Thou Did’st Leave Thy Throne

The song is found on page 223 in Majesty Hymns.

Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown, When Thou camest to earth for me; But in Bethlehem’s home was there found no room For Thy holy nativity.

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, There is room in my heart for Thee.

Heaven’s arches rang when the angels sang, Proclaiming Thy royal degree; But in lowly birth Thou didst come to earth, And in great humility.

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, There is room in my heart for Thee.

Thou camest, O Lord, with the living Word, That should set Thy people free; But with mocking scorn and with crown of thorn, They bore Thee to Calvary.

O come to my heart, Lord Jesus, There is room in my heart for Thee.

When the heavens shall ring, and the angels sing, At Thy coming to victory, Let Thy voice call me home, saying “Yet there is room, There is room at My side for thee.” My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus, When Thou comest and callest for me.

Introduction

Surprisingly this is one of the lesser known Christmas carols that is found in our hymnbook. It was written by Emily Elliott who was the niece of the woman who wrote “Just as I Am.” Sometimes we think that only pastors or professional musicians can write hymns, but I think a part of our worship can be creating new hymns as we meditate on God’s word that express our hearts and minds about God. Emily was just a lady who served by helping in hospitals and teaching Sunday school. She used this song to teach children the meaning of advent.

If you paid attention to the first three verses, the first two lines of each verse starts in a heavenly scene. Verse 1 The throne and crown Verse 2 Heaven’s archs and angels singing and royal decrees Verse 3 Coming with living Word

Right in the middle of each verse is a key word But in Verse one no room Verse two: lowly birth and humility Verse Three: mocking and crown of thorn- Calvary.

One of the words often used for Christmas is advent, but why do we use this word? Is it just some stuffy Catholic term? No, the word means the arrival of a notable person. This song clearly has the before and after of Jesus coming in mind. When we think of the advent or coming of Christ, we rightly as I preached this morning have his death on the cross in mind. Jesus was born to die, but interestingly, that isn’t the only application of Christ’s coming found in the bible.

In our hymnbook, right under the title it lists Phil 2:5-7 as the main text. Paul is encouraging the Philippian believers to have a Christlike mindset which he defines as Valuing others over yourself.

Philippians 2:3–5 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”

Paul uses the advent of Christ to teach us a lesson about how we should live, love and serve one another. Our text is the example of Christ that Paul uses to prove this is how we should live. So to Paul the Christmas story isn’t merely about the Savior coming to die for our sins, but it is also about teaching us how as believers we should live. So tonight, we are going to look at the example of Christ and then draw some practical applications for our lives.

Jesus Christ did not think His glory was something to be grasped

Philippians 2:6 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”

Verse 6 declares that Jesus was in the form of God- the words are a little deceptive in English. The word does mean an exterior resemblance but it goes deeper than that. It is an outward appearance that represents the inward reality. The root of the word is the same as our metamorphosis.

What happens when a catepillar goes through metamorphosis? Kids? It pops out a butterfly. It looks totally different though, but it isn’t just the outside that changed. The cells started to break down and reforming into wings, different legs and even a different digestive system. You see the outward form shows the inward reality of the butterfly.

This verse isn’t just declaring that Jesus looked like God, but that he was of the very essence of God and because of that he was equal with God. Our song begins with statements about thrones, angels worshipping, decrees being obeyed. These are all things Jesus is worthy of because he was God. When Jesus came to earth, this is what he gave up.

The next phrase says he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. The word robbery literally means something to be grasped onto.

Have you ever seen two children fighting over a toy? One of them will pick up the toy and the other kid who didn’t want anything to do with that toy until the other kid picked it up grabs it and a fight ensues. Most of the time, the children will say the same thing “Mine.” They view that toy as their property and they will not let go of it for anything.

Jesus did not do this. He did not view the glories of heaven as something to be grabbed ahold of and fought for tooth and nail. 2 Corinthians 8:9 “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”

As we go through the text, I want us to link each of the phrases back to something Paul has just said.

Philippians 2:3 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”

How often do we think our own glory or lets use some American words reputation, prestige, popularity or influence is something worth fighting over? It doesn’t matter if you deserve all the credit. It doesn’t matter if people are unfairly judging you. Jesus deserved all the credit. Jesus was unfairly judged and yet that wasn’t his focus. It isn’t that his glory was unimportant, we will circle back around to that later, but Jesus didn’t feel the need to grab onto it at all costs.

Rather Jesus in humility, served others.

Philippians 2:7 “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:”

When Jesus became a man, he did three things according to this verse.

made himself of no reputation- the Greek phrase literally means emptied Himself, but the context makes it clear that what he emptied himself of was honor or glory. Theologians have debated the meaning of this emptying for years, but the gist of what Paul is talking about is humility. Other things are included in this humility like submission Philippians 2:8 “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”, but it most definitely does not mean that Jesus gave up his divinity. If you want more evidence of that check out my notes from Wednesday nights lessons this year.

He took on the form of a servant- This is key. Jesus didn’t become a royal prince, a wise sage or a wealthy merchant; he became a lowly servant. One thing is true of servants: their life is consumed with the desires of another. Jesus was an obedient servant to His father as we saw in vs 8, but he servant mankind. He washed his disciples feet, he healed the sick and the blind, he cast out demons that had tormented people for years. But the greatest service he preformed on our behalf was his death. Jesus death serves our salvation.

was made in the likeness of men- This phrase ties this whole passage to the Christmas story. Jesus became a man and took on flesh. He gave up glory, he humbled himself, the king of glory; so he could serve mankind.

Tying this back in to Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 2:3–4 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Jesus had a mindset that wasn’t consumed with what he wanted and what he deserved, but what was good for others. If we are ever going to truly serve others, we must first esteem them.

Think about how Jesus could have looked at us. He could have sneered at all those sinners down below, traitor, enemies. He could have looked at us as bugs he could squash with his boot. He could have wiped the slate clean and started over again, but he valued us. So if we will be like Christ and serve others, we must value them. People are not things to be used and discarded when they aren’t what we want them to be. And in order to have that kind of mindset where we can still value people who hurt us, we will have to have the humility of Christ.

Jesus service cost Him something.

Philippians 2:8 “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

The cross is iconic in Christianity. It symbolizes death and salvation. But it should also remind us of the price that it cost to save us. Jesus didn’t come to earth and just do a bunch of nice things for people and then when they turned on him just walk off into the desert to live a solitary life. He didn’t hide in a cave when we scorned Him and put a mocking crown of thorns on his head.

Going back a few verses to chapter One, Paul says Philippians 1:29 “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” We all know that Joy is a key theme in Philippians, but what we sometimes miss is that suffering is tied to that Joy.

If we are going to serve others like Christ did in humility it is going to cost us something. Sometimes serving others is going to cost us the recognition we desire. Not everyone will see the good that we do. Trust me as a pastor some will even purposefully forget or deny the good you have done. You can’t hold onto that. Sometimes it will cost because people will not just ignore the good, but falsely accuse your motives. On top of this serving others will cost time, money, physical and emotional strength.

Jesus left his glory to God to take care of

Philippians 2:9 “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:”

Jesus didn’t view his own glory as something to be fought for and grasped. Rather he just did what was right and in humility served others. For quite sometime His reputation, glory was besmirched. He was mocked, ridiculed, made fun of; but he continued to serve others and put their needs first.

Because Jesus didn’t have to fight for the honor, he could leave it in God’s hand. The end result is that God highly exalted Him. Jesus didn’t lose out in the end.

When we choose to humble ourselves, we do not have to fear missing out. For the moment, it may seem like we are suffering loss. But God will make things right, He will balance the scale. Sometimes he does it here on earth. Psalm 56:9 “When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: This I know; for God is for me.” Sometimes that scale will be balanced in heaven. 1 Peter 1:7 “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

Conclusion

From passages like this we see there is much more to learn than the Christmas story. Jesus came not just to save our souls but to sanctify our lives. In dying for our sins, he sets us free to live lives holy before God.

Christmas is about the giving, its about the serving, but we will never truly live like that without the humility of Jesus Christ. So its time for us to let go of the things we think we deserve and in humility serve and value others leaving the results to God.