The Humiliation And Exaltation of Christ

Who is Jesus Christ?

A seemingly simple question, that has profound implications on our lives and salvation.

What is the effect of proper Christology on the Christian life?

Both of these questions have there answers in Phil 2:5-11, where Paul in trying to instruct the church on being humble, loving, and unified, reminded them to look to their savior.

We in order to accomplish this same goal will examine this passage and seek to answer the two questions, Who is Christ, and how does it effect us.

Phil 2:5-11

We will first examine the passage and its description of Christ’s nature and His work.

V.6

a. who, although existing in the form of God,

Here in this short clause we have arguable the most important statement within this whole passage.

Christ is here described as existing in the form, or better described “nature” of God.

Jesus is God, and for some of this it may seem like common knowledge, but so often the world seeks to attack and belittle this core truth.

In our day there are numerous ideologies on who Christ was, and in the name of inclusivity we try to grey the lines.

Some of these ideologies are

Mormon- Christ as the actual offspring of God

Islam- Prophet

Secular- Loon or a moral teacher

Jehovah’s Witness- Just a man

We are speaking on humility and unity, but is must be noted that doctrine on Christ and God are the things which we cannot bend.

Unity not based on truth is useless and condemning.

So returning now to our passage what is a proper description of Christ?

Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity, equal in every way to the Father and Spirit.

He is the Eternal Creator, who has always been, and will always be.

It is this understanding that makes the next so impactful.

b. did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped

The first act of Christ’s humiliation begins with His willingness to lay aside all the benefits that He possess and is due with being equal to the Father.

V.7

a. but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men.

Christ does not stop being God as some have wrongly taught, but He lays aside the glory and honor He was due, and He did not take advantage of some of the benefits He had being God.

So the question is how does Christ empty Himself and lay aside His glory and honor?

By taking the form of a servant.

The great ruler of the universe steps down from His throne and takes up the duty of a servant.

But the humiliation doesn’t stop there, for He does this by being made in the likeness of man.

Christ, creator God, takes on human flesh.

Thus a proper understanding of the incarnation is not a subtraction, but addition of mortal humanity.

The immortal creator, lowers himself to taking on mortality.

God Himself comes and suffers sickness, heartache, sorrow, and all the other ailments of this broken world.

But even this is not the end of our Lord’s humiliation.

V.8

a. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,

This humiliation continues to new depths, for not only did He come in mortal flesh, but he tasted the great enemy of mortality, death.

But not just any death-

b. even death on a cross.

Not only did Christ die, but He was killed in the most gruesome of manners.

Christ though innocent died a death reserved for only the most foul and lowly of offenders, either slaves or traitors.

Christ died on that cross, taking on the curse of sin, though He had never sinned.

This is the great humiliation, that the King of Glory, came and died as a slave.

But why?

To redeem a fallen people by bearing the wrath of God on their part. Christ came as a servant, bore God’s wrath reserved for man, and just as the lamb was offered for the people of Israel in the Old Testament, God has offered up a lamb to save us.

And it is with this that we see a shift in our passage.

v.9

a. Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,

In response to the Son’s obedience to the plan and will of God, Christ is exalted and given the name Lord.

Lord not only reveals this equality of position Christ has with the Father, but it also points to His authority to work in this world.

Christ being Lord means Christ is in charge, and this leads us to our final point from the passage.

V.10-11

a. so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

All of creation will bend the knee to worship Christ, the only distinction between the groups lies in the second half of verse 10.

When we meet our end on this planet, or Christ returns our eternal fate will be settled.

All will recognize Christ as Lord, either as a part of His redeemed, or when bearing the unmitigated wrath of God.

So the question is for you today do you confess this Christ as Lord?

We also must return to our second initial question, how does a proper view of Christ impact our life?

What greater model of humility and love do we have than our savior?

The deeper we grasp what humiliation Christ bore on our behalf the deeper we are driven to love Him and His people.

How much more gracious would you be as a spouse or employer if instead of a harsh word you first remembered the love Christ had for you?

Two things to leave you with:

Examine what you know and believe about Jesus. Does it align with the Christ of scripture, or have you bought into a mushy grey picture of Christ.

Does the way you treat people in your life conform to what you believe about Jesus, and if it doesn’t how will you repent and imitate your Lord.