“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God,did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross. For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth—and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:5-12, CSV).

There’s some difficult yet beautiful theology embedded between the first and last verses of this passage that describe a fundamental element of the Christian lifestyle.

Because of the rhythmic character of the words in vs. 6-11, these verses are considered to be the lyrics from an early Christian hymn. That Jesus “emptied” Himself is a phrase much debated by theologians and prompting various theories of what aspects of deity Jesus gave up through His incarnation.

We may not know the extent of the divine attributes Jesus emptied Himself of by leaving heaven to come to earth, but the end result of this “emptying” was a sort of divine humiliation. And, in Jesus’ case, the scope of the humiliation–from God to human, from heaven to earth–is beyond our perception.