Paul quotes what is quite possibly an early Christian hymn in this second chapter of his letter to the Philippians. This hymn speaks of Christ becoming nothing and suffering on the cross.

Look at this week’s part of this passage in Philippians 2:7-8:

In the first couple of verses in this poetic piece of the chapter, Paul stresses that Christ was equal with God. But he also stresses Christ’s humility, and in these verses, we see just how far that humility took him… All the way to the cross!

There are several actions that Paul states Jesus took in this process of humility. Let’s take each in turn:

Made himself nothing

Jesus voluntarily emptied himself of all of his rights as a part of the Godhead. He poured himself out totally for our sake. The depths of this we will never know this side of eternity, since we cannot fathom the mind of God in its entirety. But it is sufficient for us to know that he left everything he had for you and me.

Taking the very nature of a servant

Jesus, a part of the Trinity, God in the flesh, left his lofty status behind and took on the very nature of the lowest of all: the servant. God himself chooses to be a servant, a slave, to his own creation.

Being made in human likeness

Christ left his position at the right hand of God and entered into a helpless state, the birth and infancy of a human. In all ways, he completely identified with humanity, and became a part of his creation.

He humbled himself

There is no pride or ego in the actions of Christ. His act of service is full of humility and completely opposite of our own natural inclinations. This is part of the point that Paul is stressing to the Philippian believers, that they should take on this same humility, as should we.

By becoming obedient to death

This is the ultimate humility. Christ set aside everything, including the human life that he donned to come to us, as the fullest expression of his humble nature. Not only was death an impossibility for him, as God, but the death he was to suffer was the ultimate disgrace: He was executed as a common criminal, in the most humiliating of devices, the Roman cross.

He was despised, shamed, hated, and abandoned. And this was all in obedience to the plan of the Father, to save mankind.

Jesus set aside everything. In humility, he modeled for us what a true servant looks like. And he paid the ultimate price in that humility, in order to secure our salvation.

This is the hope that we cling to!

This is the salvation that we are given!

This is the message of the cross!

Question: How does your attitude compare to that of Christ? What is good? What needs to change? You can leave a comment by clicking here.