LESSON 9

Classroom Goals of this time together:
* here to see and meet and learn of Jesus
* not to learn about another book in the Bible, but to MEET HIM...here and now; not to finish another epistle, but to grow in each one of our own personal lives/relationships with Jesus
* to grow in our daily day-to-day JOY IN Him
* to grow in our vision /understanding of Jesus as our SAVIOR and REDEEMER everyday in the midst of our lives in a pagan world

ROE: 
* all questions are encouraged all the time
* we are not obligated to agree with me or each other
* TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER THROUGHOUT OUR TIME TOGETHER, WHETHER WE AGREE OR NOT WE MUST LOVE EACH OTHER

SUMMARY:
1:1-11  Greetings and Gratitude

1:12-26  This is the next BIG part of the book  "Pauls Personal Circumstances: the Preaching of Christ"

Then we began a NEW section
1:27-2:30  "The Pattern of Christian Life: The Humility of Christ"

This section had 4 parts:
1:27-2:4  The Exhortation to Humility  HERE is the Goal
2:5-11  The Epitome of Humility  Jesus - here is the Divine Example
2:12-18 The Exercise of Humility  here is HOW YOU experience this in YOUR daily life
2:10-30  The Examples of Humility  Timothy and Epaphroditis

We started the first section last time:
1:27-2:4  The Exhortation to Humility  HERE is the Goal, the Need, to live in Christ while in a hostile Pagan world;
HOW??? How do the things he presented in this section become a REALITY in the life of a Church and it's believers??
ONLY THROUGH HUMILITY, ONE TO ANOTHER.

2:5-11  Here we begin the second part of "The Pattern of Christian Life: The Humility of Christ": before we have just finished the "Exhortation to Humility" where Paul sought to describe to his precious Philipians the world in which they lived and the Life in Christ they needed to extend BOTH OUTWARDS to the world and INWARDS to each other; 

BUT before we go further, let's re-examine that KEY concept he presented in the previous section: "lowliness" or "humility"; 
THIS WORD HAS A HISTORY!
it is one LONG single word; originally, the Greek root word for "lowly" had a BAD NEGATIVE DEGRADING connotation; "lowly" people were the street people of the ancient world; the expanded combination word for this Christian virtue of "humility" was NOT used before the Christian era and apparantly is a distinct outgrowth of the Gospel; it is drawn from our SEEING OURSELVES AS WE TRUELY ARE: SINFUL AND HOPELESSLY LOST IN OUR SINS WITHOUT THE LORD TO SAVE US CONSTANTLY; IT IS A POWERFUL WORD FULL OF MEANING CARRYING A PICTURE OF ABSOLUTE DEPENDENCE, OF HAVING NOTHING BUT RECEIVING ALL THINGS FROM GOD; 
THIS is the "humility" that Paul wanted them to seek, to LIVE;
It is in this picture of absolute dependence that this word can be applied EVEN TO OUR PRECIOUS LORD HIMSELF; FOR US, our absolute dependence is born of the absolute NECESSITY of our lost and helplessly sinful state, BUT FOR JESUS IT WAS A CHOICE; He CHOSE to come down and live a perfect but still human life that was a constant living on the fulness of His Father's love, of creaturely dependence; 

And what happens when we really DO see ourselves as we truly ARE? It makes it a heck of a lot easier to "esteem" the other members of our church as better than ourselves, as being WORTHY of consideration ABOVE our OWN perceived position and ambitions; 
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?? How does this "humility" express itself THROUGH US?? If we're smarter or wealthier or better at sports than someone else, does this mean we somehow convince ourselves that that is NOT the case?? 
NO!! We're NOT talking personal traits or talents here; WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THAT SENSE OF PERSONAL VALUE, THAT WE VALUE THAT PERSON ABOVE OURSELVES; and that we ACT the truth of that realization; I treasure my Annie more than and above myself; I AM WILLING TO SACRIFICE MYSELF FOR HER; SHE IS MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAN I AM; NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT SHE HAS OR WHAT SHE CAN DO, BUT BECAUSE OF WHO SHE IS TO ME; We have got to develop that same hearts attitude here for each other; THIS is the "HUMILITY" that Paul desired of them and of US as well; 

NOTE ALSO: it was "lowliness of MIND"; not based upon outward efforts to live in open poverty; he wasn't saying to live LIKE street people, for that can easily become only an affectation, a phoney wearing of rags while STILL FULL OF PRIDE; the REAL lowliness starts and lives and acts IN THE MIND/HEART; 

NOW Paul goes even deeper into the meaning of what true humility REALLY IS and MEANS; NOW he is going to tell them about the "EPITOME OF HUMILITY"; This can ONLY be our precious Lord Jesus.

2:5  Most commentators translate this vs as an exhortation to seek to have the same mind or attitude as the Lord had; Encourageing us to make Jesus our example to follow in our behavior; (NIV) "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus"; And that is a very reasonable view; 
However, there is another way of approaching this; The Lit trans actually does NOT have a verb in the second part of the vs: "This think you among you as also in Christ Jesus"; It is very possible to view the phrase "...as also in Christ Jesus" as referring to their Fellowship together in Christ Jesus; 
One describes it as think this way among yourselves as members of His church, having that attitude described above in vs 1-4 in your personal relations, because that is the only attitude appropriate for those who are "in Christ Jesus"; 

2:6  (KJV) "...being in the form of God..."; WHAT DOES THIS MEAN??
The word trans "being" is more than just "to be"; it carries a stronger sense, denoting "being which is from the beginning"; it looks backward to a preceding condition which has been protracted into the present, it DOESN'T imply eternal, but only PRIOR existance; This "BEING" was NOT something NEW or ADDED at some LATER date, subsequent to His Incarnation, He had it BEFORE HE EVER SHOWED UP HERE AS A MAN; 
"form": This does not refer to some sort of "shape"; Rather, it denotes that expression of being which carries in itself the distinctive nature and character of the being to whom it pertains. It is identified with the essence of a person; AS APPLIED TO GOD, it is intended to describe the mode in which the essential being of God expressed itself. This "mode" of expression is NOT identical with the essence itself, BUT is identified with it, it proceeds from the very depth of the perfect being; 
Thus to say that Jesus was in the form of God, is to say that He existed as essentially one with God; He was able to express Himself in the SAME MODE AS GOD and only the possesor of that actual essence can express that mode; As the form of God was identified with the being of God, so Christ, being in the form of God, was identified with the being, nature, and personality of God. 
This "form", not being identical with the divine essence (though dependant upon it), can be parted with or laid aside; So the Lord Jesus can still BE God in essence and WITHOUT the FORM. So, when He laid aside that "form" and assumed a new "form" as Jesus the Man, He did NOT give up ANY of His Divine Nature, He DID NOT become ANY LESS God; the SAME essence expressed itself in a new form: Jesus.

(KJV) "...thought it not robbery to be equal with God"
The word translated as "robbery" in the KJV actually has several uses and meanings in the Greek; there is the act of robbing itself, there is the thing robbed (ie a piece of plunder), and then there is the meaning of a prized possession, a thing to be grasped; 
It is this third meaning that gives the best sense and meaning to the whole passage. Jesus, before His incarnation, being in the form of God, did NOT regard His divine equality as some prize to be grasped at and retained at all costs, but rather, laid aside the FORM of God and took on Himself the nature of man. 
Also inherent in this concept of a "prized possession" is the implication of it providing a priviledge which opens up the possibility of advantage if only the possessor will exploit it to his own profit; In His pre-existant state Jesus ALREADY had as His possession the unique dignity of His place within the Godhead. It was a vantage-point from which He might have exploited His position and, by an assertion of His right, have seized the glory and honor of the acknowledgement of His office. BUT He rather chose to accept His destiny as the incarnate and "lowly" One. 
Dr. Ryrie offers this paraphrase: Who, though of the same nature and essence as God, did not think this something to be exploited to His own advantage.
The emphasis of the passage is on His humiliation; the fact of His equality with God is stated as a background, so as to throw the circumstances of His incarnation into stronger contrast; Christ's great objective was to identify Himself with humanity; NOT to appear to men as divine, but as human. Had He come into the world emphasizing His equality with God, the world would have been amazed, BUT NOT SAVED. 

2:7  (KJV) "...made Himself of no reputation..." 
The lit trans is "emptied himself"; This phrase has caused a LOT of discussion and controversy as people have tried to understand what Paul was trying to describe here; 
Some have tried to read into this that Jesus divested Himself of His divine nature, of the attributes of Diety such as omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence and even suffered the extinction of His eternal self-consciousness, that He became ONLY a man; But that is NOT consistant with everything ELSE that the Word has to say about Him;
The best sense is that He divested Himself of that peculiar mode of existance which was proper and peculiar to Him as one with God; He laid aside that FORM of God; The change was a change of STATE; the form of a servant in exchange for the form of God. His personality continued the same; In His humanity He retained the consciousness of Diety, and in His incarnate state carried out the mind which animated Him before His incarnation;
It was NEVER a matter that He was UNABLE to assert equality with God, but rather it was that He WAS ABLE to NOT assert it, He was ABLE to REFUSE it; 

(KJV) "...the form of a servant..."
What a vivid description of His humanity. The same word for "form" as was used for His having the "form of God"; He assumed the mode of expression of a servant; What Jesus grasped at in His incarnation was NOT divine sovereignty, BUT SERVICE.
(KJV) "...was made in the likeness of men..."
Lit trans for "was made" is "BECOMING IN"; The choice of verb was NOT "was", but rather "became": as in "entered into a new state"; 
NOTICE the choice of words: "likeness"; NOT BY ACCIDENT! Was Jesus IDENTICAL to us? NO!! He was like us, Scripture says He shared our human nature in all its frailty and finitude (Ro8:3; Heb2:7, 14) and entered into the restrictions that nature imposes EXCEPT that He was without sin. He had ALL that WE HAVE, BUT HE ALSO HAD MORE! He was all that we ever could or will be; BUT HE ALSO WAS MORE! HE WAS ALSO FULLY GOD; Humanly He was like men, but regarded with reference to His WHOLE self, He was NOT IDENTICAL with man, because there was an element of His personality which did NOT dwell in them: HIS EQUALITY WITH GOD; 
To all outward appearances, Jesus was a Man among men; However, His DIVINE stature was concealed in the weakness of His mortality, His glory was veiled in His humanity.