Humility and Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Intro - Rub some dirt on it and get back in there. A temp. fix for a bigger problem.
The Church at Philippi had a sin problem, divisions from prideful attitude and actions. Paul could have given them a line like, “just get along” or “we don’t act like that”, those would be like “rub some dirt on it”. Instead Paul gives them real answer, one that actually fixes it and not pacifies it. Let’s see what he says,
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.
Paul says, Think like Jesus. (vs. 5)
Mind - not just intellectual but heart, passion, and will
among you - unity, humility, and selflessness
yours in Christ Jesus - you have this because you are united to Him
This isn’t a temporary fix, it’s an actual fix. Paul is saying this is how you all must think, not just some of you. Paul isn’t giving a response just to the people in the fight, he is instructing all them to think this way. He then gives them the reason to think this way.
Jesus was in the form of God (6a)
He was all of God.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Nothing of Jesus, God the Son, was God just on the JV team. He was and is,
Lexham Survey of Theology Attributes Describing God in Himself
• God’s glory describes his unique excellence.
• God’s immutability is his imperviousness to change.
• God’s omnipotence is his all-mightiness—he has all power.
• God’s omnipresence describes his relationship to space: he is everywhere.
• God’s eternity describes his relationship to time: he is everywhen.
• God’s omniscience names his all-knowingness; he is ignorant of nothing and never has learned anything new.
• God’s self-existence points to his independence: he needs no other beings and exists to and for and by himself.
• God’s spirituality reveals his nature as nonphysical.
• God’s unity points to the biblical teaching that God is one, unique and undivided.
• God’s simplicity reveals that God is not made up of various parts.
• God’s infinity is his quality of being unlimited, by time or space or anything.
Before Jesus took on flesh He was God and according to our text equal with God but notice when it says,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Grasped - Held to, Tightly
Why? The plan of redemption. He willingly held it loose so sinners my be redeemed and in doing so,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Emptied - Did not lose anything but took on something, form of a servant.
Above the Law to Under the Law
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Rich to Poor
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.
Left Heavenly Glory
4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
Gave up Independent Authority
8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
All of these things happened not because Jesus lost/set aside any attributes but because He took on the form of a servant or took on flesh.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
But he did not stop there. His God-ness was not held tightly in another way,
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
If Jesus had lost or set aside any of His Divinity this verse would not have hope for the reader and would not make any sense for why Paul wrote it, but because He was all God and as these verses clearly show, all man.
Gospel - Crux.
33 And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
This should help us see something clearly this evening.
Jesus left glory to take on flesh and die on the cross so sinners might be saved so we must think about our sin and how it effects how we interact with others in the local Church. He didn’t provide a temporary Spiritual fix like rubbing some dirt on it, He provided a perfect solution which not only effects us personally but also how we live together.
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