Good News: The Gospel Gives Us the Greatest Example
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Philippians 2:1-11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In our sermon last week, we look at Paul’s request that the Philippian church fulfill His joy by being unified. And the way that they were going to be unified was by being selfless and humble. We need to count others more significantly than ourselves. Look not on our own interests but the interest of others. We have to empty our lives of pride, selfishness, and that desire to elevate ourselves above other people. I think most of us would agree that if we can implement these concepts into our lives it will bring more unity to our church, to our homes, at the workplace, and just in life in general.
But, sometimes being humble, being selfless can be very difficult to do. Let’s be honest here. It’s hard to be humble towards someone when you can look at them and say. We’ll I’m better than this person at this, this, this and this. What if someone constantly brings up terrible ideas? Don’t you sometimes feel like you have the right to say bro, you’re stupid. My ideas are better. Like sometimes you may truly have a desire to “humble yourself”. But other people make it really hard.
I think Paul understood that being understood that being humble could sometimes be difficult. This is Paul we’re talking about. We’ll see in Chapter 3 where Paul lists some of his credentials. He had a lot he could boast and brag about. So I’m sure that even Paul had situations when he had to struggle to be humble.
Well in our text this morning, I believe that Paul is going to reveal to us what helped him keep an attitude of humility and selflessness in hope that it would be an encouragement for the Philippian church as well.
In Philippians 2:5 Paul writes
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Paul is making the appeal to the church that they needed to change their mindset to match the mind of Christ. I think this verse reads a little more clearly in the CSB where it reads. Philippians 2:5
Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
Paul wants the church to constantly think the way Christ would think. To take on the same attitude that Christ would have in situations pertaining to humility and selflessness. If the church was going to have unity. If the believers were going to live humbly and and selfless. There was no better example to look to than Jesus Christ.
When learning a new or difficult concept or skill, it is always helpful to have an example.
Maybe you remember being in Math class and you saw something like this for the first time
5x2 + 7x +3 = 0
5x2 + 7x +3 = 0
That’s a quadratic equation. What is it good for. I have no idea. Maybe someone like Gerald who is an engineer sees things like that, but I have never used it once in my life. Anyway. The teacher would say we are going to solve these types of equations, and you wouldn’t even know where to start. If you were just handed the problem, you probably wouldn’t know how to solve it. But if you had a good teacher, they would give you examples of how to work the problem out before you had to attack it on your own. As your teacher worked through those example problems, you started to learn the process. Perhaps it never got easy, but as time went on after seeing example after example, you began to learn how to go about solving the equations. Some of you are like nope, never got it. Still don’t. HAHAH. The point is, if you did not first have an example. If your teacher didn’t first work the problem out first to show you how it was done and point you to other examples in your math book that you could look to help you learn the process, it would be impossible to solve those equations.
Paul is taking that same approach to teach the Philippians to have a heart of humility. Paul pointed the Philippians attention to an example that they could emulate in order to see these things implemented into their lives. Jesus. There’s no one who displayed selfless humility like Christ. For us here today. If pride and selfishness is something that you struggle with, which I believe that we all do at times. I have Good News the gospel gives us the greatest example.
You are going to notice several parallels between verses 1-4 and verses 5-8.
In verse Philippians 2:2 talks about the mind. And verse Philippians 2:5 talks about the mind.
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Philippians 2:3 tells us to count or consider others more significant , and Philippians 2:6 tells us how Jesus counted or considered himself.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
In Philippians 2:3 they were called to humility. And in Philippians 2:8 were are told about how Jesus humbled himself.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
So again we can see that Paul was using Jesus to illustrate the concepts he was teaching about humility and selflessness. It was Paul’s goal that these believers would start to think and act like Jesus. As a result of adoring and emulating Jesus, they would experience the joy and unity that comes through the gospel.
This passage is one of the richest passages in Scripture. Most scholars believe that it was an early hymn or poetic creed that was used in worship. It includes great doctrinal truth, and very practical truth as well. We could probably spend several weeks going through these verses. But this morning, I want to highlight three thoughts about the humility of Christ. So let’s dig into this
The first step in Christ’s humility was that He
I. Surrendered His Rights to the Father
I. Surrendered His Rights to the Father
Philippians 2:5-6
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
As Paul begins writing about Christ’s humility. He first reminds us about who Jesus was. The Bible says that Jesus was in the form of God. This doesn't mean that Jesus was in some semi god-like form walking around with a big halo over His head or something. The Greek word used for form here is the word morphe, and that word describes the very essence or inward nature of something. So what Paul is stating is that Jesus was God. He wasn’t a god, he wasn’t god-like. He wasn’t just a good man with godly character. Jesus was God himself. He had the very same nature, the very same essence, the very same character of God.
Paul is taking us back to eternity past before Jesus came to earth as a man. Jesus was not a created being. He has always existed. He is Creator and Sustainer of this world. He is the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end. Colossians 1:15-17 says
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Satan’s primary attack is to get people to deny that Jesus was God. In every generation. In every era, we must contend for people to see the Biblical view of Jesus. Not Just a good guy. Not Just a great teacher. Not just a good example. Jesus was God, and we cannot allow Him to be stripped of His deity.
Since Jesus was God, He had need of nothing. He had all authority, all glory, and all praise. But Jesus was willing to surrender all of that for our sakes. In the next phrase Paul emphasizes the unselfishness of Jesus. It says he did not count equality with God as something to be grasped. That word used for grasped means to hold on tightly something that you believe that you have claim to. What Paul is saying here is that Jesus could have exercised all his rights and privileges as God while he was on earth, but he did not. Again, I like the way this verse is worded in the CSB it says. Philippians 2:6
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
His divine nature was not something that he exploited or took advantage of when he was on earth. Remember when Jesus was being tempted in the wilderness. Satan tried to get him to turn rocks into bread and to jump off a building and have angels catch Him. Now these don’t sound like sinful acts, so what would have been the problem? If Jesus would have done these things, he would have been exploiting His power as God for fleshly gain. Anytime that Jesus displayed His divine nature by doing miracles, it was always to help others and glorify the father, not to satisfy His own flesh. So Jesus did not choose to exercise His abilities as God for personal gratification, but for the good of others.
Transition: But not only did Jesus surrender His rights to the Father. He also
II. Served the Father
II. Served the Father
Philippians 2:7
but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Rather than exploit His power as God, He emptied himself and took the form of a human servant. Now this word that is used for emptied in Scripture is typically used in a figurative sense. So this is not saying that Jesus ceased being God to become a man. He did not lose all of His power to become a man. As we started before, Jesus was 100% God. But, at the same time, He was 100% man. Jesus added humanity to his nature, but he did not substract his deity.
I read one illustration from an African missionary that I believe relays this story well. In this particular part of Africa, the chief was always the strongest man in the village. As the chief, he also wore a large headdress and ceremonial robes. One day, a man carrying water of a deep well fell and broke his leg. There was no way he going to be able to climb out of this well on his own. To rescue this man, someone was going to have to climb down the side of the well using slits that were carved into the side of the well, pick the man up over his shoulders, and climb back up. Well, no one that was there was strong enough to do this, so they called for the chief. Seeing this man’s trouble, the chief took off his headdress and robe, climbed into the well, and brought the injured man back to safety. Now did the chief stop being the chief when he laid his headdress and robe down to rescue this man? Of course not! But he had to lay these to side to be able to rescue this man.
In essence that is what Jesus did for us. At no point did he cease being God, but He laid His glory down in order to come to our rescue. Rather than coming as a king or some other type of rich or powerful person, the Bible says he took on the form of a servant.
That word for servant is commonly translated as slave. In this culture, the slave did not hold basic rights. Again that Jesus was not an actual slave, but the picture here is that Jesus relinquished His divine rights and made himself subject to all the pains and feelings of humanity. Jesus did not have his own agenda or will. He only did what the Father told Him to do. He only spoke when the Father told Him speak. He was a slave to His Father’s will.
Jesus was higher than every other being on this earth. Yet, as a man, he spent His life serving the Father by serving others. All through the gospels you read stories about Jesus serving others and meeting their needs when in reality all of these people should have been serving Him. Jesus the King of glory became a servant.
Transition: So Jesus surrendered his right to the father, he served the father, and third He
III. Submitted to the Father
III. Submitted to the Father
Philippians 2:8
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Just when we thought that Jesus couldn’t humble himself anymore. He’s already left his throne on the right hand of God to come to earth. He’s already laid down his rights as the sovereign ruler of the world. He’s already come subjected himself to humanity like a slave. But now we see the pinnacle of his humility. He humbles himself by coming obedient to the point of death. Not just any death. Jesus didn’t get to die peacefully in His sleep. Rather, Jesus died the worst all deaths. A torturous death on the cross. The cross was the most gruesome form of execution in the ancient world. Only the worst of criminals were sentenced to crucifixion. It was so awful, that Roman law prevented any Roman citizen to be killed by crucifixion, and the Jews viewed anyone who died on a cross to be cursed. But there was Jesus. He was stripped of His clothes, put to a public shame. Condemned as a blasphemer. Taking the sins all mankind upon His shoulders. My sin. Your sin. That we may have redemption through His blood. He was willing to suffer and sacrifice for the benefit of others.
And don’t miss this. He did all of this willingly. We are told the he humbled himself. It wasn’t the religious leaders, it wasn’t Herod or Pilate, it wasn’t the Roman soldiers - Jesus humbled himself to die on the cross. Jesus had to humble himself because it was going to take humility to submit to the will of the Father.
This is why Paul calls for us to follow Jesus’s example. He first submitted himself and was humble towards the Father. True humility is a proper response to the glory and will of the Father. I like the way the John Piper explains this.
For Christians, self-humbling is mainly responsive. It is not something we just up and do. We don’t initiate humility, and we don’t get the credit for it. It’s no less active, and no less difficult, but it is responsive to who God is, what he has said to us in his word, and what he is doing in the world, specifically as it comes to bear in all its inconvenience and pain and disappointment in our own lives. Self-humbling is, in essence, gladly receiving God’s person, words, and acts when it is not easy and comfortable.
What Philippians 2 teaches us is Jesus’s response to the Father and His will. And we should follow Christ’s example. This is what it looks like to have the mind of Christ. This is how we can humble ourselves.
We need to surrender our rights to the father. Now don’t have a fit. I’m not talking about the United States Constitution or the Bill of Rights. But with that, in our American culture the concept of laying down our rights is something that is really foreign to us. Now a right is something that you feel like you are entitled to. Something that you deserve.
As we said before, Jesus laid down his rights to come to earth. Jesus was the Creator of the world. He was the king of the universe. He rightfully deserved all glory, honor, and praise. When He came to earth, He rightfully deserved to be treated like a king. He rightfully deserved to be born in a place better than a stable. He rightfully deserved everyone to serve Him instead of serving of others. There were many things that Jesus was rightfully entitled to, but He laid His rights to the side to pay for our sins.
How much more should we surrender our rights to Father. God is our Creator. There is nothing that we have is not a gift from God. Every breath that we breathe is a gift from Him. So what makes us believe that we have the right to withhold anything from God? We need to surrender our lives to Father to let Him do whatever He wants with it.
We need to serve the Father. We need to use everything that we have to bring glory to our Father in heaven. If we act in pride or selfish-ambition. We are serving to gain glory for ourselves. But if we are a humble servant, the glory will go to the Father.
And we need to submit ourselves to the Father and be obedient. Often we are willing to submit to Father if there is no price to pay. Jesus was obedient to the point of death on the cross. Submission often requires sacrifice. If paying a price will bring honor to God and help others, we should be willing to do it.
Our humility towards others is directly related to our view humility before God. As we surrender to God, serve God, and submit to God, it will give us new perspective as we deal with others. The unity that comes through humility and selflessness is just the gospel working it’s way through us into the lives of other people around us.
The reason it is often hard to maintain a spirit of humility is because our focus is on a comparing ourselves to other people. When we are comparing ourselves to others, sure we can find reasons to be prideful, to be selfish, to be arrogant. It’s easy to feel like everyone should do things or cater to our preferences. But when we put our eyes on God, we realize that we have no right to look down on others and lift up ourselves. Jesus died for that other person’s sin just like He died for mine. In God’s eyes we’re either a sinner saved by grace, or a sinner in need of grace. The only difference between the two is that the believer should be surrendered, serving, and submitted to the Father.
Jesus said in Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
In humility, Jesus was willing to lay down His glory in heaven, lay down any prestige He could have had on earth, and He laid down His life in obedience to the Father and out of love for you and me.
When Jesus said in Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
That was the call to follow Him into surrender, servanthood, and submission. But Jesus was not asking us to do something that He was not willing to do Himself. As Christians, we need to humble ourselves before God by accepting God’s Word as our truth. By accepting our circumstances as God’s plan. By accepting that our life is no longer ours to live. it all belongs to God.
But. wait. There is a benefit to living humbly. We also see this from Christ’s example. Philippians 2:9-11
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
When Jesus Christ rose from the dead, the Father highly exalted him. That means that he lifted Him up with superlative honor. And graciously gave to Him as a sign of honor a name that is above every other name. That word name in this verse is not talking about the name given to identify a person. Like my name is Charles. Jesus was already His name before He was exalted. Name is referring to a reputation or the character of a person. Jesus’s reputation was above all other’s reputation. His character was above all other’s character. After His resurrection just rightfully took the reputation of Lord. Of course Jesus was Lord before his resurrection, but the mission of the Messiah had not yet been fulfilled. When Jesus rose from the dead, he defeated the forces of evil once and for all. Through His death and resurrection. Sin was defeated, death was defeated, Satan was defeated - Jesus arose victorious and claimed the name that He rightfully deserved. Lord of all.
And as these verses tell us. One day, every knee is going to bow, and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Everyone is going to humble themselves and submit themselves to Jesus Christ as King .But check this. Even when Jesus is exalted all the glory goes to the Father. Humility involves following the pattern of Jesus who always glorified the Father.
Now our humility is not at the level of Jesus, and we won’t get that kind of honor. But Scripture does tells us that if we will humble ourselves, that Christ will lift us up. 1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
God commands us to be humble, but He isn’t going to leave us hanging. God will be sure to lift us up for our humility, whether that is in this life or in the life to come. This is the opposite of the conceit or vain glory Paul mentioned in verse 3. Being exalted by God has eternal worth and value. So the question is would you rather lift yourself up? Or be lifted up by God? Jesus said in Luke 14:11
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Our humility towards others is directly related to our humility before God. So the next time that you feel like you the right to cuss out your co-worker for being rude, the next time you feel like you are superior to others and you can look down on them, the next time you are fighting with your husband or wife because you always have to have things your way. And we can apply this in all different types of ways. Surrender your rights to the Father lay down the privileges you think you are entitled to, Serve the Father by being a servant to others. Even if they don’t deserve to be served. And submit yourself to being obedient to the Father and treating others the way that God’s Word says that we should treat them. Preferring one another, looking on another’s interest. Even if it means that it cost us something.
I think the best course of action is to examine our humility before God. Stop acting like God needed you because your awesomeness, and realize that God wanted you despite your wretchedness. That’s the beauty of the gospel. Jesus saw us where we were and didn’t just think those stupid humans. They messed everything up. They are so needy.I’m God. I deserve better. No- When Jesus saw where we were, He didn’t look down on us. He came down to us. He met us in our need. He humbled himself for our good and for God’s glory.
And we need to be living the same way towards those around us. Focusing on God’s glory and the good of others.
If you don’t know Jesus...