Main Point

Christ is the greatest example of who we are supposed to be

Passage

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!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place    and gave him the name that is above every name,

that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,    to the glory of God the Father.

NASB

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Overview

Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture

This passage is of fundamental importance for Christology, then as now…Here are some of the questions that arise from each verse: Does the passage imply that Christ was ever less than God (2:6a)? What sort of robbery might he have attempted (2:6b)? What did it mean that he emptied himself (2:7a)? Did he take the appearance or the actuality of a slave (2:7b)? Was he human or merely in human likeness (2:7c-d)? What is involved in his humiliation (2:8)? Who is he that has been exalted (2:9a)? What is the name that is above every name (2:9b-c)? (225-226)

Jesus is worshiped as God in the unity of his divine-human being (Guadentius)...He who rightly worshipped the Father now receives our worship (Cyril of Alexandria). Every kind of creature now reveres him. Even the angelic spirits bow metaphorically (Origen). Christ now sits as ruler as firstborn of the dead (Gregory of Nyssa). This demonstrates that Christ is God (Theodoret). The Father is glorified through the salvation of humanity (Athanasius). (242)

The New Testament in its World

Paul’s previous request for unity among his readers is to be achieved by actively cultivating certain virtues, particularly those connected with learning to think (as we might say) messianically–in other words, thinking as Jesus thought. Their union with him is the ground for such character-development, however counter-intuitive this was in greco-roman culture. And, when he wants to persuade them to imitate the Messiah’s own virtues, he offers them a short poem, perhaps the earliest statement we possess of a Christian view of Jesus.

The poem provides the foundation for the challenge to self-sacrificing unity (2:1-18) and also, in chapter 3, for self-abnegating discipleship. The poem depicts Jesus’ life in three stages: pre-existence (v. 6), incarnation (vv. 7-8), and exaltation (vv. 9-11)...The weight of the poem rests on the decision (of the one who was all along equal with God) to become human, and to travel the road of obedience to the divine saving plan, yes, all the way to the cross. The point is that that decision was not a decision to stop (in some sense) being divine. It was a decision about what it really means to be divine. His subsequent exaltation demonstrates that on the cross Jesus had done what, in Israel’s Scriptures, only God can and will do. Paul has, in effect, rethought Israel’s monotheistic tradition and discovered Jesus at its heart, not as an abstract theory but as a human of recent historical memory as well as of present spiritual experience.

The poem then works out the new patterns of thinking and living (2.12-18). (443-444)

Third, Paul focuses on humility…Humility was regarded in the ancient world as weakness, the characteristic of inferiors and slaves who had been kicked down to the bottom rungs of society. Pagans usually prized (as most people still do) ‘honour’ and fame, usually built on the backs of others. But for the Messiah and his people it is different. Paul is more than capable of giving commands. But most of all he wants his readers to absorb the story of Jesus, specifically the story of his humility, death, and exaltation, and to ‘work out’ what their ‘salvation’ is therefore going to mean in practice (3.12). He wants them, in other words, to adopt a form of moral reasoning shaped by the story of Jesus as the bedrock of their single-minded unity. (448)

Cohick

Philippians 2:6-11 speaks with great economy of words about mysteries no human mind can fully comprehend–the character of the Godhead, the incarnation of Jesus, the glorification of Christ. But if we cannot know all, we can at least claim some things as true for our lives now and in eternity. This “Christ hymn” describes the person of Jesus Christ, and in so doing, develops a vision for what it means to be fully human before God. (106)

But understanding that each believer is even now seated with Christ (Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1), having been crucified with him and thus no longer living on one’s own (Gal. 2:19-20), allows for this hymn to celebrate the nature of Christ and also connect personally and practically to our own experience. (106)

The imperial family, including Augustus, his wife Livia, and her grandson Claudius were all worshiped in the imperial cult in Philippi when Paul wrote this letter. Each member of the imperial family mentioned was granted an apotheosis; that is, they were understood at their death to be changed into a god. Suetonius draws on the hope of apotheosis as he illustrates Vespasian’s sense of human when he quotes the emperor in an illness late in his life, “methinks I am becoming a god.” But the hymn of Christ speaks of kenosis (emptying), not apotheosis; the hymn declares humiliation/death rather than earthly glorification/divination.

The difference is important because even today, and even in the church, we too often model ourselves based on the imperial family, not on Christ. The imperial family was expected to act generously, but this service was in fact self-serving, for it would result in adulation by the crowds. So how is their behavior different from Christ’s actions? Christ accepted humiliation, while the emperor acted kindly but not humbly. The imperial family’s self-giving was part of the expected package that reinforced their social status; Christ’s humiliation was bewildering, and it cut across the social grain and upended expectations…Some church people and leaders might model Caesar more than they think: they retain control, determine just how much they will serve, and never own humiliation. THeir “humble” service only serves to support their high social standing, because to qualify as “humble” the deed has to be beneath them…Only when we define our deeds as humble can we know the slave-humiliation of Christ. This is far from the emperor’s self-understanding, and certainly of our world today. (107)

Everyone agrees on the fact that exalted, lyrical, quasi-credal language is employed in these verses. The tension emerges in defining “hymn”, for we have no evidence one way or another that this passage was sung or recited in Pauline churches. We do know that Christians sang hymns in their gatherings (Eph  5:19), so it is not impossible that this passage also was integrated into church worship. Yet the lack of specific evidence has led some to suggest that “poem” is a better description of the lyrical passage. In general, five criteria are used to establish a hymn: (1) a disruption in the flow of the prose, (2) stylistic and terminology differences, (3) use of introductory phrases, (4) antithetic style that highlights a contrast, (5) use of rare and ceremonial terms. While we should resist reading back into Paul’s day our own use of hymns, I think the passage fits the five criteria. Moreover, the label “hymn” fittingly accounts for the passage’s lyrical elements. (108)

For much of this passage’s interpretive history, it was believed to proclaim Christ’s preexistence as the divine Son of the Father. The story line was that of Israel’s God bringing salvation to the world through Christ, the Son. (109)

Guthrie

With 2:5-11, Paul uses the preeminent example of selfless service, Christ himself, as the first in his series of rich examples for the Philippians to follow…From here he will offer the positive examples of Timothy and Epaphroditus in 2:19-30, and finally he will offer himself as an example in 3:1-14. (149)

As noted by David Garland, with use of striking vocabulary Philippians 3:20-21 demonstrates an intentional crafting of parallels with 2:5-11. Given additional parallels with 3:19, we have expanded insights to include that verse as well. Whereas the Christ passage of 2:5-11 focuses on the incarnation and exaltation (i.e., the movement from heaven, to earth, and back again to heaven), 3:20-21 celebrates the resurrection transformation of Christ-followers, a transformation effected by the Savior. (150)

Paul poetically presents Christ Jesus as the preeminent exemplar of and means to selfless sacrifice, who relinquished his exalted status and glory, becoming incarnate and humiliating himself to meet the needs of fallen humanity through death on the cross. As a result, God the Father exalted Christ as LOrd to the preeminent place in the universe—an all-encompassing lordship that issues in glory to God the Father (151)

The backbone of the description begins with three actions by Christ Jesus himself: He “did not regard equality” (v. 6)

He stripped himself (v. 7)

He humiliated himself (v. 8)

Philippians 2:9 then introduced with “for this reason”...and turns to twin actions by God the Father, who

Highly exalted him and

Gave to him the name above every name

Notice that with the in order that clause of 2:10-11, the exaltation of Christ elicits two responses from all creatures

Every knee will bow

Every tongue will confess

So grammatically the passage moves from Christ’s actions in his heavenly glory, to incarnation, to humiliation on the cross, and then to actions by God the Father, who exalted the Son and gave him a name above every name. This was so that the Son’s absolute dominion would be realized and God the Father would be glorified. (152-153)

In their article, Michael Martin and Bryan Nash argue that hymnos was a prominent form addressed in the rhetorical handbooks of the ancient world, which followed specific, though flexible conventions. Having examined the features of the genre, Martin and Nash conclude that Philippians 2:6-11 conforms completely to this type of composition, with one exception. The Christ hymn conforms in its inclusion of Christ’s “origin” (amplified by syncrisis), birth, body, mind/virtues, deeds, manner of death, posthumous events, and names and titles (amplified with syncrisis). The exception is that whereas a hymnos normally includes praise of values that reinforced the Roman vision of what might be worthy of adulation, Philippians 2:6-11 turns worldly values on their head. (157)

From Matthew Harmon and James P. Ware (158-19)

This concise passage has been called ‘Paul’s master story’. (160)

Fee

The ultimate paradigm of a genuinely Christian mindset is Christ himself, who is the premier manifestation of the character of God, which God is trying to reproduce in his people so that they might also thereby be truly human

Two matters are important as we approach the passage: first, that in going through the passage we not miss the forest for the trees—that is, that we not get bogged down in the details so that we miss the grandeur of the whole; and second, that precisely because in some ways the passage can stand on its own (it is a complete narrative, after all), we not miss its very clear and essential ties to the present argument.

But in telling the story in this way Paul clearly shapes the language to the context. In order to help the Philippians toward a common mindset (v. 2), he presents as a model the divine mindset (v. 5), graphically portrayed through Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion. Instead of “empty glory” (kenodoxia), Christ “emptied himself” (heauton ekenōsen); instead of “selfish ambition,” he took “the form of a slave”; he did not consider his equality with God selfishly, just as they in humility are to “consider” the needs of others ahead of their own (a form of hēgeomai in each instance); as a human being he humbled himself (etapeinōsen; cf. tapeinophrosynē in v. 3); and all of this to God’s glory (doxan, v. 11), over against the “empty glory” (kenodoxia) of selfish ambition. And beyond these clear linguistic ties are the conceptual ones: the whole narrative offers the highest expression of God’s love (v. 1) urged on the Philippian believers (v. 2), not to mention that it is the ultimate example of not looking only to one’s own interests but also to the interests of others (v. 4).

Verse 5

Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture

Chrysostom: Our Lord Jesus Christ, when urging his disciples to undertake great works, makes himself an example [Matt 5:12]. …This too the blessed Paul does, bringing Christ before their eyes when he urges them to practice humility. …For nothing so sustains the great and philosophic soul in the performance of good works as learning that through this one is becoming like God.

Guthrie

In seeking to call the Philippians to a posture of humility and service to others, Paul now turns to the example of Christ (161)

As we saw in 2:1-4, Paul wants to get the Philippians’ relationships right by getting their thinking right (cf 2:2). Here he calls for the believers to be intent on the posture of humility he has just described (161)

Specifically, the Philippians are to cultivate a posture of servanthood by following the example seen and power provided “in Christ Jesus”. Paul uses this phrase to speak of believers’ “union with Christ”. Yet in that relationship Christ also serves as a preeminent example for people to follow. Thus it is unsurprising that translations have varied between renderings that reflect imitation (e.g., CSB, CEB, CEV, NET, NIV, NLT) and those that reflect participation or location (e.g., ESV, RSV). (161-162)

Fee

The phrase “in you” (obscured by the NIV’s your) is nicely double-entendre here and elsewhere (e.g., 2:13). It primarily means “among you,” that is, “in your community relationships.” But the only way for that to happen, as noted in the commentary on verse 4, is for each one to assume the responsibility for such a disposition. Thus each is to have this mindset “in you” so that it will be fully manifested “among you.

Verse 6

Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture

Novatian: If Christ were only a man, he would have been said to have been “in the image of God” not “in the form of God”. We know that humanity is made in the image of God.

Gregory of Nyssa: He did not say “having a nature like that of God” as would be said of [a man[ who was made in the image of God. Rather Paul says “being in the very form of God.” All that is the Father’s is in the Son.

Chrysostom: But Paul says that “being the form of God he took the form of a slave”...The form of a slave is truly a slave and nothing less. So too the form of God is truly God and nothing less. Paul did not write that he was in the process of coming to be in the form of God; rather “being in the form of God”, hence truly divine.

Lucifer of Cagliari: It was he who was and is and always shall be in the form of the Father, the true Son, immutable and unchangeable because he is God and the all-powerful Son of the Almighty, who nonetheless deigned to lower himself for our salvation, so that he might cause us to rise even as we lay prostrate.

Marius Victorinus: What does this mean–”being equal to God”? It means that he [the Son] is of the very same power and substance [as the Father]. … It is in this sense therefore that Christ was equal to God. Note that Paul did not say Christ as “similar to God”, for that would imply that Christ possessed some accidental likeness to the substance of God but not that he was substantially equal.

Theodoret: Being God, and God by nature, and having equality with God, he thought this no great thing, as is the way of those who have received some honor beyond their merits, but, hiding his merit, he elected the utmost humility and took the shape of a human being.

Chrysostom: Suppose someone commits a robbery and grabs something that does not belong to him. Wouldn’t he be inclined to hold on to it tightly, to grasp it and not lay it aside for fear of losing it? Bu suppose someone else possesses an estate by nature. He would not have any fear of losing it. He would not then be afraid to descend temporarily from his estate of dignity. He would know that he would suffer no loss, because it belongs to him naturally…We are human beings. We are not divine by nature. We do not possess goodness by nature. But to God divinity belongs by nature…His dominion was not acquired by seizure but was nature. It was not the gift of another but always stable and secure.

Chrysostom: Now equality is not predicated of one subject, for that which is equal must be equal to something. Do you see how the existence of two subjects is affirmed, not two mere names without real significance? Do you hear how the Only Begotten existed before the ages?

Quodvultdeus: He did not rob, because who he was, he was by nature. Thus the omnipotence of the Father was in the Son and the omnipotence of the Son in the Father. The Father is never without the Son, nor the Son without the Father.

Guthrie

Morphe: Apart from the long ending of Mark (16:12), Philippians 2:6-7 boasts the only New Testament occurrences of the term often translate as “form”, where it occurs twice, once referring to the “form of God’ and then to “the form of a servant”. This term occurs in the LXX seven times, almost always referring to outward appearance…In broader Jewish and Greek literature, the word communicates a variety of ideas, such as "stature, form, condition, feature,” and “external appearance””, but it overwhelmingly refers to an observable form or shape of something. Traditional interpretations have often read the phrase “form of God” as referring to the essential nature of Christ as God…Yet a better interpretation seems to be to understand Paul’s words as referring to the “appearance” of Christ in his preincarnate, divine glory, hence our translation, “robed in divine glory.” This position assumes the preincarnate glory of Christ as God, but the emphasis lies on Christ’s position or status as manifested in his appearance…elsewhere Paul reflects on Christ  as manifesting the divine glory of God (Rom 1:23; 1 Cor 11:7; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:6). With the emphasis on appearance, this understanding on “form” also syncs well with the parallel use of the word in the next verse, often translated as “form of a servant”. In the incarnation, the Son takes on the “appearance” of a common slave. The emphasis , then, seems to be on appearance reflecting a particular rank or status. (162-164)

Equality here parallels John 5:18 (164)

Harpagmos: The term only occurs here in the New Testament, does not appear in the LXX, and only rarely makes an appearance in extrabiblical Greek. It thus “has proved a sore trial to philologists and lexicographers, and to those who rely on their work.” Perhaps following the lead of the Latin Vulgate (rapinam, robbery), older English translations tended to translate the word as robbery (e.g., KJV, YLT, WEB). More recent English translations render the term variously as a thing “to be grasped” (NASB, ESV, NET, NIV [1984]),  “something to cling to” (NLT), “something to be exploited” (NRSV; CSB), or something “used to his own advantage” (NIV [2011]). (165) In recent discussion, a consensus seems to be forming around the view that the word expresses the notion that Christ’s preincarnate status was not “something to take advantage of, something to exploit…”The ROman cultural context of Philippians–indeed the history of the world–is replete with examples of powerful people taking advantage of their positions at great cost to others. The apostle is leading the Philippians out of the soul-deadening suck of that cultural orientation, in which status means power and advantage over others (2:3-4). Paul calls them instead to the example of Christ, who held the highest possible status—that of God himself–but decided not to take advantage of his position by keeping himself from the vulnerabilities and suffering of human existence. (164-165)

Thus, God in Christ is revealed to be a condescending, sacrificial God, who has chosen to meet a need that we as human beings could not meet for ourselves. (165)

Fee

In displaying the mind of Christ, Paul begins with one of those sublime sentences whose essential intent and meaning seem clear as can be yet whose parts are full of mystery and wonder. The reason for this is simple enough; on the basis of what was known and came to be believed about Jesus’ earthly life, Paul is trying to say something about what could not be observed yet came to be believed about Christ’s prior existence as God. What is essential is this: In his prior existence as God, Christ demonstrated what equality with God meant, not by taking advantage of it for himself but by emptying himself, by taking the role of a slave/servant in becoming one of us

The details that need special attention are four: (1) Why does Paul say “in the form” of God (NIV margin) rather than simply say “as God”? (2) What does the word harpagmos mean (NIV something to be grasped; put above as “taking advantage of”)? (3) What did it mean for Christ to “empty himself” (NIV made himself nothing)? (4) Why in human likeness rather than “in his humanity” or something similar? Other details of significance will be noted in the process of looking at each of these matters in turn.

First, the opening phrase, “who, being in the form [morphē] of God,” expresses as presupposition what the rest of the sentence assumes: that it was the preexistent Christ who “emptied himself” at one point in our human history. Why then did Paul use morphē, which primarily refers to the “form” or “shape” something takes? The answer lies in what Paul is about in this sentence. His urgency is to say something about Christ’s “mindset” in both expressions of his being, first as God and second in his humanity. But in the transition from Christ’s “being God” to his “becoming human,” Paul expresses by way of metaphor the essential “shape” of that humanity: Christ “took on the ‘form’ of a slave.” Since morphē can denote “form” or “shape” in terms of both the external features by which something is recognized and the characteristics and qualities that are essential to it, it was precisely the right word to characterize both the reality (his being God) and the metaphor (his taking on the role of a slave). On the basis of Christ’s resurrection and ascension, his earliest followers had come to believe that the One whom they had known as truly human had himself known prior existence in the “form” of God—not meaning that he was “like God but really not” but that he was characterized by what was essential to being God. This understanding (correctly) lies behind the NIV’s in very nature God.

Second, in order to highlight the astonishing nature of the incarnation, Paul resorts to a typical “not/but” contrast. Reading such a sentence straight through without the “but” clause always helps to get at what is essential; in this case, “who, being in the form of God, … made himself nothing by taking the form of a servant/slave.” That is glory indeed; but to heighten the glory Paul emphasizes two realities: first, that “being in the form of God” means being equal with God; second, that in Christ’s “being in the form of God/being equal with God” he displayed a mindset precisely the opposite of “selfish ambition” and empty glory (v. 3). To accent this second point he uses an extremely rare (negative) word, harpagmos, which depicts the opposite of “in humility consider others better than yourselves” (v. 3).

Harpagmos is a noun formed from a verb that means to “to seize, steal [hence the KJV’s ‘robbery’], snatch, take away.” Although its meaning has been much debated, there is a growing consensus that its probable sense leans toward something like either “a matter of grasping or seizing” or “something grasped for one’s own personal advantage.” In the first option the emphasis lies on the verbal side of the noun, on the idea of “seizing” as such. Thus Christ did not consider “equality with God” to consist of being “grasping” or “selfish”; rather he rejected this popular view of kingly power by pouring himself out for the sake of others. The alternative, which is probably preferable, is to see the word as a synonym of its cognate harpagma (“booty” or “prey”), which in idioms similar to Paul’s denotes something like “a matter to be seized upon” in the sense of “taking advantage of” it (“he did not think he needed to take advantage of this equality with God,” Bockmuehl 1997:114).

In either case, the clause comes out very much at the same point. Equality with God is something that was inherent to Christ in his preexistence; but he did not consider Godlikeness to consist in “grasping” or “seizing” or as “grasping it to his own advantage,” which would be the normal expectation of lordly power—and the nadir of selfishness.

Third, Christ’s selflessness for the sake of others expressed itself in his emptying himself by taking the “form” of a slave. Historically, far too much has been made of the verb “emptied himself,” as though in becoming incarnate he literally “emptied himself” of something. However, just as harpagmos requires no object for Christ to “seize” but rather points to what is the opposite of God’s character, so Christ did not empty himself of anything; he simply “emptied himself,” poured himself out, as it were. In keeping with Paul’s ordinary usage, this is metaphor, pure and simple. What modifies it is expressed in the phrase that follows; he “poured himself out by taking on the ‘form’ of a slave.”^*

Elsewhere this verb regularly means to become powerless or to be emptied of significance (hence the NIV’s made himself nothing; cf. KJV, “made himself of no reputation”). Here it stands in direct antithesis to the “empty glory” of verse 3 and functions in the same way as the metaphorical “he became poor” in 2 Corinthians 8:9. Thus, as in the “not” side of this clause (v. 6b), we are still dealing with the character of God as revealed in the mindset and resulting activity of the Son of God. The concern is with divine selflessness: God is not an acquisitive being, grasping and seizing, but self-giving for the sake of others.

This leads, fourth, to the troubling word likeness (homoiōma), which is most likely used because of Paul’s belief (in common with the rest of the early church) that in becoming human Christ did not cease to be divine. This word allows for the ambiguity, emphasizing that he is similar to our humanity in some respects and dissimilar in others. The similarity lies with his full humanity; in his incarnation he was “like” in the sense of “the same as.” The dissimilarity lies with his never ceasing to be “equal with God”; while “like” us in being fully identified with us, he was not “human” only. He was God living out a truly human life, all of which is safeguarded by this expression.

Thus, to put the sentence all together, in Christ Jesus God has shown his true nature; this is what it means for Christ to be “equal with God”—to pour himself out for the sake of others and to do so by taking the role of a slave. Hereby he not only reveals the character of God but also reveals what it means for us to be created in God’s image, to bear his likeness and have his “mindset.” It means taking the role of the slave for the sake of others—the contours of which are delineated in the next sentence.

The New Testament in its World

To be brief, and somewhat simplistic, the question is whether harpagmos means to grasp after something one does not currently have or whether it means to exploit what one already has. If we apply these two options to Philippians 2.6, then: did Jesus refuse to snatch, seize, usurp, equality with God? Or did Jesus refuse to use his equality with God as a means of self-promotion?

I’m in favour of the second view because: (1) Jesus was already in the ‘form of God’, which is parallel to ‘equal with God’, so harpagmos must designate something that he already possessed; and (2) the most thorough surveys and analyses of harpagmos have confirmed that, in phrases like this one, it can refer to a verbal idea of exploiting something that one already possesses. As such, Jesus did not, as Alexander the Great might have deon, regard his divine status as something to be deployed for his own selfish advantage. In contrast, he condescended to becoming a human being and reduced himself to the position of a slave. The gods, rulers, and politicians of Philippi were characterized by exploiting their positions for their own self-aggrandizement. But Jesus was the exact opposite: he pursued service and shame precisely because he was equal with God. In other words, Paul is saying that the one true God is quite unlike normal ideas of ‘divinity’. People would assume then, as they do now, that divinity means great honour; Paul insists, with his eyes on Jesus, that it means self-giving humility and love. (445)

Cohick

Verse 6 begins with the phrase “who, being in very nature God.” The participle translated as “existing” is related to the main verb in the next clause, “did [not] consider”. The relationship has been understood in at least three different ways: (1) concessive, “although in the form of God”; (2) causal; “precisely because [he] exists in the form of God; or (3) circumstantial, “who being in the circumstance of being in the form of God.”. The participle probably carries a causal sense, suggesting the idea of existing in one’s essence or expressing the reality of the situation.

Morphe (form or nature): The term morphe carries the sense of external shape and characteristics of the object. The difficulty in interpreting this term is that we find it only here and in Mark 16:12…Indeed, morphe is an elastic term that gains nuance from its context. (111-112)

But this is not the sort of God about which Paul speaks. God’s form, God’s character, is demonstrated, Paul says, by seeing Christ—whose form shows us God. And what did Christ do? He did not selfishly demand his due; he did not take advantage of what another would think he was wed. But it goes deeper. Christ shows us what God’s character is like. Though the world might believe that gods have the right to throw their weight around, the one true God, seen in Jesus Christ, demonstrates that the true God is the self-giving God. (113)

Harpagmos (something to be used to his own advantage): Philippians 2:6 includes another complicated term, harpagmos, found nowhere else in the New Testament. It can mean (1) the act of robbery, or (2) grasping at an object, either as (a) something one does not have, or (b) something one rightly possesses. It also has been understood to refer to (3) an attitude that one has toward that which one has and continues to have. These options have led to a variety of interpretations. (114)

More recently, a way forward has been suggested that looks not at the individual terms but at the phrase as a whole: “did not consider…harpagmos.” This idiom in its wider Greek usage refers to the attitude the person has toward something they have and will continue to have, but which they will not use to their advantage…Christ’s equality with God is embodied in selflessness, in refusing to use the power and glory that are due God’s majesty for his own advantage. (115)

Who Jesus Is

He Is God

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;

John captures this perfectly in John chapter 1.

John 1:1-4: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

This is who Jesus is. 

Before He became human, He is the second person of the Trinity - God the Son, the Word of God.

In case you don’t know the Christian teaching of Trinity - we believe there is one God. But, that God exists as three distinct persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Each is fully God - not a part of God - fully God, and yet each are distinct persons. This is the mystery of the Trinity - Our God is 3-in-1.

And before He became human, Jesus the Christ existed as God - God the Son, the Word of God.

He was with God the Father, and yet He Himself was God. 

Paul puts it this way in Colossians 1:16-17: For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

When we look at Jesus, we see God. 

The God of the Bible is best revealed to us in the person of Jesus.

On the night he was betrayed, Philip, Jesus’ disciple, said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. (John 14:8-10)

When we see Jesus, we see God.

And the Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus and who He is:  John 15:26 - When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.

The Spirit testifies about Jesus, and Jesus reveals the Father, and no one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6 - Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.)

The Trinity is all about focusing us on Jesus, so that we can know the God we were created to reflect, and to love, and be with forever and ever.

Humans have had their own ideas of who or what God is.

There are preconceptions and baggage.

When we talk to people about God - we can be talking past each other without even knowing it. 

It’s why I don’t really like asking people if they believe in God.

I’d rather talk to people about Jesus.

Because if people meet Jesus, they truly meet the God of the Bible in the fullness of the reality of who He is.

Jesus is God.

And Jesus didn’t become god.

If you’ve been with us since the beginning of the series, you might remember that Philippi was a city with a ton of gods worshipped, including the emperors.

The head of political life in Philippi was also the head of the imperial cult. The imperial family, including Augustus, his wife Livia, and her grandson Claudius were all worshiped in the imperial cult in Philippi when Paul wrote this letter. (Cohick)

When each one died, the Senate voted to declare that they had become a god. This is called apotheosis - a human becoming a god.

One of my favorite stories about the Emperors becoming divine comes from the Emperor Vespasian. 

He was super sick, thought he was dying, and so he joked, “I think I am becoming a god.”

The Emperors were always grasping after power, exploiting others for their own benefit, using all their power and privilege for their own advantage.

They sought power and place not for the sake of doing good for others, but for the sake of their own good.

And this is nothing new for humans - the first temptation in Genesis 2 was to not trust God, and instead to grasp and be like God, to be God ourselves.

And humanity has been doing it ever since.

The drive for glory and fame, to make our names known, to be remembered, to have power and influence, to do whatever we want whenever we want and have no one else tell us what to do.

But Paul tells us Jesus isn’t like that.

The phrase here translated as something to be used to his own advantage; can also be translated as something to be grasped; or something to be exploited.

Jesus is not like the Emperors, and Jesus is not like everyone else who is desperately trying to gain influence, power, fame, or glory.

The true God, the true King, humbles himself.

He doesn’t grasp, There is no panic for place and position, He doesn’t care about what He deserves.

Jesus didn’t become a god–Jesus always was God–and Jesus became human to care for us.

And this also sets Jesus in contrast to all the other gods worshipped in Philippi.

And the gods of Rome used their power and their glory not for the good of humanity, but rather for their own benefit.

There’s a myth about how the Titan Prometheus loved humanity and wanted to bless us by giving us fire.

Zeus was so angry that Prometheus gave us this gift that he chained Prometheus to a rock and had a vulture come and eat his liver every day as the liver regrew.

The gods didn’t care about humanity.

Humanity existed to be exploited for the pleasure and entertainment and service of the gods.

Worshipping the gods was transactional - keep them from hurting you, and maybe manipulate them into blessing you.

Because you could not trust them - they were out for themselves.

But Jesus is not like them. The God of the Bible is not like them.

He doesn’t seek to exploit his power and position for his own good, he doesn’t proclaim His divinity for His own advantage. 

Rather, He seeks to care for us. He enters into our experience, and calls us to be with and like Him. 

We will talk about this more next week, but He takes on our evil and rescues and redeems us for our sake, and for the sake of His great love.

Because not only is He God He is Christ.

He Is Christ

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;

I still remember the first day of class my freshman year at UCLA. 

I was a Computer Science major, but when I was looking through the course catalog, I saw a class on the Historical Jesus, and I was so excited that I had to take it.

Let’s see what people think about Jesus, not from a church standpoint, but purely from a secular, historical standpoint.

Let’s hear what this college that is out to destroy my faith has to say.

Surprise surprise, that class deepened my love and appreciation for Jesus more than I can ever say - it also rooted my faith in historicity of the gospel deeper than I expected.

I was given historical evidence for the fact that Jesus lived and died, and was exposed to the context around him.

The context of his society, and the way he moved through it and confounded people while still being someone who could engage with people - I walked out of that class amazed and more deeply in love with my King.

Not what I expected. But the point is, that first day of class, my Professor came in and part way through he said, just so you know, we are not talking about first name Jesus, last name Christ.

We are talking about Jesus of Nazareth who was considered by his followers to be Christ.

Christ is the title, not a last name. And then someone a few seats down from me went really?

Christ is a title - it's the Greek version of the Hebrew title Messiah. And it means Anointed One.

There were roles in Israel, like prophet, priest or king, where to be commissioned for that role, had oil put on your head, and thus you were an anointed one.

And in the storyline of the Old Testament, God had promised to send a prophet like Moses to teach His people. (Deuteronomy 18:15)

He promised to send a king like David to lead his people. (Ezekiel 34:24)

He promised to send a priest like Melchizedek to make atonement for his people. (Psalm 110:4)

And from the moment we sinned and rebelled against him, God has promised to send someone to overcome evil and reverse the curse. (Genesis 3:15)

And that hope of deliverance, of liberation, of redemption, of rescue, of healing,  of restoration and transformation, is what the Old Testament is about.

Each story is someone else stepping up, and God’s people hoping this is the one, only to meet with disappointment as each one falls short.

So, by the end, it has become evident that while God has promised to send someone to save us, the only one who can save us is God Himself.

And that is why God does it Himself. That is why Jesus enters into our experience.

The hope of God’s people becomes evident when God Himself steps into our experience not just as our God, but also as the Christ, the Messiah, the Promised and Hoped For One who will heal us.

Jesus is Christ - He is the proof that God keeps His promises.

He is the power that breaks the grip of sin and death.

He is the pinnacle of what it means to be human.

He is the proclamation of God’s love and justice.

He is the purpose of God made manifest in the world

He is the presence of God restored to us.

These verses reveal to us who Jesus Is - He is God, and He is Christ.

And this God, and this Christ chose humility.

What Jesus Has Done

He Chose Humility

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;

The active verb in verse 6 is did not consider. Jesus’ mindset was one that chose humility. 

We think of humility as a virtue for the most part. People who are arrogant and cocky usually irk us.

But that is part of the effect Christianity and the story of Jesus has had on our society.

You see, humility was regarded in the ancient world as weakness, the characteristic of inferiors and slaves who had been kicked down to the bottom rungs of society. People usually prized…‘honour’ and fame. (Wright/Bird)

As our culture is transitioning to a more post-Christian society, we are seeing braggadocious, extravagant arrogance as a virtue once again.

But Christianity pushes back on this.

True strength doesn’t need to be others down. 

True power doesn’t have to flaunt itself. 

True confidence doesn’t have to brag. 

True ability doesn’t need constant validation.

Humility isn’t thinking less about yourself but thinking about yourself less.

The Church Father Theodoret put it this way: Being God, and God by nature, and having equality with God, he [Jesus] thought this no great thing, as is the way of those who have received some honor beyond their merits, but, hiding his merit, he elected the utmost humility and took the shape of a human being.

Christ was so secure in who He is that no amount of humiliation was going to keep him from being on mission.

No amount of opposition could make Him give up who He was.

He is God. He is Christ.

And so, choosing humility isn’t hard. Giving up his rights isn’t hard.

Because this is what divine love does. God Himself chose humility.

So, how can we learn to imitate Jesus today?

How We Imitate Jesus

When I became a Christian in high school these bracelets that said WWJD What Would Jesus Do? were everywhere.

At first, I thought they were cheesy.

Then I saw them as a good reminder, but my constant failures filled me with guilt.

Then I saw them as performative - a way to claim to be a Christian without living like Christ.

But nowadays, I’ve come around on this. 

What Would Jesus Do? at its core is calling us to imitate Christ.

Imitation is an excellent form of learning and growing.

Imitating Christ is why Paul gave us this beautiful hymn.

So, if we are going to imitate Christ, we need to look at Christ Jesus.

Look at Jesus

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;

It’s going to sound simple, and it’s going to sound basic, and it’s going to sound performative. 

But we need to hear this:

You and I have to keep our eyes centered on Jesus.

There is no substitute for Jesus

No pastor, no sermon, no entertainment, no nothing is a substitute for Jesus.

There is no substitute for time in prayer, talking with Jesus. 

There is no substitute for time in the Scriptures, looking at Jesus.

There is no substitute for time spent gathering together as the Church, adoring Jesus.

There is no substitute for time in meditation reflecting on who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He will do.

We cannot build our lives around imitating Jesus, and living for Jesus, if we don’t know and love Jesus.

Time is tied to passion and drive. I remember back when I was doing Tae Kwon Do, my passion and drive meant that when I was doing chores, I was stretching. 

While I was watching TV or playing video games I was standing in horse stance, or trying to do the splits, or do that sit where your feet are together and you are shoving your knees down.

I built my life around it. I got creative on how to integrate it into the rest of my life.

The same is true for our relationship with Jesus - we need to build our lives around looking at Jesus. We need to put first things first.

The crazy calculus of life is that there is never enough time, never enough resources, never enough space to give Jesus His due.

There are things that we need to do, people we need to care for, duties and responsibilities that give us no space.’’

This is where creativity and discipline come in. 

Pastor Andrea is someone I respect a lot. 

He is constantly striving to be a good pastor, a good father, a good husband, a good son, a good brother, and a good friend to so many people.

Watching him is exhausting.

He is busy. And one day he was sharing with me about his devotional life, and how he doesn't have the time he used to have to do all the disciplines he used to do.

But what he does do, is he intentionally sets aside time with his boys so they see him reading his Bible, and know how important that is. 

He prays in the car during his commute.

He finds creative ways to integrate looking at Jesus into his busy, hectic life.

He attempts to be creative in his discipline, so that he continues to put first things first.

But he wasn’t the first one to turn a commute into a prayer time. 

I remember being at a youth worker’s conference learning about integrating prayer into our daily lives, and they talked about monks who would make notches on their walking stick. 

And each notch would represent a Psalm.

So, while they were walking, they’d pray a Psalm.

When I talk about time and discipline, it can easily start to feel like I’m dropping a guilt bomb - you aren’t doing enough, you don’t love Jesus enough.

It’s not about guilt, and it’s not about burdensome duty.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

This is about loving Jesus, and creating the space for the relationship to thrive.

Because only Jesus satisfies. 

If you are thirsty and you chug salt water, you won’t get hydrated and refreshed, you’ll continue to dehydrate and die.

If our souls are burdened and heavy laden, the only source of true comfort, rest, and joy, is Jesus.

Whether we like it or not, relationships take work. 

Our relationship with Jesus, and through Him the whole Trinity, is going to take work.

Get creative and be disciplined on how to integrate a focus on Jesus into your life. If you need help with this, this is why us pastors are here.

To help you, look at Jesus.

Because when we put Jesus first, when we carve out the time and space, when we force ourselves and discipline ourselves to consistently seek Him, our capacity, our love, and our ability to imitate Him grow.

We can’t love people the way we are supposed to, if we aren’t experiencing the love of God like we are supposed to.

It’s like the oxygen mask on a plane, you have to apply your mask before helping apply others.

We cannot imitate someone we don’t deeply know. And we can’t offer others something we don’t have.

Look at Jesus.

Cultivate Culture

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;

And as we look at Jesus as individuals, as a community we need to cultivate a culture of unity through humility.

Pastor Andrea all year has been telling the staff that culture eats strategy for breakfast.

Culture is the norms and expectations of a community.

Our desire for a culture where people Belong to the Church. 

Where no one is exploiting others, no one is using their gifts and talents for their own advantage, but rather for the good of others.

Where each of us is learning to be more and more like Jesus, to become genuinely human.

This phrase can mean me as an individual, it can also mean us as a community, or it can mean both.

It is communal - it is culture. But we are only going to have that culture, if each and every one of us has bought into it internally.

It’s both-and, not either-or. We have to cultivate a culture of unity through humility, a culture of imitating Christ.

But we will only have that culture if each and every one of us are bought into pursuing unity through humility and imitating Christ Jesus.

When we are all united in pursuing the Kingdom of Christ, when we are all striving for the mission of God,  that kind of unity will give freedom.

You won’t have to question if I am trying to manipulate you for my own advantage - because you will know that I won’t be grasping or exploiting or using anything for my own advantage, because Jesus didn’t use His divinity or His position for His advantage.

You can trust that I am looking out for your good.

And I won’t have to question you, whether you are trying to undermine me or trip me up, because I can trust that you are looking out for my good, just like Jesus looked out for our good.

When we hold each other accountable and gently and lovingly call each other out on our sin, we won’t have to be defensive, because we will know that we aren’t trying to elevate ourselves by putting others down, but lovingly trying to help each other succeed.

It isn’t about winning or being right - it’s about being on mission for Christ and His kingdom.

We need to cultivate a culture at Emmanuel Church that pursues unity through humility so that when people come through the door, they get a taste of the life of Christ.

And if we are going to cultivate this culture, if we are going to internalize it, we need to constantly be looking to Jesus.

Conclusion

Because He is God, and Christ. He chose humility. So we will cultivate a culture of unity through humility as we look to Jesus.

Amen?

Pray with me.

Benediction

2 Corinthians 13:14: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Resources Used

• Cohick, Lynn H. The Story of God Bible Commentary: Philippians. Edited by McKnight. Scot, Zondervan, 2013.

• Edwards, Mark J., and Thomas C. Oden, editors. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. InterVarsity Press, 2005.

• Fee, Gordon D. Philippians. IVP Academic, 1999.

• Freedman, David Noel, et al., editors. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, Doubleday, 1992.

• Guthrie, George H. Philippians. Zondervan Academic, 2023.

• Motyer, J. A. The Message of Philippians. InterVarsity Press, 1984.

• Wright, N.T, and Mike Bird. The New Testament in its World. SPCK, 2019.

• Wright, Nicholas Thomas. Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters : Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. SPCK, 2004.