Philippians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took on him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: We have no difficulty in conceiving how a man of highest virtue, and noblest birth, and clearest intelligence, could assume an outward garb which would completely belie or hide his real character. A king need not always wear the royal robes and sit on a throne. He may become a shepherd on the him, a sailor before the mast, a servant of his own servants. Missionaries — and in this case the moral analogy is more perfect — after learning the language of a barbarous people, have gone among them, conforming to all their habits as far as they could, living a dark, rude life, submitting to every kind of trial and privation, in order to a great and beneficent end. Is it then to be said, in the ignorance of our pride, in the supercilious presumption of our poor narrow thought, that the Infinite One must always be in Divine state and glory, in one manifestation, in one form of His infinite life, that whatever transpires in the history of the world or the universe, He can do nothing except what He has been forever doing — speak no new word — make no new revelation of Himself? The assertion that God cannot lay aside some of what we may call the accidents of His being, and invest Himself in another way, is almost to assert that He is not God at all. (A. Raleigh, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:WEB: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. |
    |