Philippians 2:2-11

The summary of this passage can be found in verse 5 when Paul states that "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus". He then goes on to provide five attitudes of Christ that correlate with his earlier calling for the followers of Philipi.

1. Jesus did not try to be equal with God. Paul calls us to be Christ-like in this manner when he commands us to "consider others better than [our]selves" (v.3).

2. Jesus made Himself nothing. He humbled himself. Paul affirms our need to be Christ-like by saying that we should be "in humility" (v.3). He also emphasizes this attitude by requesting that we "do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit" (v.3). Furthermore, we learn from verse 4 that we are to humble ourselves by putting our own interests aside for the interest of others.

3. Jesus took the "nature of a servant". Much of what Paul called the Philippians to do defines the very nature of what a servant is. Servants "do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit" (v.3), but do everything for the interest of their master. They consider their master better than themselves (v.3). For this reason, they seek the interest of others over their own (v.4).

4. Jesus was "made in human likeness"(, but was also "in the form of God"). This brings to mind that in our human form, we have all been created "in the image of God"(Gen 1:27). To be in likeness to Christ requires that we be "like-minded"(v.2). Christ shared with the Father the "same love"(v.2), which we are also called to share in. That love is for people. While in His form of human likeness, Christ exemplified what it was His "spirit and purpose"(v.2) was. His spirit was a devotion to God and His purpose was love and compassion for people. Paul calls us to adopt the same.

5. Jesus was "obedient to death". Jesus found the will for obedience because he was sent by His Father and Master to be a loving servant in death for the people (v.7). This was achieved by being "one in spirit and purpose"(v.2) with His Heavenly Father and having the "same love"(v.2) for those He was sent to serve with His death. We are called to the same with our lives. We are to be obedient to the cause that Christ has put on our hearts, the cause that we share with Him... Each other.