A Church Re-Formed By The Cross

In Week 6 of A Re-Formed Imagination, we turned our attention to Philippians 2:5–8 and the heart of Paul’s letter—the Christ Hymn. Rather than arguing or explaining, Paul gives us poetry, because some truths are not meant to be mastered by logic alone. They must be received, remembered, and rehearsed. In this hymn, Paul tells the story of Jesus in a way that reshapes how we understand God, power, and love.

We saw that Jesus, though fully equal with God, did not cling to his status or use it for his own advantage (Phil. 2:6). Unlike Adam in Genesis 1–3, who grasped for equality, Jesus reveals what God is truly like by choosing the downward path of self-giving love. Paul describes this as Jesus “emptying himself”—not by giving up his divinity, but by laying aside privilege and taking on the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7). Drawing from Isaiah 52–53, Paul presents Jesus as the suffering servant whose obedience bears the weight of others.

The descent continues all the way to the cross. Jesus humbles himself and becomes obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross (Phil. 2:8). Crucifixion was the ultimate humiliation, yet Paul insists that this was not an accident or a tragic interruption. It was the mission itself. In the cross, we see that love—not power—is the deepest truth about God.

Paul gives us this hymn not to spark theological debate, but to form a people. Jesus becomes the paradigm of genuine spiritual progress: not climbing higher for ourselves, but giving ourselves in love for God and neighbor. As we stay with this story, our imaginations are re-formed. We begin to trust that obedience is not loss, that descent is not destruction, and that the way of Jesus truly leads to life.