His Attitude - My Attitude - For His Magnitude

Philippians 2:5-11

Introduction

Good morning and welcome again to this gathering of Hope Bible Fellowship. I am so glad to be back with you. Thanks to A.J. for filling in last week while I was away with family for the holiday. We had a great time. Today we are going to pick up where we left off before Advent in the letter of Paul to the Philippians.

Recap the context of Philippians and the previous verse

The certainty of the blessings we have in Christ.

The consistency in our unity as a body of believers both externally and internally.

Cease serving self.

Paul drops this intense explanation of the person and work of Christ right on our heads in this passage. I suppose that this passage could have been divided up into five sermons but we'll try and do it justice in just one today.

Let’s read from Philippians 2:5-11. I will be reading from the Christian Standard Bible.

READ Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:5–11 ESV

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.

PRAY

I. The Example of Christ's Humiliation (v. 5-6)

Verse five begins by telling us to adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus. I don't want us to blow past that first word too fast. The word "adopt", implies that this is not something we naturally have. We don't already have

- What does attitude mean here?

Imitation is a theme of Philippians.

- Jesus - existing in the form of God

eternal. He is creator. He is not created. The word Morphe translated, form doesn’t mean external appearance or outward shape but according to Merida, “of the essential attributes and inner nature of Jesus. Fully human and fully divine.

Church history debates over the nature of Jesus.

Council of Nicea… story in Merida

- did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited

The exhortation to be like Jesus is not itself the gospel. Many people out there publicly call for people to be like Jesus but simply being like Jesus is not the gospel. It's not a way to be more accepted by God or to somehow be "more" Christian. Being like Jesus is something we are told to do but without the in working of the Holy Spirit in the life of an already Christian person, they will never be able to take on or adopt the humble attitude of Christ Jesus.

I really like the way Ligon Duncan laid this out for his flock:

" If “Be like Jesus” is the gospel, I've got some really bad news for you this morning: You and I are all going to hell. Because nobody can be enough like Jesus to be accepted with God. That is not what Paul is saying. Paul is not saying be like Jesus and you will be saved.

Paul is talking to believers who realize that the reason they need Jesus is because they aren't like Him. He's talking to believers who have realized their sinfulness, and they've turned in faith to Christ and they've said, ‘Lord Christ, forgive me, because I'm not like You. Forgive me because I've not lived like God wants me to live.’ Paul is talking to believers who know that “Be like Jesus” is not the gospel. But he is giving this exhortation to be like Jesus to those who are trusting in Christ, not in themselves, in order that they might experience the joy and the unity and the fellowship that God intends believers to experience in the world together, facing all kinds of opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil. And so Paul's message “Be like Jesus” is not his gospel. This is not a passage where he's saying if you’ll do these things, you will be saved. No, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” But having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are, as the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 1:27, to endeavor to live as is appropriate, or fitting, to a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, to a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And how do you do that? “Be like Jesus.”

II. The Good of Christ's Humiliation (v. 7-8)

Emptying Himself… what this means

refusing to hold onto His divine rights...

He was not at all concerned with making sure He claimed all of His rights. He wasn’t worried about getting what was due Him. He gave that up for others. Ultimately He gave it up for your freedom from your sin and for the glory of His heavenly Father. I am struck by this. I’m convicted by this. This is God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. And here He is in this passage laying down his rights.... laying down what He deserves… And what we discover later in the passage is that He laid down what He deserved because it was His mission and goal to pick up that which He actually did not deserve and claim that so that He could rescue humanity from our sin. Amazing!

Bryan Chapel Illustration related by Merida

Exalting Jesus in Philippians “Instead He Emptied Himself” (v. 7a)

In this particular part of Africa the chief is the strongest man in the village. As the chief, he also wears a very large headdress and ceremonial robes. One day a man carrying water out of the shaft of a deep well fell and broke his leg, and lay helpless at the bottom of the well. To get down to the bottom, one would have to climb down, using the alternating slits that go all the way down the deep well, and then climb back up. Because no one could carry the helpless man up like this, the chief was summoned. When he saw the plight of the man, he laid aside his headdress and his robe, climbed all the way to the bottom, put the injured man on himself, and brought him to safety. He did what no other man could do. That’s what Jesus has done for us. He came to rescue us. And He laid aside His heavenly glory, like the chief did with his headdress, in order to save us. Now, did the chief cease being the chief when he laid aside his headdress? Of course not. Did Jesus cease being God when He came to rescue us? Of course not (Chapell, Using Illustrations, 11–12).

Illustrations for assuming the form of a servant:

John 13:3–5 ESV

3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Mark 10:45 ESV

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.”

Crucifixion: Obedient to death - even death on a cross - humiliating

III. The Result of Christ's Humiliation (v. 9-11)

Exaltation of Jesus Christ

What was the name that is above every name that Paul mentions here?

Biblical scholars and theologians have come up with ideas about this based on cross references from other places in scripture as well as study of what was going on culturally in Philippi. We read that and we would assume that the name Jesus is what He’s talking about here. He’s clearly writing about the person of Christ Jesus but what we may understand is that the name Paul is talking about being above every name is Lord. Now there are many reasons who scholars stand by this understanding and you can read most of those for yourself if interested but I want to give you an explanation that one well known pastor gave. I’ve reworded it here. We have to ask the question about what name did Jesus get after His resurrection that he didn’t have before? It can’t be the name Jesus because we just talked about that the last few weeks that He was to be called Jesus. So he had that name already.

Acts 2:36 ESV

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Jesus was the name of He who went to the cross to purchase life and forgiveness of sin for humans. He was going to fulfill the mission of his Messiahship, His messianic lordship. This is the name bestowed on him at his exaltation, post resurrection. Of course He was Messiah even before this. It was not until he had fulfilled his mission as Messiah, died in our place for our sin, and risen to live again that this Messiah lordship was brought to what this pastor calls full actuality. Darkness was defeated. In order to be proclaimed as the one who defeated death and sin and darkness, He had to defeat the enemy and overcome all of those things. I hope this makes sense to you. It’s a little complex but it’s important so we aren’t left with a big question right at this point in the passage. So the name that is above every name is the the name, Lord. The Lord who is victor over all enemies and has bought a people from every tribe and every nation.

REWORD THIS:

Exalting Jesus in Philippians A Christ-Centered Mind-Set (Philippians 2:5–11)

So while Philippians 2:6–11 is filled with theological hot points that we must consider closely, we must remember that Paul’s purpose for penning it isn’t to stimulate debate. It’s not here for argumentation; it’s here for our adoration and emulation.

Here’s the incredible thing about this exalted Messiah, this Lord Jesus Christ that we are talking about and Paul wrote about:

We can know HIM. In my preparation I read a story about a guy who worked for the Charlotte Hornets NBA team. So this guy is on a conference call with all of the upper management from the team, and that included a guy named Michael Jordan. At one point in the conversation Jordan says, “Hey (guys name), it’s M.J. The writer said the man’s jaw dropped. He was in awe that M.J. knew him. This hit home for me because I grew up in the eighties and nineties and Michael Jordan WAS basketball. I was a fan. I’m still a Bulls fan and it’s because of M.J. and those teams. So I get it when this guy freaked out a bit because the king of basketball knew his name. Jordan is in a class by himself. It was astounding. But then I think about the fact that I’ve got something better than that. The God of the universe, who created me and thought up the duck billed platypus among other things, came to earth to die in my place for my sins and He knows me. He rose from the grave to show that He defeated death. He beat death and I will be resurrected some day with Him and HE KNOWS ME. Let’s not lose the wonder and amazement and gratitude of this truth. If you have trusted Jesus for salvation, if you have repented of your sins and believed the good news of the gospel then you have a relationship with Jesus and you get to know GOD.

Conclusion and Response Invitation

You see, what Paul is truly doing here is trying to get his audience to change their outlook in life. He wants them to change how they see life and adopt Jesus’ attitude about life. Paul is really entreating the Philippians to make Jesus’s death the central mindset for their lives.

You can adopt this attitude. If you are believer in Jesus Christ, you have the indwelling of the Spirit and you can adopt this humble attitude in all things.

Memorize this passage. dwell on it.

Believe it. Jesus is Lord. For people in New Testament times confessing Jesus as Lord meant that Caesar was not Lord. The result of these confessions they made would be persecution and martyrdom. Some would be killed. So what is your level of belief? Do you really believe and are you really surrendered to Him as Lord. Your knee will bow someday either way. Either in joy and reverence or in despair and judgment because you rejected Him. What are you going to do with this today?

Follow the lifestyle presented in this passage - live with an attitude of selfless service bringing glory to God.

Tell someone about this passage.