Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:5-11

By: Samuel Sorenson

9/22/2024

Introduction

Getting attention: Is going backwards a good thing? Is taking three steps forward and two steps backwards a bad thing? When God created the earth and all that was in it perfectly, why did He then give mankind the choice between obeying Him and obeying their own selfish desire? Isn’t that taking three steps forward and two steps backwards? When I first read the creation story I was dumbfounded by mankind’s relationship with God. I could understand God’s commandment to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil for if they did, they would surely die. I could understand that, but what was hard for me to understand was why? What was the answer or motive behind the command. Just like with kids, don’t touch that stove it’s hot, but what does the kid do, he touches that stove and burns himself.

God’s plan for mankind was far greater than what we read in the first book of the bible. After the fall of mankind, we began to see how evil works, things become harder for Adam and Eve. Cain kills Abel, then there is the great flood in Genesis 6 because man’s thoughts were only evil. All that man thought was evil. Only one family survived and that was Noah’s family. Then we see evil rise again with the tower of Babel and Nimrod who was called a great hunter before the Lord. But God confused the people’s languages and dispersed them, so that the plans of Nimrod were brought to nothing.

Then we see God choose Abraham, a man who is called righteous before God. The Bible says that because Abraham believed God, he was considered righteous before God.

God was more concerned with having faithful servants than He was with having impressive servants. He was more interested in man working with Him, than man relying on his own abilities to build an earthly kingdom. God knew that He was going to have to intervene to bridge the gap between mankind and Him. He was going to have to step down and humble Himself to the point of death in order to reconcile mankind to Himself. Now friends if that’s not taking 3 steps forward and two steps backward then I’m not sure what is? God’s perfect plan of salvation is still being revealed to us, and we as His children must be open to His perfect plan.

In studying this passage in Philippians, I will admit that writing this sermon came at a high price. I was wrestling with God trying to understand His humility, trying to understand why He had to go through what He had to go through? He went through so much suffering for our salvation. I was also wrestling with the Holy Spirit in submitting to His perfect plan and being humble. Now, I was researching humility, and I came across this definition “ Warren Wiersbe said, “The humble person is not one who thinks meanly of himself; he simply does not think of himself at all!” If you think you are “humble” you have just lost it. We are to be so totally focused on the Lord that we simply do not think of ourselves.

When we try to understand the mind of Christ, when we meditate on His character, we are practicing righteousness, we are seeking more of His character and less of our selfish ambitions. Isaiah 55:8-9 states this, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

In seeking the Lord’s face for our lives, the one truth I want us all to understand today is this, “God is an eternal being and we are finite, God has revealed Himself to us through His word, and through His Son, Jesus Christ. We have to understand that we are tapping into the infinite mind of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I’ve heard it said in many sermons that the reason heaven is so long, so rich, and so glorious, is because in order to understand an infinite God it takes an eternity to do it. That should give us a sense of pause, a sense of awe when we consider the one who paid it all so that we may gain it all.

Securing Interest: What comes to mind when we think of the word humility? Does it bring a sense of awe? Does it give us pause to think about how we should strive to be? Or does it deeply bother us because we recognize that we all fall short in this area of our lives?

One definition of humility is the absence of pride or arrogance. How many of us can honestly say we are not prideful?

Why are we trying so hard to achieve so much success in the eyes of man? Is it not so that we can feel better about ourselves? So that we can feel confident? Where does our true identity lie? When we are secure in our identity in Christ, we are free from this world of materialism. We can let go of trying to achieve our own self-glorification, and we can truly live for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So today, I want to ask all of you what kind of person is worthy of worship? What kind of person brings about a feeling of joy when their name is mentioned?

Answer: The person who already has the attributes of humility, the person who is the perfect example of what humility looks like.

Mankind is not worthy of worship. We as a culture worship celebrities, athletes, and public figures like they are gods. We pervert the true worship that belongs to God Himself.

Today I want to challenge you in this area of your life? Do you fear man, or do you fear God? I don’t know about you, but for me I choose to worship that which is perfect, holy, and infinite, over that which is prideful, sinful, and fallen!!!

Flesh and blood example: One biblical character other than Christ that I can think of who restrained judgement, is king David. David knew he was going to be king but refused to kill king Saul when he had the chance. He stated I shall not raise my hand against the Lord’s anointed. 1 Samuel 24:6, And he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.”

Even though king Saul wanted to kill David, David refused to kill him when he had the opportunity. He feared God over man. He feared hurting his relationship with God over gaining favor with his own men. In the end God rewarded David’s obedience by making him king and bringing justice upon Saul. I want to point out today that, “Justice delayed is not justice denied.” Bringing about our own justice when scripture tells us not to is prideful for scripture says, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, thus says the Lord.” Deuteronomy 32:35.

Vital Question: Christians in here today, let me ask you this, how do we view those who want to see us fail?” Do we want to exact some sort of vengeance upon them, or do we see them as someone in need of forgiveness? I know for me I struggle in this area, many times I am upset with how people who are jealous of me treat me. I struggle in seeing them as worthy of being ministered to. I struggle with not wanting to see them fall. This is a real spiritual battle that has plagued me a lot in life. It is also one that I need to continually go before the Lord and ask for His forgiveness. I must also search the scriptures and see examples of how Jesus was before His persecutors, and David was before king Saul.

Text: 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it [a]robbery to be equal with God, 7 but [b]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Contextualization

1. Orientation: The Lord has put this passage on my heart as of late in preparation for ministry, for relationship to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and to be an example to unbelievers. To catch you up to where we are now the Apostle Paul spoke in the first chapter about his imprisonment, his salutation to Timothy, and his prayer for the Philippians. Last week we looked at two attributes of God’s character. The attribute of having the same love as Christ and the attribute of being of one accord and of one mind.

Purpose Statement: My purpose in speaking to you today is for you to understand how developing a spirit of humility is paramount in walking out God’s purpose in your life.

Plural Noun Proposition: Today I want to share 2 requirements for developing a Christlike humility.

Summarization: In this passage we are seeing Christ’s example of humble service. Both to His Father, and to His fellow man. The difference with Christ is that unlike human beings who cannot always control their circumstances, whether it be socioeconomic, their health, the persecution that they are under, or the country that they live in. Christ is different in that at a moment’s notice He could call down 10,000 legions of angels to rescue Him. He was choosing to be obedient for our sake.

Plural Noun Proposition

Today I want to share 2 requirements for developing Christ’s Humility.

Requirement number one: Being in relationship with Christ requires humility.

Look again with me at the text. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robberyto be equal with God, 7 but [b]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Christ had the same form as God. Now the term form is the Greek term μορφη and the first part of the stanza begins and ends with this noun. Once being used in reference to God and the other being used in reference to man. That being said there is a lot of mystery in both. However, form of God here means the true and exact nature of something. Possessing all the characteristics and qualities of something. Christ is and always has been God He is the perfect example of both God and man. He is the perfect example lived out for us in humility both in His life and in His death.

The second thing I want you to see is this. Christ did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. Some translations state that He did not consider it something to be grasped to be equal with God. The Greek word for grasped is αρπαγμοςwhich translates “to grasp at.” Christ did not imagine that having “equality with God” should lead Him to hold onto his privileges at all costs. It was not something to be grasped, to be kept and exploited for his own benefit or advantage. Instead, he had the mind-set of being a servant. Christ did not seek His own pleasure. Instead, He emptied Himself. He counted the needs of others as more significant than His own.

Let’s look at the second requirement: Having the same Mind as Christ requires us to serve with a spirit of Humility.

There are two things I want you to see here. The first thing is Christ made Himself of no reputation. In the NKJV version, of no reputation is used in place of emptied Himself. But what does Paul mean by this? The Greek word for empty is kenoo which is translated to poor out. This could also mean to give up privilege and status. Paul is stressing that Christ, who had all the privileges that were rightly his as king of the universe, gave up these privileges to become an ordinary Jewish baby bound for the cross. The “emptying” consisted of Jesus becoming human, not of him giving up any part of His true deity.

Look with me again at the text. Verse 7-9, “7 but [b]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Christ took the form of a bondservant and came in the likeness of man. By taking the form of a servant, being born in likeness of men. While he had every right to remain in comfort, in a position of power, His love drove him to a position of weakness for the sake of sinful mankind. Another Scripture that comes to mind is 2 Corinthians 8:9, “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 by His poverty might become rich.” The “emptying” consisted of his becoming human, not of His deity being stripped from Him.

Friends it is remarkable that God the Son would take on flesh, and thus enter into a fallen world of sin and chaos. Imagine living in a perfect world where there is no conflict, no misunderstandings, people are kind to one another, there is no evil, and then coming into a world where it’s all of these horrible evils and then some. That is what Christ chose to give up for us. Not only that Christ chose to die the most brutal death known to mankind, the crucifixion. “8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

Crucifixion was not simply a convenient way of executing prisoners. It was the ultimate indignity, a public statement by Rome that the crucified was beyond contempt. The excruciating pain was magnified degradation and humiliation. No other form of death, no matter how prolonged of physically agonizing, could match crucifixion as an absolute destruction of the person. It was the ultimate counterpoint to the divine majesty of preexistent Christ, and thus was the ultimate expression of Christ’s obedience to the Father.

The best cross reference is found in 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. This verse is an excellent verse to share with those who do not know Christ.

Conclusion

I have struggled with submission to God a lot in my life and still do. I once asked the question to an older brother in Christ, “What do I get if I submit to God?” His simple reply was this, Everything. He said this with a big smile on his face. I’ll never forget seeing his humility in being an example to me, and how it spurred me on to seek the Lord and His righteousness even more.

Closing Appeals: Let me share with you a short story I heard at a funeral that was the death by suicide of a 22 year old young man. Eric Peterson preached the sermon and paraphrasing this is what was said, “There was a little boy who was dying of cancer, He was at the end of the road and his dad was there with him. The little boy was falling asleep and was in the process of passing. He said to his dad, “Dad I know if I fall asleep, I’m going to die.” His dad said, Yes I know son. The little boy replied, but I’ll see you in the morning.” To this his dad said, Yes I’ll see you in the morning.” And at those last words the little boy slowly went to sleep and drifted off into the heavens. Later on the dad said to his Pastor, I cannot wait for the morning. I cannot wait for the morning.

This father lost everything in this life which we all do, but Christ gave us this wonderful promise found in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Clinching element of Persuasion: Romans 12:1 states, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Our purposes are not always in line with what God wants. Dying to self is a difficult task. Saying no to the pleasures of the flesh is difficult. However, if Jesus is all we have than He is all we need. Paul states in Ephesians 3:17-19, “

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the [a]saints what is the width and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.”

Gospel Presentation: Today if you do not know Christ, I want you to meditate on 2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. I know the idea of giving up your life to follow Him is not an easy thing to hear, understand, or want to do. Most people will choose comfort. However, if Christ is who He said He is. He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. He is the good shepherd and ultimately like a good shepherd He has our best interests at heart. I would plead with you today, that if the Lord is leading you to say yes to Him. Please say Yes to Him!!!