Philippians 2:1-11
Unity Through Humility
1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
The Humbled and Exalted Christ
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
What does it mean that we have the mind of Christ? Certainly we are not divine as He is so we cannot comprehend everything as He does, yet we can align our thoughts with those of His revealed to us as inspired by His Spirit who has take up permanent residence in us. We find that these things are in scripture and given meaning by His interpretation to us, not new teachings, but revealed understanding of them. These things include His consolation in trouble and comfort in his love of acceptance by His work and righteousness in which we find ourselves in Christ. We have fellowship with Him and one another and grasp the mercy and love of His mind to express to each other because in Christ we have these same thoughts and motives to care for one another. We are urged to nurture and practice things like humility and putting others first as we look out for their interests and not just our own, just as Jesus Christ did for us. He lowered Himself from the lofty place of sovereign rule in heaven to take on the flesh of a fellow man and serve us as an example of His thinking which we are to adopt with each other as we imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1) according to His word and fellow servants who imitate Him for our example as we are to do for others (2 Timothy 2:2). He put on our weak flesh to know our minds and the corruption of sin that plagues us without sinning Himself! In this empathetic work, Jesus obeyed the plan of the Father to suffer and die as a man without calling on heavenly powers to rescue Him (Matthew 26:53) from the terrible death on the cross of our sin’s curse (Galatians 3:13) that we might live in Him and have this same mind of humble and willing obedience to minister the gospel to others as He did for us. Jesus the Son of God and Son of Man has the name above all names (Isaiah 45:22-23) to save us (Isaiah 45:24) as we bow to the divine Son under His sovereign rule by confessing that He truly is Lord of all as glory is given to His Father and ours by the mind of Christ, by the Spirit’s work in us to comprehend the infinite dimensions of God and His work in us (Ephesians 1:17-18, 19-21) by His life, death, and resurrection. Yes, we who have believed and received Him (John 1:12) and His word have been given this mind (1 Corinthians 2:12-13, 16) of Christ as we confess He is Lord now know and therefore serve in humility with grace and love for others as He did for us.
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