Preached Sunday, April 29, 2012
from
Philippians 2:5-11
Theme: We become motivated to have an attitude of loving unity toward each other when we have first been impacted by Jesus’ condescending love toward us.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We have been looking at Paul’s wonderful letter to the Philippians over the past few weeks. It’s God’s ‘New Testament’ instruction book on how to experience the prevailing joy of Jesus Himself in the midst of the difficult trials of life.
In our last time together, we looked at how Paul—who was experiencing that joy in his own trial of imprisonment—wrote and asked this small band of believers to “fulfill” his joy through their own fellowship with each other. He told them,
Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:1-4).
Paul was calling his dear brothers and sisters to have a unified spirit of love and service toward one another. And as we read on further in this letter—just a page or two ahead in our Bibles—we find that there was a situation of disunity that he specifically had in mind. In the second verse of chapter 4, we find that he writes,
I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord (4:2).
We don’t know much about what was going on between these two women in the church. We do know that they were faithful servants of Jesus; and that they had labored with Paul and with others in the ministry of the gospel. Paul looked upon them as precious and valued servants of Christ. Why there may have been a disagreement between them—or even what the nature of that disagreement was—we don’t know. But there was apparently such a severe disunity between them that news of it had come to Paul, and had caused him enough concern to mention it in this letter. And as we see from the next verse, he even wrote a comment directly to one of the other leaders in the church—perhaps the pastor—and appealed to him to help these two women overcome their differences:
And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life (4:3).
I believe that—at least to some level—Paul had the disagreement between these two women in mind when he wrote the Philippians and ask them to “fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” A church family can’t bear a positive testimony to this world of the life-changing power of Jesus Christ unless its members are exhibiting a oneness of mind with each other, are relating to each other in genuine humility, and are faithfully serving each other out of mutual care for one another’s needs
Now; think of it, dear brothers and sisters. Wouldn’t you rejoice to be in a church family in which everyone was like-minded toward the things of God; and where everyone had the same love toward each other? Wouldn’t you love to be in a church family in which everyone was motivated by the same sense of divinely-appointed purpose? Or let’s extend it beyond the church family itself. Wouldn’t you love to be in a marriage in which neither the husband or wife treated each other without any selfish ambition or conceit—a marriage in which both spouses were so characterized by humble attitude that they each considered the other as better than themselves? Wouldn’t it be great to live in a family in which each person in it not only looked out for his or her own interests, but also the interests of the others?
This whole letter is about “joy”; and would it be joyful to be a member of a church or family like that? Wouldn’t it be great to be in a community of believers in which differences such as that experienced by those two women were easily resolved and set aside; and in which there was a true bond of unity between them? It would be like having a little bit of heaven on earth! What a witness it would be to the world! And this was exactly what Paul was urging the Philippian believers to experience. He even wrote, “‘Fulfill my joy’ by making this unity your experience together” (2:2).
And then comes verse 5—and the important words that show us the secret to such unity. Paul writes, “Let this mind [or “attitude”] be in you which was also in Christ Jesus . . .” Paul shows us that the pattern for the kind of living that he is calling his fellow believers to is from a source other than human. He urges them to follow the greatest of all possible examples when he writes these majestic words:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 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. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 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, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (vv. 5-11).
We cannot not live-up to the exhortation of practical Christian love that Paul writes about in verses 1-4 apart from first being impacted by Jesus’ love for us as described in verses 5-11. And so the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, reveals to us the mystery of Jesus’ condescending love for us, and shows us how far down in love He went in order to save us. After knowing and believing the vastness of Jesus’ condescending love for us, how could we ever remain selfishly ambitious, or conceited, or unwilling to humble ourselves in serving the needs of one another?
* * * * * * * * * *
Please look with me at what this passage tells us about the love of Jesus for us; and notice, first . . .
1. HIS ESSENTIAL RIGHT TO HONOR (vv. 5-6a).
Paul writes, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God …”
Paul here uses two phrases to describe the divine honor of the Son of God in His pre-incarnate glory. In the first phrase, Paul uses the Greek noun morphē; which is here translated by the word “form”—or, in some Bible’s “nature”. When we English-speaking people think of the word “form” today, we tend to think strictly in terms of the outward appearance of a thing. But this word—as it is used here—means more than just the idea of mere outward appearance. Implied in it is the very essence of the thing of which it is the form. “The form of God”, as Paul is intending it here, includes in it the idea of the very essence of God.1
It would be impossible for the Son of God to be “in the form of God”—in this sense—without actually being God. Paul describes Him elsewhere in these terms:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist” (Col. 1:15-17).
This teaches us about Jesus’ essential dignity, and about His full right to be honored as one who exists in the very form of God from all eternity.
Another phrase Paul uses to express the majesty of the Son of God is in speaking of Jesus’ “equality with God”. He says that the Son, “being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God”. There could be no clearer affirmation of the Son’s divine majesty than to say that He is “equal with God”. He was, in His pre-incarnate glory—and is now today in His resurrection glory, and always has been, and always will be,—“equal with God”. He eternally existed in the form of—and, in very essence, was and is—fully God.
We will never be able to appreciate how far down in loving humility Jesus descended for us if we do not first appreciate the essential dignity and full right to divine honor that He set aside for us.
* * * * * * * * * *
In the light of this, let’s go on to consider . . .
2. HIS LOVING DESCENT FROM HIS RIGHT (vv. 6b-8).
First, we see the condescending love of the Son of God in that He didn’t consider the honor of equality with God something to be held on to.
The Bible version that I’m using translates Paul’s words this way; that the Son of God, “being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God”. And such a translation would certainly be true to what has already been affirmed. If Jesus had clung to His right to be honored as God, He would not have been taking anything to Himself that didn’t already belong to Him. He would not have been guilty presumption, or of any act of robbery; because He truly is God, and the right to be honored as God already belonged to Him. But some other Bible versions translate it that the Son “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped . . .” And because of the context of this passage, I believe this is the correct way to translate what Paul is saying—that Jesus didn’t view His equality with God a thing to be greedily held-on-to.
As many of you know, I enjoy collecting books. When I visit a used book store, I usually step in with a list in my mind of a few used, hard-to-find books that either I or someone else I know is looking for. Often, I’ve stepped into a used book shop and—from the corner of my eye—spotted a particularly rare, hard-to-get book. When I do, I eagerly “grasped” it, and tucked it under my arm so that it wouldn’t get away from me. I wasn’t going to let go of that book until I bought it and had it safely in my possession. To me, that rare book was a thing to be grasped; a thing to be held on to. My “enthusiastic grasping” for that book is really the very same sort of action that is being described in this noun. There’s a sense of eagerness behind this word translated “something to be grasped”. It describes a thing that, once you see it, you seize it up quickly and hang on to it tightly.
Many people “grasp”, with that kind of eagerness, after such things as “position” or “power” or “influence” or “riches” or “fame”. Once possessing such things as “recognition” or “applause” or “respect” or “wealth”, they would never think to give them up. But what a contrast this is to our wonderful Savior! In our passage this morning, we see that Jesus Christ—in His pre-incarnate state—possessed all the right to receive honor as God. He would have had every right to grasp-onto His position of power and respect, and remain in it forever. But when He saw our need, He didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped and eagerly held-on-to. Rather, He set aside His honor and glory, so that He might serve us and meet our desperate need.
And His behavior stands as the basis of the behavior we are now to exhibit to one another. We are called upon to forsake on behalf of each other what Jesus has forsaken for us—letting nothing be done by us toward one another out of selfish ambition or conceit.
* * * * * * * * * *
Second, we see that Jesus lovingly descended even further from His glory, in that He willingly became “of no reputation” for us. Paul says that He didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, “but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (v. 7).
Paul uses a very important word in this verse. The Greek verb he uses is kenoō; and it’s basic meaning is “to make empty”. Some versions even translate it that way—that the Son “emptied Himself”. But if we were to think that Jesus “emptied Himself” of any of the essential attributes of God, we would badly misunderstand Paul’s meaning. If the Son of God had “emptied Himself” of any of His divine attributes that are essential to being God, He would have ceased to be God. And the Bible is very clear that the Son of God retained His full deity even while He walked the earth as a man. I believe that the best way to translate this verb is found in the version I’m using—that is that He “made Himself of no reputation”. What He emptied Himself of was the divine prerogatives and privileges that were His by right as one who was equal with God.
A good way to understand what this verse is telling us would be to think of the kind of story that there have been many versions of—that is, of a great, mighty, majestic king who stepped down from his throne, put on the everyday working clothes of a poor and impoverished slave, and walked among the poverty-stricken people of his kingdom to sympathize with their needs and meet them where they are. To put on the clothes of a slave would not have meant that the king emptying himself of any the essential attributes his being. It would not mean that he had, in any way, abdicated his throne or renounced his authority as king. He would have truly “emptied himself”; but not of his essential identity. And it would not be so much by what he gave-up of himself as by what he took-up upon himself. Similarly, the Son of God “emptied Himself”—that is, “made Himself of no reputation”—not by giving anything up of Himself, but by taking something new upon Himself.
And what was it that he took to Himself? Paul mentions two things. First, we see that He made Himself of no reputation, “taking the form of a bondservant”. Jesus once gave us a picture of this just before He went to the cross when He set aside His garments, took a towel upon Himself, and washed the disciples’ feet, and dried them with the towel that He wore. In that story, He took the form of a bondservant; and here, we see that, to a much greater degree, Jesus, in His pre-incarnate majesty, set aside His rightful honor and dignity as the Son of God, and—without ever ceasing to be God—took upon Himself the “form” of a servant. (That’s that same word morphē that we considered before, by the way. He became not only a servant in outward form but also in actual essence). Here, I can’t help but think of what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 8;
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
Second, we see that He made Himself of no reputation, “coming in the likeness of men”. Here, Paul uses a different word than morphē. This other word is here translated “likeness”; and it means “that which has been made after the likeness of something”2. It was used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) in Genesis 1:26; where we read that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness …”
I believe this is meant to emphasize His complete identification with us and to communicate the depths of His condescension for us. He came in our likeness. He felt our pain. He felt our hunger. He felt our thirst. He felt our exhaustion. He felt our disappointments. The Bible tells us,
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
How did this happen? The Bible only tells us that, without the agency of a human father, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and that the power of the Highest overshadowed her; so that the Holy One who was conceived miraculously in her womb would be called “the Son of God”. This, of course, is a great mystery; and the Bible doesn’t tell us all that we may wish to know about the incarnation of the Son of God. But the Bible does tell us that
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
This is all the information we can handle this side of heaven. But this is all we need to know to get to heaven.
It’s hard for us to grasp what a tremendous condescension this was. But just as the Son of God condescended to became “of no reputation” on our behalf, we are called to do the same for one another. When we refuse to insist on our rights, and when we condescend to serve another and step into their shoes, we are behaving as Jesus behaved toward us. In lowliness of mind, we are to condescend to where one another is, and each esteem one another better than ourselves—just as the glorious Son of God did our behalf.
* * * * * * * * * *
Third we see that the love of the Son of God for us caused Him to descend to the furthest possible place from His position of glory in that He humbled Himself to the point of death for us. Paul writes, “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” (v. 8).
The humility of the Son of God is expressed in the fact that He not only assumed full humanity to Himself, but also with it assumed the “appearance” or “fashion” of human nature to the fullest degree. He not only set aside His prerogatives as the Son of God, but also embraced to Himself the limitations of human nature. If He was thirsty, He could have created a lake; but He didn’t. If He was hungry, He could have caused a banquet to suddenly appear; but He didn’t. If He was threatened, He could have called the armies of heaven to His rescue; but He didn’t. He embraced the complete appearance of a man so that He could fully experience death for mankind.
I note also that He willingly embraced this great condition of humility. He was not “humbled”; but rather graciously “humbled Himself”. We can see in this verse a series of steps in His descent into utter humility. We see this, first, in the statement that He humbled Himself by becoming “obedient”. The Son of God obediently fulfilled the will of His Father in the program of becoming a Man so that He could die on our behalf. Second, we see it in that He humbled Himself in obedience “to the point of death”. The Creator and Sustainer of all things—the One from whom all life flows—submitted to death. And third, we see it in that He humbled Himself to the unspeakable point of “the death of the cross”. Paul says this as if saying that it was a step much further than normal death—calling it “death, even the death of the cross”.
And consider those last words very reverently—“even the death of the cross”. The Bible tells us that
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Gal. 3:13).
And so, when we read that the Son of God condescended to die a death on the cross, we see that it was the furthest possible act of condescending love; because the glorious, majestic Son of God actually became “cursed” for you and me!
Why did He do such a thing? Why did He die such a cursed death? The Bible plainly tells us; “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” (Isaiah 53:6). He became like us, and took our sins upon Himself and died in our place; so that He might elevate us to where He is and make us like Himself.
And once again, we are to have the same mind toward one another. We are to cease looking out for our own interests alone, but are to humble ourselves for the sake of each other—looking out for and seeking not only our own interests, but also the interest of one another.
* * * * * * * * * *
Finally, let’s consider . . .
3. HIS SUPER-EXULTATION UNTO HONOR (vv. 9-11).
Paul writes, “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 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, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (vv. 9-11).
There’s a wonderful symmetry in this passage. We saw three features of Jesus’ condescension for us; and now we see three parallel features of His exaltation for us. First, just as He humbled Himself to the point of death on the cross, we see that God the Father “has highly exalted Him.” The Greek verb literally means that the Father has “super-exalted” Him. Second, we see that, just as the Son of God made Himself of no reputation, the Father has “given Him the name which is above every name”. The word “name”, here, refers to a public recognition of the majesty and supreme dignity of His character as “Lord”. And third, we see that, just as the Son of God did not consider His right to honor as God a thing to be grasped, God the Father has seen to it that, at the name of Jesus every knee should bow —in all the universe; and every tongue confess Him to be Lord.
The Son of God, who became Man and died in our place, has been raised from the dead in great victory. He has ascended to His Father in glory. And now—What a glorious thought this is!—there sits at the right hand of God, on the throne of glory, a Man! A Man now sits on the throne of God!—a Man glorified now, as we who are in Him by faith will also one day be.
And in all of it, Jesus still sets an example for us in that even His exaltation is “to the glory of God the Father.”
* * * * * * * * * *
I feel that it would be the right thing to do, at this point, to stop and ask: Have you placed your faith in the Son of God, who has shown such condescending love toward you? There can be no greater distance He could have gone for you than He already has. He has left the very throne of glory for you, and has humbled Himself to the very depths of the cursedness of your own sin and died for you. There is nothing more that could be done for you than what He has done; but there’s nothing more that needs to be done than for you to simply receive it. If you haven’t consciously, willingly placed your trust in the cross of Jesus, I pray that you will do so now.
And if you have trusted Him, and if you have been blessed by looking deeply into the condescending attitude of love and humble service that was displayed in our Lord Jesus Christ toward you, then I remind you of Paul’s whole point: “Let this mind be in you . . .”
1″For μ. always signifies a form which truly and fully expresses the being which underlies it” (H.A.A. Kennedy, The Expositors Greek Testament, vol. 3, p. 436; see also Donald McCleaod, The Person of Christ [Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1998], p. 213).
Homoiōma; see Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, p. 445.