ES/PHIL/11 Philippians 2:5-8
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Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
We are into the final week where we are leading to the cross and then the resurrection. And, as it happens, we are looking at both of these with this passage this week and the exaltation of Christ next week.
Two week’s ago we looked at the previous verses to this and what we took from it is: If we become those who are like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind then this produces the conditions in which the harvest grows, where the Gospel has a bigger chance of progressing and for us to be more effective in the world. We need to work together for the Kingdom of God and to that end Paul continues into the verses we read today for there is no room for selfish ambition, no room for ‘I’ or ‘me’; no room for ‘my’ agenda but we are to become more and more like Christ.
To break down these verses we see that it speaks of Christ:
Galatians–Colossians (King James Version) B. Humbling Oneself, 2:5–11
1. Christ is the supreme example (v. 5).
2. Christ is of the very nature of God (v. 6).
3. Christ emptied Himself and became a man (v. 7).
4. Christ humbled Himself to the point of utter humiliation—to the very point of death (v. 8).
5. Christ was rewarded—highly exalted by God (vv. 9–11).
Let’s look at the ones pertaining to today’s passage.
Christ is the supreme example (v.5)
Christ is the supreme example (v.5)
Let this mind – again it about having the same mindset. Now if we have the mind of Christ as 1 Corinthians 2:16 says then how come we do not have this mindset? I think it is has to do with not allowing the Holy Spirit to have His work in our lives for we cannot be happy unless we conform to His mindset. We have to start dealing with the thoughts that are not His and start to think in His way. One of the main ways for this to happen is to read Scripture and allow it to change us:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
What is this mind of Christ that verse 5 is talking about? Well surprisingly, in the Greek it is clear, it first refers to what went before in verses 2-4 which we have already alluded to:
fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
This, Paul says, is the mind of Christ.
But in case we still don’t get it Paul spells it out for us in different words though saying the same thing in the following verses. But first, to whom is Paul speaking? Well, the ‘you’ in ‘let this mind be in you’ is plural – it is addressed to the whole community and fellowship of believers. However each person is responsible to ensure it happens for the sake of one another and for the sake of the Gospel. The needs of one another must be top priority.
We are to step down from where we are and set and focus our minds on humbling ourselves as Jesus set and focused His mind.
The mind of Christ then is pointing both back to the verses 2-4 we have read and also forward to the verses 6-8.
Christ is of the very nature God (v.6)
Christ is of the very nature God (v.6)
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
Here we see that Paul is declaring clearly Jesus as both fully God and fully man. who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. When we read about Jesus we are reading about the Father, what we hear about Jesus is how the Father is:
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
And just to make clear Jesus also declared:
I and My Father are one.”
Right away we have a glimpse into the pre-existence of Christ. That’s right – what Christ was before He came to earth, before He took human form. Scripture says that Jesus was ‘in the form of God’. The Greek is clearer than this – it really means ‘being in very nature God’ and that Jesus is equal to God. There is no getting around it.
Galatians–Colossians (King James Version) B. Humbling Oneself, 2:5–11
• that Jesus Christ was not like God; He is God
• that Jesus Christ did not just achieve a high level of righteousness when on earth, He was the very embodiment of righteousness
• that Jesus Christ did not just walk more perfectly than other men walk, He was the very picture (essence) of perfection
• that Jesus Christ did not become God when on earth, He has been God throughout all eternity
Jesus, in other words is God. Who else can claim to be equal to God? And though Jesus was in the form of God His form did not change. He never ceased to be God. He always had the nature of God both in Heaven and on earth. This should have been made clear when we read that Jesus and the Father are One. Therefore it was not robbery to be considered equal to God for this was His very right for it was true already. He cannot seize something that already belongs to Him. And for that matter no one can seize the power to be equal to God unless you are more powerful than God which is impossible – Jesus had no need to steal – He is God. Here we can have all the sects, cults and others who deny the Trinity in a twist, for these are just about the strongest statements in Scripture showing the Christian viewpoint of the divinity of Jesus. There is another passage that could fare just as well that we also ought to know:
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
When speaking of the ‘express image of His person’ it is saying Jesus is exactly the same in every way – again the claim here is that Jesus is God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
There is no doubt left to us that Jesus is fully God and that just makes what is said next all the more amazing:
Christ emptied Himself and became a man (v.7)
Christ emptied Himself and became a man (v.7)
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
Whilst verse 6 says He was equal to God, in verse 7 is clear for He becomes the form of a slave – or keeping the words the same, for it is the same word in Greek, became equal to a slave. Equal to God became equal to a slave. This is also shown in another verse in Scripture:
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
Let us also remember that the reason Paul is saying this at all to the Philippians is not to prove that Jesus is God or man or both as He is both fully God and fully Man, for they knew this already, but so that they would become like Him – for He who is God we find in this verse became a slave. If Jesus could go from such an extreme to another extreme for the sake of us whom He loved – then we are not called to do more than He did. In fact, we can never go from such an extreme for we are merely human – so the task should be an easier one for us.
In the original Greek ‘made Himself of no reputation’ is simply one of emptying Himself. Or as the NIV correctly puts it: He made Himself nothing. Remember the point of all this is to reveal what mindset we are to have – we are not to be looking for empty glory or have vain ambition that boosts us in the eyes of others. Jesus made Himself nothing though He is everything and upon Him all things hold together, including us. Without His Word we are but dust and molecules but we are held together by Jesus. He took on the form of a slave.
Paul’s Letter to the Philippians 1. As God He Emptied Himself (2:5–7)
As Wright put it well, “The real humiliation of the incarnation and the cross is that one who was himself God, and who never during the whole process stopped being God, could embrace such a vocation.”
God is self-giving for the sake of others. Jesus left the eternal glory – the glory which was His, He laid aside. The demands, the rights to be worshipped in the glorious light of His being, He departed from.
This is clearly seen in His birth, life and death. Jesus did not come as Lord over all but as a baby in about the quietest way possible and still even quieter if it hadn’t been for the angels. He was born into obscurity rather than fame, to poor parents rather than rich, in a stable’s feeding trough rather than a palace. He had no rights or privileges but was servant to all. He identified with us in becoming like us.
There are two mindsets set forth before us: one of selfishness which is the way of the world or of selflessness which is the way of God. If we are to have the mind of Christ then selflessness is the only option, forgetting any glory for ourselves. We are to identify with those to whom God sends us.
Christ humbled Himself to the point of utter humiliation—to the very point of death (v.8)
Christ humbled Himself to the point of utter humiliation—to the very point of death (v.8)
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
And if to make the case clearer after emptying Himself, as a man He went on to humble Himself and take the lowest place. And how was this achieved? By becoming obedient to death. He chose the path that led to death. First, Jesus humbled Himself to His Father’s will who wanted Him to come to earth to die for the sins of the world. Secondly, He humbled Himself to people, the same people whom He had created, the same people He had come to save. And this death was the cruellest of all: the death of the cross. This passage is about God and the cross. The eternal One dies.
The scandal of the cross is absolutely central to the Gospel that Paul preached - we should read all of chapter 1 and 2 of First Corinthians but here is a taster of some of those verses:
20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
The One who is equal with God has revealed what kind of God He is: He is love. Love that expresses itself in self-sacrifice for the sake of those He loves. He became weak so that He could be put to death upon a cross reserved for slaves and the vilest criminals. He was so humiliated even though He is King of Kings. This was not just about being humbled but about being humiliated. The contrast between what He deserves and what He got are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
It is to this that we are also called – We are made in the image of God and in the image of God we should become. To become like slaves who self-sacrifice for the benefit of others and allowing others to do to us what is humiliating. In so doing we become like our own Lord and Saviour. This week sets us down the path of the cross one that was planned in eternity past for our salvation. In the last few weeks along with Gareth on Wednesdays we have been learning that we, too, are to deny self, take up our cross and follow Him:
In the words of that great song by Graham Kendrick:
This is our God, the Servant-King,
Who calls us now to follow Him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering,
Of worship to the Servant-King.
Benediction
Benediction
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Fee, G. D. (1995). Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm.B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (1996). Galatians–Colossians. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
Exported from Logos Bible Software, 08:29 25 March 2018.