The Ultimate Attitude

Philippians 2:5 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,” Luke 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” 1 Peter 1:21 “who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

Where will Jesus take you? He will take the way of humility, self scarf ice, others above self. No greater example of others above self is given in all of the Bible. No attitude was important to the salvation of mankind than the attitude that Jesus demonstrated when coming to this earth and dying on the cross for our sins.

Why follow or imitate this example. First of all its Jesus the author of salvation for our souls but secondly because we want peace and unity

Selfishness = divisiveness, destruction, quarrels and conflicts, lack of peace, hate, murder…James 4:1-10.

So what do we learn about others above self from the ultimate attitude?

He Empties

The Bible teaches us that Jesus (The Word) existed in the form of God. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” He is God! But he did not regard equality with God something to be grasped - held onto, something to cling to, not going to let go (Kaden death grip, dog refusing to turn loose). I want you to let that sink in for a moment. The privileges he had as God he did not hold on to it. We don’t ever want to give our privileges our rights

Jesus said, I cannot keep my privileges for myself, I must use them for others, I will gladly lay them aside and pay whatever price is necessary

So he emptied himself of those privileges.

Contrast that to satan Isaiah 14:12–15 ““How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.” Satan tried to lift himself up and take the position which is not his (even though he was beautiful and had a significant position in the creation).

Who are you like? Are you following the example of your father the devil or are you following the example of the Son of God.

Others above self means you willingly give up your privileges for others. You empty yourself.

He Serves

took the form of a bondservant. The Lord, The creator of all the universe became a servant. Matthew 20:28 “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”” John 13:5 “Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”

2 Corinthians 8:9 NASB95

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

He gave up his form, his privileges, his glory to become a man (in the flesh) and be a servant. Servant is not high on the list of things we want to do. But our savior our Lord did it and we should have the same attitude. He gave up riches so that we might become rich.

Why? Because his mind was focused on you and me. Even now after receiving his rightful place at the right hand of God the Hebrew writer reminds us that He always lives to make intercession for us. He puts us in front of his rights and privileges.

To you live to serve. That is what it means to put others above self. What are you willing to give up to serve and follow in the footsteps of our Savior?

He Sacrifices

Jesus sacrificed himself. John 10:18 ““No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.””

Why? Why? Why? Love, submission, obedience John 6:38 ““For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” He thought of us and and he wanted to be obedient to the will of the Father.

He willingly sacrificed himself, he was not a martyr. This was intentional purposeful.

He died a cruel unimaginable death on a cross. Immense suffering transpired on the cross and he did it for you and me.

What about us are you willing to serve if you have to sacrifice. You see I am convinced that people are willing to serve if it doesn’t cost them anything, but if there is a price to pay, they loose interest (my time, my money). That’s why the church has very few workers because no one is willing to follow Jesus example of service and sacrifice. “ A ministry that cost nothing accomplishes nothing, to be a blessing, there must be some bleeding.

Do we want cheap crosses - Christ Cross was not cheap it was costly. Should my cross to bear be any different.

He Glorifies

for this reason, because he emptied himself, because he served, because he sacrificed, because he put others above himself…God highly exalted him. Super exalted him. gave him a name above every name, every knee will bow, every tongue will confess.

Note: all of this is done to the glory of God the Father. Jesus selflessness, self-emptying, serving, sympathetic, submissive sacrificing was all for the purpose of God’s glory. John 17:1 “Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,” He want s to glorify the Father. What about you?

God is glorified and lifted up when we have this attitude.

Mark 10:43–45 ““But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.””

Ephesians 1:6 “to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Ephesians 1:12 “to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:14 “who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” All that Jesus did in emptying himself, serving others, and sacrificing himself was for the glory of God

do you want to glorify God? then have the same attitude? Empty yourself, serve others, and sacrifice.

1 Peter 5:6 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,”