5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Vs. 5 - “Have this attitude in yourselves” - Putting others first is a different attitude than what we see in our society, “You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others.” Jesus said He came to serve an save. (See: Matt. 20:28; Mk 10:45; Luk 12:37) He emphasized to His disciples that the person who would be ‘first’ must serve others and be ‘last’. (Matt. 19:30, 20:16; Mk 9:35; Luk 13:30) Whoever wants to be looked upon as first among many is putting personal interest and aggrandizement ahead of all other people.
Put the needs of others ahead of your own. So the question may arise, “How do I look out for the interests of others” or, “How do I regard others as more important?” These may sound like stupid questions. The answers seem obvious, yet they are big concepts, and people will want to know procedures, actions to be taken in order to do these concepts. Rather than just concepts, show me what you want me to do. What do you mean by that?
Paul says, “Here is a perfect example. Follow Christ’s behavior.”
Vs. 6 - “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped” - This seems like a weird statement, because Jesus is God, was God, will always be God. God the Father is wholly God. God the Holy Spirit is wholly God. God the Son is wholly God. If Jesus is God ( He is! ) (John 1:1; 8:58; 10:28-30, 36-38; 14:9), why would He have to ‘grasp equality’?
There may be a feeling that Jesus becoming a human would make Him “less” than God. I am not saying that Jesus was less than wholly Holy God. One of the great theological mysteries is that Jesus was wholly human and wholly God at the same time. The triune God had a plan for salvation of the world, and its humans. That plan involved Jesus the Son of God coming to earth and dying for our sin. If Jesus had balked at that plan, He would be placing His Godship above the needs of the world - placing His position and Himself above the need for salvation of the world. Jesus has equality with God. He chose not to demand to keep it.
Grasping for equality with God has been the basic sin that has led to this point. Satan, a created being (perhaps a cherub), a beautiful and powerful angel desired to be like God. That temptation gave way to evil desire, which led to sin, and a rebellion. (See: Isa. 14:12-20; Ezek. 28:12-19; Rev. 12:7-9) That rebellion, an attempted coup, was put down by God’s army of angels led by archangel Michael. (
See note 1)Satan lured Eve and Adam with the idea they could be just like God if they ate from the forbidden tree.(See: Gen. 3:4, 5.) Fast forward to the 17th and 18th century - one of founding principles of the Enlightenment is that man is the ultimate judge of all things. In other words man is a god. Man is the “captain of his soul, the master of his fate” (
See note 2).Replacing God on the throne of your heart and life with your own ego and spirit is ‘grasping equality with God.’ You are declaring you can run your life better than an all-powerful, all-knowing God who loves you and wants the best for you.
Vs. 7 - “emptied Himself“ - Going from Heaven and being in the presence of God the Father to being fully human has to be a BIG STEP DOWN. We have no idea, cannot imagine, what heaven is like. We only have glimpses, hints and allegations. Jesus became a human to save sinners; I am one He saved. Jesus voluntarily laid aside His privileges as the Son of God, when He became a human. (See: John 1:14, 10:17, 18; 12:48-50; Rom. 8:3; Gal. 4:4)“taking the form of a bond-servant” - See the paragraphs about bond-servant in previous discussion about Phil. 1:1. Jesus God was not forced to be the sacrifice for our sins. We are not forced to accept His sacrifice.
God offers. We accept or not. See: John 3:36. Our salvation is conditional - we are saved if we accept and believe. Just as the bond-servant became a servant for life, Jesus became the propitiation for all who believe. (Propitiation: Christ became our substitute, took our penalty, paid the price for our sin.)
Vs. 8 - “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient” - I like the way Heb. 2:17 says Jesus had to be made like us in order that all things pertaining to God (justice and mercy, forgiveness and eternal life) would be possible for us. Under the Old Covenant, sins were covered by sacrificing an animal - lamb, goat, bullock - its blood was poured or sprinkled on the altar in the tabernacle or temple. Those sacrifices were not permanent - they only covered what happened between the previous sacrifice and this one. The Jews had to have faith that God accepted the blood of the sacrifice.
Jesus’ sacrifice paid it all - all of our past sin, all of our present sin, all of our future sin - all of our sin. Note: We commit sin because of our sin nature. Our sin nature is not the result of our sins. Our sins are the manifestation of our sin nature. That sinful nature is inherited from Adam because of his disobedience in the Garden of Eden.
“to the point of death” - This needs no more explanation than He sacrificed Himself for us, that we might spend eternity with Him. “While we yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom. 5:8.
***Note 1: (Some have posited that Gen. 1:2 where the earth was formless and void (a jumbled mess) was a result of the battle that raged between the warring angel armies. I am not sure about that, but it makes an interesting thought to ponder.
Note 2: paraphrased from “Invictus”, W.E. Henley
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