Philippians 2:1-8, R.V.
The characteristic of Christ is here seen to be humility. He says of Himself, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” Matthew 11:29. Note well that when He came to earth He took upon Himself only the form of a servant. That does not mean that He did not serve, for He also said that He “came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28. To His disciples He said on another occasion, “I am among you as He that serves.” Luke 22:27. What is meant is that He had only to take the form of a servant, because He had the mind to serve before He came to the earth to give His life on the cross.
He was in the beginning with God, and He was God (John 1:1), yet He had the spirit of service. The mind that was in Christ was the same when He was in heaven that it was when He came to earth. The mind that was shown in His service on earth, when He went about doing good, and which found its most natural expression in washing His disciples’ feet, was the same mind that led Him to divest Himself of the glory and riches He had in heaven. He is the same “yesterday, and to-day, and for ever,” and so He was the same before He came to earth, that He was on earth, and that He is now in heaven, and that He will be when the saints are all gathered with Him in glory; and of that time He says that He will make His followers sit down to meat, and will gird Himself, and will come forth and serve them. Luke 12:37. This is the mind and character of Christ.
SEEKING NOT HIS OWN
But this does not show it all. When He was in the form of God, He “emptied Himself,” because He did not count it a prize—a thing to be grasped—to be on equality with God. “By inheritance” He had a more excellent name than the angels. He was the Son of God by birth, and so was by birth “heir of all things.” Everything was His by right. “All things were created by Him, and for Him.” His possession of them worked no injustice to any. And yet the mind that was in Him did not lead Him to grasp them and hold them fast. “For 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
“Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Romans 8:9. Therefore since Christ did not seize upon and hold fast to that which was His by right, it is evident that those who are His must not be characterized by the spirit of self-seeking. Love, which is the bond of perfectness, “seeks not her own.”
This is a far different spirit from what prevails among men. The highest virtue known among men is for a man not to seek that which is not his own. The common form of self-justification is, “I want nothing but what is due me; I simply want my rights.” But that desire was not in Christ. He gave up His own. He committed everything into the care of the Father, who “highly exalted Him,” because of