6 … who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Modeling Christ’s life does not mean having a superficial sentimentalism or a “treating everyone nice” mentality. The substance of His humbleness is monumental. He is God who became a man. No commentary could ever capture the full import and beauty of this passage.
A few simple observations, though, are in order. Jesus existed in the form of God. This is not a statement that places Christ at a status of somewhat less than God, being “only” a form of God. Hebrews 1:3 tells us He is the “radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature.” John 1:1 informs us that He was in the beginning with God and “was God” (see also Colossians 1:19, 2:9). The point here is that Jesus set aside the outward appearances or form of Deity, and entered the world looking like a mere man. There was nothing God-like about Him in terms of the usual imagery of Deity. He “emptied” Himself of the outward manifestation of being God. His mission on earth did not require proving His deity through self-declarations of divine authority. He behaved like God, to be sure, but He behaved like God would behave in human form.
His life as a man was one of the humbler sort, not as an exalted earthly king or ruler, with the trappings of worldly acclaim. He came to experience the more common strata of mankind, of those most aptly described as “servants.” And furthermore, He came to experience the most creaturely experience of death. What a huge step down, a condescension from the outward “form of God” to the depths of the fallen human condition—death.
It has been said that death represents separation. Jesus experienced physical death, obviously, the separation of the soul from the body. He experienced soul death, the separation of the soul from the spirit, on the cross, as prophetically anticipated, “My heart is poured out like wax…” (Psalm 22:14). The emotional toll was terrible. Finally, He experienced spiritual death, the separation from God His father. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me …” (Psalm 22:1, Matt 27:46). In death, though, He shared in the expectation God had for humans created in His image, obedience: “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Heb 5:8).
Lord Jesus, when I consider how You humbled Yourself, help me to set aside my futile attempts for personal glory and strive to humbly serve others.
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