If Jesus Emptied Himself, Then He Could Not Have Been God
Juli,
I read in the Q&A section about your answer to the question, why didn't Jesus know the hour of his return. (Read Q&A Here) Your answer was that Jesus emptied himself of his equality with God. If Jesus did this then he could not have been God. IF you are God and then stop being God then you are no longer God. The orginal trinity doctrine states that at no time did Jesus ever cease being God, would not your explanation violate the trinity doctrine? Either you are God or you are not. This idea of a trinity, I must confess, makes no sense to me at all and it causes so many problems and provides no clear answers, in short it causes confusion. I want to know God but the trinity says I can't yet God in the scripture says that He wants us to know Him. It seems that all the churches say there is a God but do not define Him the same way.
Coni
Hello Coni,
Blessings in the name of Jesus!
When Jesus came to earth He did empty himself of all divine knowledge and privileges of being God, in other words he humbled himself to a lowly state and started out exactly as every other human being starts out, as a baby. However, while He was here, He never ceased to be God while on earth. The Bible clearly teaches that He was fully God and fully man at the time he was here. Here is a way that helps me to understand the Trinity (in simplicity), water can exist in 3 forms, Gas, solid and liquid. The physical make up of water is two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule. They exist in different forms at different temperatures however it never changes molecular structure in different forms; water always consists of H2O no matter if it is a solid, liquid or a gas. Same is true with God. He can exists as the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit and still be God. Jesus may have humbled himself and took on the form of humanity but during this time, He never ceased to be God.
On the contrary, I believe the Trinity shows us that we can know God, which is why Jesus came to earth to show and reveal the Father to us in a way that we could understand him. Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father, His exact image and verse 2 says he came to reveal God's entire nature to us so we could understand him better; in a way that the law and the prophets could never describe to us. This is why Jesus said throughout the Gospels that He only spoke what he heard the Father say and He only did what He saw the Father do. And also why He said it was expedient that He return to the Father so that He could send the Holy Spirit to us as a helper. Jesus helps us to know God. We can know, experience and understand who He is solely by looking at Jesus.
Hope this helps to clarify my statements and bring understanding on the Trinity.
Thanks, Juli