The passage
      v5. Paul has exhorted his readers to live in a way that considers, not their own interests, but the "interests of others", v4. He now explains how self-renunciation is empowered; we must "contemplate" Christ's example of humility.
      v6. Paul goes on to tell us that Christ was in the form of God and existed in a manner equal to God: he possesses a divine nature, he is a divine being. Divinity was his by right and he did not need to grasp onto it as if he might lose it.
      v7. Yet, Christ willingly made himself nothing; he emptied himself. We usually follow Lightfoot who said "he divested himself.... of the glories, the prerogatives of deity." Paul actually doesn't say this, rather, he says that Christ emptied himself by taking on the role of a servant, the limited and unattractive role of subjection. In this form he took upon himself "human likeness", he took on our fallen, weak human nature. This then is the emptying of Christ - making "himself nothing". He became a humble servant as well as a limited human.
      v8. Not only did the divine Christ empty himself, in that he took upon himself the role of a servant and the nature of fallen humanity, but he subjected himself to humiliation. Christ submitted himself to the will of God and so faced the reproach of his fellows, a reproach that ended in shameful death.
      v9. As a consequence of his humiliation, Christ was exalted by God. The verdict of humanity, led by the powers of darkness, is set aside by God. As for the name Jesus is given, it is not "Christ", but "Lord", a name which depicts Christ's power, authority and dignity.
      v10. Those who bow before the exalted Christ are the totality of rational beings. There are three groups: i] Spiritual beings - angels; ii] Humans; iii] Deceased persons.
      v11. Every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, even the powers of darkness will confess his lordship.

Imitating Christ's humility
      Jesus made it clear that the heart is the source of behavior, Lk.6:45. If the images within us are selfish, then we will behave in a selfish way. If we are able to shape unselfish images in the mind, contemplate Christ's self-denial, our behavior will begin to move in a caring direction. This is most likely the point made by the apostle in 2Cor.5:14. The compelling character of Christ's love, when resident in our being, shapes us to love as Christ loved. This is a function of the indwelling Spirit of Christ, whose work of renewal in our lives is progressed as a gift of grace appropriated through faith.
      So then, the practical outworking of this "attitude" ("mind", way of thinking, contemplation) is something like this. A believer, regenerate, possessing the Spirit of Christ and infused with Christ's character of love, affirms "the good" (here humility) and cooperates with Christ's renewing power as it activates right behavior.
      The separate elements of this "attitude" are:
        i] A knowledge of the good (in this case, a humility imaged in the person of Christ who "made himself nothing")
        ii] A faith that the good is ours as a gift of grace. Christ's perfect humility is ours because of our identification with Christ in his death and resurrection.
      This "attitude" then finds expression in our behavior as we cooperate with the Spirit of Christ in his work of imaging Christ-likeness in our lives.

      Jerusalem bound, that is our destination - to climb Calvary with our Lord, to die to self. The beauty is that Christ has already done this for us. He has died, and in that death we die. As the faithful servant he was humble before God and humbled before mankind. In Jesus we are that servant. This is our status before God.
      In response, we should strive to be that humble servant day by day. So, day by day let us focus on the cross and the empty tomb - on the broken Christ, our risen Lord. Let us image in our mind his humility and his exaltation. As we feed on that image, rest on it, we will slowly but surely change from within; we will take on-board the "attitude, the "mind" of Christ. It is this thinking which impels us to service, moves us to serve our God and to face the humiliation and sacrifice that this service so often brings. In the midst of this struggle we will see the glory of our exalted Lord and know that in him we will one day possess glory.

v6
      uJparcwn (uJparcw) pres. part. "[who] being [in very nature God]" - existing. "Existing" in the sense of to be, subsist, continue eternally, although the idea of eternal existence derives from the context. The word in common use concerns prior existence rather than eternal existence; "he always had the nature of God", TEV.
      morfh/ (h) "[in] very nature" - form, appearance. Possibly "likeness", in the sense of outward display, but more likely "nature" in the sense of expressing an inner reality, the essential attributes of something; "he was divine by nature", Moffatt.
      ouc .... hJghsato (hgeomai) "did not consider [equality with God]" - did not regard, consider, deem, have an opinion. Jesus was not of the opinion that ..... "he did not regard his equality to God a thing to be clutched to himself", Barclay
      aJrpagmon (oV) "something to be grasped" - something to be plundered, grasped, taken as spoil .... a prize to be won. As of plunder to be won and held onto at all cost. The word is uncommon and therefore its exact meaning is unsure. Lightfoot, "Though he existed in the form of God, yet he did not look upon equality with God as a prize which must not slip from his grasp, rather he emptied himself, taking upon him the form of a slave."

v7
      eJauton reflective pro. "[but made] himself" - Jesus divested himself of divine prerogative, although not of his divinity, in taking the form of a servant. The emphasis on "himself" indicates it was his doing to voluntarily so act; "in his own free will", TEV.
      ekenwsen (kenow) aor. "made [himself] nothing" - empty, make of no effect. "Stripped himself", Lightfoot; "he spripped himself of every advantage", Phillips.
      doulou (oV) "servant" - slave. Jesus takes the form of a slave. The master of all becomes the salve of all to save all (who believe).
      oJmoiwmati (oJmoiwma) "likeness" - He became like a servant, humiliated; "he stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature", Phillips.
      schmati (a atoV) "in appearance" - outward form, appearance. He appeared as something that he was not. Jesus is the divine man, but appears as the humbled man, cf. Isa.53:2,3. "He became like one of us", CEV.

v8
      etapeinwsen (tapeinow) aor. "humbled" - make low, humble, humiliate. "He lowered his own dignity", Knox.
      mecri "to [death]" - up to, unto. "He walked the path of obedience all the way to death", TEV.
      de staurou (oV) "even death on a cross" - and even / but / a cross. Not only did Jesus take on the likeness of a human person, even a slave, even a slave faced with death, but he "even" took upon himself the degradation of public execution as a common criminal. The "but/and even" emphasizes the extent of Jesus' humiliation.

v9
      dio "therefore" - as a consequence of Christ's humiliation, .......
      uJperuywsen (uJperuyow) aor. "exalted" - highly exalted. The force of the prefix is to stress the "exalted", so "highly exalted."
      ecarisato (carizomai) aor. "gave" - graciously gave, forgive, show favour. "Bestowed", NEB; "honoured his name above all", CEV.
      to onoma "the name" - possibly the title "Lord", or an allusion to the divine name, God's person, and therefore meaning "dignity", even "divine dignity."

v10
      iJna + subj. "that" - so that. Expressing either purpose or consequence.
      en tw/ onamati (onoma) "at the name [of Jesus]" - in the name. Possibly "every knee should bow at the mention of Jesus", or more likely, "at the glory and dignity associated with Jesus." Lightfoot argues that "the personal name of Jesus cannot be meant."
      pan gonu kamyh/ (kamptw) "every knee should bow" - all knees should bow/bend. The whole creation should bow before Jesus; "should kneel in reverence and submission", Barclay.
      katacqoniwn adj. "under the earth" - Probably a reference to Hades / Sheol, the residence of the dead. The point is, Christ's reign is universal.