From God to Servant
As I’m sitting here determining how to begin our study of Philippians
for class tonight, I have landed on Philippians 2:5-6.
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider
equality with God something to be grasped, but
made himself nothing, taking the very
nature of a
servant, being made in human likeness.
How could He? How would He? Should He? How could he give up
God, or the very nature of God, and become a servant, or take the very nature
of a servant? Those two natures are about as opposite as any two natures could
possibly be. I remember when my wife and I moved to New Mexico from Dallas, Texas. Our change in location resulted in culture shock.
How could Jesus take that-moving from the nature of God to
the nature of man-moving from the position of master to the position of slave? I
wonder if He experienced nature shock. Did he even know what that would
involve? Had he experienced the nature of a servant before, or had he just
witnessed it from his position with God?
2:8 tells us that this required humility. That
almost sounds like an understatement. It was a level of humility that no
humanity has ever developed. Sometimes we find ourselves humbled when the
police officer has pulled us over for a traffic violation. We feel pretty
sheepishly humble when an error on our tax return has been found not by us, but
by the IRS. Jesus’ humility did not come as a result of a mistake he had made,
but from a heart that was more than willing and anxious to carry out the Will
of His Father.
One who was in very nature God, humbled himself, and put on
the nature of a servant. No, I don’t know how he could do it. But I do know
that in order for us to be saved, and have a relationship with God, he should
have done it!
The result of this is,
“that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of the father (2:10-11).”
Don't know how He could have, but He did. Don't know how He would do it, but He did. Don't know if He should, but He thought He should and did.
