He Emptied Himself

"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 a thing to be grasped, 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 blow of those who are in heaven and on earth an 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 NASB

This marvelous hymn is so rich we could spend a lot of time working with all the revelations that unfold out of its substance. We have worked in the last post with the entire passage detailing in short form for us the reality of our Lord's attitude that empowered Him to lay aside His glory to become as we are. The Kingdom of God works on this attitude, or way of thinking. As we long to see the church of our beloved Lord expand and fill the earth, we have been given this great key - a way of thinking that empowers His Kingdom. What an awesome God to share such secrets with us.

Existing with God, as God, in God from eternity - yet obedient to the will of the God-head from before the foundation of the earth, our Lord "emptied" Himself - He laid aside all His rights - and took on the form of  a bond-servant. He was God and as such was in spirit form, knowing all, seeing all and containing all power. In the emptying, He became no more than a sperm in the hand of the Holy Spirit to be implanted in the body of Mary. Now that is a lot of emptying! Some translations say "He became nothing," which is almost right - He became a form of life that is microscopic. He then in the power of the Spirit, united with Mary's egg and so became incarnate to live and die as man. Such emptying is beyond our comprehension.

It is also beyond our ability to do. Sometimes, in our zeal to be as He is and to be submissive to the will of our Father, we have a way of thinking that we, too, must empty ourselves of all we are to become as He is. Nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, we cannot do this emptying. It is simply impossible for us to become less that we are. Try as I may, I am still me and the emptying is just not possible. Second of all, that is not what He desires. In His emptying He did not become less than He is - He remained very much His own person. We to, created in His image, will always remain ourselves. He does not just want Himself. If that were the case, we would have never existed. God created mankind for fellowship with Him. He does not desire, in any way to have us be less than He has created us to be.

He desires us to live fully in Him. We do learn to lay aside our own agenda's and desires as we get to know the fullness of His provision. For His is so much more than we could ever hold, but we as unique individuals are treasured by Him, created as images of Him - it takes us all to display the fullness of His glory.

More later . . .

On a personal note, please hold the Saied Adour family in prayer today, as his wife, Esther is laid to rest. She went home to Jesus last Tuesday. Esther was one of the most godly and kind women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I will miss her deeply. The funeral is at noon today. My husband will be on the piano, Lauren on worship team, and I will be attending for the service. It is joyous, because we know she is enjoying the truth of all she was here. She loved our Jesus so much and trusted Him - always. Esther was the granddaughter of the founder of Elim Bible Institute, and founder of Willow, the women's organization of Elim Fellowship.