The Song of the Messiah
Notes
Transcript
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, 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. 9 Therefore 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, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Advent
We sang Christmas songs today
Christmas songs have theology.
GIve the congregation examples of Christmas songs with Theology.
Guess the song:
“Born to raise the son of earth. Born to give Him second birth” - explain second birth
“But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in.”
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Oh, come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Oh, bid our sad divisions cease,
And be yourself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
(O Come, O Come Emmanuel)
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
(O Holy Night)
It is great that these Christmas songs get it. This is what Christmas is supposed to be.
Where is Jesus in the celebration of Christmas? He is just like an ornament among the many things that make Christmas the most festive celebration in Christendom.
The world has associated Christmas with
Holiday Cheer
Take this holiday cheer away and Christmas to many people becomes meaningless.
Worse, bring in a pandemic, and Christmas becomes non-existent to many people.
People wonder what is Christmas like with the coronavirus?
“This is the saddest Christmas of all.”
“I cannot travel home to my family, I’ll skip Christmas this year.”
People fall into despair, time becomes a time of loneliness and anxiety for many people.
This is because The Christ of Christmas has lost His place in human hearts.
The celebration of the Savior’s birth is meaningless if the Savior is not alive in people’s hearts.
The world celebrates Christmas and ponders Jesus. We should celebrate Jesus and ponder Christmas.
The story of Christmas is a prelude to the bigger gospel story.
The early Christians sang songs during their time but unlike the many Christmas songs that we sing today, they sang songs that are packed with the truth of the gospel. One such song is called is the Song of the Messiah which is found in Philippians.
I preached before from this passage but it always brings new and refreshing truths in our hearts.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This is a song that early Christians sang - the song of the Messiah.
Many think this is a song composed by the apostle Paul. It is a song because of the poetic quality of the lyrics.
Before he started the song, he said:
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus”
Does this song sets Jesus as merely an example that we should imitate? Do we strive towards the perfection of Christ?
Or is it more than that?
Let’s study this:
Note that this song has three parts:
The Nature of Christ
The Incarnation of Christ
The Glorification of Christ
verse 6:
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Three important truths we have to notice here:
Jesus was in the form of God - Jesus is God and existed with God in eternity
Jesus did not just show up in Bethlehem on the first Christmas, He existed in eternity.
Jesus is equal with God,
Talk, about the cults
yet he did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped
This is the opposite of the sin of Adam. Adam fell because he wanted to be like God. Jesus on the other hand, did not cling to His equality with God which He already had.
Talk of human nature to desire being elevated.
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
The root word for emptying is the Greek word: Kenoo
Word Image here
Note that the emptying that happened here is not a lessening like you pour water out of a jar, but a setting aside - Jar to an earthen ordinary water jug.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
The incarnation of Christ.
The real significance of the nativity scene… Christ being born in humble circumstances..
Why did he endure such kind of life..
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
CHrist became poor for your sake.
How easy it is for us to complain (talk about the smallest thing) adults - complain about their misery in life, traffic, young adults you freak out over a slow download speed of the internet.. Christmas issues...
Think of what Jesus gave up for your sake!
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
The Name of Jesus is above every name.
What is it that you fear the most today?
Coronavirus - declare the Name of Jesus is above the coronavirus.
Again this is a statement of fact! Not a call to be irresponsible.
The Name of Jesus is higher than Satan who brought the world this virus and it is the Name of Jesus that will wipe this virus on the face of the earth!
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The first part is a repeat of Isaiah 45 where the God of Israel said, “To Me every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance”. (My glory I won’t share with another)
This part of the song of Messiah had serious implications to the Philippians at that time. You see, Philippi was a center of patriotism, where the people are proud of their ROman citizenship and their strong allegiance to the emperor. (Hail Caesar, or Caesar is Lord)
But the Song of the Messiah proclaims:
we are to bow our knee at the name of Jesus
that we are to confess Jesus as Lord
That means death..
Jesus humbled Himself to the point of death,
Will you be ready to confess Jesus to the point of death?
Persecution is coming..
But in the meantime, what are we to do, what is our takeaway at this time? the lesson of the song of the Messiah is:
Our Participation in Christ
This Christmas, remember that we have already been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) allowing Jesus who emptied Himself, who humbled Himself and is now alive forever and ever in glory to live in us.
The key is to recognize the believers’ participation in Christ. Then Jesus is not set up as an ideal, whose perfection we strive to reach but of course never can. Nor is Jesus understood merely through a doctrinal lens divorced from our personal experience. But understanding that each believer is even now seated with Christ (Eph 2:6; Col 3:1), having been crucified with him and thus no longer living on one’s own (Gal 2:19 – 20), allows for this hymn to celebrate the nature of Christ and also connect personally and practically to our own experience. - Lynn H. Cohick
This should be the main story of our lives, this is the story of Christmas and this participation in Christ leads us to live our lives in love and obedience to God and love for our fellowmen.
Say this with me: Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
I will not bow my knee to no one and nothing else other than my King. Would you bow down your knee before Jesus today?
Prayer