“But made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”
(Philippians 2:7-8).
Introduction
It is sad to say, but nevertheless it is true,
many believers have an unbiblical understanding regarding the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is easy for false notions, if often stated, to become denominational
traditions. This is no different when we come to the eternal divinity of the
Saviour. There are those who teach that He did not become God’s Son until He
was baptised of John, while others believe that He laid aside His divinity when
He came to earth. Simply by reading what the Scriptures teach the fog of false
doctrine is quickly blown away.
Voluntary
humiliation
Firstly we must note that Paul writes that Jesus
“made Himself of no reputation.” The Greek here indicates that He
“emptied” Himself rather than ‘made Himself nothing’ as in some modern
versions of the Bible. In the notes of the New International Version
Disciple’s Study Bible we read, “That Christ took the role of a servant
assumes that He forsook another role. His pre-existent life with God.” Such an
interpretation is more a presumption than an assumption and is unsound theology
in the light of Scripture. This ought to be considered very carefully, for it is
the devil’s desire to undermine the true and eternal Lordship of Christ. There
is no warrant to believe that Christ laid aside anything more than His heavenly glory
(John 17:4), riches (2 Corinthians 8:9), and position (John 5:30, Hebrews 5:8).
In coming to earth as a man to die on the cross for sinners He accepted a
limitation to the use of His divine attributes (John 5:19, 8:28, 14:10). This
was an act of obedience to the will of the Godhead. Notice Paul states that
Jesus “became obedient” in this regards. The idea that His divinity was
included in this emptying is both unsound and cultic in nature, for if He laid
aside His divine nature and perfections, then Jesus was not omnipotent, holy and
true. A part of this humiliation meant that He would have to suffer on our
behalf. If He were only a man while on earth, then our salvation would not be
complete. The sun, though at times hidden from view by an eclipse, constantly
radiates its heat and light. Christ’s eternal nature was simply veiled by
flesh. “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root
out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him,
there is no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2). The
‘Transfiguration’ of Jesus reveals that His preincarnate glory was veiled by
the flesh while He was on earth. “And was transfigured before them: and his
face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light” (Matthew
17:2). Jesus assumed a body of flesh to come to eath, “Wherefore when he
cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a
body hast thou prepared me” (Hebrews 10:5). As such He was subject to the
Law of Moses (Luke 2:21, Galatians 4:4), the will of his parents (Luke 2:51),
temptation (Matthew 4:1-11) and the human needs (John 4:6, Matthew 8:24, Matthew
4:2, John 19:28). If He had appeared in all His divine glory there would not
have been a soul left alive to tell the tale, for no man can look upon God and
live (Exodus 33:20). “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light
which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1
Timothy 6:16).
The demons knew who Jesus was when He walked the
earth. “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?
art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God”
(Mark 1:24). Satan knew who Jesus was or else why did he bother to tempt Him the
way he did (see Matthew 4). In fact Jesus continued to humble Himself rather
than demand His divine rights throughout His earthly life. “Thinkest thou
that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than
twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). We must not forget Paul’s
intended meaning here, which is, Christ humbled Himself and is the supreme
example for us to emulate.
Christ was not forced into coming to save us;
instead it was a voluntary act of love on His part. This voluntary humiliation
includes the fact that Jesus, though God in the flesh, willingly became a
servant. The servant was the lowest of all social classes. The Creator of Heaven
and the universe stepped down from His Throne to become a slave and die for the
sins of man. “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). He, the
“KING OF KINGS” (Revelation 19:16) was born in a lowly cattle shed
(Luke 2:7). So we see that He became more than just a man, but took the concept
of humility to a whole lot lower level. We are presented with many wonderful
insights into the Lord’s servanthood in the Bible, but none more so than when
He washed His disciple’s feet (John 13:4-17). The distance between His majesty
and His humiliation cannot be measured or understood by our feeble minds, though
it is vital that we grasp something of the significance of His humility and put
it into practice in our daily lives. It is important to note that Jesus existed
as much in the “form of God” as in the “form of a servant” for the
duration of His life on earth.
Vicarious
humiliation
Though Jesus was fully God, He took on the real
likeness of man, though “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Neither was He
pretending to be a man when He was “made in the likeness of men”, for the
word “made” (Gk. genomai) means ‘to become’. The tense of the word has a
definite time scale to it, thus it means that Christ becoming man was not what
He was before and that the state would not be permanent. He was “found in
fashion as a man” yet He was truly God. Scripture teaches, “Though we
have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more”
(2 Corinthians 5:16).
Everything He did in coming to earth
was voluntary, including His vicarious death on the cross, thus revealing that
He did absolutely everything to save us. Nailed to the cross as a sacrifice for
sin portrays to us the gory details of Christ utter and complete humiliation. He
could have saved Himself (Luke 23:35), but chose not to preserve His own life.
He allowed the very ones He came to save to kill Him, even though He did nothing
to justify such hostility and wickedness. “Consider him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against himself” (Hebrews 12:3) … “He is
despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and
we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him
not” (Isaiah 53:3). Many men died on Roman crosses, but Jesus suffered the
deepest form of humiliation possible. “For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter
3:18). He did this for us in obedience to His Father’s will. He willingly took
the curse of all humanity upon Himself. “Christ hath redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every
one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13) … “Surely he hath
borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was
bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with
his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us
all” (Isaiah 53:4-6).
Conclusion
We see here both the humility and the humiliation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, for no one has ever given up so much for us. Although
He remained fully divine, Jesus took on a human nature with its temptations,
humiliations and weaknesses. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The climax of His
obedience being His death on Calvary. “No man taketh it from me, but I lay
it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it
again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:18). In 1
Timothy 1:15 the apostle Paul encapsulates the gospel in a nutshell, for “Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners”, and this marvellous act was
both voluntary and vicarious. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet
he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isaiah
53:7). No wonder then that “There salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts
4:12).
