See that? To eternally exist = God!
2:6 "who although He existed" Literally this is "who being in the form of God." This is one of two present tenses (here a participle) in the midst of a series of Aorist tense verbs and participles.
It emphasizes the pre-existence of Jesus of Nazareth (cf. John 1:1; 8:57-58; 17:5,24; 2 Cor. 8:9; Col. 1:17; Heb. 10:5-7).
Jesus' pre-existence is another proof of His deity. Jesus did not come into being at Bethlehem. There has never been a time when Jesus did not exist and was not divine.
"in the nature of God" This is the Greek word morphē which is used in several senses.
1. an Aristotlian sense of essence
2. the sense of the nature of something or unchanging essence of something (this is how the early Church fathers interpreted it)
3. the outward form of something, as in the Septuagint (LXX). This does not mean that YHWH has a physical body, but that the attributes and characteristics-the very essence of God the Father-are evident in God the Son.
It is another way of asserting the full deity of Christ.
"did not regard equality with God" Literally this is "thought it not robbery to be equal with God." This is the other present tense (here an infinitive). The Greek term "equality" comes into English as
"isometric." It is another way of asserting that Jesus is fully God (cf. John 1:1; Titus 2:13).
NASB"a thing to be grasped"
NKJV"robbery"
NRSV"something to be exploited"
TEV"that by force"
NJB"something to be grasped"
This rare Greek word, harpagmos, originally meant "the act of seizing something" or "a sought after prize" (harpagma). However, it could be used in a passive sense (Greek mos ending) meaning "that which is seized or held on to." A third possibility is "something that someone has but does not use for personal advantage." This is reflected in the Phillip's translation of Phil. 2:7: "stripped Himself of every advantage."
Jesus already possessed full equality with God. The theological reason for this phrase's ambiguity is the Adam/Christ typology, where Adam tried to grasp equality with God by eating the forbidden fruit (cf. Genesis 3). Jesus, the second Adam (cf. Rom 5:12ff), followed God's plan in perfect obedience where suffering preceded exaltation (cf. Isaiah 53).
2:7
NASB, NRSV,
NJB"emptied Himself"
NKJV"made Himself of no reputation"
TEV"of His own free will He gave up all He had"
The pronoun is emphatic. This was Jesus' own choice! There are several theories about what it meant that Jesus emptied Himself (cf. 2 Cor. 8:9).
1. Paul uses this term several times (cf. Rom. 4:14; 1 Cor. 1:17; 9:15; 2 Cor. 9:3). Apparently Jesus chose to live as a human
. He voluntarily left His divine glory and accepted the limitations of flesh. Surely He still had greater insight and spiritual power than ordinary fallen mankind. He was what all humans were intended to be. He is the second Adam and more.
2. Jesus did not become less than God in His Incarnation, but He apparently added humanity to His deity. He left the outward glory of Deity and took on the outward form of a man. This involved addition, not subtraction. During Jesus' earthly ministry, He was filled and empowered by the Spirit, but also He was both fully God and fully human (tempted, Matthew 4; tried, John 4; afraid in Gethsemane, Mark 14:32-42). He truly knew and revealed the Father (cf. John 1:18). He was truly one with our humanity (cf. John 1:4).
3. It is possible that this emptying was a way of alluding to Isa. 53:1-3. If so, it related not to his humanity (Phil. 2:7-8a) but to His crucifixion (Phil. 2:8b) as the servant of YHWH (cf. Mark 10:45-15:53).
From my pastor brother-
Nothing could be further from the truth.
