The Easter Attitude: I Surrender All, Philippians 2:5-11 (Easter 2025)

Intro: I’m sure you’ve heard it said that “attitude is everything.” And while it might sound cliché, there’s an abundance of social research, both personal & professional, that can attest to the truth of that statement.

Have you ever had a bad attitude, or been around someone with a bad attitude?It stinks, doesn’t it? But there’s just no comparison to having a good, positive attitude, is there? Or of being around someone who has a genuinely positive attitude? It can literally change the world.

Today, we want to talk about an attitude that is greater than mere positivity, we want to talk about the kind of attitude that is truly transformational. It’s the kind of attitude that can change your life and the lives of people you know. I’m calling it the Easter Attitude, having the same attitude as Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:5-11, Let this mind (attitude) be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but 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.

9Therefore 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, 11and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Look, it’s no secret that the Easter holiday is the time of year when Christians give special recognition to Christ’s resurrection from the dead. For the Christian, every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday, but this season is marked by the events that are at the center of this holiday- Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, burial in a tomb for 3 days, and then His miraculous resurrection from the dead. That really is huge! Nothing like it had ever happened before or since!

What made it happen?Why would Jesus do that? Who willingly lays down their life on a cross to save people who are killing them? Jesus did, because that’s the kind of attitude He has- an attitude of surrender.

1. A Surrender of His IDENTITY, vss. 6-7

Most people in the world have heard of Jesus Christ. Many people believe He was a good man, a great teacher, some might even call Him a prophet, and some know Him to be the Son of God, but this text is plainly teaching that Christ is God. How is it that He is both Son & God?

In Christianity, there is only ONE God, the living and true God, who is the Creator of everything. He is revealed in the unity of the Godhead as the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit. He is ONE God with THREE distinct personalities who are equal in every divine perfection. I.e., The Trinity is a mystery with no perfect analogy- water, eggs, fruit, nothing compares

Vs. 6, Christ was in the form of God. Form- essence, the expression of something that reflects fully & truly the essence of that something (or in this case, SOMEONE). Hebrews 1:3, (Christ is the brightness of God’s glory) and the express image of His person…

It was not robbery for Christ Jesus to be equal with God, because He is God. Robbery-lit. something to be grasped, or something to seize by force. Jesus didn’t need to pull off a heavenly heist to be God, He is God. It is His nature.

Vs. 7 shows us that Christ took off, not His Godly NATURE, but His Godly form. He exchanged His Godly form for a human form. The phrase “made Himself of no reputation” means to empty oneself (Gr. kenosis).

This is what Jesus did in His incarnationwhen he came to this world in the form of a baby, growing up to be the servant of the world. This means that Christ literally had two natures- the nature of God as Son of God; and the nature of humanity as the Son of Man. Why did He that?

2. A Surrender in Total HUMILITY, vs. 8.

Have you ever been humbled before, or even humiliated? Sure, you have. You know what it is like to have a high position of honor & glory, only to have lost it, or to have to give it up for some reason. Christ knows that feeling too, except that He did it freely.

Christ freely subjected Himself to the will of the Father in two ways: (1) to become a human, (2) to become a sacrifice.

Hebrews 10:5-7, Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’”

What was the will of God for Christ to come into the world? It was to die on the cross to pay for our sins. So that if anyone put their faith & trust in Him alone for the gift of eternal life, they would receive it.

God gave His Son to the world so that the Son might give the world to the Father. John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 1 John 3:16, By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

Some scholars call this section The Humiliation and Exaltation of Christ. We typically think of humiliation as something that happens to us, not as something we subject ourselves to. But that’s what Christ did.

Christ willingly subjected Himself to the humiliation of the cross- being stripped of His liberty, His dignity, and His humanity, so that He could purchase our liberty, restore our dignity, and save our humanity. Because Christ was willingly humiliated, He is rightfully exalted.

3. A Surrender with Full VICTORY, vss. 9-11

Vss. 9-11 show us the extreme reversal of Christ’s emptying of Himself & of God’s exaltation of Him as Lord. God raised Him from the dead, Christ ascended into Heaven, where He is highly exalted (honor exceptionally), & given the name above every name. This is how Christ went from kenosis to kyrios, from emptying Himself to being exalted as Lord.

The Name that is above every Name- could refer to the title “Lord,” the Greek Translation of YHWH.

The Name also might refer to a secret name or title that no one knows except God- Revelation 19:12, His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself… Revelation 19:16, And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

The Name probably refers to “Jesus” (Savior), because it is specifically mentioned in vs. 10.Those of us who are Christians know “There is just something about that Name”! Right now, the Name signifies Jesus as Savior, but one day it will signal JESUS IS LORD! When that happens, every knee will bow before Him and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

What are we supposed to do with that truth? Do we just sit & wait for it to happen? Or do we study & wonder about it? Or is the right response that we should adopt the attitude of Christ in surrender and worship?

How do we do that?It’s kind of like this- if you have eggs and bacon for breakfast, both the chicken & the pig contributed to the breakfast. The chicken made a sacrifice, but the pig was fully surrendered.

We can be people who serve & even make sacrifices, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we are surrendered to the Lord. To surrender to the Lord is to willingly give ourselves fully to Him just as He fully gave Himself for us. That’s the EASTER ATTITUDE.

To have the Easter Attitude, we have to let the attitude of our LIFE be the exaltation of Christ as our LORD! It is a surrender of our identity in exchange for Christ’s identity. It is a surrender that requires total humility, you must deny yourself and trust Christ alone to save you. It is a surrender of full victory- you must bow the knee to Jesus as Lord. Just as the Son surrendered to the will of the Father, we must Surrender to the worship of the Son. Jesus isn’t calling for a truce, but a surrender!

Do you have the Easter Attitude- I Surrender All? All means ALL. Your identity, your humility, your victory- it all goes to Him. If you’ve never received Christ as Lord, I want to help you with that today.

1, Get AUTHENTIC with God. Admit you are a sinner & need to be saved.

2, BELIEVE that Christ surrendered Himself to save you & God raised Him from the dead.There is no one else who can save you except Him.

3, CONFESS Christ as your Lord. Romans 10:9, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

The message of salvation is simple, but it’s not easy- it requires a surrender. You either confess Christ’s Lordship now when you can be saved by it, or you will do it later when you will be sentenced by it.