Though he was in every way God, Christ Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be exploited but emptied himself of power and taking on the form of a servant was himself exploited by the cross. It is beyond our ability to comprehend for we are inclined to hang onto every shred of power we can get our hands on and take on the servant’s form temporarily anticipating a heavenly reward for our humble efforts. None-the-less Paul exhorts his Philippian “partners in the Gospel” and by extension all who read these words to have the mind of Christ that is described in what most believe is a hymn of the ancient church. To have the mind of Christ means more than playing nice or letting others have their way. Jesus emptied himself of the kind of power even the world recognizes to pick up the cross which in the end was the power of God no one anticipated or indeed, understood. In what appears to be defeat love conquers hate; light banishes darkness; life destroys death. All because Christ Jesus let go of being God in order to pick up our humanity. Which means the mind of Christ is the mind of God, and that is good news indeed.
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