The Savior's Humility

Introduction

Review of previous sermon

Philippians 2:1-4 “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.”

Transformed lives lead to transformed attitudes which lead to transformed actions. (This is from the sermon on 2:1-4.)

This is the tag line from the previous sermon. In that passage Paul is exhorting the Philippians to be unified in love and thought. The end is to not be prideful or boastful but to be humble and think of others first.

If you remember, we concluded there is really no checklist, how-to guide, or 12 step program on transforming from selfish to humble.

However, in today’s passage Paul gives us the perfect example of perfect humility.

Philippians 2:5-11 “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.”

Connecting Command

Verse 5 is a command that echoes what Paul wrote in verse 2 where he told the Philippians to be “…of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” However, in this verse Paul tells the Philippians to have the same mind among them that is theirs in Jesus. What is the mind that is theirs in Christ Jesus?

Perhaps a better understanding comes from the NIV which says, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:”

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Php 2:5.

Or “Think this in you which Christ thought in him.”

Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 100.

It is apparent the Philippians, and believers throughout history, are being exhorted to think like Christ when it comes to being humble. What did Christ think about humility? The explanation and example follow.

In the Beginning

Eternal God

As Paul tells us, Jesus was “…in the form of God..” The Greek word morphe is translated as form in the ESV and KJV. I think the NIV is more to the point here as it translates morphe as “nature.” The meaning is something that has the essence or essential qualities of another. In simpler words, Jesus has all the essence and essential qualities of God - Jesus is God.

Prior to the incarnation Jesus was eternal God. As part of the Trinity he, like the Father and the Spirit, enjoyed relationship and fellowship among the trinity. God needed nothing and was perfectly content within himself.

Creator

Yet, God decided to make creatures with which to have fellowship. God the Father spoke, God the Son created, and our world came into being. The physical world, the universe, animals, birds, fish, insects, it all was spoken into being by the Father through the Word - the Son. John 1:1-3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

The crown of creation was Man who was created in the “image of God.” Genesis 1:26-27 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Adam and Eve had no need to give into the deception of Satan. They were already Godlike in many ways. The unfortunate truth is Adam and Eve didn’t hear Satan’s words that they “…would be LIKE God...” I think what the heard was they “…would be God.” They came to the same conclusion as Satan - Godlike and Godhood were something to be seized. Something desirable to be grasped and taken by force if necessary. Genesis 3:22-23 “Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.”

Pride took control and destroyed a perfect creation. Sin entered the world. The result was a fall that should have driven man to humility before God but, as the Bible and history prove again and again, pride continues to be the default position for sinful men and women. Something needed to be done to bring man back to God.

Incarnation

In God’s plan, the incarnation was the answer to the problem of sin. God himself would become human. If you stop and think about it, there was no need for God to do such a thing. God, in the Trinity, was, is, and will be eternally satisfied among himself. He could have very well just let creation go its own destructive way.

But that’s not what happened. God the Father called on God the Son to become human. God would be born in the image of man. This is not something that God the Son had to do or was compelled to do.

Not robbery

Paul tells us that Jesus’ response to this was “ 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.” In direct contrast to Satan, Adam and Eve, the Son of God did not feel his position in the Trinity was something to be taken by force or, like a toddler, grabbed and held onto for dear life. His response was not pride but humility.

I cannot grasp the depth or intensity of such humility. To know that you are Creator, that those sinful creatures are your creation, and to be willing to condescend to their level in order to bring them back into relationship is beyond my comprehension. That is was Jesus did. The potter became a pot. Talk about putting the concerns of others before yourself!

St. Leo the Great said of our Lord, "He took the nature of a servant without the stain of sin, enlarging our humanity without diminishing his divinity. He emptied himself: though invisible he made himself visible, though Creator and Lord of all things he chose to be one of us mortal men. Yet this was the condescension of compassion, not the loss of omnipotence. So he who in the nature of God had created man, became in the nature of a servant, man himself."

That the Creator would join his creation in their humanity is one thing. But that the Creator would join his creation in every experience of their humanity is almost unbelievable. God the Son, Jesus, was at the mercy of a human body. A body that was at the mercy of all the frailties of being human. A mind that was beset with the thoughts and concerns of being human. A body that would be subjected to the cruelest form of death known at that time - crucifixion. As is says in Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Paul again, “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Pride could have lead Jesus to not die. He could have said, “It’s enough that I have to parade around as one of these beings, why should I have to die for them.” Or he could have asked to die in a way that would have not been as scandalous or inglorious. Yet, in his humility, he was willing to do as the Father asked even at the cost of his humanity. John 6:38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

That will was expressly seen in the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53:1-12 “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016),

Exaltation

Think about Jesus’ earthly life. He was humble enough to be submissive to Mary and Joseph. He was humble enough to deny Satan’s temptations that appealed to his pride. He was humble enough to help those in need and forgive those enslaved to sin. Jesus’ teachings to his disciples were filled with the idea of humility. How many times did he say, “the last shall be first and the first shall be last.” Matthew 20:26-28 “It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” Luke 14:9-11 “and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.””

In his humility God the Son was willing to leave the highest to become the lowest. Because he did, God the Father raised him, not back to the highest, but to the “…name above all names.”

“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.”

There is much discussion among the learned about this “name.” What name was given to Jesus that is above every name? I am not smart enough to figure it out but I believe it is the name written on the sash of the Saviour that returns to Earth at the end of time. “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” God has placed all of creation under the feet of Jesus because of his humble acceptance of his role in redemption.

What Paul tells us is what Revelation reveals - all creation will acknowledge Jesus. Either as Savior, co-heir, firstfruit of the redeemed or as a conquering King whose judgement is to be faced.

John 5:22-30 “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 5:30.…”

Application

In the passage we discussed in the previous sermon, Paul urged the Philippians to be of one mind, one love and to serve humbly. In today’s passage Paul gives us the example and standard of that mine, that love, that humility. We are asked to do no less than our Savior. To put the concerns of others before ourselves. To live humbly and not be prideful or boastful about our own selves. To do all for the glory of God.

Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

Ephesians 4:1-3 “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Colossians 3:12-17 “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

There is a story that gives us concrete ideas of how this work.

What Meekness Looks Like

Taylor University is a Christian college in Indiana. Years ago, they were pleased to learn that an African student, Sam, was going to be enrolling in their school. This was before it was commonplace for international students to come to the U.S. to study. He was a bright young man with great promise, and the school felt honored to have him. When he arrived on campus, the President of the University took him on a tour, showing him all the dorms. When the tour was over, the President asked Sam where he would like to live. The young man replied, "If there is a room that no one wants, give that room to me." The President turned away in tears. Over the years he had welcomed thousands of Christian men and women to the campus, and none had ever made such a request. "If there is a room that no one wants, give that room to me." That's the kind of meekness Jesus talks about in the Beatitudes. If there is a job that no one wants to do, I'll do that job. If there's a kid that no one wants to eat lunch with, I'll eat with that kid. If there's a piece of toast that's burnt, I'll take that piece. If there's a parking space that's far away from the church, I'll park in that space. If there's a service time that's less convenient for people, I'll worship at that service. If there's a hardship someone has to endure, I'll take that hardship. If there's a sacrifice someone needs to make, I'll make that sacrifice.

Source:

Bryan Wilkerson, in his sermon "In God We Trust (Though We'd Rather Pay Cash)," www.preachingtoday.com

If Transformed lives lead to transformed attitudes which lead to transformed actions it is only by being transformed into the likeness of Christ our Saviour.