Christ in a Human Body

Our perspective of Christ from both before and after creation is breathtaking. Yet what we see in his incarnation takes our appreciation for him to greater heights. He completely embraces and owns his identity as fully God. Yet he who is fully God becomes fully a human slave. The mystery is that he remains fully God while remaining fully man. In order to become man, the Son had to both empty and humble himself. His self-humbling drove him to the depths of experiencing the cruel death a criminal would normally experience. Yet as he dies in shame, he also bursts into glory that will remain eternally undimmed. This beautiful presentation of Christ in Philippians 2 is attached both to a direct command and an implicit warning. The command is to adopt the same attitude that drove Jesus through his saving mission. The implicit warning is that while Jesus is not worshiped now in the way he ought to be, the day will come when he will. In that day, his enemies will not be received into his glory but will be crushed beneath his feet.