Mormonism and the Humiliation of Christ

Philip. 2:1-11 (ESV)
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2] complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. [3] Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, [8] he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

For the last few days, and I ought to be doing other work, but for the last few days this passage has been floating around inside my head. Most specifically verse 6, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” This attacks the heart of the Mormon religion which is all about becoming equal with God. Take for instance this passage from an LDS missionary tract called “The Gospel of Jesus Christ, Study guide 2”
“Our Heavenly Father has given us this mortal life to enable us to become more like him. Ther are two major obstacles to this goal. The First is Physical death…. The second major obstacle to our becoming like our Heavenly Father is sin. To enable us to grow, God has made us free to choose between good and evil, between obeying or disobeying him….”
The tract goes on to explain how Jesus helps us overcome these obstacles ourselves, the goal being to become like or equal to God. This is the very goal that Philippians 2:6 slams. The Mormon religion would have you believe that Jesus came to show us how we could become like God. Philippians 2:6 shows that Jesus came to show us how to be human.
It was the sin of Adam and Eve to want to become like God, to be dissatisfied with their lot in life to be human. And it is this sin that is most prevalent in the human race today. Religions are geared toward the idea of becoming gods, or equal with gods. This is attempted in many different ways. In the Mormon religion it is about “Choosing the Right”. By making the right choices here on earth we can endeavor to become like God. We with Adam can attempt to usurp the power and glory of God.
But Jesus who was God and is God according to John chapter 1 and other numerous verses, did not see equality with God a thing to be grasped, which is an odd way of phrasing it. In my experience there is something amazing to be found when something is phrased in an odd way in Scripture. Grasped, we grasp at things we don’t have already. We hold onto things we have already grasped or own. Jesus is equal with God, before he becomes man. The point of saying grasped, is Jesus is teaching us something. Man wants to be like God. However God, in this case the person of Jesus, didn’t find this a worthy goal for humans. He reverses the desire of Adam, and as God desires to become man. What’s more he is happy to be man, even to this day. Rather than man becoming divine, the divine becomes man.
In the end Jesus doesn’t feed our desire to become like God, to covet his divine glory and power. In the end Jesus comes to assure us that it is o.k. to be man. He comes to teach us to be content with who we are as man and woman. He comes to forgive us our sins, so as to redeem us, and salvage our humanity. We do not become like him, rather he becomes like us. And in this he restores to us the happiness of being human, the joy of His salvation. And from that joy flows love, and to love, not sin, but love is at the true foundation the true essence of what it means to be man, to be woman. To love not ourselves but others, is the only basis for true morality, the only source of altruism, the ever elusive hallmark even of earthly righteousness. Yet because of Christ we need not concern ourselves with our own righteousness, for he gives us his, and with that takes away the basis for our egotism and selfish love of self.
He restores us then, not with those things this world so highly prizes, self esteem, pride, and glory, but with love and humility, gratefulness, thankfulness, and true love for both ourselves and others. He restores us with a love that we could not earn, we cannot learn, but can only be given and then lived in the grace of salvation which the free gift of Christ's atoning sacrifice, the crucifixion. And this was the purpose of Christ's humiliation, not his exaltation, but our salvation. He who would lose his life will save it, but he who would save his life will lose it. Why? because by losing his life, Christ saved ours.