Philippians 2:7,8To: Philippians Main MenuTo: Grace Notes Home Page Philippians 2:7"But made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men."In this section of Philippians which sets for the incarnation of Christ he is presented as commencing at the highest point of the universe ("the form of God") to the lowest imaginable place, the death of the cross. "But made himself of no reputation""No reputation" literally means "emptied" himself. This means he set aside the voluntary use of his incommunicable attributes (attributes which cannot be shared with man such as omniscience (( all knowing)) and omnipresence ((everywhere presence))). The Lord Jesus emptied himself of the voluntary use of his deity in order to become incarnate. We often talk of the sacrifice of the cross. Yet the sacrifice of the incarnation is a sacrifice as well. The incarnation has been called "the great stoop." He stooped from the presence of God to the place of men. There is no greater humility than that. Never in his history did Jesus ever stop existing as God. He simply took of his badge of the majesty of deity. We do everything in our power to build a reputation. Yet he shelved his rights as God. He thought more of us than he did of his own name. This was not forced upon him. He was not manipulated into doing this. He did it of his own will. He relinquished the celebrity of his deity. "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." II Cor. 8:9 "Became poor" means that he became a man. He was born in a stable in a carpenter's family. He had no money, owned no real estate, wrote no books, founded no university. Our Lord made his appearance into this world as a baby. He conceivably come as a full grown man. That is the way Adam and Eve arrived in the world. Jesus chose to come as a baby. PRINCIPLE: Jesus was willing to subsume his name for others. APPLICATION: Do we love people enough to give up our reputation? Here is the third statement of our Lord's decent from his glory as God. "taking the form of a bondservant"The word "form" here means "inner essence." He came in his essence as a slave. He did not come as a King. He might have been born in a castle instead of a cradle. He could have come to Rome instead of Bethlehem. He could have been born of a wealthy and noble family but this was not his strategy. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). Jesus' plan was to come as an abject slave (the idea of the word "servant" in the Greek). Jesus graphically portrayed this mentality when we washed the apostle's feet in John 13. The word "taking" indicates that he did this willingly. He was not pressed into this service. He did it of his own volition. In verse six he existed in the "form of God", here he takes on the form of an abject slave. What a contrast! He laid aside the medallion of his majesty to become an abject slave. PRINCIPLE: Jesus, though he possessed the prerogatives of deity, in his humanity held a servant mentality. APPLICATION: The victim mentality of our day can be corrected by adopting the giving mentality of Jesus. We come to the fourth statement about Jesus' condescension into humanity. "and coming in the likeness of men."Jesus was born in the "likeness of men." His birth was like other men, yet distinct. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). The word "became" means to become something he was not before. What he was before was God. Now he changes from his preexistent deity to humanity. "But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman..." (Gal 4:4). He was born of a woman, not a male. His birth was via a virgin. Jesus' virgin birth meant that he did not have a sinful nature. As well, he never committed an act of sin. These two facts qualified him to die for our sins as the spotless lamb of God. "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on the account of sin" (Ro 8:3). "For we do have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Heb 4:15). "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Heb 2:14). The angel Gabriel said to Mary: "...that Holy One who is to born will be called the Son of God" (Lk 1:35). Jesus' birth was unique. Everything about him was unique. He was truly God and truly man. Both his first coming and his second coming will be unique. Without his unique birth there is no way those without Christ could get to heaven. He had to take that body to the cross to suffer for sin: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for me" (He 10:5). PRINCIPLE: The birth of Jesus was unique; he was qualified in a exceptional way to die for our sin. APPLICATION: Do we hold Jesus unique in our hearts? Philippians 2:8"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross."The fifth statement of Jesus descent into humanity is "and being found in appearance as a man." "And being found in appearance as a man"All most people could see about Jesus was that he was another man. "And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isa. 53:2). To most people he looked like a Galilean, a carpenter. Artists put a halo around his head but when he was upon earth he had no halo. "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (I Ti. 2:5). "But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God" (Heb. 2:12). "The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven" (I Co 15:47). Jesus was not 50% God and 50% man. He was undiminished deity and true humanity. "...God was manifested in the flesh" (I Ti. 3:16). PRINCIPLE: Jesus was both undiminished deity and true humanity. APPLICATION: Have we subtly confused the greatness and uniqueness of who Jesus is by merging in our minds his deity and humanity? The sixth statement of the great stoop of the Lord Jesus is "he humbled himself." "he humbled himself"Jesus' life was not extracted from him. He gave his life freely. His blood was not spilt; it was shed. Spilt speaks of an accident. His death was planned from eternity, "...the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8). Our Lord spoke of humility in Luke 14:11, "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." God's people are to humble themselves. He set the great example. God will not do this for us. This we must do. However, if we go on in our willful way, God will humble us, "lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you" (II Co. 12:21). If I refuse to humble myself, God will humble me. Our Lord Jesus Christ humbled himself. He was no unwilling victim who was maneuvered to the cross where he could not extricate himself. He counted the cost; he knew exactly what was involved. He was born to die. "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father" (John 10:17,18). "Who gave Himself for our sin, that He might deliver us from this present evil age" (Gal. 1:4). "...the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20). "As Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma" (Eph. 5:1). "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her" (Eph. 5:25). It is clear that Jesus willing gave, donated his life for us. He humbled himself. Looking down the corridors of time he saw us in the grip of sin and willingly gave himself for us. PRINCIPLE: To humble oneself involves intentionality. APPLICATION: Have we with delibation humbled ourselves for the sake of others? We now come to the seventh and final statement of the enormous descent of the Lord Jesus from the essence of God to a criminal's death. "and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross "Jesus was obedient to the point of death. He did not stop half way. If he did not die there would be no salvation for man. For Jesus to die was not unique; everyone dies. Mark the word "even." He was more than obedient unto death; he went further than death. He went to the cross death. That would be equivalent to the "death chamber" today. He died a criminal's death. The cross was the instrument by which the Roman government executed its criminals. It was a slow death. The cross was the goal of the incarnation. "Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements [the law] that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Col. 2:14). Jesus was nailed to the cross and with him the judgments of the law against us. The cross is the focal point of God's dealings with us. That is where our redemption from sin was worked out. By shedding his blood on the cross he paid the price for all sin for all time. "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them" (II Cor. 5:19). The cross is a bloody issue with which to deal. The cross is offensive to many people. The cross offends people, especially religious people (Gal. 5:11). Religion leads people to believe that if they lead a decent life they will be acceptable to God. People run to religion to tell them that they are "ok." Some are offended when they hear an honest physician tell them a diagnosis they do not want to hear. They run to quacks to tell them about some panacea. They are not looking for a doctor, they are looking for a quack. PRINCIPLE: Only the cross of Christ can save us from our sin. APPLICATION: Have you come to the point of accepting the fact that it is only the cross of Christ which is sufficient to pay for your sins before a holy God? ---------- Copyright © 1995, Dr. Grant Richison. All rights reserved. There is no charge for Grace Notes Materials. 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