«　WEEK 2　DAY 2　»

　　Phil. 2:6-7 Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider being equal with God a treasure to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men.

　　Christ, the Son of God, had a very high position…. Christ gave up His high standing and took the form not only of a man but also of a slave. Being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient even unto the death of the cross. As such a person, Christ is our pattern for our experience and enjoyment. Instead of seeking a position and title for ourselves, we need to live according to Christ as the pattern of a crucified life. Christ's crucified life should be our experience. We need to experience Christ in His humiliation. This means that we need to experience Him as the One who emptied Himself and humbled Himself. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3496)

　　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.

　　Humbling Himself was a further step in emptying Himself. Christ's self-humbling manifests 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).

　　If we would experience Christ and live Him, we must know Him as our pattern. In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul presents Christ as our pattern. We need to be deeply impressed with this pattern and even have it infused into us.

　　[The] all-inclusive Christ is nothing less than God. But even though He is equal with God, He “emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming in the likeness of men” (v. 7). He did not regard His equality with God as a thing to grasp. Rather, He laid aside this equality and emptied Himself. This does not mean, however, that Christ was no longer God. It simply means that He put aside His outward expression of God. Although He subsisted in the form of God, He took on the form of a slave and became in the likeness of men and in the fashion of a man. As a result, He had the appearance of a man instead of the expression of God. On the one hand, having the form of God, Christ emptied Himself. On the other hand, being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, and that the death of a cross. As the Savior, Christ has both divinity and humanity. He both emptied Himself and humbled Himself. Thus, according to verses 6 through 8, we may speak of the self-emptying and self-humbling Christ.

　　Philippians 2:9 says, “Therefore also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.” This verse indicates that God came in to exalt Christ. For Christ to be exalted means not only that He was uplifted to the third heaven from the lower parts of the earth; it also means that in a glorious way He was brought back with His human nature to the form of God. Before His incarnation, Christ did not have the human nature. But through incarnation He took on humanity. Then He brought this human nature to the cross, shedding His blood for our redemption. After His resurrection, He was uplifted to the heavens and with His human nature was brought back to the form of God in glory. Now He is our pattern. The pattern of the Christian life is the God-man Savior who emptied Himself and humbled Himself and who was exalted and glorified by God. (Life-study of Philippians, pp. 87-88, 377-378)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Philippians, msgs. 10, 43