Monday

Related Verses
Phil. 2:1-8 (3-8)
1 If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any tenderheartedness and compassions,
2 Make my joy full, that you think the same thing, having the same love, joined in soul, thinking the one thing,
3 Doing nothing by way of selfish ambition nor by way of vainglory, but in lowliness of mind considering one another more excellent than yourselves;
4 Not regarding each his own virtues, but each the virtues of others also.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God a treasure to be grasped,
7 But emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men;
8 And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross.

Phil. 3:21
21 Who will transfigure the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory, according to His operation by which He is able even to subject all things to Himself.

Acts 8:33
33 In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. Who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken away from the earth.”

Related Reading
In Philippians 1 the central point is to magnify Christ, to live Christ (vv. 20-21). In chapter 2 it is to take Christ as our pattern, our model. This pattern is the standard of our salvation (v. 12). Verses 5 through 16 reveal that the word of life works out the pattern by the operating God in order to apply salvation to our daily living. In this way we enjoy Christ and live Him, taking Him as our pattern. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3489) 

[In Philippians 2:6] the Greek word rendered “existing” denotes existing from the beginning. It implies the Lord’s eternal preexistence. The word form refers to the expression, not the fashion, of God’s being (Heb. 1:3). It is identified with the essence and nature of God’s person and thus expresses His essence and nature. This refers to Christ’s deity. 

Although the Lord was equal with God, He did not consider being equal with God a treasure to be grasped and retained [Phil. 2:6]. Rather, He laid aside the form of God, not the nature of God, and emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave. (Life-study of Philippians, p. 86) 

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Philippians 2:7 goes on to say that Christ “emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men.” When Christ emptied Himself, He laid aside what He possessed—the form of God. The word form in verse 7 is the same word as used for the form of God in verse 6. In His incarnation the Lord did not alter His divine nature; He changed only His outward expression from the form of God, the highest form, to that of a slave, the lowest form. This was not a change of essence; it was a change of state. The word becoming indicates entering into a new state. 

The form of God implies the inward reality of Christ’s deity; the likeness of men denotes the outward appearance of His humanity. He appeared to men as a man outwardly, but as God, He had the reality of deity inwardly. 

Verse 8 continues, “And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross.” When Christ became in the likeness of men, entering into the condition of humanity, He was found in fashion as a man. The word fashion implies the outward guise, the semblance. What Christ looked like in His humanity was found by men to be in fashion as a man. 

First, He emptied Himself by putting aside the form, the outward expression, of His deity and becoming in the likeness of men. Then He humbled Himself by becoming obedient even unto death. Christ was God with the expression of God. Although He was equal with God, He put aside this equality and emptied Himself by taking the likeness of men. This indicates that He became a man through incarnation. Then, being found in the appearance of a man, He humbled Himself. This means that when He was a man, He did not insist on anything. Rather, He humbled Himself to the point of dying on the cross. This is Christ as our pattern. 

Christ’s self-humbling manifested His self-emptying. The death of the cross was the climax of Christ’s humiliation. To the Jews this was a curse (Deut. 21:22-23). To the Gentiles it was a death sentence imposed upon malefactors and slaves (Matt. 27:16-17, 20-23). Hence, it was a shameful thing (Heb. 12:2). 

The Lord’s humiliation involves seven steps: emptying Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men, humbling Himself, becoming obedient, being obedient even unto death, and being obedient unto the death of the cross. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 86-88) 

Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msg. 10