautiful, very wonderful and very hostile, all at the same time.  It can also be a place of great loneliness if you're out there alone.

The humanity of Jesus Christ in all of these temptations was always in a state of complete loneliness and isolation from any type of encouragement from any source except what God provided for Him and is also provided for us:

The filling of the Spirit. Bible doctrine in the stream of consciousness, mind, the heart and the soul. Functioning under the plan of God.

1 Peter 2:18-21, Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,

Jesus Christ depended upon His human nature to handle His problems.  On earth, Jesus Christ had to solve all of His problems with a system that we can use.  We have everything necessary to execute the most phenomenal spiritual life that has ever existed:

The two power options:  the filling of the Spirit and Bible doctrine or doctrinal orientation to life
The three spiritual skills: the filling of the Holy Spirit, metabolized Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness, the execution of the PPOG.
The problem solving devices include:
Rebound technique
The filling of the Spirit
The faith-rest drill
Grace orientation
Doctrinal orientation
A personal sense of destiny
Personal love for God the Father
Impersonal love for all mankind
+H or sharing the happiness of God
Occupation with Christ as the priority solution to life.

Now, outside of the cross, this will be the most difficult of all of the temptations, and there were some great ones.  In fact, the cross was so great that our Lord even offered a prayer from His human nature as a high priest, He prayed to the Father to take this cup from Him.  This was to be accomplished in His human nature by means of living the spiritual life that God had provided and empowered by God the Holy Spirit.  Likewise, the believer does not need to lean on people but can solve all his own problems!

There must be no transfer of His divine attributes to His human nature.  If this had happened there never would have been salvation because Jesus Christ would not have been able to be judged for the sins of the world.  Believers who spend their lives praying for miracles are not advanced in the spiritual life.  Believers living in the predesigned plan of God do their best to use the assets of the spiritual life to glorify God.
Principle:  It is an insult to God to ask God for a miracle when He has given you the most fantastic spiritual life.  You can handle anything with that!

This is why Peter said what he did in 1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.

1 Peter 5:7-9 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you. Be of sober spirit [sound mind], be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, by being firm in your doctrine, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

Notice, there's always someone else.....somewhere else....who's facing similar experiences of suffering.  1 Peter 5:10,  And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

This happened to Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me — to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Principle:  To maintain the status of perfection in His human nature, Jesus Christ must use the assets of the spiritual life to resist temptation to sin and act independently of God.  Our Lord must reach the cross in a state of perfection made possible through the function of living the spiritual life without transfer of even one divine attribute from the divine nature to the human nature in Hypostatic Union.  Now the attack will be on the humanity of Christ not the deity, deity cannot be tempted.  But, if Jesus Christ calls on His deity to solve the problem He is no longer the perfect human sacrifice because He operated with His deity outside of the Father's plan.  Jesus Christ would not have been qualified to go to the cross and die for the sins of the whole world if at one time He called upon His deity to help His humanity out in any way.

Luke 4, with these temptations, Satan tried to put so much pressure on our Lord's human nature that He would use His divine nature would come to the rescue.  However, remember that in eternity past, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit each provided all the things our Lord would need in His human nature so that he would never have to use His divine nature.  Just like God the Father and God the Holy Spirit has provided you with the filling of the Spirit, the power of Bible doctrine, your very own portfolio of invisible assets and the problem solving devices!

In other words, what Satan promoted was for TLJC to perform a miracle rather than live the spiritual life that God has provided.  Just like today Satan promotes miracles rather than living the spiritual life that God has provided.  In fact, that's one of the signs of Satan.

Our Lord warned us of this in Matthew 12:39 An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign. In 2Thessalonians 2:9, we are told about the Antichrist, that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders.  In Revelation 13:13, He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.

Revelation 13:14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, and in Revelation 16:14, for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.

Luke 4:1-2, And Jesus [a reference to the humanity of Christ in Hypostatic Union], full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.  And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.

In Luke 4:3, And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Satan lives to exalt himself and to oppose God and he also does all that he can to draw mature believers away from the plan of God.  Satan began with a verbal examination.  He uses true theology, a true point of doctrine!  One of Satan's most powerful deceptions is to use truth and mix in his religious and legalistic lies!  He said “Ei huios ei tou Theou” which actually means, “If you are the Son of God, and you are”.  The verb “to be” is translated “you are” and it is the a present active indicative of eimi indicating that Satan recognized that Jesus was the Son of God!

Satan understood that Jesus Christ was undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever, and that knowledge was necessary for this most fantastic and unusual temptation.  Satan even understood how the human nature was functioning in the spiritual life.

For 30 years Satan had been observing the humanity of Jesus Christ and how He was growing in grace and knowledge and using the two power options of the Christian way of life.  However, all Satan wanted to do was to cause the divine nature of Christ to come and help the human nature and to cause the humanity of Christ who had been using the two power options to operate independently of them.  Notice this: many people think that when Satan attacks, he attacks at the weakest point.  However, Satan is actually attacking at the point of strength in the spiritual life.  In the church-age the greatest attack is not the obvious one, personal sins, the greatest attack is to attack the believer at the point of his strength and the strength is what was given to him with the two power options of the spiritual life.

For example, Satan has attacked the filling of the Spirit which many believers think is an emotional experience.  In fact, there are some who believe the filling of the Spirit is a second blessing or feeling and what they call “liquid waves of love”, whatever that means.  But it is not!

The filling of the Spirit is the first power option of the Christian way of life.  John 4:24, God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.  Therefore we have a command in Ephesians 5:18, Be filled with the Spirit, and in Galatians 5:16, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  Satan has attacked the filling of the Spirit which many believers think is an emotional experience and he also has attacked the daily intake of doctrine. There has always been and there still is an attack on the daily intake of Bible doctrine.  We live in a day and age when the kingdom of darkness has all kinds of influence with apostate believers who have a sounding board of some kind or another!

The Bible tells us that the demons recognize and believe that God exists in James 2:19, You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

Only three temptations to the humanity of Christ are mentioned.  However, there were more than three according to Luke 4:1-2, And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil.  He was tempted by the devil for forty days.

The devil continues in Luke 4:3, “tell this stone to become bread.”

Will the Lord Jesus Christ, who has the power to turn the stone into bread, use that power and operate independently of the power of the Holy Spirit or rely on God to meet His needs?  If Jesus Christ used His deity and His own power to satisfy His hunger by turning the stone into bread, He would have stepped outside of the PPOG for His life, the power system provided by God the Holy Spirit!  He would not have deprived Himself of the proper function of His deity by turning a stone into a piece of bread.

He would be committing the same sin that Satan did originally, choosing self-will over God's will.

Satan would have persuaded the deity of Christ to act independently of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the PPOG.  Our Lord in Hypostatic Union would be acting independently of the plan of God the Father, enabling Satan to say to God, “Alright, what's the difference, even your own Son chooses to act independently of You!”  just as Satan did in Isaiah 14:12-14.

Our Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily restricted the independent use of His divine attributes, but certain functions of His deity continued to function, such as holding the universe together, in Hebrews 1:3, He upholds all things by the word of His power.

This doctrine of Kenosis says in effect that during the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, our Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily restricted the independent use of His divine attributes in compliance with the Father's plan. He lived among men with their human limitations and by so doing, He established in His humanity a spiritual life which is an example for every Church-age believer.

TLJC depended on the provision and power of the Holy Spirit, the power of Bible doctrine, and the power of the problem solving devices, and gave up any independent exercise of certain divine attributes while living among men with their human limitations.  Being full of grace and doctrine, John 1:14, the humanity of Christ extrapolated problem solving devices from His own soul.  The humanity of Christ had to learn, metabolize, and circulate doctrine in His soul just as the believer must.  He concentrated on the problem solving devices to prevent the conversion of the outside pressure of adversity into the inside pressure of stress in the soul.  Remember the principle, adversity is inevitable, stress is optional!

The problem solving devises used by the humanity of Christ were:
The filling of the Spirit
The faith rest drill
Grace orientation
Doctrinal orientation
A personal sense of destiny
Personal love for God the Father
Impersonal love for all mankind
Sharing the happiness of God.

(The believer has two additional problem solving devices — rebound and occupation with Christ.)

Our Lord did not depend on His deity to execute the Father's plan, He depended on the One who provided the plan.  He depended on what the Father provided.  What the Father provided for Jesus Christ, He has provided for the believer.  God the Father provided the Spirit without measure to TLJC.

John 3:34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.

Therefore, in the doctrine of the Divine Decrees, God the Holy Spirit made a decision to sustain the humanity of Christ in Hypostatic Union.  God the Holy Spirit has made the same decision to sustain all believers!  They are not perfect.  They cannot be coerced to want the Holy Spirit’s help.

The prophecy of the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to the human nature of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union is given in Isaiah 42:1, “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one {in whom} My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him.  This is illustrated in Matthew 12:17-21 and Matthew 12:28.

Matthew 12:10-28 And behold, {there was} a man with a withered hand. And they questioned Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—in order that they might accuse Him. And He said to them, “What man shall there be among you, who shall have one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it, and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”  Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” And he stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. But the Pharisees went out, and counseled together against Him, {as to} how they might destroy Him. But Jesus, aware of {this,} withdrew from there. And many followed Him, and He healed them all, and warned them not to make Him known, in order that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, might be fulfilled, saying, “Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen; My Beloved in whom My soul is well‑pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.  He will not quarrel, nor cry out; nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  A battered reed He will not break off, and a smoldering wick He will not put out, until He leads justice to victory. And in His name the Gentiles will hope.” Then there was brought to Him a demon‑possessed man {who was} blind and dumb, and He healed him, so that the dumb man spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed, and {began} to say, “This {man} cannot be the Son of David, can he?”  But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” And knowing their thoughts He said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Consequently they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Matthew 12:28, contains the protasis of a first class condition, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God” [and I do says the protasis].  In this passage the religious leaders of Israel were harassing Jesus Christ, speaking evil of everything that He was doing.  This was a temptation, too.    Jesus said in Matthew 12:28, “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God [and I do], then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Notice, our Lord Jesus Christ performed miracles through the power of the filling of the Spirit not through His deity!  He did not perform these miracles in the power of His divine nature.  He could have performed all kinds of miracles but He didn't.

Why?  Because, under the Doctrine of Kenosis, He was depending on the filling of the Spirit as the first power option in the prototype spiritual life. He was testing and proving and living the spiritual life that God has provided for all of us with the two power options.  The first one is the filling of the Spirit which will be tested in the first temptation.  The second power option is the Word of God, and that will be tested in the second temptation.

Principle:  No power or attribute of the divine nature must be transferred to the human nature of Jesus Christ to provide food for Himself miraculously.

The function of the unique spiritual life is greater than a miracle.  Remember that Satan is the greatest genius ever created by God.  Note what the greatest genius attacked.....Kenosis and the unique spiritual life of the church-age.  Satan does the same thing today to the believer. For example, should the believer deny himself as the Lord denied himself under the principle of Kenosis? He certainly should!  The Lord says in Matthew 16:24-26, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself [a type of Kenosis, denying self of the proper function of humanity for the cause of Christ], and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.  For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Luke 4:1-3 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days; and when they had ended, He became hungry, and the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

Principle:  There is no such thing as a problem that the believer will ever have that cannot be handled by the spiritual life.  He has a perfect spiritual life made available to him because it was tested in every possible way by our Lord Jesus Christ.  It was tested by the humanity of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union.

The whole point is that Jesus Christ never crossed the line using the divine nature as the solution.  Had Jesus Christ brought in the divine nature to solve the problem of hunger by turning the stones into bread, there would have been no Hebrews 10:14, For by one offering He has brought to completion for all time those who are being sanctified.  There would have been no salvation!  There would have been no spiritual life!  There would have been no resurrection and eternal happiness for man!

Principle:  Only the resources of the soul can focus on the solution and avoid pre-occupation with the problem.  Kenosis is a doctrine that has been completely neglected by teachers of the Word of God.  Understanding Kenosis is part of our heritage, something that has never existed before.

The believer is an ambassador for Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:20, Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ.  As an ambassador, he is to fulfill two doctrinal principles:

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.

1 Peter 3:15 But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you.

It is important for the believer to understand the great mystery of God coming in the flesh, as Paul said in 1 Timothy 3:16, And by common confession great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh.  There are some very serious commands concerning the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union and Christ’s coming in the flesh.

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 John 4:2-3 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

2 John 1:11 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.  Watch yourselves that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.   Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

This explains why Peter said in 1 Peter 2:21 For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps. It would be unfair and unjust for God to ask the believer to follow in the steps of His Son if His Son used His deity to live the spiritual life, as in Ephesians 5:1, Therefore be imitators of God [a reference to Jesus Christ], as beloved children; Ephesians 5:2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

In these temptations, Satan has successfully emphasized emotion in the spiritual life to neutralize thinking.  Luke 4:3, “If You are the Son of God, [and I know you are] tell this stone to become bread.”

Principle:
Satan's objective in the first two temptations was to attack, discredit, and neutralize the spiritual life.  This would destroy the divine plan for the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, the greatest crisis period in all of human history.

To attack at the point of strength, the two power options, Satan had to persuade Jesus to use the power of His divine nature to solve the temptation of the human nature.  Satan was assuming that Jesus Christ would snap under the challenge. “You are the Son of God,” he said, “so prove it now!” “I know that you're the Son of God but you haven't proved it, turn these stones into bread.”  Only arrogance would fall for that.

The second temptation, to jump 450 feet into the Kedron valley from the highest point on the portico of Herod's temple, would have been certain death for the humanity of Jesus Christ unless He used the power of His divine nature to give Him a safe and easy landing.  That would be rejecting the power of the Word of God.  Satan distorted Bible doctrine.

Psalms 91:1-16 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.   I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” for it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper, and from the deadly pestilence.   He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.   You will not be afraid of the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day; of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.  A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; {but} it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes, and see the recompense of the wicked.  For you have made the Lord, my refuge, {even} the Most High, your dwelling place.  No evil will befall you, nor will any plague come near your tent, for He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.  They will bear you up in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, the young lion and the serpent you will trample down.  Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him {securely} on high, because he has known My name.  He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him.  With a long life I will satisfy him, and let him behold My salvation.

By using only one phrase out of Psalm 91 he distorted the Word of God portraying it as a good thing to do.  Jesus Christ’s jumping 450 feet into the valley of Kedron,  landing on the rocks and having a safe landing would have been very impressive to people.  Impress people.......that's Satan's temptation.

Satan rejects not only the power of the Spirit but the correct interpretation of the Word of God.  His interpretation of everything in Psalm 91 was correct except for one line, which he twisted just enough to make it a system of evil.

The first temptation was designed to bypass the filling of the Spirit (the first power option in the spiritual life) by substituting the function of our Lord's own omnipotence which was a part of His divine nature.  This would have destroyed the Hypostatic Union.

If the Lord performed a miracle, the divine nature of Jesus Christ would have set aside the function of his human nature and its utilization of the two power options.  Both temptations are designed to set aside the two power options of the spiritual life and substitute two miracles from the divine nature of Jesus Christ.
If  Jesus failed any of these tests and succumbed to the temptation, there would be no cross and no salvation.  There would be no unique spiritual life.  There would have been no Kenosis or impeccability of the humanity of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union.  Everything in human history depended upon the humanity of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union.

Our Lord did use some miracles to establish His identity as Messiah and to fulfill certain signs of His Messiahship.  For example, He turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana in John 2:1-11.

The miracle of turning water into wine was not related to the fulfilling of the spiritual life for the Church-age but it was a sign of His Messiahship.

John 2:1-11 And on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the wedding. And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw {some} out now, and take it to the headwaiter.” And they took it {to him.} And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when {men} have drunk freely, {then} that which is poorer; you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of {His} signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

These were legitimate uses of His divine nature and did not contradict or in any way conflict with the subject of Kenosis and the spiritual life used by the humanity of Christ.
Every believer must learn to distinguish between the spiritual life as represented in the humanity of Christ and miracles which have other objectives portraying Messiahship.  In the miracle of turning water into wine, our Lord used His divine nature in Hypostatic Union as a gracious gesture to present a fact of doctrine to the wedding guests that Jesus Christ is Messiah.

When God the Father imputed a soul and a spirit to Jesus Christ’s biological life, God Almighty was inside a human body and was still holding the universe together with His divine nature.  This is a miracle from His own divine sovereignty!  Jesus Christ created the universe and Jesus Christ is holding it together!

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Colossians 1:16  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities‑‑ all things have been created by Him and for Him.

Colossians 1:17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Luke 4:1-4 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days; and when they had ended, He became hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God [and you are says the first class condition], tell this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone.”

Our Lord responded to Satan with Bible doctrine in this test.  Instead of performing miracles under His own power, our Lord used the greatest power ever known in the history of the human race. He used Bible doctrine in all three parts of his testing. In