SLIDES

The Letter to the Church at Philippi

2:5-9 The Humility of the Messiah

Introduction

In my opinion the best movies of all time were made in the 1980’s. Indiana Jones was released in 1981. The Karate Kid was released in 1984, Back to the Future was released in 1985, and Top Gun in 1986. These movies for the most part were clean movies that had only a few curse words.

Linda and I had a Christian friend who objected to Christians going to any movie that had any curse words in it.  So, during the 1980’s, we had several discussions about attending these movies. The last time we discussed this issue, He mentioned that it would be better for us to attend movies like as ET. I don’t think he realized the flow of the movie he was recommending. I told him that it’s interesting that ET was a creature from another world who came to the earth and was adopted, so to speak, by the kids in an earth family. They got close to him as friends. He got sick, died, was brought back to life. One of the last things ET said before leaving the earth predated Arnold Schwarzenegger in the movie The Running Man when he said, “I’ll be back.”

So, think about it. It a fanciful idea. You have a creature from another world who lives among humans for a while, who dies and was brought back to life before he exited the earth. One of the last things he said before leaving was that he would return one day. Does that sound vaguely familiar? By telling you this, I am not suggesting that someone should have avoided seeing ET in the 80’s or even now.

Something like the story of ET sounds like science fiction, doesn’t it? But we know that 2000 years the God who created the heavens and the earth, all plants and animals, the fish in the seas, and even human beings. He came to the earth that He created to be born of a human mother in a human body to live among humans so that He could identity with them. He lived a perfect life without sin, died on a Roman cross, and was resurrected three days later. Before returning to heaven, He told them that after he returned to heaven, they would receive power from the Holy Spirit and they were to be His witness over the entire earth. The angels told the disciples that He would return.

Today we are going to discuss Philippians 2:5-8 that informs us about some of the details of Jesus’ 33 years upon the earth, especially His’ attitude of humility. It is clear that Paul through these verses wants us to know that Jesus is the supreme example of humility. The items that I will list in a few minutes can only be accomplished through humility and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the attitude that God also wants us to exhibit as we see in  Philippians 2:5.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

1. Believers are to have the same Humble Attitude that Jesus had. (2:1)

The demonstrative pronoun “this” refers back the things Paul discussed and instructed the Philippians to do since they had comfort from the Lord, the consolation of love from the Lord, had a partnership with the Lord, and received affection and compassion from the Lord. The result of us receiving these from the Lord are as follows:

a. Being of the same mind

b. Maintaining the same love

c. United in spirit

d. Intent on one purpose

e. Nothing should be done from selfishness or empty conceit

f. Everything is to be done with humility of mind

g. We should regard others as more important than ourselves

h. Don’t merely look out for our own personal interests, but also look out for the interests of others.

These items can only be accomplished through humility and the power of the Holy Spirit. Having a humble attitude is not just an act of thinking, but a state of mind, an inward disposition that each believer should have. It signifies sympathetic interests and concern, reflecting the action of the “heart” as well as the “head.” The “you” in this verse is plural not singular. The phrase “in yourselves” can also and should be translated “among yourselves.” This state of mind should not only be an attitude that each individual should have an attitude that should permeate the entire congregation i.e., within each Christian community.

The verb is a present tense and also an imperative. It can be translated “continually have this attitude.” The attitude that we are to continually have the same attitude that Jesus had as outlined in verses 2-4.

Jesus, during His life, displayed each of the above character qualities listed by Paul in verses 2-4. In verses 6-8 Paul demonstrates how these character qualities were specifically displayed in His life of Jesus as the individual who was totally God and totally man.

2. The Demonstration of Christ’s Humility (2:6-8)

a. Even though Jesus was God, He did not assert His’ prerogatives as God. (6)

Philippians 2:6 …who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…

This portion of Scripture is called the Kenosis. The term Kenosis in Greek means “to empty.” The Kenosis refers to the incarnation when Jesus, as God, humbled Himself by being born into this world as a human being, emptying Himself by divesting himself of his prestige or privileges.  He became a servant who died for the sins of the world. So, when I talk about this process, I’ll just call it the Kenosis to make things simple.

Note that the text says that He existed not He became. The word existed is a present tense verb that means the undefined continuance of being which, of course, refers to Jesus preincarnate state as God, as seen in John 1:1-2.

1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2     He was in the beginning with God.

The verb existed, since it is a present tense, also denotes that this state of being did not cease when Jesus took on a human body. He existed from eternity past and will exist into eternity future.

The term “form” is translated from the Greek word “morphe.” The term “morphe” usually relates to the physical realm concerning something that has a physical form or shape, however here, it does not. Remember the transformer toys and movies? We must remember that God is a Spirit and must be worshipped in Spirit and in truth. So, how can the term form describe that God who is a spirit who does not have what we think of a physical form or shape?

Most likely Paul is referring to a picture of the preincarnate Christ clothed in garments of divine majesty and spender. It describes His divine nature and essence as God. In reality it described His divine nature during His life as a human and even now. This is seen as part of Jesus High Priestly prayer in John 17:24.

Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

Paul is clear that even though Jesus was God and co-equal with the Father before and after His incarnation that He “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.” The term grasp means to be held on by force or something that is forcibly retained. The phrase “to be grasped” means that He did not consider His equality with the Father as God something that He wanted for His own benefit. Charles Ryrie translates the phrase like this: “Who, though of the same nature as God, did not think this something to be exploited to His own advantage.” Jesus did not assert His authority as God during the incarnation. This verse again shows Christ’s humility and that He was not selfish. Again, for believers in Christ to be united as God wants us to be, requires humility. Humility is not the strong suit of most people. It is never accomplished by walking in the flesh but can only be accomplished by walking in the Spirit.

In the history of the world there have been countries who believed that their ruler was deity. Some examples are Egypt, Mesopotamia, Japan, China, Indonesia, Nepal, etc. There are people who never claimed to be deity, but who were or are worshiped as deity by others. A few examples are Mary, the mother of Jesus, Alexander the Great, Mother Teresa, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Haile Selassie I of Jamaica, etc. These men and women usually were seen as someone who should be worshipped by the public and the right to exercise authority as a god. The interesting thing is that they were not a god and did not have the power and authority of a god. Jesus was God but during the incarnation, He humbled Himself and did not utilize or assert His prerogatives and attributes as God. He wanted to be an example to the people of Israel how to rely on God for everything. He did not use His power to do miracles but relied on the Holy Spirit. He relied on the Father for guidance and direction. He is our supreme example of humility and obedience.

At Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust Museum, there are photos and videos of families getting off of the trains at Holocaust camps such as Dachau, Auschwitz, and Buchwald. As soon as they got off the trains, the men, the women, and the children were separated from one another. There are videos of children being pride out of their mother’s grasping hands to stay with their children. The children are grasping to stay with their mothers. Both the children and mothers are screaming. It is horrifying to watch. Even though it is horrible to imagine and watch, it does illustrate the what it means to grasp or hold on to something. In the case of Jesus, this word in this context of this verse means that Jesus did not try to grasp or hold on to his prerogatives of power, authority, and knowledge as God.

 c. Instead of asserting His’ prerogatives as God, Jesus chose not to use them. (7a)

Philippians 2:7a - but emptied Himself ...

Let me ask a couple of questions concerning the Kenosis. Then what exactly does that mean that He emptied Himself when He was born into this world as a human being.

1. Did He lose his deity at his incarnation? No!

2. Did He compromise by losing His essential attributes as God such as Righteousness, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omnibenevolence? No!

3. As a human, did Jesus lack anything we associate with humanity? Yes, the sin nature.

Then what exactly does the Kenosis mean?

What Paul is doing here is showing a contrast between His prerogatives as God and being a bond servant. Being a bond servant involved:

•   The voluntary non-use of His attributes as God.

•   Doing the will of the Father IE submitting to the Father’s authority.

Philippians 2:7

but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

The two phrases after He empties Himself are participles of result and read like this.

The result of Him emptying Himself was that He took on the form of a bond servant.

The result of Him emptying Himself was that He was made in the likeness of men.

We see that He took on the form of a bond servant. The Greek word translated form is the same word that was used for form in verse 6. As in the use of the word from above., it is not talking about a physical form or shape. It is referring to His nature or His position. He had the very nature of a servant. It was His identity while He was on the earth. When he chose not to use His attributes as God, He became a servant. He chose no longer to exercise His right to be a sovereign master, but choose to be a servant who was subservient to a master, God the Father.

Paul also said that He “was made in the likeness of men.” At the incarnation, Jesus became a human, a full, complete human. We see this in Hebrews 2:14 and Romans 8:3.

Hebrews 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same…

Romans 8:3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin...

The sin nature has nothing to do with one being a full and compete human. Adam and Eve were full and complete human beings before they ate of the pomegranate.

d. Jesus humbled Himself by means of becoming a sacrifice. (2:8)

This verse makes it clear that the main way Jesus showed His humility is when He became a sacrifice on the cross. The word appearance does mean an outward physical appearance, form, or shape. In this case the form or shape was that of a human being. As a human being, He submitted to the Father's authority and God’s plan for Him.  He was a human who became a self-sacrifice for mankind when He died on the cross so that those who would trust in Him would have their sins forgiven and would receive eternal life.

Application

Today we have learned that Jesus, being God, gave up the independent use of His divine attributes resulting in Him becoming a servant at His incarnation. When He became a humble servant, He was subservient to the will of the Father in all He wanted Him to be or do. His sacrificial death on the cross demonstrated His great humility. Jesus is certainly our example on how to live a humble and obedient life to the glory of the Father.

The great question facing each of us today is whether we will follow Christ’s example of radical humility by voluntarily and joyfully humbling ourselves, becoming servants of others rather than serving ourselves.

But let’s try to apply this Christ-centered principle more personally and more specifically, let’s go back to the two verses. With Jesus our example of selfless humility, let’s read the following paraphrase of Philippians 2:3–4 and personalize it by filling in the blanks below with the name of someone you are currently struggling to get along with. This person could be a fellow church member, spouse, child, parent, sibling, other relative, friend, boss, employee, or co-worker.

Following Christ’s example and by the Holy Spirit’s enablement, I will reject self-seeking glory and vain pride, and I will strive to humbly regard __________ as more important than myself. Rather than constantly looking out for my own interests, I will also look out for the interests of ______________.

Now that you have the what and the who in place, prayerfully consider the how. How will you put this commitment into practice as you perceive the Holy Spirit encouraging you toward greater humility? How will you know if your attitude and actions have really changed toward this person? Don’t just wait for opportunities to put this into practice. Find opportunities. Begin this week to live the Christlike life of joyful, selfless humility.

Opportunities to put our humility into practice. Consider doing the following:

•   Call them and try to get to know them.

•   Write an email or card of encouragement.

•   Send a Text, card, or email and tell that individual you are praying for them. Ask them how you can better pray for them.

•   If they are sick, send a get-well card.

•   Make a special effort to speak to them each Sunday morning and try to have a conversation with them. Ask them out for a meal after church.

•   Visit them or ask them out for coffee or a meal.

And Can It Be, That I Should Gain?

Charles Wesley 1738

3 He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race;
'Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.

Refrain:
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me!

From this day forward, let’s try to follow Jesus’ example of humility, servanthood, and obedience.

SELAH!