Even Death on a Cross
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
Centerpiece.
Table centerpieces - so interesting.
I’m going to test myself in front of all of you, with my beautiful wife as the judge.
Mason jar, lace ribbon, Purple, yellow, pink flowers
Little picture stand with our engagement photo.
Similarly, vs 8. is the centerpiece of this pasage
As a song, poem
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
Notice on both ends, a call to action
to have Christ’s mind
to worship Him as Lord
Working forward and backward, the theme goes from height to the depth, with the very depth of all depths in verse 8
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus, as the God-Man, willingly went to the lowest point any man could ever face, yet he did it as no other man could do.
Jesus, as the God-Man, willingly went to the lowest point any man could ever face, yet he did it as no other man could do.
1. His Human Form
1. His Human Form
A. The Reality of It
A. The Reality of It
Notice in the text, the symmetry of the use of the word “form.”
vs. 6, form of God.
vs. 7, form of a servant
If he was truly a servant, he is truly God. If he is truly God, he truly became a servant.
When we get to verse 8, this time your translation may also say “form.” Here, though, Paul uses a different word to even further illustrate the humanity of Christ.
He had already referred to his birth (vs. 7), now he refers to his very appearance.
Whereas the other two uses of form are the word “morphe,” which refer to the nature (truly God, truly man)
This time Paul uses the word (schema), which refers to the outward, physical appearance. In this case, the attributes of humanness.
This draws our minds to the great depth of this plunge of humility.
From the highest of heights, the eternal son of God, speaking into creation the very existence of physical reality, dwelling outside of time and the limitations of “flesh,” beyond the fray of our material understanding, comes this heavenly King, to take on hands like our hands, feet like our feet, eyes like our eyes, a sense of smell, taste, hearing.
From his place as the Word of God before all things, to being subjected to feelings of being hungry, thirsty, and tired.
From infinite, perfect, unaffected, eternal existence in glory and power with the Father and the Spirit, to the frailty of human flesh that might get a splinter in Joseph’s carpentry shop, or a blister from the wearing of a sandal on dusty streets in Nazareth.
From radiance and brightness of majesty indescribable to human eyes and imaginations, to the human frailty of having to squint at the brightness of the mid-day sun that he created, and needing to light a candle to see in the darkness that he ordained in the passing of evening and morning.
As the hymnwriter put it,
“Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love's sake becamest poor;
Thrones for a manger didst surrender,
Sapphire-paved courts for stable floor.
Thou who wast rich beyond all splendour,
All for love's sake becomes poor.”
Yes, truly God, Truly man - with all the attached baggage that comes with being a person in a world affected by the curse.
B. The Holiness of It
B. The Holiness of It
Two senses of being holy
Righteous and Pure
Set Apart
In being righteous and pure
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
In being Set Apart
His uniqueness, just as we saw last week when considering His equality within the godhead.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
Preeminent, beginning, creator, sustainer, and benefactor of all things.
Perhaps no greater illustration from scripture is needed here than the words of God the Father himself
and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
These two facets of holiness are seen in his humility, as we notice the words
“he humbled himself.”
A moment of humiliation in life?
Purchasing a vehicle
Having a strongly worded conversation with a sales manager over a disagreement on terms. I thought I was promised one thing, turns out I had totally misread the agreement.
Humiliation was not something that “happened to” Jesus, as if he were embarrassed or brought down a notch by a stroke of bad luck.
Remember, he is God the Son from eternity past, equal with God and preeminent in all existence. He couldn’t be “humbled” by anything outside of himself - he willingly chose, willingly submitted to humiliation.
A reminder to us, who perhaps are given to seek personal ambition, that Christ is our example in this.
in humility count others more significant
look not to yourself, but others
And he did that, and did it in his death.
2. His Humble Death
2. His Humble Death
“becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
His obedience, beyond his state of sinlessness, he didn’t only remain righteous by the merit of his previous righteousness, or merely avoiding sinning, but by being actively obedient to the will of his father.
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
Yes, even in the point leading up to his death we see this, and it is a marvelous illustration of something beyond understanding, yet too beautiful to ignore.
Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
To experience sorrow, to experience a conflict of desire here - of real human anguish and dread, without sin, yet still real, it shows the deepest part of the realness of his humanness - his will.
As a man, in order to truly face temptation, he took on the a real human will, a will which naturally bristles at pain and suffering, which would immediately avoid any such calamity. A will which is affected by emotion such as crying at the death of Lazarus.
Because of this, his obedience is even more astounding. Again, Jesus didn’t take this route because it was going to be easy as God’s son. He took it, willingly subjecting himself to the sting of untold anguish, and he was obedient. Obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
A. The Cross in Culture
A. The Cross in Culture
A crucifixion was more than an execution, it was a public humiliation.
It was meant to say to the onlooker, “you don’t wan’t this. You don’t want to be this person. This person has no dignity left. You don’t want to do or be what got this person up here.”
It was a sentence to criminals in the category of foreigner, slave, disgraced or betraying soldiers, but almost never to Roman citizens.
The Roman Orator Cicero called crucifixion “The most cruel and disgusting penalty… Let the very name of the cross be far away not only from the body of a Roman citizen, but even from his eyes, his ears, his thoughts”
It was commonly known in the culture as “the slaves penalty.”
To die in this fashion, then, was to be seen with the utmost contempt.
B. The Cross in the Scripture
B. The Cross in the Scripture
Although the classic roman cross, with its upright and cross members, was not around in the early days of God’s people, the concept of execution by form of lifting a criminal up to be a public display was.
“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
A hanged man is cursed by God. That is the picture.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
Much like Verse 8 is the centerpiece of the Christ Hymn in philippians, the Cross of Jesus is the central theme in the scripture, the message of the church, and the stamp of “finished” on the work of salvation.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
C. The Cross for Us
C. The Cross for Us
Were Jesus’ death just a token or memento of his passion, it would really be a tragedy. For then, we might say, here was the messiah who was to deliver the world into God’s Kingdom, struck down by human kings.
But it was not a memento or a token, it wasn’t the mere death of a martyr for a good cause. It was purposeful, intentional, and decisive.
Bearing Sin
Bearing Sin
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Satisfying Wrath
Satisfying Wrath
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Propitiation - to satisfy, to make it reasonable and consistent to pardon sin.
Jesus death doesn’t make God forgive and pardon us, it is the way that he can rightly do that.
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
Showing Love
Showing Love
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
In the prince of Heaven humbling himself to die the “slaves death,” he Shows love. It was no fool’s errand, it was no tragedy of cosmic proportion, it was the purposeful, willing, humble display of infinite, almighty, sovereign, and perfect love.
Application:
Oh, what would be without this? Where would we be without this cross?
We would still be lost, in our sins
We would not know the fulness of God’s love displayed
What are some real-life situations where this truth of the real humanity and death of Christ can give us aid?
When we pray - Jesus, you’ve been through this
How can this aid your prayer for others?
When we grieve - Jesus, you’ve been through more
When we love - Jesus, you’ve loved so we can love
“Hast thou been hungry, child of mine?
I, too, have needed bread
For forty days I tasted naught, Till by the angels fed
Hast thou been thirsty? On the cross
I suffered thirst for thee
I’ve promised to supply thy need, My child come to me
When thou art sad and tears fall fast, My heart goes out to thee
For I wept o’er Jerusalem, the place so dear to me;
And when I came to Lazarus’ tomb
I wept - my heart was sore
I’ll comfort thee when thou dost weep
Till sorrows are all o’er.