[5] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: [7] But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: [8] And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. [9] Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: [10] That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; [11] And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In this passage, in verse 6, the phrase “… thought it not robbery to be equal with God …” means “… thought it not something to hold onto to be equal with God …”. That is, Jesus did not think of equality with God as something He should hold on to and refuse to let go of, but was willing to lay it down to take on Himself the form of a man (which relative to His glory was like a king stooping to the level of a servant). He even became obedient to death, which was an impossibility before He agreed to take on the form of a man. He did so because it was the will of His Father for Him to come and save us.
The passage, in verse 5, says: let this kind of selfless mind of Christ be also in you. Meaning, you should be willing to let go of anything and be willing to humble yourself in any way if it is the will of God that you do so. Jesus didn’t think of personal glory. Even immortality and divinity and equality with God were not too big to lay down. They were not things worth refusing to obey His Father.
To appreciate how remarkable this is. Consider this analogy. Now you are in your Christian journey, with the hope of partaking in God’s divine nature (as mentioned in 2 Peter 1:4) and becoming a divine son of God that puts on the glorious body (as said in 1 Corinthians 15:44-54). Imagine that after the end of this age you have become this divine being (more glorious than the angels, as is part of the hope of a Christian, 1 Corinthians 6:3). Then, after all these, God calls you one day and says that He strongly desires that the Gorilla community be transformed and elevated to the level of humans (similar to how God sent Jesus to elevate humanity to divinity, from below to above the angels). And God explains that to do this, you would need to be organically introduced into the Gorilla community. Meaning, you would need to lay down all the glory and divinity and enter into the womb of a chosen female Gorilla and be born to Gorilla parents and nurse from the Gorilla mother and grow up to a mature young Gorilla. And then begin to communicate to the Gorillas the great wonders of God. And that they will end up killing you (probably by pounding). After which you will resurrect and then return to your glorious divine form. And that this period among the gorillas would last about thirty-plus years.
Take some time to really really think about this. How easily would you agree to do it – to lay down divinity to live as a Gorilla – knowing what you know about the Gorillas and living in the jungle? Also, although Jesus had no one at His level, there were the angels whom He created (especially the princes among them). They had never seen Him before. He has always been dwelling with the Father in light inaccessible. According to 1 Timothy 3:16, it is when He came into the world that He was seen visibly for the first time. Meaning, the first time the angels saw their master, they saw him in the lowly servantly form of a human. But that didn’t bother Jesus. He wasn’t concerned about His image or reputation in that sense of glory. Just doing the Father’s will was His priority. Would you have been able to? Would you be ok with your fellow divine sons of God seeing you live as a Gorilla in the jungle? Swinging from tree to tree (as they normally do), eating leaves and speaking inaudible words? Would you be concerned about your reputation?
Joke and impossible as this analogy may seem, it helps to reveal the selfless heart of the Lord Jesus, as well as helps to examine your heart. For example, whereas going to live as a Gorilla may seem far fetched, in a situation at work, or at home, or at school, or at church, or in the neighborhood:
Are you willing to humble yourself to be a person of no reputation in order to show the love of Christ and to model Christ’s character?
Prayer for today:
O Lord, help me to have Your mind. Let me be selfless as You are and always willing to do the will of the Father. Let me show Your love and model Your personality to people around me, even if it means humbling myself to be as a servant, because that is what You did to show us God’s love. Help me Lord to be like You.
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