January 27, 2023: Philippians 2:5-7 - Let Our Minds be Like His

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.” - Philippians 2:5-7

Jesus has always existed, has always been with God, and never denied that He is God. Let us review some of the Biblical accounts that demonstrate that Jesus, as the apostle Paul said, “who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.” (Philippians 2:6).

Let us consider the words of the apostle John. He was the apostle who was with Jesus during His time of ministry on the earth. John was the only apostle there with Jesus when He gave up His life on the cross and the one to whom Jesus would have to care for His mother Mary after His death. John was the apostle who was exiled to the island of Patmos for His faith in Jesus and received the revelation of Jesus Christ, from which we have the prophetic book of Revelation. This John proclaimed these words in John 1:1-5:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

During His time of ministry, Jesus said to the Jews in Jerusalem , “I and My Father are one.” (John 10:30) When the Jews heard Him say this, they “took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, ‘Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?’ The Jews answered Him, saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.’” (John 10:31-33) Jesus did not deny that He is God. Jesus then said to them, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” (John 10:37-38)

Jesus prayed these words before He would be crucified, “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” (John 17:5) After Jesus gave up His life on the cross, was resurrected, and revealed Himself to some of His disciples, they went and told the other disciples that Jesus had been resurrected. However, the apostle Thomas did not believe their account, for he had not seen Jesus and His wounds with his own eyes. Eight days later, Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas and said to him, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas then said to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24-29)

Jesus did not come to earth the first time as the mighty, conquering king that the Jews had been looking for and wanting. Instead, Jesus came as a lowly bondservant, as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth:

“He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with His transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:11-12)

Jesus was full of humility, and was the opposite of what we see today in world leaders. He was also the opposite of what the Jews had been looking for in their Messiah. Isaiah had prophesied about Jesus:

“He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” (Isaiah 53:3)

The prophet Zechariah prophesied of the coming Messiah:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zechariah 9:9)

All of the prophecies of Jesus’ first coming were fulfilled. He came as one of us - human - to offer us the way of salvation from sins, the only way of salvation. If there was anyone who ever lived on earth who deserved to be treated the way a king would be treated, it would be Jesus. Think about how our world today treats kings, queens, presidents, etc. Think about how the Kings and Queens of England have been treated, how the United States presidents are treated. They live in beautiful mansions, eat the best foods, travel via the most luxurious modes of transportation, and are waited on hand and foot. Now compare that to how Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, was treated when He walked the earth. He was hated, despised, spat upon, mocked, beaten, scourged, and nailed to a cross, left to die an agonizing death. He was even mocked while dying, and He is mocked and hated to this day. At every opportunity they get, the entertainment industry uses His name in vain and mock Him and those who believe in Him. World leaders today do the same, including Yuval Noah Harari, who proclaimed, “I mean all this story about Jesus rising from the dead and being the Son of God is fake news.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG_fI2hmdOg; 2:07 minute mark) For those who believe in Jesus as their Savior, this should be of no surprise to us, for Jesus told us that the world will hate us because they hate Him.

So, what do we do in this world that hates us for our belief in Jesus as our Savior? What about when the world, sadly, includes members of our own family and our closest friends? Let us remember that they are not saved, just as we once were not saved. Let us remember that Jesus loves them too, and wants them to turn to Him and be saved. May we also remember the apostle Paul, the author of this letter in Philippians, that he once was a persecutor of Christians and how God changed his life mightily and chose him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (non-Jews) so that all might be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Though they persecute and hate us, let us pray for them, just as Jesus did for those who hated and despised Him. ✝️