Christ Jesus' Attitude

 A man said to his rabbi, "God used to show Himself to people in the OT. Today, nobody sees God. How come?" Rabbi answered, "Nowadays nobody bows low enough." How low do we have to bow? In Php 2:1-13, Paul answers. How low? Look at Jesus. 1aDo you have any encouragement from being united with Christ? 1bAny comfort from his love? Do you have 1cany fellowship with the Spirit? 1cAny tenderness & compassion? Receive any or all those blessings? If so, 2amake my joy complete by being like-minded. Like-minded? To Christ. How so? Christian unity. It isn't conformity. It's unity. What does it look like? 2bHave the same love as Christ. Love God with all our hearts, minds, & bodies. Show it by our obedience & by loving others sacrificially. 2cBe one in spirit & purpose. Why? Arguments. Php 4:2 will say Syntyche & Euodia are fighting with each other. Not fighting for unity! What happens if we fight each other instead of fighting for unity? It kills our witness. People in a Dallas church fought so hard that each side filed a lawsuit against the other (a Scripture no-no). Each wanted to take the church property from the other. Before hearing their case, the judge ruled that jurisdiction belonged to their denomination's court. That court awarded the property to one side. The losers started another church nearby. Newspapers investigated how the fight started. At a church dinner, an elder was served a slice of ham smaller than the child next to him! No unity? Disunity can cost a church all it owns. Worst of all-its witness dishonors Jesus! Instead, imitate Jesus. 3aDo nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. What did He do for just for Himself? Ever? His coming to earth? For us. His ministry? For all Who came to Him. His suffering & dying? For us. 3bIn humility consider others better than yourselves. If Jesus could wash His disciples' feet, we can serve each other, too. We can & should care of ourselves & our families. But we can't stop there. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Love ourselves. But love others as ourselves. Love sacrificially. Like Christ. Deeds, not just words! 5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. What was His attitude? 6aBeing in very nature God... God's essence, His nature can't change. Still, 6bJesus didn't consider equality with God something to be grasped. If He did would He lower Himself into our world? No! But 7aHe made himself nothing. Lit., He emptied Himself. How can God empty Himself??? His nature is unchangeable. So, how? Jesus' emptied Himself by 7btaking the very nature of a servant [slave]. Also, by 7cbeing made in human likeness. Jesus's "taking" was a voluntary self-emptying of glory & power. God's nature, in the form of mankind, a creature. Fully identifying with us. One of us. All of God that'd fit. 8Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself. Taking human form. Becoming a creature. Humble! Could He be any more humble??? Yes. He became obedient to death-even death on a cross! Polite Romans thought even the word cross was obscene. Only the worst criminals were crucified. Christ was the most humble man. Ever. He didn't think less of Himself. As God, how could He? No, Jesus didn't think of Himself at all. True humility. He thought of others, not Himself. Could anyone make Him go to the cross? In Mt 26:53, He commands 12 legions of angels! He could unmake Earth. He chose death on a cross! For us. Jesus allowed Himself to be nailed to the cross. For ~6 hours, He chose its torture & shame. Jesus chose to die on Passover, at 3pm-the exact time a high priest killed a lamb for the temple sacrifice. All to obey His Father. In obedience, Jesus chose the ultimate humility, a cross. The result? All Creation, redeemed. Humanity, restored. You & me, reconciled with God. God rewarded such great obedience. 9aGod exalted him to the highest place. The Father's right hand. God also 9agave him the name that's above every name. How exalted is His Name? 10aAt the name of Jesus every knee will bow. Paul is alluding to Isa 45:18, 21b, 23. Our Creator God, Yahweh (the LORD), says, "Every knee will bow before me." Paul's point? Jesus is the Lord! He's God! Jesus' true Name? Yahweh! The "name above every name." It's at Jesus's Name, Yahweh, that 10aevery knee will bow, 10bin heaven & on earth & under the earth. Jesus is Yahweh! The LORD God! That's Jesus's Name! Someday, 11Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Now, in love. Or later in terror. Choose! Choose love (Jn 14:15)! 12aMy dear friends, you've always obeyed Christ-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence. We know Who Jesus is & His Name above all names. We know how humble He is. We know His humility. Always thinking of others not Himself. We know how He serves others. No task too small or degrading. Jesus justified all creation & all humanity by His death. And the instant we trusted Christ for our salvation & stopped trying to earn it ourselves? That instant, His Holy Spirit worked salvation into us. But it has 2 parts. God saves & works it in. But we have to respond. How? 12bContinue to work out your salvation. Keep on working out the salvation He worked in. Keep allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us more & more into Christ's image. To start, stop resisting Him. More & more, learn to cooperate with the Spirit. Best of all, seek opportunities to grow into His image! That's working out our salvation. But do so 12cwith fear & trembling. Why? Who can do it perfectly? We're gonna make mistakes. We'll need help. We'll need power even to want to! Where's the power to keep on working out our salvation? Power to work out what He worked into us? Where's the power to make me want to? The Holy Spirit. 13It's God who works in you to will & to act according to his good purpose. Augustine wrote, "Our deeds are our own, because of the free will producing them. They are also God's, because of his grace causing our free will to produce them." Augustine says elsewhere, "God makes us do what he pleases by making us desire what we might not desire." God works in us "both to will & to work for his good pleasure." (my emphasis) He works all through us. By our life's end, it'll be complete. What's His good purpose? He loves us! Like a good Father, His purpose is our greatest good. What pleases Him? Jesus told us in Jn 13:34-35. 34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I've loved you, so you must love one another. 35All men will know that you're my disciples if you love one another." All our verses have explained what that love looks like. Humble. Sacrificial. Self-emptying. Putting others before ourselves, even as we take care of ourselves & our own. Loving others by serving them. Doing this will take the attitude of Christ Jesus. The good news? If we ask for Jesus Christ's attitude, the Holy Spirit will give it to us. During the American Civil War, Gen. George B. McClellan had charge of the Army of the Potomac, mainly because public opinion favored him. He fancied himself a great military leader. He enjoyed hearing people call him "young Napoleon." But his performance? Less than stellar. Hoping to get some action, Pres. Lincoln commissioned him General-in-Chief. But he kept dilly-dallying. One evening, Lincoln & 2 staff members went to visit McClellan. He was at a wedding, so the 3 sat down to wait. An hour later, Gen. McClellan got home. Paying no attention to the President, he walked by, went upstairs, & didn't return. A 1/2 hr. later, Lincoln sent a servant to tell McClellan they were waiting. He came back: McClellan had gone to bed! His associates got angry. Lincoln just got up & led the way home. "This is no time to be making points of etiquette & personal dignity," President Lincoln explained. "I'd hold his horse if McClellan will only bring us success." Lincoln's humility helped make him a great man & a great President. He wasn't thinking of himself. He thought only of serving others. That's the attitude of Christ. He didn't (& doesn't) avoid sacrifice. He lives for God's glory & others' good. If paying a price honors the Father & helps others, Jesus willing. Shouldn't that be our attitude? It isn't how much suffering we're willing to take. It's how much sacrifice we're willing to give. And the more we give, the more God will bless. Want to see God? Just cultivate the attitude of Christ Jesus, & we will. Christ Jesus' Attitude - Philippians 2:1-13 Page 1 of 1