JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN - Vital Christianity

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"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very form God, did not consider equality with God
something to be held onto, but made Himself nothing . . ."
The word "being" (hyparchon) literally means "remaining" or "not ceasing to be." This
means that Jesus never ceased to be God. Rather He remained in His basic nature.
The phrase "held onto" or the word "detained" more clearly gives us the sense of the
point Paul is making. The meaning of the words "grasped" or "seized" only become clear when
we carefully look at the intent and flow of the passage.
Just as "form of a servant" (Php 2:7) means that Christ truly was a servant, so "form of
God" (v. 6) means that Christ truly is God. These two parallels of humility between Christians
and Jesus, and of form between Christ's deity and humanity, are undeniable. Far from denying
the deity of Christ, this Philippian passage (vv. 1-11) clearly and forcefully affirms the full and
absolute deity of Christ who is our supreme model of humility in the face of equality.
This passage powerfully points us to the enormous contrast between Adam and Christ.
Adam, who was made in the image of God, "snatched" at a false and illusory equality ("you will
be like God, knowing good and evil"—Gn 3:5). Christ, on the other hand, who already enjoyed
true equality with God, refused to derive any advantage from it in becoming man. Whereas
Adam forfeited his lordship (over creation) through his "snatching," Christ achieved or reclaimed
universal lordship through His renunciation of His divine prerogatives.
This interpretation is the most logical since it also follows the flow or movement of the
whole passage. After having described how Jesus laid aside His former glory in order to become
man and die for us, Paul goes on to show how He received that glory back as every creature in
the universe will one day confess Him as "Lord."
In the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint) this word (kyrios) is used, over and above its
regular meanings, to represent the personal name of the God of Israel. This personal name,
usually spelled Yahweh, had come to be regarded too sacred to be normally pronounced aloud,
and so, when the Scriptures were read in public, it was replaced by another word, most often by
the word meaning "Lord." This, then, is the name that God has bestowed on Jesus—the rarest of
all honors, in view of His affirmation in Isaiah 42:8, "I am the LORD, that is My name.” By this
He meant, "Mine and no one else's."
This is the name that is "above every other name" (Php 2:9). By identifying the name of
Jesus with "Lord" Paul alludes to Isaiah 45:23 in which God declares that He Himself will be the
object of universal adoration: "To Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." Such
adoring worship is only worthy of God Himself. Yet this is the very worship that Jesus will
receive as His kingdom is brought to its fulfillment.