Philippians 2:1-11 (NASB) says the following:
1Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death [h]on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Many professing Christians have been deceived by false teachers who proclaim that Philippians 2:6-8 shows that Jesus Christ did NOT hold on to His God level of existence, but instead, “emptied Himself” and became a man, like us. Having fully given up His God level of existence, He became a man, making it possible for Him to choose sin.
In other words, these false teachers use Philippians 2:6-8 as evidence that the Lord Jesus voluntarily gave up His Godhood, emptying Himself of divinity to become a human being when He came to earth.
In Hebrews 13:8 (NASB), the Holy Bible clearly shows that the Lord Jesus does not change.
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."
So then what did the Lord Jesus empty Himself of?
What Philippians 2:5-11 shows us is that the Lord Jesus was equal in His status with God the Father and that He did not exploit His equal status for His own gain. Instead, His love of God the Father caused Him to voluntarily "empty" Himself (or "humbled Himself" as it says in v.8 of the NKJV) of His status by laying aside some of the rights He had as God the Son when He put on human flesh. In other words, he didn't set aside or lose any of His divine attributes, nor did He empty Himself of His Deity. Instead, He voluntarily chose to restrict the use of His divine attributes, and while in the flesh, He veiled or hid His glory from the people.
A good example of Christ Jesus laying aside or restricting Himself of the use of some of the rights He had as God the Son can be found in Matthew 26:51 - 54. After one of the high priests' ears was cut off by the Apostle Peter, Jesus remarks by saying the following as seen in verses 52-54 (NASB):
Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels? How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”
Verse 53 clearly shows that the Lord Jesus could have exercised the right to appeal to God the Father to put more than twelve legions of angels at has His disposal, but He didn't.
As God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ could have exercised any and all of His Divine rights for His own gain, but He didn't. He chose not to. What we see in the letter to the Philippians is that we are to follow His example of humility and set aside our own personal interests by looking out for the interests of others and regarding others more important than ourselves, just as the Lord Jesus did for us when He died on the cross and bore our sins.
That is the Mind of Christ.
Here is a good video by the Bible Project that gives the Biblical context and breaks down the literary design of the book Philippians and its flow of thought.
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