How would you answer the question, “Who is Jesus?”
This is the most important question any human can ever answer. Throughout history and particularly in our contemporary context, many have viewed Christ as no more than an example to follow. He was a “good moral teacher from whom we can learn.”
The great message of Christianity, however, cannot be distilled down to a mere example but is infinitely more than that. The beauty of the gospel is that Christ is God the Son and our Lord and Savior who became man and lived the life we could never have lived and died the death we deserved so that through faith we can be justified before a holy God. Without the active and passive obedience of Christ, the gospel is no more than a religious self-help strategy.
As Christians who staunchly defend the deity and lordship of Christ, the common perception of Christ as merely a helpful human guide is abhorrent. In our affirmation that Christ is far more than an example, though, we must also affirm that he is certainly not less than an example. Christ is both the penal substitutionary lamb who stands in our place and the Good Shepherd in whose steps we follow insofar as we are able.
Philippians 2:5-11 is one of the most important passages in the New Testament, particularly as it relates to the person and work of Christ and how he is to be an example for us. In those verses, the Apostle Paul says,
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 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 God the Father.
This passage is a gold mine of rich theology about the person and work of Jesus Christ. It pulls back the veil and reveals the nature of God in unique ways.
This passage also reveals deep truths about how we are to live and work together as the body of Christ. Living out these truths makes believers appear stunningly beautiful in contrast to the world around them.
The Person and Work of Christ
Beginning with theological richness, Paul calls us to a certain way of thinking: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (v. 5). This mindset that Paul calls us to put into practice is the same as that which Christ put into practice—humbly seeking first the interests of others. Paul is saying that Jesus does not act out of selfish ambition and conceit, and neither should you.
We are also confronted by the identity of Jesus when Paul says, “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.”
When Paul states that Jesus existed “in the form of God,” he is talking about his preexistence. Jesus’ human birth was not the beginning of his existence. He is the eternal second person of the Trinity and existed as God from eternity past.
John tells us, “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 was not any thing made that was made. . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1-3, 14).
Jesus existed in the “form” (“morphe” in Greek) of God. Paul uses that word to establish Jesus’ intrinsic and essential identity as God.
The English word “form” is generally used as a synonym for “shape”—as a piece of clay can be in the “form” of a dog. The clay, however, is not a real dog but merely looks like a dog. By using the Greek word “morphe,” Paul is not describing the outwardly visible shape of Jesus but noting that Jesus was the same in essence as the Father and Spirit. That is why Jesus could say things like “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). Before time began, Jesus fully possessed everything that makes God divine.
Even though Jesus is equal with God the Father, he did not consider that a thing to be “grasped” (“harpagmos” in Greek). This Greek word carries the connotation of exploitation—Jesus does not exploit his divine power for his own purposes.
Rather, Christ “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (vv. 7-8).
Jesus did not use his power to forcibly master the universe. Instead, he does three incredibly unselfish things—empties himself (v. 7a), takes the form of a servant (v. 7b), and humbles himself by becoming obedient to the point of death (v. 8).
Another way to say, “he emptied himself” is to say, “he made himself nothing.” He did this by taking on the form of a servant.
The word “form” is the same Greek word that appeared earlier in this passage. Jesus was not just in the shape of a servant; he took on everything essential and intrinsic to servanthood. In New Testament times, a servant had no rights. He could do only what his master allowed. This is why Jesus said only what the Father told him to say (John 12:49) and did only what the Father told him to do (John 14:31). Jesus did not empty himself of his divinity but rather humbled himself to become a servant.
As Jesus says in his own words, “the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
Jesus also “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (verse 8).
The Philippian church was composed of proud and honorable Roman citizens who understood that crucifixion was the lowest form of execution. It was reserved for slaves, and it was not even legal to crucify a Roman citizen because the primary goal was torture, not death.
Crucifixions were degrading, humiliating, and so vile to the mind of a Jew that we are told that Jesus’ crucifixion was a “stumbling block” making it difficult for Jews to believe the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:23).
Jesus went from the highest place of exaltation and being worshipped by heavenly beings to being falsely accused, tortured, humiliated, spit on, mocked, beaten, cursed, whipped, having a crown of thorns crammed into his skull, being nailed to a tree, laughed at, and finally experiencing death.
He endured this humiliation because he loved the elect. He considered our reconciliation with the Father more important than grasping his position or power. He emptied and humbled himself, which is a mindset Paul commands us to have as well.
Paul describes how creation responds to this: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 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 God the Father” (verses 9-11).
God the Father exalts God the Son and gives him a name above every name. Jesus, who humbled himself, is the same Jesus to whom every knee will bow and every tongue will confess as “Lord.”
This exaltation is the fulfillment of a vision Daniel saw more than 600 years before Jesus was born.
I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)
How Christ’s Example Instructs Us
In Philippians 2, Paul gives his readers all this rich theology to reveal the kind of mindset Christians are to develop. In his letters to the Corinthians, he further applies that doctrinal treasure to our lives, instructing us with two principles.
1. Just because we can do something does not mean that we should.
In 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1, Paul addresses those who exercised their Christian liberty to eat meat sacrificed to idols despite such action causing others to stumble. Paul admonishes them that they should not seek their own good but the good of many (10:33). Believers who follow Christ’s example yield their liberties for the sake of those they love. We are to look to the interests of others before our own.
2. We will use our money and possessions differently than the world does.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul calls some believers who had plenty to support other believers who were in need. Instead of using guilt to persuade them, he used Jesus’ example to encourage them to obedience.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (8:9).
Needs will change with the seasons, but our motivations do not change. We give because Jesus gave. We love because Jesus loved. We put others’ needs above our own because Jesus did.
Conclusion
So, who is Jesus? He is the eternal God who created the universe and everything in it and stooped to serve his creation which had rebelled against him. He took on our lowly estate to ransom us as a people for his own possession. Christ accomplished redemption for us, which we receive by faith. He also lived in a manner that shows us how we ought to treat one another. May we hold to Christ as our Savior and follow Christ as our example.
