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Christ's Humility and Greatness
Philippians 2.5-11
Good News Translation (GNT)
5 The attitude you should have is the one that
Christ Jesus had:
6 He always had the nature of God,
but he did not think that by force he should
try to remain[b] equal with God.
7 Instead of this, of his own free will he gave
up all he had,
and took the nature of a servant.
He became like a human being
and appeared in human likeness.
8 He was humble and walked the path of
obedience all the way to death -
his death on the cross.
9 For this reason God raised him to the
highest place above
and gave him the name that is greater
than any other name.
10 And so, in honor of the name of Jesus
all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the
world below [c]
will fall on their knees,
11 and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ
is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Footnotes
Philippians 2:10 It was thought that the dead
continued to exist in a dark world under the
ground.
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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)
Christ's Humility and Greatness
Philippians 2.5 - 11
The Example of Christ
The greatest example of humility is Jesus Christ Himself.
Even though He was the highest man of all - yes, even God Himself - He nonetheless lowered Himself and made Himself a servant for our sakes.
Let the attitude that was in Christ be also in us!
Christ is in very nature God.
This means that God's entire nature, character, and qualities are in Christ.
But even though Christ was equal with God, He voluntarily emptied Himself of all these divine qualities and made himself nothing.
Even though He was fully God, He became fully man.
That is, he took the nature of a man - indeed, the nature of a servant.
Christ did not have to grasp His equality with God; it was His to begin with.
Christ was and is equal with God; He is God.
An heir doesn't have to grasp at his inheritance; it is his; it has been preserved for him.
Christ came to earth in human likeness.
Christ was a man like us in every way - except for one thing: He never sinned.
But even though Christ was in human likeness while He was on earth, He didn't stop being God.
For it was God Himself who came to earth in the form of the man Christ.
God and Christ are one (see John 1:1,14).
Christ not only took the nature of a man; He made Himself even lower than that.
He allowed Himself to be killed on a cross as a criminal.
In Christ's time, to be put to death on a cross was the most contemptible thing that could happen to a man.
The Romans used to crucify only the worst criminals on crosses.
There was nothing lower than a crucified criminal.
And yet Christ came down from the highest position of all and put Himself in the lowest position of all - for our sakes.
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place.
It was because Christ had first lowered Himself that God exalted Him.
That highest place is at the right hand of God in heaven, where Christ is now seated.
At the end of the world, every knee (every person) - whether living or dead, whether a believer in Christ or an unbeliever - will bow; and every tongue (every person) will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
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