BOTH DIVINE AND HUMAN
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death on a cross. Phil. 2:5-8, RSV.
Mysteries of all mysteries. God becoming a human being. God giving up the power that created the universe to become a lowly person on a sin-sick planet of little significance in galactic terms. God abandoning the glory of heaven to come to the dingy little village of Nazareth. Here is something that the human mind cannot even begin to grasp, let alone understand. And Paul doesn't even attempt to explain it. He merely states the bold and brutal facts of the case.
William Barclay writes that "in many ways this is the greatest and the most moving passage that Paul wrote about Jesus." In 2 Corinthians 8:9 the apostle noted that though Jesus "was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (RSV). But in Philippians 2 he expands upon that idea and fills out its meaning.
We should note several things about today's passage. The first is that nothing was forced upon Christ. It was all His initiative: "he humbled himself," "he emptied himself." He consciously and willfully chose to leave His heavenly place for me.
A second thing that we should recognize is that when Paul says Christ was in the "form" of God, he does not mean to imply that He was kind of like God. The word the apostle uses (morphe) means not merely outward appearance but an essential characteristic that never alters. Thus the New International Version renders the phrase as "being in very nature God." That idea verse 6 reinforces later when it points out that Christ had "equality with God." "Form" also appears when Paul discusses Christ's humanity. He truly became human.
The key thought in the passage is that Christ "emptied himself" to become human. It does not mean that He exchanged His divinity for humanity, but rather that He displayed the nature (or form) of God in the nature (or form) of a servant.
The divine Christ not only became human for us, He became obedient unto death, the ultimate extension of obedience. But His was not merely a death, but death on a cross--one reserved for criminals and society's lowest.
Father, help me in my own feeble thoughts to begin to grasp what Christ did for me. And help me to have His sacrificial mind-set.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death on a cross. Phil. 2:5-8, RSV.
Mysteries of all mysteries. God becoming a human being. God giving up the power that created the universe to become a lowly person on a sin-sick planet of little significance in galactic terms. God abandoning the glory of heaven to come to the dingy little village of Nazareth. Here is something that the human mind cannot even begin to grasp, let alone understand. And Paul doesn't even attempt to explain it. He merely states the bold and brutal facts of the case.
William Barclay writes that "in many ways this is the greatest and the most moving passage that Paul wrote about Jesus." In 2 Corinthians 8:9 the apostle noted that though Jesus "was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (RSV). But in Philippians 2 he expands upon that idea and fills out its meaning.
We should note several things about today's passage. The first is that nothing was forced upon Christ. It was all His initiative: "he humbled himself," "he emptied himself." He consciously and willfully chose to leave His heavenly place for me.
A second thing that we should recognize is that when Paul says Christ was in the "form" of God, he does not mean to imply that He was kind of like God. The word the apostle uses (morphe) means not merely outward appearance but an essential characteristic that never alters. Thus the New International Version renders the phrase as "being in very nature God." That idea verse 6 reinforces later when it points out that Christ had "equality with God." "Form" also appears when Paul discusses Christ's humanity. He truly became human.
The key thought in the passage is that Christ "emptied himself" to become human. It does not mean that He exchanged His divinity for humanity, but rather that He displayed the nature (or form) of God in the nature (or form) of a servant.
The divine Christ not only became human for us, He became obedient unto death, the ultimate extension of obedience. But His was not merely a death, but death on a cross--one reserved for criminals and society's lowest.
Father, help me in my own feeble thoughts to begin to grasp what Christ did for me. And help me to have His sacrificial mind-set.
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