Philippians 2:5-8 The Message
5-8 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
In the beginning, it began looking allot like Christmas …
Do any of us plan on taking the time this Christmas to tell your children or our friends about the real purpose of Christmas? If so, what will we tell them?
Although we usually meditate on the birth narratives of Jesus from Luke and Matthew’s Gospels at this time of the year, His true purpose in coming to earth was not to give us the sweet picture of a baby in a Bethlehem manger. That little baby was born to die for you and for me and thus pay for the forgiveness of our sins. He was announced by the angels, the Messengers of God, conceived of the Holy Spirit, Immanuel, God with us, born with a singularly unique purpose no one else would ever have-die on the Cross that we might be reconciled to God.
That is a whole lot to absorb when we are too busy trying to absorb all the food list we will have to go shopping for, for all of the people who will be coming to our lunch or dinner tables from everywhere across the world where there is a place to travel from. Shall we similarly receive Christ who came from eternity?
For this reason, as the opportunity arises, declare to folks, “Don’t just think of a baby in a manger” at Christmastime, don’t just brag and boast and gloat over all the effort it took just to travel through all kinds of terrible weather conditions. I would not want to be first to brag about all the sacrifices I always have to make!
Christmas is about so much more than that. It is about God coming to earth in human flesh so He could die on the Cross to pay for our salvation and destroy all the sinister works of the devil in your lives! That is what Christmas is all about!
People rarely think of the Cross at Christmastime because it is the time set aside to celebrate Jesus’ birth. But in Philippians 2, Paul connects those two thoughts.
As Paul writes about God becoming a man, he goes on to express the ultimate reason God chose to take this amazing action.
Paul says in verse 8, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Because today is one day closer to family and friends gathering for Christmas Eve, I want to use this Sparkling Gem of a moment to share that real reason for Christmas, which is contained in the truths carefully weaved into this verse.
Philippians 2:8 says that Jesus was “…found in fashion as a man….” That word “fashion” is the Greek word schema. This is extremely important, for this was precisely the same word that was used in ancient times to depict a king who exchanged his kingly garments for a brief period of time for the clothing of a beggar.
How wonderful that the Holy Spirit would inspire the apostle Paul to use this exact word! Did, would, anyone of us, take the time to teach others this truth?
When Jesus came to earth, it really was a moment when God Almighty shed His glorious appearance and exchanged it for the clothing of human flesh.
Although man is fearfully and wonderfully made, his earthly frame is nothing more than temporal dust and cannot be compared to the eternal and glorious appearance of God.
However, for the sake of an indescribable measure of love, for the sake of our redemption, God laid aside all of His radiant glory, He sacrificed, took upon Himself human flesh, was manifested in the very likeness of a human being.
This is the true story of a King who traded His kingly garments and took upon Himself the clothing of a servant.
But the story doesn’t stop there. Jesus – our King who sacrificed His royal robes for the itchy, tattered temporary clothing of flesh – loved us so much that He “…humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross”! OMG
The word used here “humbled” is the Greek word tapeinao, and it means to be humble, to be lowly, and to be willing to stoop to any measure that is needed.
This describes the attitude God had when He took upon Himself human flesh.
Think of how much humility would be required for God to shed His glory and lower Himself to become like a member of His creation.
Consider the indescribable greatness of God’s love that drove Him to divest Himself of all His splendor and become like a man. This is amazing to me, particularly when I think of how often the flesh recoils at the thought of being humble or preferring someone else above itself. God sent His Son, Jesus who humbled Himself “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
The word “obedient” tells me that this was not a pleasurable experience that Jesus looked forward to in anticipation. To have humbled Himself to this extent, from eternity down to fragile humanity required Jesus’ deliberate obedience.
As preexistent God, Jesus came to earth for this purpose. But as man dressed in flesh, He despised the thought of the Cross (Hebrews 12:2) and could only endure its shame because He knew of the results that would follow. For Jesus to be 100% obedient as a man, He had to choose to obey the eternal plan of God.
The word “obedient” is used to describe Jesus is the Greek word hupakouo, from the word hupo, which means under, and the word akouo, which means I hear.
When these two words are compounded together, they picture someone who is hupo – under someone else’s strictest authority, and akouo – listening to what that superior is speaking to him. After listening and taking these instructions to heart, this person then always carries out the exacting orders of his superior.
Thus, the word hupakouo tells us that obedient people are
1) always under authority, 2) always listening to what their superior is saying, and 3) always carrying out the very exacting orders that have been given to them.
This is what the word “obedient” means in this verse, and this is what truest obedience means for you and me. But how many of us are teaching this truth?
You see, even Jesus had to come to this place of obedience. Although He knew that He was the perfect Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, that didn’t mean His flesh was excited about dying as the Lamb of God on the Cross.
According to this verse in Philippians 2:8, Jesus had to humble Himself and become “obedient” in order to follow God’s very exact and exacting plan.
He wasn’t looking forward to the experience of death on a Cross; He made a choice to humble Himself, to go to any and every single measure in order to exactingly, obediently accomplish the complexity of His Father’s great plan.
Part of the Father’s plan was for Jesus to humble Himself “…unto death, even the death of the cross.”
The word “unto” is from the Greek word mechri, which is a Greek word that really means to such an extent.
The Greek word mechri is sufficient in itself to dramatize the point, but the verse goes on to say that Jesus humbled Himself unto death, “…even the death of the cross.”
The word “even” is the Greek word de, which emphatically means EVEN!
The Greek carries this idea:
“Can you imagine it! Jesus humbled Himself to such a lowly position and became so obedient that He even stooped low enough to die the miserable death of a Cross!”
I heartily recommend you take the time today to read the Passion Narratives again in order to refresh your memory on the full extent, process of crucifixion.
It was genuinely the worst death a person could ever endure. For Jesus to choose to humble Himself to the point of gruesome death, EVEN the death of the Cross, demonstrates how much He was willing to humble Himself to redeem you, me.
Just think of it
– Almighty God, clothed in radiant glory from eternity past, came to this earth formed as a human being in the womb of a human mother for one purpose: so He could one day die a miserable death on a Cross to purchase our salvation!
All of this required humility on a level far beyond anything we could ever want to comprehend or anything that has ever been remotely requested of any of us.
Yet this was the reason Jesus came; therefore, He consciously chose to be 100% obedient to the very end, humbling Himself to the point of dying a humiliating death on a Cross and thereby purchasing our eternal salvation.
So as we go to every imaginable extravagance to celebrate Christmas, be sure to go to similar lengths to extravagantly remember the real purpose of Christmas.
It isn’t just a time to reflect on the quality or quantity or hilarity of our gifts.
But on quality and quantity of the gift of baby boy who was born in Bethlehem so long ago. That baby was God manifest in the flesh. He was born to die for you and for me. Jesus was so willing to do whatever was required in order to redeem us from Satan and sin that He humbled Himself even unto death on a Cross!
That is what Christmas is all about!
MY PRAYER FOR TODAY
Lord, I thank You for the sacrifices you made – coming to earth so You could redeem me. When I think of the extent to which You were willing to go in order to save me, it makes me want to shout, to celebrate, and to cry with thankfulness. You love me so much, and I am so grateful for that love. Without You, I would still be lost and in sin. But because of everything You have done for me, today I am free; my life is blessed; Jesus is my Lord; Heaven is my home; and Satan has no right to control me. I will be eternally, extra extravagantly thankful to You for everything You did to save me!
I pray this in Jesus’ name!
MY CONFESSION FOR TODAY
I sacrifice my ego to now confess that Jesus Christ loves me! He demonstrated His love to me by leaving behind Heaven’s glory and taking upon Himself human flesh. And He did it for one purpose: so that one day He could go to the Cross and die for me and thus reconcile me unto God. There is no need for me to ever feel unloved or unwanted, because Jesus went the ultimate distance to prove that He loves me!
I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!
Psalm 100 The Message
100 1-2 On your feet now—applaud God!
Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
3 Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn’t make him.
We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.
4 Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.
5 For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 