What Child is This?

At Christmas you’ll often hear the lament from others,

“Why can’t we all just get along?!”

“Why can’t people just be nice to each other one time a year?!”

Philippians 2:5 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

The problem with this is we don’t yet know what Paul means by “the mind of Christ.”

He hasn’t yet told us what that mind in.

So we need to jump down into verses 6-11 to understand Christ’s mindset.

What was His mindset?

To understand His mindset, we need to see what He is like.

Philippians 2:6 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Jesus had the same “form” or essence with God.

Before Jesus was born, He was present with the Father.

He was the eternal Word of God.

He was of the same essence with the Father.

John 1:1 ESV

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

The word “form” conveys the same idea of being equal with in substance.

This is something that Jesus already possessed.

He possessed a dignity and glory that was substantial.

He already possessed it.

But here Paul tells us that the equality that He shared with God He chose not to exploit. He chose not to use the dignity and significance that He possessed to His advantage.

The Incarnation Prompts us to Marvel at Christ’s Humiliation.

Philippians 2:6 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Christ chose not to “grasp” or “seize” the position He had.

He chose not to cling to the honor that was rightfully His to accomplish the Father’s plan.

He chose not to exploit for personal gain His status in Heaven.

Favoritism for Family

Often times we see things like nepotism

Philippians 2:7 (ESV)

7 but emptied himself,

Humiliation in Emptying Himself.

How did Jesus empty Himself?

As the famous hymn says,

“Emptied Himself of all but love” (And Can it Be That I Should Gain)

Some say at this point that…

“Jesus emptied Himself of His divine attributes.”

“Jesus emptied Himself of His divine being.”

How did Jesus empty Himself?

Philippians 2:7 ESV

7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Humiliation by Taking on the form of a Slave.

Jesus had all the privileges as the King of Heaven.

But He gave them up to become a baby born in a manger.

The word for “empty” means to “give up status and privilege.”

“It was not His deity but His dignity that Jesus laid aside. He emptied Himself of the glory that He enjoyed with His Father from all eternity. He laid aside His prerogatives as the second person of the Trinity. For the sake of His people, He descended from glory to lay down His life…

There was no emptying of any divine attributes, but an emptying of prerogatives, an emptying of status, of exaltation, of glory, for the sake of redemption and for the sake of the ultimate glory of the Father. For these purposes, our Lord put aside His own glory for a season.” (Sproul, R. C. John.)

Jesus became a man.

It’s what we celebrate at Christmas.

The incarnation.

The Son of God born as a man.

Truly God and truly man.

This rejects any notion that Jesus merely appeared to be a man.

This rejects any notion that He was a phantom of some kind.

Jesus actually became a real baby.

Flesh and blood.

Yet lost nothing of His divine nature.

Hebrews 2:17 (ESV)

17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.

Jesus was made like us in every way yet without sin.

He was made like us in every way and yet was entirely different.

It can be deceptive to think that Jesus did not cry when he was born…

“But little Lord Jesus…No crying He makes” —Away in a Manger

He definitely cried when he was a baby.

He was hungry.

He was tired.

He wept.

He endured pain.

He was capable of suffering.

Philippians 2:8 (ESV)

8 And being found in human form…

Notice again that Christ gave up His divine prerogatives.

He gave up any divine privileges He may have had by becoming a man.

It is as though a king gave up His kingly robes to be clothed in sackcloth.

Philippians 2:8 (ESV)

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death…

Humiliation in Obedience unto Death.

Paul was writing to the Philippian believers.

The Philippians would have been familiar with the concept of humiliation.

Humiliation was placed upon them all the time by Romans officials.

Philippians Verse 8

“humiliation by superiors in their social, political, and economic worlds”

In our day we are upset if someone cuts us off in traffic let alone people actually taking things from us and humiliating us.

But in this society, if you would have your property stolen from you by government officials all the time.

People in power used their power to humiliate those under their power all the time.

But what is so surprising here is that Jesus Christ, “humbled Himself.”

The humiliation that Christ partook of was self-imposed.

Nobody was twisting His arm.

Nobody was forcing Him to take a humble position.

He Himself stooped low to come near to humanity.

It’s at this point that we cannot miss something so pivotal to Christmas that makes Christmas worth celebrating.

If Christ is merely a good example for us, we miss Christmas.

If Christ is merely a man that suffered the death of a criminal wrongly condemned, we miss Christmas all together.

Anybody can have a manger in their yard or in their home and celebrate the merely human Jesus.

The merely human Jesus that lays in a manger doesn’t demand anything of me.

Not only does He not demand anything of me, He doesn’t accomplish anything for me.

If we merely keep Jesus in a manger with trite melodies playing in the background, we miss it entirely.

Philippians 2:8 ESV

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The cross was considered the height of Roman death machines.

The death on the cross was the most shameful of all deaths.

Jesus not only takes on the form of a “slave” but goes all the way to the “cross”

Philippians Verse 8

“take us down, down, down to the deepest darkest hellhole in human history to see the horrific torture, unspeakable abuse, and bloody execution of a slave on a cross”

The major difference in the death of this ONE and all other deaths before Him was the object.

Unlike all the other deaths before Him, they were merely a men and women.

But Jesus being truly God and truly man.

Humbles himself to the point of death on a cross for sinners.

1 Peter 2:22–24 ESV

22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 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.

This Jesus has born in His body on the tree the sins of His people.

It becomes wonderful when you realize that the crucifixion laid upon Christ was the death that I deserve for sin.

It was the death that I deserve as a law-breaker.

It was the death that I deserve for rebellion.

The Incarnation Provokes us to Worship in Christ’s Exaltation.

We live in a day that everyone seeks to look excellent in the eyes of another.

All that matters is that we are praised by ourselves and by those who are closest to us.

We see this in the way we speak of job resumes, all the way down to our social media saturated culture.

It was not entirely different in Roman culture, everything depends on who praises you.

Everything depended upon the rank of the person bestowing honor.

In the community, everything depended on the honor of the person declaring the high praise.

To claim honor that was not recognized by a greater authority would have been a stench.

Notice how the subject changes!

Philippians 2:9 (ESV)

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

Exalted above every person, throne, or dominion.

The Son of God accomplishing the plan of the Father empowered by the Spirit.

Jesus overcame the grave through the resurrection power that existed in Himself.

John 1:4–5 ESV

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

In obedience to the Father and out of the abundance of the fellowship that they have always shared.

The life of God the Son incarnate shines forth for sinners.

2 Corinthians 8:9 (ESV)

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.

Notice too God’s purpose in exalting Christ in this way!

Philippians 2:10–11 ESV

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Exalted when every knee bows and every tongue confess.

Often when we hear pleas of needing to come to Jesus, it sounds as though Jesus is really needy.

“He needs you to bow the knee to Him!”

“Please bow the knee to Him because He needs it!”

He doesn’t need you to bow the knee and confess Him as Lord.

But the amazing message of the Gospel is that He has come.

He has lived a perfect life.

He has died a substitutionary death.

And has been raised from the DEAD in glory.

NOW He commands that all turn from their sin and trust Him.

He commands you THIS day to confess Him and believe.

Will your confession be filled with joy or shame?

One day every tongue will confess.

One day every knee will bow.

Will it be a confession filled with gladness and rejoicing?

Or will it be filled with loathsome regret?

The Incarnation Produces a Shared Mind of Christ.

You are called to do something that you cannot do without the Power of the Holy Spirit within you.

Christ’s coming guarantees the fact that He has come to empower His people with the Holy Spirit within us.

A shared mind that prioritizes others.

Philippians 2:3 ESV

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.” —C.S. Lewis

A shared mind that considers others.

Philippians 2:4–5 ESV

4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

The Incarnation prompts us to marvel at His humiliation, worship in His exaltation, and share His mind toward others.