JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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In referring to the position and status that Jesus enjoyed with God the Father in eternity
past, Paul uses two words that are crucial to properly understanding the passage. The first is the
Greek word morphe which is translated "form." In English the word "form" usually refers to the
outward shape of an object, to that which is external. Paul uses the word in this sense when he
talks about those who have "a form of religion" but who deny its power (2 Ti 3:5).
The more common use of the word in Scripture is in the case where both an external and
internal aspect is meant. For instance, if you were to say, "I'm in good form or shape today" you
would be referring not only to your external appearance but also to your internal fitness or health
as well. This is what Paul has in mind primarily as he writes about Jesus in His preincarnate
state. This means that Jesus possessed inwardly and displayed outwardly the very nature of
God Himself.
We see the contrast when we compare the words "appearance" and "form." When Paul
says that Jesus was found "in appearance as a man" he uses the word schema. Unlike the word
"form" (morphe) which refers to the unchanging and unchangeable essential nature of a thing,
the word schema means the changing and altering external form of a person or thing.
For instance, a man has always the unchanging morphe of manhood; that is what he
essentially is; but he will have different schemata, different outward forms: in babyhood,
childhood, youth, maturity, old age. Flowers such as daffodils, tulips, and roses all have the same
morphe—the same essential nature—for they are all flowers; but they have very different
outward schemata--outward forms.
Paul carefully stated that Jesus was in the morphe of God; that is, the essential nature of
Jesus is the same as the essential nature of God. But when Paul talks of Jesus becoming man he
uses the word schema to point out that Jesus temporarily took the form of manhood upon him.
Another word that Paul uses is even more critical. It is the word isos which means
"equal." This is the word from which we get such scientific words as "isomer," "isomorph,"
"isometric." An "isomer" is a molecule having a slightly different structure from another
molecule (like a mirror image of it), yet it is identical to it in chemical composition. An
"isomorph" is something that has the same form as something else. "Isometric" means "in equal
measure." Paul's use of this word in reference to Jesus, therefore, teaches that Jesus is equal to
God.
When Paul says that Christ Jesus "was in the form of God" he underlines the fact that
Christ was in full possession of the divine nature by using, not the simple verb "to be," but a
stronger verb (hyparchein) which in its characteristic usage has the force "to be really and truly,"
"to be characteristically," even "to be by nature." This is why the New International Version of
the Bible translated the word morphe with the word "nature." In a passage like this present one,
where it is plain that every word has been weighed and measured, the full meaning of the verb
can be presumed or assumed: He was really and truly, in His own personal and essential
nature, God.