In these verses Paul
called on the Philippians to have the mind of Christ. Why should they have the
mind of Christ? What is the mind of Christ? We need to remember that the Greeks
were proud people. They considered themselves a class above other races. They
had exerted influence in practically every aspect of life. Language, art,
architecture, medicine, philosophy and so forth, all bear the influence of the
Greeks. No wonder they were a prideful people. With that as a backdrop, we can
now understand why Paul had to call on them to emulate the mentality of Christ.
Christ had a humble attitude. To have the mind of Christ is to have the same
kind of attitude and mentality. Though He had every right to claim equality with
God, for He and the Father share the same essence, nature and power, and was
co-equal and co-eternal, yet Christ did not. Why? He had a humble attitude.
Here in
these few short verses, we are introduced to three cardinal aspects about
Christ. Verses 5-6 speak of Christ’s
condescension. Paul here referred to
Christ’s pre-incarnate state. And in that state, Paul described Him as having
the very same nature of God. He shared the same power and authority of God. He
was co-equal and co-eternal with God. In His very essence and nature, Christ was
and still is God. In verses 7-8 we see Christ, the Incarnate God emptied and
divested Himself of the rights to claim equality with God. By an act of choice,
Christ lowered Himself to take on a human nature to share the plight of man. He
came with the mentality to serve and so He became a servant. As a servant, He
was perfectly obedient, even unto death on the Cross. He yielded Himself to the
cruelty of men and died for our sins. Then in verses 9-11, Paul described the exaltation
of the Incarnate God. By His willing submission to the humiliation, Christ is
now highly exalted by God the Father and is given a name above every other name.
Essentially, Paul referred to the resurrection, ascension and glorification of
Christ.
The emphasis
is that Christ’s Personhood has been raised to a position of honor and dignity.
And His Sovereignty is extended over three spheres: in heaven, on earth and
underneath the earth. Paul made no bones about it, whether angels in heaven,
people on earth or demons underneath the earth, all have to bow to His
Lordship. Therefore every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. This is the earliest Christian creed – that Jesus Christ is
Yahweh - God. All this is to bring glory to God the Father.
The Lord displayed great humility in His self-sacrifice. Our reconciliation
with God is made possible by what He had gone through on the behalf of each one
of us. He had placed our interest above His personal comfort. Christ had shown
us how we should live our lives. Like Him we don’t need position to find validation
and worth. Like Him, we must also bend to the will of God, and seek to be obedient
to our Heavenly Father. And Like Him, we are also called to serve others sacrificially.
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