He Emptied Himself

Advent
Day 6

He Emptied Himself

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
Philippians 2:5-7

St. Irenaeus, an early Church Father said, “Through his transcendent love, our Lord Jesus Christ became what we are, that he might make us to be what he is.”

Jesus left the splendor of Heaven, condescending to our level. Even though he was with God from the beginning, he did not cling to his position. He became one of us, “taking the form of a servant” (v.7). He humbled himself by becoming “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (v.8).

We who are in Christ are to have this same mindset. 1 Cor. 2:16 says, “But we have the mind of Christ.” We are to have his mind and imitate his life.

There Was a Life

There was a life, a life come to show us the way

There was a life that was the word become flesh and blood

There was a life that pierced the darkness of the world

There was a life that was the light of men

There was a life who sacrificed himself

There was a life who rose again

This life was and is and is to come

Revelation 4:8