The Paradigm of Joy

INTRO:

Could we with ink the ocean fill, And were the skies of parchment made, Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade; To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry; Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky.

That’s what tonight’s passage is about. If there’s one thing I pray you walk away with tonight it’s an understanding of how much Jesus loves you.

BODY:

Philippians 2:5 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

“This mind” points back to all that he had just written, specifically in verses 2-4.

He was exhorting them as a corporate group to demonstrate attitudes of humility and self-sacrifice that would prove indicative of their relationship to the gospel.

Paul was transitioning from the petition to the paradigm: “I want you guys to be like Jesus.” All of our Christian lives are primarily about following Jesus. Hebrews 12:1-2 “1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

P1: Remember Jesus is the Target (v. 5)

If we don’t get this, we can go through life as believers thinking the goal is somehow to just obey a series of commands.

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit”

“In humility count others more significant than yourselves”

“Look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others”

This approach to Christianity misses the forrest for the trees. It’s like thinking the point of a wedding is to get your steps in as you walk down the aisle. It’s like thinking that having a baby is a great way to lose some weight.

This isn’t just about being more humble, it’s not just about loving one another more, and chapter 1 wasn’t about Paul’s godly mindset. No, all of this has been about Jesus, more specifically about us being like Jesus.

Jesus is our target. Not obedience to a pastor, or a leader or a parent unless in obeying these you are becoming more like Jesus.

We should desire as much of Jesus on this side of heaven as we can have.

We should desire to be as much like Jesus on this side of heaven as we can be.

1 John 3:2 ESV

2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Piper: “The critical question for our generation–and for every generation–is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you every enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there?”

Jesus is the target for us here, and he’s the reward for us there.

END P1

But why? Why is Jesus so desirable, why are we living our life in pursuit of more of Jesus, of being more like him?

Philippians 2:6–8 ESV

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.

Illustrate: I love to watch the show Undercover Boss. I even get a little emotional sometimes at the end. But that’s nothing compared to Jesus’ love for us that was displayed at the cross.

As generous as they are to their employees, none of them are giving up everything for their employees. None of them are trading the riches of their bank accounts for the debt their employees have incurred. None of them are dying to save their employees.

The rest of our passage tonight is going to unpack for us why Jesus is worthy of being the target of our lives–why, more than anything else, we should want to be like Jesus.

Philippians 2:6–8 ESV

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.

The word that jumps off the page at us is the word that has made this a difficult passage for so many, and that is the word “EMPTIED.”

What does it mean that Jesus “emptied” himself?

The Bible teaches us that even in his incarnate form, Jesus was still 100% God, so this was not an emptying or letting out of any of his deity.

John 1:1-3 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

John 10:30 “30 I and the Father are one.””

John 5:18 “18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

There’s a key doctrine in Christianity called the hypostatic (personal) union.

Jesus has two complete natures: one fully human and one fully divine. What the doctrine of the hypostatic union teaches is that these two natures are united in one person in the God-man. Jesus is not two persons. He is one person. The hypostatic union is the joining (mysterious though it be) of the divine and the human in the one person of Jesus. - David Mathis (https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-hypostatic-union)

Could Jesus as both fully divine and fully human be, for example, simultaneously omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent–qualities of his eternal, divine nature–while also possessing a limited and finite human power, a limited yet growing knowledge and wisdom, and a restricted ability to be only in one place at one time–qualities of finite, human nature? - Bruce Ware, The Man Christ Jesus

This is one of those tier one issues, that we cannot give ground on. So when we come to this concept of Jesus’ emptying himself, our interpretation has to be governed by the rest of what we know about Jesus from Scripture.

Colossians 1:15–20 ESV

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

John 1:1–3 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

So what was Paul saying here?

To understand this fully let’s look back to verse 6: “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,”

Form = morphe = external appearance consistent with internal reality

NIV: “being in very nature God...”

Different from “form” in 2:8 which pertains more to the external

“grasped” = held onto for selfish gain

In other words, he would not refuse the divinely commissioned task that was the incarnation

Paul actually went on to tell us what he meant by this. Look at Philippians 2:7 again: “but emptied himself, BY taking the form of a servant...”

His emptying was really an addition.

He emptied himself by taking on something, and that something was the human nature, not fallen, but aside from that identical to the humanity that you and I experience here tonight.

John MacArthur referred to this as “the most profound possible humiliation.”

Without losing anything from the essence of his divine nature, Jesus condescended to us by taking on to himself our frail human nature.

John 1:14 “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.”

JMac lists 5 different categories in which he emptied himself:

The fulness of his divine glory

John 17:1 “1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,”

Independent authority

John 5:30 “30 “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.”

Willful exercise of some divine attributes

Matt 24:36 “36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

“Eternal riches”

2 Cor 8:9 “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.”

Unbroken relationship with God

Matt 27:46 “46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?””

Think about it for a moment:

The Son of God had never felt a temperature change and was born in the cold winter months.

The Son of God had never felt discomfort, yet he was born in a stable and laid in a feeding trough.

The Son of God had never felt hunger, yet he was born as an infant and depended fully on Mary to provide the nourishment his body needed.

The Son of God had never felt pain, yet he skinned his knees as he stumbled and fell while learning to walk.

The Son of God had never learned anything, yet he submitted himself to the natural process of learning and growing in understanding.

The Son of God had never felt tired, yet there were times in his earthly ministry when he was wearied.

The Son of God had never had to make a friend, yet he would have to endear himself to his closest followers.

The Son of God had never been tempted, yet he submitted to the Spirit’s lead as he was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days by the enemy.

The Son of God had never been betrayed, yet one who had pretended to be close to him would turn him over to be crucified.

The Son of God had never been restrained, yet he allowed himself to be bound by chains in a cell while awaiting his trial and death.

The Son of God had never been mocked, yet he suffered insults from the mouths of those whose lives he was still at that moment sustaining.

The Son of God had never been challenged, yet he heard the taunts of the Jews telling him to call down angels to come to his defense.

The Son of God had never been humiliated, yet he hung on a torture rack meant to execute the most vile criminals, stripped of his clothing and any of his earthly dignity.

The Son of God had never felt the weight of sin, yet he took our sins upon himself.

The Son of God had never felt the wrath of his Father, yet he bore its full fury for us.

The Son of God had never felt an interruption to his relationship with the Father, yet he felt forsaken as he hung for our sins.

The Son of God had never died, yet his lungs stopped pumping, his heart stopped beating, and he gave up his spirit.

This is but the fringes of what it means for us that Jesus “emptied himself.”

“he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross”

A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly—dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, shame, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of intended wounds—all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness.… The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish. - Frederick Farrar

Why?

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Ephesians 2:4–5 ESV

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

Ephesians 5:2 ESV

2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

1 John 4:10 ESV

10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The common word that we find in all of those verses isn’t formally written in our text in Philippians 2, but it’s all over it nonetheless. What drove Jesus to empty himself, to die like a criminal, to bear the full fury of hell for us? The Love of God.

P2: Come Find True Joy in the Love of the Cross (vv. 6-8)

We sang it earlier tonight: “This world is dying to know who you are!”

Ecclesiastes 2

Whatever is going on in your life right now, that reality should provide immense joy for you tonight because the cross has changed eternity which in turn has changed your today.

And if you haven’t come to him tonight, what’s keeping you back? He died for you. He emptied himself for you! He loves you. Will you come to him tonight if you haven’t?

Illustrate: Top Gun 2 - Maverick sacrifices himself for Rooster. “Do you think I took that missile so you could be down here with me?! You should be back on that boat!”

If you’re here tonight, hearing this, seeing these words, then this love is for you. Come to Jesus. Respond to his love. Take the free offer of forgiveness.

Believe tonight that he did all of this for you, so that you can be forgiven.

Believe that he suffered that emptying, so you can be filled with an abiding joy knowing that you will spend eternity with him.

Believe that he experienced the wrath of God so you don’t have to.

Believe that he left the Father’s presence so you can enter the Father’s presence.

Believe that it was love that did this and come find true joy in the love of the cross.

END P2

This passage has the potential to produce a bit of spiritual whiplash as we go from the depths of Christ’s condescension to the pinnacle of his exaltation without as much as a single transition verse.

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

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.

There is an already-not-yet at work here in these verses. Jesus is already exalted, but this total subjection of creation to him as Lord has not yet happened.

God vindicates Jesus and places his seal of approval and acceptance on the work of Jesus by seeing him raised from the dead and exalted again to his former glory.

God responded to the selfless love of Jesus by exalting the Son, and we should respond to the selfless love of Jesus by doing the same.

P3: Love Jesus through Devoted Submission (vv. 9-11)

Hebrews 12:1–2 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Devotion is something that we’re used to when it comes to sports teams or political causes, or school spirit, or a dating relationship, but do we think of ourselves as devoted to Jesus?

“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow...”

To worship him

Some willingly

Some under compulsion

But all will worship Jesus

Have you bowed the knee in response to the love of Jesus yet?

If you don’t here, you will bow the knee in response to the unveiled power and authority of Jesus when it’s too late to know his love.

Conclusion:

His love is available to you tonight. Will you receive it? Will you come to Jesus if you haven’t yet come to Jesus? Will you? If not, why not?

The love of Jesus poured out for us at the cross radically transforms those who have experienced it. The life we now live, we live for him, following him, walking in his footsteps, because we love him.

1 John 4:19 “19 We love because he first loved us.”

Have you experienced this love yet?

If you have, when is the last time you spent some serious time contemplating what it meant for Jesus to die for us, to humble himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross?

How does the fact that Jesus died for you almost 2,000 years ago change the way you’re living your life tonight?

Is there anything in your life that is stealing your affections that rightly belong to Jesus?

Application Questions:

Read 1 John 4:19. How does the fact that Jesus died for you almost 2,000 years ago change the way you’re living your life tonight?

Read John 3:16 and Romans 5:8. How would you counsel a friend who says they struggle to feel loved by God? How would you approach an unbeliever who might argue that God is not loving?

Read Philippians 2:7. What part of Jesus’ emptying himself is the most impactful for you? Can you think of any other “firsts” that Jesus experienced in his incarnation that he had never before known?