“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation.”
“Have this mind in you which (was) also in Christ Jesus: Who subsisting in (the) form of God, not as-a-means-of-gain He-counted the being equal-with God, but made Himself empty.”
When a brother suggested, some years ago, that we have a series of articles on the Epistle to the Philippians, my thoughts went at once to the passage we are to begin to meditate upon now: and I thought, “Who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Cor. 2:1616To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:16)). Who is sufficient to attempt to expound such words as these?
It is one of those amazing portions of the Scriptures that is set before us with so few words, and such short and simple words, the amazing pathway of our Savior from Heaven’s highest Glory, down to Calvary’s depth of woe. May the Lord grant that writer and reader may approach this portion with bowed head and unshod feet.
Not only is the passage itself so sublime, that it seems to defy the human spirit to comprehend what is found in it, even though these truths are expressed in the simplest language: but, also, the Greek itself, in part, is far from easy to follow, as though even the noblest human language is still unable to describe the mysteries of the Godhead. May God Himself help us, whether writing or reading!
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“Have this mind in you,” (or, “Have this for your mind”)—your principle of thought and feeling — “which (was, and is,) also in Christ Jesus”— the principle of thought and feeling which was in Him (Phil. 2:55Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:5)).
There is no verb in the latter part of the verse, but we must use one in English. We generally use the word “was”, but there is nothing in the Greek to limit the meaning to either past or present: and even though exalted to the highest Glory, He is “this same Jesus,” (Acts 1:1111Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11)) so we have inserted, “was, and is.” “Have this mind in you which (was and is) also in Christ Jesus.” And what was “this mind”? Was it not an utter and absolute self forgetfulness? Oh, my Brethren, here is the cure for all our quarrels and divisions, our misunderstandings and difficulties with one another: “Let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus.”
Let us remember:
We have “the mind of Christ” (l Cor. 2:16).
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“Who subsisting in the form of God” (vs. 6).
And now the Spirit begins to describe to us what was this “mind of Christ.” I am sorry that it seems impossible to seek to show forth the treasures in this passage without referring to the Greek words, which the Spirit uses with such care and discrimination: for Greek is a much richer language than English, and makes differences where in English it is almost impossible to bring them out. We have in this passage three words for existence.
1. To be: (einai).
2. To be beforehand, to subsist: (huparchein).
3. To begin to be: (ginesthai).
It is not by accident the Spirit uses these three different words, and we lose much if we disregard their differences. The second of these words (huparchein) is the word He uses in the passage just quoted: “Who subsisting in the form of God” (vs. 6). This word tells us that Christ Jesus was “in the form of God” before He came to this earth as Man. This word may not tell as much as the first verse of John’s Gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” (John 1:11In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)) but it is in entire harmony with it, and asserts quite plainly pre-existence in the form of God, though it does not assert in so many words, His eternal pre-existence: but this is brought out in other Scriptures, such as Psa. 90:22Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. (Psalm 90:2): “From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God”: John 12The same was in the beginning with God. (John 1:2), and other Scriptures.
In the passage before us we will see an amazing pathway of seven steps downward from the Throne to the Cross: but let us never forget that the beginning of this pathway: the very foundation of all else is this: Christ Jesus had a pre-existence in the form of God. Let us never forget this: this is the truth that the devil seeks so desperately to take from us: may we never, never give it up. The manger and the cross could never have been without the Throne beforehand. (Heb. 1:88But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. (Hebrews 1:8)).
And in the sixth chapter of Isaiah the Spirit of God draws back the veil, and lets us gaze for a moment on “the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings: with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone.... for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts.”
In John’s Gospel, chapter 12, verses 37 41, the Spirit of God reveals to us, that this One Whom Isaiah saw, and of Whom he spoke— the King, Jehovah of hosts, before Whom the seraphims veiled their faces —He is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Here we gaze upon Him in His glory, in the form of God, long before ever He took upon Him the form of a slave, and was made in the likeness of men.
And again, as we gaze upon Him passing through this scene, in New Testament days, we see at times His glory as very God from all eternity shining through the veil of flesh: as, for example, when he talked with Nicodemus, He says: “We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen” (John 3:1111Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. (John 3:11)). “Obviously He speaks as One who is familiar with God; not merely as One Who acted from God, but Who pronounced with His authority, speaking as One Who is absolutely and perfectly at home with God. ‘We speak’ says He, ‘that we do know’; and the word implies intimate knowledge ... intrinsic personal knowledge; not that which was given, which a prophet might utter as presented to him, had he the means of revelation, but as One who knew God and His glory consciously. God alone, He who was God, could thus rightly speak, and none other. In the consciousness of this divine knowledge therefore Jesus speaks. At the same time He gives His testimony as to what He had seen. It was not only One who came from God, and so went to God, but also One who while He was God speaks of scenes of glory in which He had been. He was with God as well as was God. From this perfect knowledge of God, and familiarity with heaven He makes the declaration: ‘We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen’.” (W. Kelly).
We must now ponder carefully the words “in the form of God” (vs. 6). There are three words used in this passage expressive of the general idea of resemblance:
1. Form: (Morphee).
2. Fashion: (Scheema).
3. Likeness: (Homoioma).
The first alone is applicable to God, for it alone has the sense (not of external appearance), but of essential quality. I do not think we have an English word like this, but we use it with “meta” put in front of it, in the word “metamorphose.” Putting meta in front of it indicates a change over: so the whole word tells of a change in the essential quality of something. We use it of rocks that have had their very texture and internal form changed by terrific heat and pressure: we say they are metamorphosed.
The second word (scheema) tells of external appearance. You might paint the rocks, so they looked completely different, but their essential quality remains the same: they are the same rocks, though they look different outside: their “scheema” is changed: but it is a temporary change.
We find words from the roots of these two words in Rom. 12:22And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2): “Be not conformed to this world”: a true Christian may take the outward form of the fashion of this world, like the rocks being painted, but the essential inward quality remains the same. She has cut her hair and painted her face and become conformed (sum-scheema) to this world, (and the brothers can be conformed to this world, too): but deep down inside where nobody sees but God, she still is His: and so the passage goes on, “But be ye transformed (the very word, metamorphosed) by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:22And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2)). In Rom. 8:2929For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29), God has predestinated us (to be) sum-morphosed to the image of His Son. I think that just means that God has predestinated us to be essentially changed inside to be like the image of His Son. In Philippians 3:2020For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20) we will read that the Lord Jesus Christ shall meta-scheema the body of our humiliation (to be) sum-morphosed to the body of His glory. This would seem to tell us that the Lord Jesus is going to change the transitory, outward form of our bodies, now bearing scars and wrinkles, often hair and teeth gone: but this will all be changed to the essential quality of bodies that are like the body of His glory. But even now down here we may be metamorphosed from glory unto glory, by the Spirit of the Lord. And how is this accomplished? By gazing on the glory of the Lord—now indeed as in a glass, like we used to do when we were little children, and used a bit of smoked glass to look at the sun, because it was too bright for mortal eye. (2 Cor. 3:1818But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Corinthians 3:18)).
But let us be absolutely clear that with our Lord Jesus Christ there never was any suggestion of metamorphose: a change in His essential being, as being very God. Before ever He came to our sad world, He subsisted in the very form of God. He never needed to be changed to be like God, as we are changed to be like Himself. But this same word is used of His transfiguration in Matt. 17:22And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. (Matthew 17:2) and Mark 9:22And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. (Mark 9:2), in describing the change that came to the body He had taken when He became a Man. I think this is because it was a sample— an anticipative assumption— of that resurrection body which is permanent and everlasting.
Now we come to a passage where it is very hard for us to be quite certain we are right. You may look it up in various translations, and will see that different people translate it in different ways. It seems to me this is what the Spirit is seeking to tell us, as He brings heavenly truths to our poor, dull, mortal minds: “Christ Jesus.... counted not the being equal with God as a means of gain, but made Himself empty.” I shall not attempt to give you the reasons from the Greek Testament that make me believe this to be the Spirit’s meaning: they may be found in Dr. C. J. Vaughan priceless little book, “St. Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians for English Readers,” to whom I am deeply indebted, not only for most of what we have had before us today, but for much else that I have learned from this dear man of God.
Another rendering that appeals to me very much is the following: “He did not reckon His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped. Nay, He emptied Himself.” But I would suppose the rendering we have used is the more accurate. But I am not sure.
Our Lord Jesus Christ was already from all eternity in the form of God, and He was equal with God: He was (and is) “Jehovah’s fellow” (Zech. 13:77Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. (Zechariah 13:7)). He had not to grasp at this: it was His already: His by right. But He might have used this glory and majesty and unbounded power, for aggrandizement, or advancement of Himself: but He did not: on the contrary, “He made Himself of no reputation”: “He made Himself empty.” “He emptied Himself.” Amazing, matchless, unspeakable grace! The words “the being equal with God,” are in the neuter plural, “the being equal things,” and this is no accident. Another has said this “calls attention rather to the characteristics than to the personality,” and still another suggests that perhaps the Spirit avoids the masculine to remove any risk of “dividing the substance of the God-head.” There are quite a few “unexpected neuters” in the Greek New Testament. One longs that some wise and spiritual man could help us understand them better, but for some we must, perhaps, wait till we reach Home, and “know as we are known.”
“Who subsisting in the form of God, He counted not as a means of gain the being equal with God, but made Himself empty.”
We come now to the last words of the above sentence: “But made Himself empty,” or, “but emptied Himself,” (vs. 7) or, as in our loved Authorized Version: “but made Himself of no reputation” (vs. 7). Perhaps the second, “But emptied Himself,” (vs. 7) represents the Greek most closely; but possibly the first, “But made Himself empty,” is a little easier to understand, and I think gives the true sense. But the truth is the same in any case: “He emptied Himself” HE, the One in Whom all the fullness was pleased to dwell: (Col. 1:1919For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; (Colossians 1:19)): HE, that filleth all in all: (Eph. 1:2323Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:23)). Yes: “HE made Himself empty.” Instead of taking to Himself (as equality with God would have enabled Him to do without stint or limit), “He made Himself empty.”
Come and gaze on that manger. Do you know of any other kingly babe who was, of his own will, laid in a manger? Gaze on Him, “wearied with His journey” (John 4:66Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. (John 4:6)) sitting on the well! See Him on the hillside, when all others went to their own home: for He had no home to which He might go. See the foxes and the birds: they had their homes, but the Son of Man had not where to lay down His head, until He came to the cross, and having cried “Tetelestai” ... “It is finished” ... He laid down His head on the cross: the only place in this world where we read He ever laid down His head. (For the words are the same in Luke 9:5858And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Luke 9:58) and John 19:3030When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:30)). Watch Him as He hungers. Hear Him as He cries, “I thirst!” Listen, as He groans, and as He weeps. Remember, this is He Who is equal with God, Who subsisted in the form of God: “But He made Himself empty.” “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:99For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)).
More than fifty years ago that one little verse, those few, few words: “Christ Jesus.... made Himself of no reputation”: changed my whole life, and my whole outlook on life. May God grant that these same words may change the lives of some of you, my beloved readers!
He made Himself empty
He emptied Himself.
He made Himself of no reputation.
Do you wonder I linger over these words? They are to me amongst the dearest of any in this dear old Book. Use the translation you like best, the meaning is the same, but Beloved, let them sink down deep, deep into your heart.
I have just spent a few weeks in Canada, and a beloved brother, speaking of a family well known to us both, remarked: “They are not good Canadians. Good Canadians spend their time getting as much as they can, and making their homes as comfortable as possible ... and such a thing never seems to cross their mind.” Maybe they had looked on Him Who made Himself empty.
“Empty.” The picture is of one who is empty-handed, destitute of everything. “I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty” (Ruth 1:2121I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me? (Ruth 1:21)). The husbandmen sent the servants away empty. (Mark 12:33And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. (Mark 12:3)). We generally seek to make ourselves full. He made Himself empty. We covet and seek a reputation. He made Himself of no reputation. When He wanted to see a penny, He must ask someone to show Him one. When He wanted money for a tax, He must command a fish to supply it. “He made Himself empty.”
I had hoped to speak in this chapter of all those seven steps downward, but perhaps the Spirit of God has given us enough to ponder for the present.
O King of kings, and Lord of lords,
Jesus, my Lord, my God!
Both heaven and earth obey Thy word,
Their great Creator laud.
In the beginning was the Word—
The Father’s only Son.
For long e’er heaven or earth were made,
Thou and Thy God were one.
Yet Lord, Thou left’st Thy heavenly throne,
And in this world wast born,
For me Thou didst from Heaven come down
And barest grief and scorn.
Thou mad’st Thyself of no repute,
And to the cross didst go,
Hast borne my sins of Mountain’s weight,
My sins! My shame! My woe!
(From Chinese)