Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV)
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
The kind of self-sacrificing, other-centered love that Paul is urging the Philippian Christians to emulate is perfectly illustrated by Jesus. So, Paul simply held him up as the model, the perfect pattern of agape love.
First, Paul points out here what John tells us so clearly in his gospel: that Jesus (the Word) was with God in the beginning, and that He was (and is) God. (John 1:1-2). But Paul points out an additional facet to John’s simple statement in 1:14, that the Word became flesh. Paul’s emphasis is on the fact that, in order for Jesus to become truly human, as well as fully divine, He had to humble Himself, to leave behind His full glory and divine prerogatives.
Jesus humanity was no masquerade. He really did become a genuine human being, with a real physical body that needed to eat and drink , and that got tired and sore and that needed rest, something completely alien to his existence from all eternity as God the Son, a person of the Trinity.
A key element of Jesus humanity is that His physical body was mortal; He could die like any other human being. This was not a flaw in God’s plan but a designed feature. In order to accomplish what God had sent him to do, Jesus had to suffer and die to pay the death penalty for the sins of the world. Obviously, all of this was an infinite step down from Jesus’ glory and power that he had lived in from eternity past, not a figurative humbling, but a complete abandonment of his very being.
But keep in mind that Paul was not “doing theology” here. He is showing very practically that Jesus Himself led the way in showing the agape love to the world that He commanded that his followers demonstrate in turn. He showed what true humility was to the highest degree. He became the ultimate servant to others (cf. John 13: 3- 17) as an illustration of what true humility, true servant hood actually looks like, so that those who follow him have clear footsteps to walk in.
Father, it’s interesting that you draw a clear (and necessary) line between theology and illustration, between concept and command. Several times Jesus told His followers that we are to follow His example, to live like Him, to love like Him, to shape our lives in His image. In essence, we are to become “little Christs” (the origin and meaning of the term “Christian”). Even in humbling ourselves, taking up our own cross, we are to follow Jesus’ clear example, to continue His self-sacrificing lifestyle so that His gospel can effectively grow into more and more lives. Father, thank you, not just for your example, but for empowering and enabling us to follow it wholeheartedly in the power of your Holy Spirit in our lives. Amen.