EQUAL TO

"The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." [Hebrews 1:3]

We've looked at how Jesus was "Greater Than" Moses, and the Temple, and Solomon, and everything else. We've looked at how Jesus was "Less Than" the Father, and the Angels, and became a servant to all. But now, we want to explore the equality that Jesus has with the Father.

It's one of the great mysteries of the New Testament, actually. How could Jesus be "the exact representation" of God and still say "the Father is greater than me"?

Part of this involves the self-limiting nature of Jesus in His incarnation. Jesus was "in very nature God" but decided to lay all of that aside to become one of us. This is when He became "less than" the Father, and even the Angels. In fact, this is why the Incarnation is such a miracle. The creator became the created. The unlimited willingly limited Himself. The One who lives forever took on mortality and tasted death.

Why? Because He would rather die than to live without us. So, He laid aside His Glory, and took off His great power like a robe, and humbled Himself to become a tiny embryo nestled in the womb of a poor girl in Palestine.

His identity never changed, however. He was still God, but He had taken on flesh, and thereby had wrapped Himself in a single location in space and time. This is when He became "Emmanuel" which means "God with us". This is when "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." [John 1:14]

As Paul reminds us:

"[Jesus] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing..." [Phil. 2:6-7]

And the Apostle John writes:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." [John 1:1]

So, Jesus is "Equal To" the Father in every way, and yet at the same time is "Less Than" the Father [in a different sense] and still "Greater Than" everything - and everyone - else in all Creation.

Meditating on these three characteristics of Jesus only makes us love Him more and fall to our knees as we begin to realize the "unsearchable riches of Christ" are even more astounding than we ever imagined.

"Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." - Jesus [John 14:9]

-kg 

LESS THAN

In my previous post I shared how Jesus was "Greater Than" Moses, the Temple, the Law, the Prophets, the Sabbath, and everything else.

But the New Testament also tells us that Jesus is "Less Than" the Father, or at least that the Father is greater than Jesus.

"You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I." - Jesus [John 14:28]
We also know that Jesus was "made a little lower than the angels" [see Hebrews 2:9] and that He "made Himself nothing, taking on the nature of a servant" [see Philippians 2:6-7] which emphasizes that, while here in human form, Jesus lowered Himself.

This astounding act of humility and weakness emphasizes what Paul the Apostle refers to as "The Power of Weakness", where God's "power is made perfect in weakness" when we lay aside our own ability and abandon confidence in ourselves - trusting instead in the "power of Christ" which is released when we - like Christ - humble ourselves, empty ourselves, and rely completely on the Father for everything. [See 2 Cor. 12:9-10]

Just like Jesus, did, by the way.

Jesus affirms that he never did anything under his own power, and that he never taught anything other than what the Father told him to say:

“These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:24);

“For I do not speak of myself, but from the Father who sent me and commanded me what I should say and what I should speak...Therefore, whatever I speak is just as the Father tells me to speak." (John 12:49-50)

“Then Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you; the Son can do nothing of himself, but only does what he sees the Father do. For whatever things he [the Father] does, these are also likewise done by the Son.” (John 5:19)

“Of my own self, I can do nothing. I judge only as I hear; and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who has sent me.” (John 5:30)

“But so that the world may know that I love the Father, I only do exactly as the Father has instructed me to do.” (John 14:31)

Jesus was our role model - our blueprint if you will - for how to live a Kingdom life. Jesus was able to turn the other cheek, pray for His enemies, love those who were persecuting Him, and everything else simply because He had totally abandoned Himself to the Father in every way. 

This is exactly how we are called to live the Kingdom life. 

Jesus compels us to deny ourselves - our own ways of thinking and acting - and to die daily by taking up our cross and following Him [and His example] to put His words into practice.

How can we possibly do this? By abiding in Christ so that Christ can abide in us. [See John 15]

Jesus became "less than" to show us how we can live as citizens of the Kingdom today.

This means we have no more excuses when it comes to putting His words into practice. He has shown us the way, and the way is to let go of ourselves and trust completely in Him for everything.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." - Jesus [John 15:5]

-kg

NOTE: Read more in my book, "The Power of Weakness" HERE>