In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Back in seminary, we had to translate this from the original Greek. My professor used to say that this was the most important passage in the Bible because it so accurately describes Christ’s mindset and sacrifice. I usually like the NIV, but sometimes I think they simplify things when trying to put 2,000 year old words into today’s English.
Verse six begins with Jesus “being in very nature God.” That leaves it open to some interpretation. In the Greek, it’s clear: Jesus, before He took on human flesh. Literally, “while in the God-form.” In that pre-flesh condition, He didn’t see equality with God something to be grasped (the word there is grasped, in the sense of holding onto something stolen). Instead, He took on flesh and came to earth to save us.
God required a sacrifice. We read all about that in the first few books of the Old Testament. Our God is unchanging, and that requirement didn’t fade with time. Rather, Jesus is our sacrifice. He is our payment for our sins. He, being God, is the only One capable of bearing all the sins of the entire world, and atoning for all of them at the same time.
He humbled himself, knowing what needed to be done, and conquered the cross. God raised Him up and gave Him a place of honor in Heaven. That’s a concept that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to truly picture – Jesus is God, so how can He raise Himself up? And during those 33 years on Earth, how was He also in heaven? But because He is who He is, we worship Him. Someday, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.