Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (Break 1)
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Break 2)
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Break 3)
Break 1 – Humility of Mind Modeled (Intellectual humility to someone else)
· Notice that Paul has used the word “Let” 4 times in the last 8 verses.
o Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 1:27
o Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or deceit. 2:3
o Let each of you look out not only to his own interests. 2:4
o Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. 2:5
· The point being is that you must surrender humbly to God and his desires for your life.
· Now Christ is being defined to reveal the mind we should have:
o He was in the form of God – Form means the true and exact nature of something, possessing all the characteristics and qualities of something.
o Did not consider his “heavenly existence or divine life-style” as something to be “selfishly” maintained.
o No Reputation is revealing how he was to come. As the Omnipresent and Omnipotent King he obviously would have come in glory and splendor and pomp but Christ came in “to serve not to be served.” Christ came in humbly being born in a manger, surrounded not by golden walls and spotless floors but by thatch walls and hay-strewn flooring.
Break 2 – Humility of Body Modeled (Physical humility to someone else)
· Christ’s Bodily humility is defined:
o He was in the form of a bondservant – bond-unites servant – one that is hired to perform household duties for another
o He came in the likeness of men – being like, picture; copy. This means he was to participate on the level of life like you and I. He was not outside the struggles and temptations of life or the growth and maturity of mankind’s life.
o He found himself in the appearance of man – It wasn’t just an internal likeness but an external likeness. When Jesus looked into a mirror, he appeared as a man of Jewish descent. He was of dark-complexion, had physical features like that of a middle-eastern man.
o So incarnation means God who as spirit, takes upon himself a physical body so that he has fingers and toes and he blows his nose and goes to the bathroom. And not to be disrespectful to Jesus, but he takes on a human body. And what he’s saying here is that in becoming a man, Jesus is the most humble man who has ever lived, because Jesus is God – become a man. Creator entered into creation. Timeless eternal enters into time. Omni present, everywhere, enters into a place. Seated on a throne chooses to be born in a barn. Surrounded by angels in glory comes to be disrespected, mocked and abused by sinners. Living in heaven comes to live in poverty on the earth, and to suffer is the man of sorrows. And what he is saying is that in that, Jesus is the most humble person who has or will ever live. - Mark Driscoll
· So because of his mental and physical form Jesus did these things:
o He humbled himself
o Became Obedient (even to death, death on the cross)
o Now in saying this, we are not saying that Jesus ceased to be God when he became a man. Rather what he said here is that he set aside his rights and he set aside the use of his divine attributes. Doesn’t mean he didn’t possess them. He didn’t access them continually. While on the earth, Jesus was still God. He was worshiped as God. He declared himself to be God, and he forgave sin, which only God can do. So Jesus, while on the earth, was God. But God does not grow and change, and so Jesus set aside his divine attribute of immutability so that he could grow from a little baby, to a boy, to a man. God is omniscient. He’s all knowing. Jesus set aside that attribute so that he would learn to read and write as we do. That Jesus Christ humbly lived a fully human life while still being God, still having the right to be worshiped as God, still having the attributes of God, but humbled himself choosing instead to live with us, like us, without the sin. This doesn’t mean that Jesus lost anything when he became a human being. - Mark Driscoll
o Augustine, the church father, says that he maintained his divinity as God and he added to it humanity, or he became a human being. - Mark Driscoll
o Romans 5:8, says it this way – “God demonstrates his love for us in this while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God left glory and came humbly. God left his throne and was born in a barn. God left being worshiped by angels continually to be disrespected by stiff-necked, stubborn, unrepentant, self-righteous, proud people, like me, continually. And how did I – how did we respond to God? We murdered him. That’s how proud we are. Not only that, Jesus, who is God, allowed me, allowed us, to murder him. That’s how humble he is. And in dying, he is so humble that he died for me that I might have salvation and love and reconciliation with God who made me. - Mark Driscoll
Break 3 – Exaltation of Christ Modeled (Not self and by someone else)
Here is another conjunction – Therefore –
This is what God did for Christ where we just were looking at what Christ did for us.
What did God do for Christ because of his humility? What will God do for our humility?
· He exalted him – We are Co-heirs with Christ
· Gave him a name above every name -
o What happens with this name?
§ Every knee will bow – Whose knees?
· Those in heaven
· Those on earth
· Those under the earth
§ Every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord – Whose Tongue?
· Those in heaven
· Those on earth
· Those under the earth
o Why will these things happen at the name of Jesus?
§ To bring glory to God the Father!
