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Paul admonishes us to “look not every man on his own things, but
every man also on the things of others.” He bids us imitate the life of
the great Exemplar, and exhorts us to possess the mind “which was
also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and
took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of
men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled Himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” The apostle
lingers over point after point, that our minds may grasp and fully
comprehend the wonderful condescension of the Saviour in behalf of
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sinners. He presents Christ before us as He was when equal with God
and receiving the adoration of angels, and then traces His descent until
He reaches the lowest depths of humiliation, that with His human arm
He may reach fallen man and lift him from his degradation to hope,
joy, and heaven.
Paul was deeply anxious that the humiliation of Christ should be
seen and realized. He was convinced that if the minds of men could
be brought to comprehend the amazing sacrifice made by the Majesty
of heaven, all selfishness would be banished from their hearts. He
directs the mind first to the position which Christ occupied in heaven,
in the bosom of His Father; he reveals Him afterward as laying off His
glory, voluntarily subjecting Himself to all the humbling conditions of
man’s nature, assuming the responsibilities of a servant, and becoming
obedient unto death, and that death the most ignominious and revolting,
the most shameful, the most agonizing—the death of the cross. Can
Christians contemplate this wonderful exhibition of the love of God to
man without emotions of love and a realizing sense of the fact that we
are not our own? Such a Master should not be served from grudging,
covetous, selfish motives.
“Ye know,” says Peter, “that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold.” Oh, had these been sufficient to purchase
the salvation of man, how easily it might have been accomplished
by Him who says: “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine.” But
the transgressor of God’s holy law could be redeemed only by the
precious blood of the Son of God. Those who, failing to appreciate
the wonderful sacrifice made for them, withhold their means and their
physical, mental, and moral powers from the service of Christ, will
perish in their selfishness.