Brotherly Love Recommended; Glory and Condescension
of Christ. A. D. 62.
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death
of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him
a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under
the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The apostle proceeds in this chapter where he left off in the last,
with further exhortations to Christian duties. He presses them largely
to like-mindedness and lowly-mindedness, in conformity to the example of
the Lord Jesus, the great pattern of humility and love. Here we may observe,...
II. Here is a gospel pattern proposed to our imitation, and that is
the example of our Lord Jesus Christ: Let this mind be in you which was
also in Christ Jesus, v. 5. Observe, Christians must be of Christ's mind.
We must bear a resemblance to his life, if we would have the benefit of
his death. If we have not the Spirit of Christ, we are none of his, Rom.
viii. 9. Now what was the mind of Christ? He was eminently humble, and
this is what we are peculiarly to learn of him. Learn of me, for I am meek
and lowly in heart, Matt. xi. 29. If we were lowly-minded, we should be
like-minded; and, if we were like Christ, we should be lowly-minded. We
must walk in the same spirit and in the same steps with the Lord Jesus,
who humbled himself to sufferings and death for us; not only to satisfy
God's justice, and pay the price of our redemption, but to set us an example,
and that we might follow his steps. Now here we have the two natures and
the two states of our Lord Jesus. It is observable that the apostle, having
occasion to mention the Lord Jesus, and the mind which was in him, takes
the hint to enlarge upon his person, and to give a particular description
of him. It is a pleasing subject, and a gospel minister needs not think
himself out of the way when he is upon it; any fit occasion should be readily
taken.
1. Here are the two natures of Christ: his divine nature and his human
nature. (1.) Here is his divine nature: Who being in the form of God (v.
6), partaking of the divine nature, as the eternal and only begotten Son
of God. This agrees with John i. 1, In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God: it is of the same import with being the image of
the invisible God (Col. i. 15), and the brightness of his glory, and express
image of his person, Heb. i. 3. He thought it no robbery to be equal with
God; did not think himself guilty of any invasion of what did not belong
to him, or assuming another's right. He said, I and my Father are one,
John x. 30. It is the highest degree of robbery for any mere man or mere
creature to pretend to be equal with God, or profess himself one with the
Father. This is for a man to rob God, not in tithes and offerings, but
of the rights of his Godhead, Mal. iii. 8. Some understand being in the
form of God--en morphe Theou hyparchon, of his appearance in a divine majestic
glory to the patriarchs, and the Jews, under the Old Testament, which was
often called the glory, and the Shechinah. The word is used in such a sense
by the LXX. and in the New Testament. He appeared to the two disciples,
en hetera morphe--In another form, Mark xvi. 12. Metemorphothe--he was
transfigured before them, Matt. xvii. 2. And he thought it no robbery to
be equal with God; he did not greedily catch at, nor covet and affect to
appear in that glory; he laid aside the majesty of his former appearance
while he was here on earth, which is supposed to be the sense of the peculiar
expression, ouk harpagmon hegesato. Vid. Bishop Bull's Def. cap. 2 sect.
4 et alibi, and Whitby in loc. (2.) His human nature: He was made in the
likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man. He was really and truly
man, took part of our flesh and blood, appeared in the nature and habit
of man. And he voluntarily assumed human nature; it was his own act, and
by his own consent. We cannot say that our participation of the human nature
is so. Herein he emptied himself, divested himself of the honours and glories
of the upper world, and of his former appearance, to clothe himself with
the rags of human nature. He was in all things like to us, Heb. ii. 17.
2. Here are his two estates, of humiliation and exaltation. (1.) His
estate of humiliation. He not only took upon him the likeness and fashion
of a man, but the form of a servant, that is, a man of mean estate. He
was not only God's servant whom he had chosen, but he came to minister
to men, and was among them as one who serveth in a mean and servile state.
One would think that the Lord Jesus, if he would be a man, should have
been a prince, and appeared in splendour. But quite the contrary: He took
upon him the form of a servant. He was brought up meanly, probably working
with his supposed father at his trade. His whole life was a life of humiliation,
meanness, poverty, and disgrace; he had nowhere to lay his head, lived
upon alms, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, did not appear
with external pomp, or any marks of distinction from other men. This was
the humiliation of his life. But the lowest step of his humiliation was
his dying the death of the cross. He became obedient to death, even the
death of the cross. He not only suffered, but was actually and voluntarily
obedient; he obeyed the law which he brought himself under as Mediator,
and by which he was obliged to die. I have power to lay down my life, and
I have power to take it again: this commandment have I received of my Father,
John x. 18. And he was made under the law, Gal. iv. 4. There is an emphasis
laid upon the manner of his dying, which had in it all the circumstances
possible which are humbling: Even the death of the cross, a cursed, painful,
and shameful death,--a death accursed by the law (Cursed is he that hangeth
on a tree)--full of pain, the body nailed through the nervous parts (the
hands and feet) and hanging with all its weight upon the cross,--and the
death of a malefactor and a slave, not of a free-man,--exposed as a public
spectacle. Such was the condescension of the blessed Jesus. (2.) His exaltation:
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him. His exaltation was the reward
of his humiliation. Because he humbled himself, God exalted him; and he
highly exalted him, hyperypsose, raised him to an exceeding height. He
exalted his whole person, the human nature as well as the divine; for he
is spoken of as being in the form of God as well as in the fashion of man.
As it respects the divine nature, it could only be the recognizing of his
rights, or the display and appearance of the glory he had with the Father
before the world was (John xvii. 5), not any new acquisition of glory;
and so the Father himself is said to be exalted. But the proper exaltation
was of his human nature, which alone seems to be capable of it, though
in conjunction with the divine. His exaltation here is made to consist
in honour and power. In honour; so he had a name above every name, a title
of dignity above all the creatures, men and angels. And in power: Every
knee must bow to him. The whole creation must be in subjection to him:
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, the
inhabitants of heaven and earth, the living and the dead. At the name of
Jesus; not at the sound of the word, but the authority of Jesus; all should
pay a solemn homage. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord--every nation and language should publicly own the universal empire
of the exalted Redeemer, and that all power in heaven and earth is given
to him, Matt. xxviii. 18. Observe the vast extent of the kingdom of Christ;
it reaches to heaven and earth, and to all the creatures in each, to angels
as well as men, and to the dead as well as the living.--To the glory of
God the Father. Observe, It is to the glory of God the Father to confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord; for it is his will that all men should honour
the Son as they honour the Father, John v. 23. Whatever respect is paid
to Christ redounds to the honour of the Father. He who receiveth me receiveth
him who sent me, Matt. x. 40.
