“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5–11)
The extent to which this passage offers such a grand, sweeping view of the matchless existence of Christ so concisely is unique in all of Scripture. In a mere seven verses we are taken back to the mysterious solitary life of the Godhead and then rushed along through the currents of history all the way until the end of all things.
Though it may not be apparent initially, through this window we behold a dramatic story – it is the story of God. We are confronted with the breathtaking epic of Love Himself. With each successive movement He is writing a tale of unthinkable tragedy and ecstatic triumph played out on the pages of time.
In this saga we find the history of redemption, but even more importantly we see displayed before us the chronicle of our Maker and Husband. It is absolutely staggering that He would even share this with us and we do well to treasure it within our soul.
It also provides a path for exploring the unsearchable depths of Jesus in a way that is personally (and therefore relationally) grounded. When we follow the course that Paul charts, we are beholding Someone and not merely pondering concepts. The essential progression of divinity, humanity, incarnation, redemption, and exaltation found in these verses offers a sound, biblical methodology for growing in the knowledge of Jesus.
