Phili 2:6-7 | KingComments | STEP | . You see the mind of the Lord Jesus in these verses and it deserves your full attention. We must take up this mind and make it our own. Then we will be able to do what is said in the previous verses. And then we can solve all our conflicts and continue to live in unity. The mind of the Lord is expressed in His humiliation. Every detail of His way down was a humiliation for Him. He could not have started higher and could not end deeper. Every step of His humiliation, He did entirely voluntarily. But He didn’t do every step downward to show how very much He humbled Himself. What He did was constantly present in His life on the earth. In this you see the meaning of the word emptied, or ‘made Himself of no reputation’. He emptied Himself of all that He possessed as God. He used none of it for His own interests. When He came on earth there was nothing of His Divine glory to be seen ( ). His heart was filled with the wonderful mind described here. His whole existence on earth was filled with this reality. Every word and action came out of it. Sometimes it is possible to see such attitude in a believer. But to what extent are we filled with it? The description begins with the fact that He was “in the form of God”. This makes it clear that He was truly God. He also remained God when He became Man; for God cannot cease to be God. Nevertheless, God has the right and the possibility to reveal Himself in a way that is appropriate for the circumstances. His humiliation is proof that He is God, because only God has the sovereign right to conceal His absolute Divinity in this way. He did that and it was the result of His love. He remained in the form of God even when He was on earth. He did not relinquish His Divinity, but all His rights and privileges, which He could have claimed while on earth. Where He shows His Divine power, that never happens for Himself, but always for others, and never independent of God. Because He was God, it meant no robbery to Him to consider being equal with God. He did not lay claim to what not belonged to Himself. The Lord Jesus was God and He was God the eternal Son. He had pre-existence with the Father before the world was ( ). He was with the Father before the world was. He did not consider what He was from eternity as robbery in terms of profit. Long ago the serpent lured Adam to be equal with God. Adam was not and therefore he attempted to rob what he had not. The last Adam, the Lord Jesus, was God. He did not consider it robbery, but He emptied Himself. The Greek word for robbery means not only something that can be stolen, but it also means something that is precious which one does not easily give up. That precious thing, His Deity, He gave up outwardly, for He wanted to be born in “the likeness of man”. . He had to partake of His own creation and minister as a Bond-servant in His own creation. Can one imagine a greater contrast? He was the Ruler but He became the Bond-servant. He, Who gave orders, received them now Himself. Is it not one of the biggest problems for you and me to give up our rights and serve another? The Lord Jesus did that. He effaced Himself fully. He is our example and we can learn it only from Him. It is also important to see how His being a Bond-servant is intertwined fully with His being a Man. He could have first come on earth as human being and then later He could have decided to be a bond-servant. But He did not do that. Exactly as He was and is in the form of God, indicating His essential and veritable Deity, He took upon Himself the form of a bondservant. He did not wear the clothing of a Bond-servant and played the role of a bond-servant. He did not pretend Himself to be a bond-servant. No. He was essentially and truly a Bond-servant, both inwardly and outwardly. The essence of His nature was obedience, the very character that makes a bond-servant. It goes even further: He always remains a Bond-servant ( ), just as this perfect Person always will remain Man. He did not take up the form of God because He was God; but He took the form of a bondservant because that is what He became . The mind of serving and being a Bond-servant is beautifully portrayed in the foot-washing in John 13 ( ; cf. ). Once again: He is our Example. Just as He came to us as a Bond-servant in the servant’s clothing we also should act toward one another in readiness to serve one another in humility ( ). We do not quickly wear the clothing of a servant. It does not suit us. We do not feel comfortable in it. Or do we? . The emphasis here is on the Lord Jesus as Man. He was found in appearance as a man. That He was outwardly “found in appearance as a man”, does not refer primarily to what other people found in Him, but what God found in Him. God saw in the Lord Jesus a Man as He wished to see him. He was full of joy about all that was visible in Him from the outside – every action, every word, and His whole behavior. Therefore He gave His testimony from heaven: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” ( ). He was the Man Who answered in everything to what God had purposed with man. He was truly Man and not God in a human shell. He not only looked like a man, but He was fully in the likeness of him ( ) yet without sin ( ). People could see and hear Him, and they could understand what He said and did. He was (and still is) truly Man with a human spirit, a human soul, and a human body. When He was on earth, He was not conspicuous among men. He did not run around with a halo so that everyone could see Him as Someone special. When He was taken into custody, Judas had to show the enemies in a particular way Whom to capture ( ). People around Him saw that He was tired, hungry and thirsty. He knew all human weaknesses. As a Man He was indeed born in a quite unique way – He was truly Man by His birth from Mary – but He was not begotten by a sinful father; He was conceived by the Holy Spirit ( ; ). That did not change His complete and voluntary humiliation, a humiliation that had not yet reached its end. Is it not difficult for us to go our way unobtrusively? He could have surrounded Himself with honor when He entered His creation. He could have surrounded Himself during His life time on earth with all what impressed people around him. Yet He decided to begin His life on earth in a despised and secluded spot, Nazareth, in an insignificant family. To become Man was one step of humiliation for Him and to become Bond-servant is another step of humiliation. But His humiliation as Man and Bond-servant was not enough. He could stoop even lower. So He went deeper. He could have returned to His Father after a finished service. He did not need to die. But He became obedient to the point of death, yes, even death on a cross. He made Himself completely nothing. He thought only of others. He, Who did not know obedience, was obedient unto death. The Lord Jesus did not know obedience. In heaven He was not familiar with it. There He gave commands to angels and they obeyed Him ( ). For the Lord Jesus learning obedience was something different from how we learn it. By nature we are disobedient, we were “sons of disobedience” ( ). We learn obedience by correction. It was not so with Him. With Him, nothing ever needed to be corrected. With Him there was no insubordination; there was nothing that was not subordinate. For Him to learn to be obedient meant to take up a position in which He had to obey. He never was in a position that demanded obedience. He learned that when He came to the earth ( ). His obedience culminated in His death. His death was the ultimate obedience, the end point. Nothing more could come thereafter. But His humiliation could go still further and show how His obedience ended up unprecedented. It is by death on a cross, the most horrible and the most despicable way a man could die. Only a disobedient slave was sentenced to such a death. You cannot imagine a death that is more humiliating than this. The perfect Bond-servant died this death. Voluntarily and with no other desire than to be perfectly obedient He ended His path this way on earth. He always took the lowest place: with His birth in Bethlehem, with His dealings with people during His life time and finally even in His death. He allowed that those, whom He exclusively wanted to serve, brought Him to death by the most dishonorable way. He, Who was exalted so high, went through the way to the deepest humiliation. He relinquished all rights that were His own, in heaven as well as on the earth, to serve His enemies. He came down from great heights, voluntarily, driven by the love for His God and Father. Should not this great humility make you and me ready to make a relatively small step down to serve others? This is the mind which is proper for us. Now read Philippians 2:6-8 again. Reflection: Consider again the steps of humiliation, by which the Lord Jesus went down. Praise Him for that and ask Him to help you to follow His example in His mind.

‏ Philippians 2:6-7

The Mind of the Lord Jesus

Phil 2:6. You see the mind of the Lord Jesus in these verses and it deserves your full attention. We must take up this mind and make it our own. Then we will be able to do what is said in the previous verses. And then we can solve all our conflicts and continue to live in unity.

The mind of the Lord is expressed in His humiliation. Every detail of His way down was a humiliation for Him. He could not have started higher and could not end deeper. Every step of His humiliation, He did entirely voluntarily. But He didn’t do every step downward to show how very much He humbled Himself. What He did was constantly present in His life on the earth. In this you see the meaning of the word emptied, or ‘made Himself of no reputation’. He emptied Himself of all that He possessed as God. He used none of it for His own interests.

When He came on earth there was nothing of His Divine glory to be seen (Isa 53:3). His heart was filled with the wonderful mind described here. His whole existence on earth was filled with this reality. Every word and action came out of it. Sometimes it is possible to see such attitude in a believer. But to what extent are we filled with it?

The description begins with the fact that He was “in the form of God”. This makes it clear that He was truly God. He also remained God when He became Man; for God cannot cease to be God. Nevertheless, God has the right and the possibility to reveal Himself in a way that is appropriate for the circumstances. His humiliation is proof that He is God, because only God has the sovereign right to conceal His absolute Divinity in this way. He did that and it was the result of His love. He remained in the form of God even when He was on earth. He did not relinquish His Divinity, but all His rights and privileges, which He could have claimed while on earth. Where He shows His Divine power, that never happens for Himself, but always for others, and never independent of God.

Because He was God, it meant no robbery to Him to consider being equal with God. He did not lay claim to what not belonged to Himself. The Lord Jesus was God and He was God the eternal Son. He had pre-existence with the Father before the world was (Jn 1:1 ; Jn 17:5). He was with the Father before the world was. He did not consider what He was from eternity as robbery in terms of profit.

Long ago the serpent lured Adam to be equal with God. Adam was not and therefore he attempted to rob what he had not. The last Adam, the Lord Jesus, was God. He did not consider it robbery, but He emptied Himself. The Greek word for robbery means not only something that can be stolen, but it also means something that is precious which one does not easily give up. That precious thing, His Deity, He gave up outwardly, for He wanted to be born in “the likeness of man”.

Phil 2:7. He had to partake of His own creation and minister as a Bond-servant in His own creation. Can one imagine a greater contrast? He was the Ruler but He became the Bond-servant. He, Who gave orders, received them now Himself. Is it not one of the biggest problems for you and me to give up our rights and serve another? The Lord Jesus did that. He effaced Himself fully. He is our example and we can learn it only from Him.

It is also important to see how His being a Bond-servant is intertwined fully with His being a Man. He could have first come on earth as human being and then later He could have decided to be a bond-servant. But He did not do that. Exactly as He was and is in the form of God, indicating His essential and veritable Deity, He took upon Himself the form of a bondservant. He did not wear the clothing of a Bond-servant and played the role of a bond-servant. He did not pretend Himself to be a bond-servant. No. He was essentially and truly a Bond-servant, both inwardly and outwardly. The essence of His nature was obedience, the very character that makes a bond-servant.

It goes even further: He always remains a Bond-servant (Lk 12:37), just as this perfect Person always will remain Man. He did not take up the form of God because He was God; but He took the form of a bondservant because that is what He became. The mind of serving and being a Bond-servant is beautifully portrayed in the foot-washing in John 13 (Jn 13:1-11; cf. Lk 22:27). Once again: He is our Example. Just as He came to us as a Bond-servant in the servant’s clothing we also should act toward one another in readiness to serve one another in humility (1Pet 5:5). We do not quickly wear the clothing of a servant. It does not suit us. We do not feel comfortable in it. Or do we?

Phil 2:8. The emphasis here is on the Lord Jesus as Man. He was found in appearance as a man. That He was outwardly “found in appearance as a man”, does not refer primarily to what other people found in Him, but what God found in Him. God saw in the Lord Jesus a Man as He wished to see him. He was full of joy about all that was visible in Him from the outside – every action, every word, and His whole behavior. Therefore He gave His testimony from heaven: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Mt 3:17).

He was the Man Who answered in everything to what God had purposed with man. He was truly Man and not God in a human shell. He not only looked like a man, but He was fully in the likeness of him (Rom 8:3) yet without sin (Heb 4:15). People could see and hear Him, and they could understand what He said and did. He was (and still is) truly Man with a human spirit, a human soul, and a human body.

When He was on earth, He was not conspicuous among men. He did not run around with a halo so that everyone could see Him as Someone special. When He was taken into custody, Judas had to show the enemies in a particular way Whom to capture (Mt 26:48). People around Him saw that He was tired, hungry and thirsty. He knew all human weaknesses.

As a Man He was indeed born in a quite unique way – He was truly Man by His birth from Mary – but He was not begotten by a sinful father; He was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Mt 1:20; Lk 1:35). That did not change His complete and voluntary humiliation, a humiliation that had not yet reached its end. Is it not difficult for us to go our way unobtrusively? He could have surrounded Himself with honor when He entered His creation. He could have surrounded Himself during His life time on earth with all what impressed people around him. Yet He decided to begin His life on earth in a despised and secluded spot, Nazareth, in an insignificant family.

To become Man was one step of humiliation for Him and to become Bond-servant is another step of humiliation. But His humiliation as Man and Bond-servant was not enough. He could stoop even lower. So He went deeper. He could have returned to His Father after a finished service. He did not need to die. But He became obedient to the point of death, yes, even death on a cross. He made Himself completely nothing. He thought only of others.

He, Who did not know obedience, was obedient unto death. The Lord Jesus did not know obedience. In heaven He was not familiar with it. There He gave commands to angels and they obeyed Him (Heb 1:7). For the Lord Jesus learning obedience was something different from how we learn it. By nature we are disobedient, we were “sons of disobedience” (Eph 5:6). We learn obedience by correction. It was not so with Him. With Him, nothing ever needed to be corrected. With Him there was no insubordination; there was nothing that was not subordinate.

For Him to learn to be obedient meant to take up a position in which He had to obey. He never was in a position that demanded obedience. He learned that when He came to the earth (Heb 5:8).

His obedience culminated in His death. His death was the ultimate obedience, the end point. Nothing more could come thereafter. But His humiliation could go still further and show how His obedience ended up unprecedented. It is by death on a cross, the most horrible and the most despicable way a man could die. Only a disobedient slave was sentenced to such a death. You cannot imagine a death that is more humiliating than this. The perfect Bond-servant died this death. Voluntarily and with no other desire than to be perfectly obedient He ended His path this way on earth.

He always took the lowest place: with His birth in Bethlehem, with His dealings with people during His life time and finally even in His death. He allowed that those, whom He exclusively wanted to serve, brought Him to death by the most dishonorable way. He, Who was exalted so high, went through the way to the deepest humiliation. He relinquished all rights that were His own, in heaven as well as on the earth, to serve His enemies. He came down from great heights, voluntarily, driven by the love for His God and Father. Should not this great humility make you and me ready to make a relatively small step down to serve others? This is the mind which is proper for us.

Now read Philippians 2:6-8 again.

Reflection: Consider again the steps of humiliation, by which the Lord Jesus went down. Praise Him for that and ask Him to help you to follow His example in His mind.