Sermon Tone Analysis

Child in the Manger

A Pocket Paper

from

The Donelson Fellowship

______________

Robert J. Morgan

December 21, 2003

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.

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.

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 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, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).

***

In our discovery of classic Christmas carols during this Advent 2003 season, we’ve sung today a quant little song with a Gaelic melody:

Child in the manger, infant of Mary;

Outcast and stranger, Lord of all;

Child who inherits all our transgressions,

All our demerits on Him fall.

The remarkable thing about Christmas—the thing that keeps this story as fresh and alive as when it first occurred—is the concept of the Eternal, Everlasting God becoming a human being and being born in a stable.

There is no other story in all history like this one.

The Gospels tell it to us in historical fashion, but Paul the Apostle gives us the same story in theological fashion in Philippians 2, and that’s our study today.

Philippians 2 represents Paul’s version of the Christmas story.

To be true to the context, we need to notice why he wrote this passage to begin with, and that makes for a very interesting observation.

It wasn’t primarily given to provide us a great theological explanation of the person and work of Jesus Christ, though he does that.

His primary and immediate purpose is to help us get along better with each other.

Notice the way he begins the passage in verses 1ff: Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Paul was writing his letter to a church he deeply loved, the church in the city of Philippi.

If he had a favorite congregation, this was it.

There is a tone of affection and devotion between church and missionary that we seldom see.

But the Philippians were having some internal problems getting along with one another, and throughout this letter, Paul mentions the importance of being humble and working hard to develop harmonious relationships.

It was in this context that he wrote this great second chapter.

If we would just put Philippians 2 into practice, most of our marriage problems, our family conflicts, and our church quarrels would fade away like fog in the sunshine.

The problem is this: He is telling us to do something here that runs contrary to our human nature.

It runs contrary to my own human nature.

I had a disagreement this week with someone in another state, and after it was over I stayed awake in bed wondering how I could have been more assertive, how I could have been more difficult, how I could have pressed my point and gotten my way a little more effectively.

Isn’t that just like the way we are—and isn’t that just the opposite of what Paul is telling us here in Philippians 2?

We’re highly self-righteous, self-centered, self-pleasing creatures, and we like having our own way.

If someone crosses us, we’re highly offended.

If someone offends us, we’re highly annoyed.

We like to stay on top, and to do what Paul is suggesting here runs counter to our natures.

And so, he pulls out his ultimate motivating explanation.

If we are really going to have harmony and peace and unity in our homes and churches and relationships, we’ve got to be more concerned about the interests of others than about our own interests.

We’ve got to reverse the tendencies of our sinful flesh.

And the only way to do that is to focus on the One who did that very thing for us—the Lord Jesus Christ.

And with that, Paul enters this profound passage about the incarnation and birth and human life of Jesus of Nazareth, saying in verse 5: Let this mind be in you that also was in Christ Jesus.

The word mind is the translation of the Greek word φρονέω (phroneō), which Paul used in the original.

It means attitude or frame of mind.

Paul is saying, “Look at things from the perspective of Christ.”

It reminds us of Bill Gothard’s old definition of wisdom: “Seeing things from God’s point of view.”

Let the point of view, the wisdom, the perspective, the attitude of Jesus Christ be your attitude, too.

I was just thinking Friday morning as I drove to the office how much more I need the mind of Christ.

If we could only look at the complications in our schedules, the difficulties we face, the challenges before us, the conflicts we encounter from God’s perspective, how much less we’d be stressed about the concerns of life!

And how much wiser we’d be in handling other people!

Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus!

Then in verse 6, Paul enters into the greatest thing he ever wrote about the greatest Person who ever lived.

Here he is going to tell us eight incredible things about the Lord Jesus Christ.

He is going to make eight profound theological statements about Jesus Christ, about Christmas, and about the coming of God from heaven above.

1. Jesus Was in the Form of God (v.

6): Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God…

The Greek word is μορφή (morphē).

People today are using a new verb that comes from this original Greek word—morphed.

When we see someone on television, and suddenly his image changes into that of another person by the use of computer technology, we say that he was morphed.

It has to do with image, visible form, outward appearance.

The Greek word implied nature.

It was a word that expressed the way that a thing or person actually was—its essential nature.

Paul is saying that the essential nature of Jesus Christ was God.

Jesus was God Himself, God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity.

2. Jesus Didn’t Cling to the Glories of Divinity (v.

6): Philippians 2:6 goes on to say that although He was in the form of God, He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.

What does that mean?

Well, that sentence certainly needs some explaining because as it is worded here it is difficult to understand.

The word “robbery” conveys the idea of something that seized or grasped.

It later came to mean something to which we cling.

Jesus could have clung to the glories of His divine position.

But though He was God Himself, the Second Person of the Trinity, He did not seize and grasp and cling to that in such a way as to convey unwillingness to leave aside the glories of Heaven for His mission on earth.

3. Jesus Emptied Himself (v.

7): Verse 7 continues: …but made Himself of no reputation.

This is a critical passage.

Literally, the words are but emptied Himself… The Greek verb is κενόω (kenoō), from the word means to empty out or to drain.

In exegetical jargon, this is called the Kenosis Passage.

It has been a source of some debate throughout Christian history, for there have been those who said that when Jesus drained or emptied Himself, He drained out His divinity or deity and was no longer God.

But Paul is not saying that Jesus exchanged His Divinity for Humanity.

The Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament Based on the Semantic Domains defines it this way: “To completely remove or eliminate elements of high status or rank by eliminating all privileges or prerogatives associated with such status or rank—‘to empty oneself, to divest oneself of position.”

He didn’t empty Himself of His deity, but He laid aside the glory and trappings and prerogatives of His divine office.

One of the best explanations for this that I’ve ever read is a simple explanation in John MacArthur’s Study Bible which says this was a self-renunciation in five different areas:

A. Jesus renounced His heavenly glory.

While on earth, He gave up the glory of heaven for the woes of earthly life.

B. Jesus renounced his independent authority.

He was willing to submit to the Father’s will.

He said in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Not My will, but Thine be done.”

C. Jesus renounced His divine prerogatives.

He once said that He could have called 10,000 angels to deliver Him from Roman execution, but He chose to defer.

D. Jesus renounced His eternal riches.

While on earth, He lived a life of poverty and once said that even the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but that He Himself didn’t have a bedroom to call His own.

E. Jesus renounced His favorable relationship with God the Father.

He was willing to be forsaken by the Father and to incur the Father’s judicial wrath in order to provide redemption for the human race.

All that is included in this phrase: He emptied Himself….

He made Himself of no reputation.

4. Jesus Took the Form of a Bondservant (v.

7): Recently I spent the afternoon over at Fisk University studying the history of the Negro Spiritual.

Fisk University opened its doors in 1866, at the close of the Civil War.

It was one of the schools established for liberated slaves by the American Missionary Association.