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Philippians 2:5-7a

The church in Philippi was struggling with the enmity they were encountering in their city against their
faith in Christ. Intimidation was stifling their witness, and was at the same time causing contention among
the brethren in the assembly - which further dulled their witness.

Paul understood that if these issues were not resolved, they would result in division - and the extinguishing
of the Light, in Philippi. So Paul has been exhorting his friends concerning their unity, as a church.

Each one must personally learn to rein in his fears - to discipline his mind from fearful thoughts - so as to
be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, as He shared with them the Lords thinking.

But the brethren must also constantly endeavor to have unity with one another, for they are in this hard
place together. Therefore, they should encourage one other, building each other up in the love of the Lord,
while extending mercy and forgiveness to faltering brethren, as needed.

Instead of each one fending for himself - and how to promote his own selfish interests and concerns - Paul
exhorted them to consider others first - to make their brethren, and not themselves, their priority.

Paul knew that a good way to foster this humble spirit of unselfish service with one another was to show
his friends in Philippi an example of it. And as he continues, we find that Paul was inspired to draw upon
the ultimate example - the very highest standard - of such service.

We continue in verse 5. Im going to read through verse 11, so that we have Pauls complete thought, but
well only be looking at the first three verses right now.

[Philippians 2:5-11]

So we see that the standard that Paul has chosen for the believers in Philippi is the Lord Jesus Christ,
Himself. Paul has set before them the very highest standard! This is to be their inspiration, as well as their
aspiration - for serving their fellow brethren, in Philippi.

In giving this standard to the Philippians, Paul has also provided to the Body of Christ, down through the
ages, one of the most profound statements concerning Christ to be found in the Scriptures. The insight
from the Holy Spirit is apparent - for how else could Paul know what was in the mind of Christ, even
before He came to the earth?

Yet while the statement is profound, it is also difficult to understand, in its fullness - it has been pondered
and pondered, for generations.

Like treasure, it requires time and effort to obtain it - and the more you dig, the more you keep finding. So
well begin digging a little together now, and let the Spirit enlighten our understanding to what we find -
and then you are free to continue to dig, on your own.

And while we will be looking at this statement about Christ in this objective way, we also will be
considering it within the context of the letter - and what Paul was intending for it to say, to his friends in
Philippi. In fact, each perspective will shed some light on the other.

Notice how Paul begins: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. The word for mind
here means mindset, speaking of a frame of mind; an attitude, or disposition.
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Its the same word that Paul used just previously, as he exhorted the Philippians to have an attitude of
encouragement, and forgiveness with one another, as well as to cultivate a humble disposition of putting
others first.

Paul is saying, this is the mindset that was in Christ Jesus, as well; so in having that mindset, they would be
patterning themselves on their Lord. And thats just how it should be; as disciples of Christ, they should
imitate their Master (1 Cor 11:1).

This doesnt mean they are to do exactly what He did - no one could do that but Him! - but it does mean
that should be like Him - within the context of their own lives. They should reflect Christ - in thought and
in deed. After all, they are Christ Ones!

As Paul continues, he now lays out for the Philippians what he has learned to be the mindset of Christ
Jesus. The statement is a step-by step condescension from the place of highest honor (v. 6), to that of the
deepest humiliation (v. 8).

Paul emphasizes that Jesus willingly chose this course, in order to serve Gods purposes. And as Paul goes
on in verses 9-11, he shows that this was imminently pleasing to God, resulting in the exaltation of Jesus -
as Lord of all.

Paul first speaks of Christ Jesus in verse 6 as being in the form of God. The first thing we must
apprehend here is that Paul is referring to Christ Jesus in Eternity Past. How can we know this? Because
Paul will progress from here to the point in time when Jesus became man.

This point, then, is before that time; before He was born, as Jesus; before He came, as the Christ, as Gods
Anointed One. And His life, in this state, stretches back indefinitely, into eternity - Eternity Past - which
we can know by the word Paul chooses in verse 6 for being, and its form. It speaks of a continuous
condition of being. Simply put, Christ Jesus always existed.

The apostle John brought out this same reality concerning Christ, right at the beginning of His gospel. Turn
to the gospel of John, chapter 1.

Johns gospel presents the perspective of Jesus as the Son of God. Therefore, John does not begin with the
birth of Jesus, but instead reaches back before the beginning of the universe, before the beginning of time -
into Eternity Past - where Christ was, and always was. John refers to Him as the Word.

[John 1:1-3] We cant tell from the English translation, but like Paul, John has chosen a tense for was to
indicate a continuous state of being - in the past.

In the beginning - the beginning of the universe, the beginning of time - the Word already was - and He
always was. We know that John is referring to Jesus, because later he will indicate, the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us (1:14).

The Word in the Greek, ho logos, means immaterial intelligence - like a mind - and then the expression of
that intelligence into speech so that humans can understand. It was a very fitting title for Jesus, because in
becoming flesh, Jesus became the expression to mankind of who God is; Hes the One who revealed the
Fathers mind, so that men can know God.
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So, in the beginning was, and always was, the Word. And the Word was, and always was, with God. Here
the definite article is used before God - the God - which is often used in the NT to indicate the Father.
The Word was, and always was, with the Father, in Eternity Past.

And the Word was God. Theres no definite article here. Paul is saying that the Word was, and always
was, Deity. In this way, John aptly expresses the plurality of persons within the Godhead - along with the
Holy Spirit, three distinct, personal beings - while at the same time emphasizing their unity - as one Spirit
Being of Deity.

He - the Word - was and always was, in the beginning, with God - with a definite article again - the God -
the Father. Before the creation was brought into being, Father and Son were, and always were, together;
they were always united together as one, along with the Spirit - one God. They always existed, as eternal
personal beings, and as God.

This relays something more to us. If the Word is an eternal being, who therefore existed before the
creation, the Word must therefore be an uncreated living being. Who is the only uncreated living being?
That would have to be the one who created everything - the Creator Himself.

And this is what John is bringing out in verse 3; that the Word was the agent by whom the entire created
universe was brought into existence; it was all done through Him.

Well return to that point in a moment, but for now, lets return to Paul in Philippians.

[Return to Philippians 2]

Paul writes of Christ Jesus being - always being - in the form of God. What does he mean, by form?
Unlike what the English sounds like to us, the Greek word doesnt refer to external features, but instead to
the characteristics and qualities that are essential to something. The terms essence or nature give the
idea; what something is, in and of itself; what it is, as long as it continues to exist.

So when Paul says of Christ Jesus that He is continuously in the form of God, what does he mean? That
Christ Jesus always has possessed the characteristics and the qualities of God; that He is in essence, in
nature, God; that is His being. Paul is saying, Christ Jesus has always been God; and He will always be
God; thats who He is.

So what are these characteristics and qualities - attributes - that make God, God? Many of the attributes of
God can be seen, by His creation.

Since the universe bears witness to the fact that it was created at one moment in time, God must be
preexistent - existing before He brought His creation into being.

Likewise, God must be self-existent - He must have an existence separate from His creation, in order to
make it; He cant be a part of it, if He created it!

And any creator must be greater than his creation - greater than anything that he makes. This is whats
known as transcendence - God is higher than His creation; greater than it, in every respect.

Our universe also bears witness to the fact that God must be a personal being. An impersonal force can
only create random effects of disorder. The design, the order, the elaborate planning that we see in the
universe requires intelligence. That takes a mind, and therefore a personal being.
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All of these qualities concur with what we have seen of Pauls and Johns description of Christ as an eternal
personal being. But even more of His attributes can be seen, in His creation.

Paul wrote about some of them in his letter to the assembly in Colosse. Turn to Colossians chapter 1. Paul
was writing to this assembly about the preeminence of Christ - first, over creation; and then, over the new
creation - the glorified sons of God. Well just be looking at the original creation, today.

[Colossians 1:15-17] The He in verse 15 refers back to the Son in verse 13. As He is described in
verse 13, this is the Son who has accomplished the work of redemption, and therefore, it refers to Him as
the resurrected, glorified Son. Paul is saying then that it is the glorified Son who is the image of the
invisible God - in whom God, in all of His glory, can be seen. The Son in His body of glory is the
embodiment of the Divine.

Paul continues, indicating that the Son is the firstborn over all creation. That word puzzles us, because it
sounds like Paul is saying the Son was the first one born. But the next word, over, gives us our clue -
Paul is using another common meaning of this Greek word for firstborn, which is preeminence.

The Son is preeminent over all creation; He occupies the position of honor over creation, ruling over all of
it. And we see why as Paul continues in verse 16 - because by Him - the Son - all things were created.
This is again reflecting the divine attribute of transcendence - that a creator is greater than his creation.

All things were created by Him - and Paul lists some of those things. Heaven and earth - the entire
universe. The universe had a beginning (Gen 1:1) - but as God, the Son was and always was, before the
beginning - eternal; pre-existent; self-existent.

He created what is visible to man, and what is not. As God, the Son sees all things; He knows all things.
The created universe gives just a glimpse of the brilliance of His mind; of His omniscience.

When the words thrones, dominions, principalities and powers are used together in this way, they
are referring to the angelic order - those powerful beings of spirit life that execute Gods governance, in
heaven and on earth. These too were created by the Son, so His power must be greater. His power must
exceed everything that He has created - reflecting the divine attribute of omnipotence.

Paul says in verse 17 that the Son is before all things - before refers to being prior in time. This again
brings out the Sons eternal preexistence.

And finally, Paul says that in the Son, all things consist. What does that mean? It means He is holding
everything together. Since the inception of the universe, the Son has been sustaining it. He maintains the
power and the balance necessary for the continuance of the heavens and the earth; and for the existence of
life.

Peter wrote of this ability, saying that the heavens and the earth are now - currently - being preserved by the
same word - the Word of God (2 Pet 3:7) - for in Him, all things consist.

This is to say that the laws and the processes of the universe, which organize the creation, do not have an
independent existence; theyre controlled by God. This ability reflects several divine attributes:
omniscience, omnipotence - and omnipresence - the quality of being everywhere present; unlimited by
location.
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These are just some of the attributes of God, which can be seen, by what He created - qualities which the
Son shares with the Father - which they have, and always have shared.

So now that weve had some time to reflect on these attributes of God, lets take our thoughts back to our
passage in Philippians.

[Return to Philippians 2]

The next phrase in verse 6 - following being in the form of God - is quite challenging. The translators are
uncertain as to just what it was that Paul meant by it.

The primary difficulty centers around the word translated in the NKJV and the KJV as robbery. This
word is not used anywhere else in the NT, but the meaning of robbery is found in other Greek literature.

Used as robbery here, it would communicate the idea that Christ did not consider it robbing God of His
glory to claim equality to God. And the only reason that could be true was if Christ is indeed God.

Now, dont be concerned if you find that difficult to follow. The reasoning is somewhat convoluted. Not
only that, but it really doesnt fit very well the immediate context of what Paul is saying; nor does it
particularly serve Pauls overall point to the Philippians.

Without going into the linguistic drudgery, the form of this word in the Greek can also be taken as the
verbal idea in the noun robbery - which gives us more the meaning of seizing or grasping - for
oneself. Then the idea is that Christ, being in essence God, did not consider equality with God something
to be grasped - for Himself; in other words, Christ did not use His Deity to His own advantage.

This is much more likely what Paul meant, as he then goes on to say in verse 7 that Christ made Himself
of no reputation. When we think of Christ not grasping equality with God for Himself, but instead making
Himself of no reputation, we can see these two ideas are very closely connected - what His mindset was,
and then how He acted, in accordance with it; what Christ thought, and then what He did.

In addition, we can see that Paul was creating a contrast here between those in the Philippian assembly,
who had selfish ambitions (seeking advantage for themselves), and Christ - who as God Himself, had no
ambition for Himself; who took no advantage of His position as God.

That being said, we must not fail to note that when Paul speaks of Christs not clinging to His equality with
God, it presupposes that He is equal to God. To be equal with God, one must be God - and that is Christ -
being in very essence, God. So here is a second affirmation of Christs Deity.

In stark contrast to this, we read in verse 7 that Christ made Himself of no reputation. The Greek word
literally means that He made Himself empty; He emptied Himself.

Clearly Paul did not intend this in the strictly literal sense - how do you empty yourself? But as we
consider it as a contrast to not grasping equality with God for Himself, this would reflect the idea of
somehow letting it go, or setting it aside - not using it for Himself.

But what aspect of His equality with God could be set aside? Could He set aside His Deity? No; He could
not stop being who He is; He is God. This is why the NKJV and some others have translated this word as
of no reputation. The idea is that Christ emptied Himself of His glory - the outward manifestation of
Himself, as God.
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We see this borne out in the prayer that Jesus offered to the Father, just before He went to the cross. Turn
to John chapter 17. Jesus had spoken of the hour that was coming, for the Son of Man to be glorified (Jn
12:23). Now that hour had come, and Jesus began to pray for His disciples. But as He did, He first asked
the Father to glorify Him.

[John 17:1-5]

v. 1-3 So with the hour having come, Jesus first asks His Father to glorify Him. How would the Father do
that? Through the death of the cross. And through that death, the Son would glorify the Father. How
would the Son do that? By bringing forth eternal life for mankind, through His resurrection from the dead.

The authority that the Father gave the Son is to have Life in Himself (Jn 5:26) - eternal life, for the body.
The Son gives that Life to whom He will (Jn 5:21); to those whom the Father has given Him; those who
believe in the One whom the Father sent, to be the Savior of the world (Jn 6:36-40).

These would be the sons of God; the many sons, that Jesus is bringing to glory (Heb 2:10) - by whom the
Father would be glorified; His plan for mankind, realized.

v. 4 Jesus speaks in the past tense; in His willingness, the work of redemption is as good as done. Having
glorified His Father on earth, Jesus now asks that the Father would glorify Him in heaven.

v. 5 Jesus is asking that the Father restores to Him the glory that He had - that they shared - before the
world was ever created. This may be associated with the decision that was made, in Eternity Past, for
Christ to come into the world, to put away sin and death: the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the
world (Rev 13:8).

But what exactly did it mean, for Christ to empty Himself of His glory? Well, it does not mean that He
became less than God; He was still, and always will be, fully God - thats His being.

Glory as used by Jesus here would refer to the outshining of His being; the manifestation of who He is; the
revelation of His divine attributes. He emptied Himself, of showing forth those divine attributes; that is, He
deliberately chose to limit Himself, in respect to them.

[Return to Philippians 2]

Some might wonder why it was necessary for Christ to limit Himself, in this manner. It was necessary in
order to accomplish the Fathers will; the work of redemption.

For that, Christ Jesus had to come to the earth, as a man. And in order to do this, He had to limit His divine
attributes, as God. Notice Paul says, He made Himself of no reputation; that is, Christ did this willingly;
it was His own decision.

Lets think through what it meant, for Christ to empty Himself, in this way. As God, He has always existed
- a preexistent, eternal being, separate from His creation - and far, far above it.

But to accomplish the Fathers will, the Christ had to come to earth as a human being. Yet did He come
down to earth, a full-grown man? No; He was born - and had a beginning for the first time ever - He began
an earthly existence.
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As man, Jesus was no longer preexistent, nor was He self-existent - He was not separate from His creation,
but became a part of it. He no longer transcended His creation, but descended into the midst of it. The
Eternal One allowed Himself to be limited, in time and space.

He was also limited concerning matter; limited now, to a body; a human body; fragile, mortal. As such, the
Christ was no longer omnipresent, everywhere-present; and He never would be, again.

And it would seem that He was similarly limited, in terms of His omniscience. Time unfolded before Him,
as it did for any man.

Luke records in his gospel that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men (Lk
2:52). If He increased in wisdom, it means He didnt know everything.

In fact, Isaiah prophesied of Messiah that He would learn from God morning by morning (Is 50:4). He
would learn as all men do; along with whatever His heavenly Father revealed to Him.

And nothing speaks more strongly to the limiting of His omnipotence than the manner in which He came to
the earth - as a frail human baby - completely dependent on others - on human beings! - to meet His needs.

Some may point to the miracles that Jesus did, during His ministry - wasnt that a demonstration of His
omnipotence? But Jesus always indicated that these were the Fathers works (Jn 5:36, 10:25, 14:10); the
sense of this is that the power was given to Jesus, to accomplish those works.

Jesus said, Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself (Jn 5:19); and, I can of
Myself do nothing (Jn 5:30).

But it was before Jesus came to the earth - before He became a man - that He began to empty Himself.
How did He do that? He relinquished His rightful position of honor - among the other Persons of the
Godhead.

Christ Jesus did this by taking the form of a bondservant; in the Greek, its a slave. Form is the same
word we encountered in verse 6 - remember these are the characteristics and qualities essential to
something - in this case, to a slave.

What would be the essential characteristics of a slave? Well, a slave was a person without advantages,
without any rights or privileges. He was the lowest member of society, whose purpose for existence was
simply to do the will of others.

The essential characteristics of a slave are submission; obedience; service. Thats what a slave is; thats
what Christ became.

But notice that Paul is also saying something different here. In verse 6, we have Christ Jesus being in the
form of God - He is God and will always be so, continuously being.

But here in verse 7, we have Christ Jesus taking the form of a bondservant. What Paul is saying is that
Christ didnt exchange being God for being a servant; Christ, as God, became a servant.

As a servant, Christ never stopped being God. Nevertheless, before ever becoming a man, Christ
subordinated Himself to the Father.
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The One whose will is always done limited His will entirely, in order to carry out the Fathers will, on earth
- by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Here is the servant of Jehovah, a true bondservant, who would always
do the will of the Father - out of His love for Him.

Reading: Phil 2:1-18; Is 53; Jn 12:23-26, Mk 10:35-45