“LET this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery [“a thing to be seized upon and held fast”] to be equal with God; but emptied himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5-7
In our studies of Christ as He is revealed in the first and second chapters of Hebrews, we have found that, as He was in heaven, His nature was the same as the nature of God; and that when He came to the earth, His nature was the same as the nature of man; —so, on the side of God, Jesus and God are “of one”—of one nature, of one substance, —so, on the side of man, Jesus and man are “of one,”—of one flesh, of one nature, of one substance. “For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
And so it is written: “In all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren.” The first chapter of Hebrews, in revealing that His likeness to God is not simply in form or representation, but also in very substance, in that demonstrates that His likeness to men is not simply in form or in representation, but also in very substance. It is likeness to men as they are in all things, exactly as they are. Wherefore, again it is written: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” John 1:1, 14
And that is likeness to man as he is in his fallen, sinful nature, and not as he was in his original, sinless nature, is made certain by the word: “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.” Therefore, as man is since he became subject to death, this is what we see Jesus, in His place as man.