The Humble Christ #1

This kind of humility is otherworldly.

It is godly. It is that humility which marks the very deity of our Lord Jesus, and let's consider it now. This is the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hi, I'm Bill Wright. You know, all through Scripture, we're told to live a life of humility, to humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord. But what does that actually look like in the life of a Christian? Well, friend, there's no better example of humility than the one set by Jesus Christ himself. Today, as we continue in our series called The Glorious Person of Christ, Don is going to take a look at that example with part one of a message called The Humble Christ. Open your Bible once again to Philippians chapter two, and let's get started with our teacher in the Truth Pulpit.

In the book of Philippians, Paul opens up and congratulates and thanks the Philippians for their faith, for their kindness to him. And he tells them a little bit about his situation as he sits in a Roman prison. And he says that he is full of hope.

He's full of hope. He says in chapter one, verse 19, look at it there with me. He says, I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He says if the Roman Empire executes me, it's going to be gain for me because I will go into the immediate presence of Christ.

If I live, that's going to be great also because it will extend my time of ministry to you. He says there in verse 22, if I live on in the flesh, it's fruitful labor for me. But verse 23, it's I desire to depart and be with Christ for that is very much better. And so he says whatever comes in the future, I'm at peace, I am content, I will serve Christ. Now, every one of us in which this passage come to us should have that mindset as well.

We're not facing prison, we're not facing immediate execution. And we should have the attitude of Paul that says whatever comes in this, I am content because I am in Christ and Christ is everything to me and I rest my hope utterly and completely in Him. And to know Him is my highest joy and no one can take that away from me. And so we see how the object of our faith defines the way that we respond to life. Now Paul goes on as he addresses the Philippian readers and he says in verse 27 as he pivots toward them, he's given a report on his circumstances, and now he tells them what their object and their occupation ought to be in their thinking and in their lifestyle. And he says this in chapter 1 verse 27, very important verse that really frames the next two and a half chapters of what follows. He says this, only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, in no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you and that too from God.

He says, I am writing with apostolic authority to tell you this on behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says you must walk in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. You must live in a way that reflects his glory.

You must live in obedience. And what exactly is the obedience that he has in mind? The particular aspect of obedience that this church needed to hear about.

Well, he raises it in the first four verses of chapter 2 when he says this. He says, Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. He is writing for the purpose of cultivating unity within the body of Christ. There were conflicts, there were grumblings in the church. You see that in chapter 2 verse 14 where he says, Do all things without grumbling or disputing. In chapter 4 verse 2, he highlights, he calls out two particular women in the church and he says, I urge you Odeon, I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. There was conflict and division and strife that was going on in the people.

Probably to some extent within the body itself, corporately speaking. And if there's strife in the body, you know, over the years you learn that that means that somewhere there's strife in individual homes as well. What Paul says is that that is not walking in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. He says, And so I'm writing to you, I'm urging you to be united in spirit. He says, You've given me so much joy already, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. You see how concerned he is about this unity that is taking place. This is a matter of enduring eternal significance, this matter of unity. This is what Scripture refers to often. You see it in Ephesians 4, for example, verses 1 through 3. That this matter of unity within the body is of supreme importance to the Apostle Paul.

Now, let's understand what that means. To talk about something being of supreme importance to the Apostle Paul means that it's of supreme importance to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Paul writes as the authorized representative of Christ. And so Paul here is giving the word of Christ to his church to be united in spirit. When Scripture speaks of this theme repeatedly, it means that we need to take it earnestly and to take it seriously. He goes on in verse 3, he says, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.

Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. There's a pattern that I've seen that takes place in different realms of authority. Whether it's in government or in the workplace or in a marriage, husband and wife, with parents, parents and children, and all of these things, where people with authority, people in the position of God-given authority, like to exercise that in a way that is oppressive, that rules over people in order to get exactly what the person with authority wants for themselves. And what you and I must understand in the spirit of unity that Paul is speaking about here, is that that is a completely wrong and distorted way to think about life and to think about whatever position you might have in life. God does not give you authority in a relationship so that you can just do and get whatever you want.

That's not the way that it works. God gives you authority so that you are in a position to provide blessing to those that are around you, that are under you. God gives you authority so that you can make it good for those that are underneath your authority.

And we're going to see how clear and how plain that is in just a moment, but I want to enforce and emphasize the point here, is that this is a matter of great significance. And so regardless of our station in life, look at chapter 2 verse 4 where Paul tells this church, do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Paul has called the church to unity, and he has called the church to a unity that is based on humility.

Now, we might toss that word around about humility and humble and what does that look like and what does that mean? Paul understands. Paul knew his audience needed an illustration, just like you and I do. And so that call to be a unified, humble church brings us to our vital text, which is verses 5 through 8.

Now before I read it, I want you to understand what is happening here. Paul has called the church to walk in a manner that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is his overarching call, that is the introductory command in chapter 1 verse 27 that frames these other things that follow. Walk in a manner worthy of Christ, he says. Then he says, let me tell you specifically what I'm talking about. Unity built on humility.

And where does that come from, then? He gives them an illustration. He gives to undergird this call to unity that is grounded on humility, he illustrates with a person who was humble to the supreme degree. And that person with whom he illustrates this point is no one less than our Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 2 verse 5 functions as a hinge verse here. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Now, this is a hinge verse. He's going from his exhortation to his illustration. He says, have this attitude in yourselves. What attitude is he talking about as we begin our text? What is this attitude that he is speaking right now?

Well, the attitude is the one that he was just talking about. The one of humility, verse 3. With humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. That's the attitude that he says, you are to adopt as your own. Now listen, when Scripture comes to us like this, sometimes we miss the significance of what is being said. This verse is presenting to us a command from God that is to define the entire way that we look at all of our relationships, but especially in the body of Christ. This is not a passing incidental matter of which he speaks. This is a matter of defining central importance that shapes the way that you view every person in your life, and which defines the way that you respond to every person in your life.

There is no one, there is nothing in your life that is unaffected by the things that we are considering here today from God's Word. I want you to understand before we go any further that everything in your life is on the table with what is being discussed here, because he's talking about your attitude, your mindset, the way that you consider others in your life. He says in verse 5, have this attitude, the one I was just talking about, have that attitude inside yourselves.

Let it frame your heart, in other words. And he says, this attitude of which I'm speaking, it's the attitude which was also in Christ Jesus. Wow.

Wow. In other words, in other words, horizontally everything has been placed on the table for consideration here today, and then it's elevated in a vertical way to say that this is what was manifested in the life of Christ. This is what Christ is like. And so there's this vertical dimension that defines things as we are in submission to Christ, and then it has a horizontal application that goes everywhere. This is a most searching passage. Maybe in times past you've read through it fairly quickly, but we see here, we understand that we are seeing something that asserts a dominant authority over us to define the kind of person that we are.

Friends, brothers and sisters, distinguished guests, are there any distinguished guests in here? What I want you to see is the significance and the transcendent nature of this passage that we're considering. Any time you talk about Christ, you're talking about something transcendent. Here, what we find is that transcendence of Christ is being applied to define for us the way that we are to think about all of life.

It's that significant. You could spend the rest of the day, the rest of the week thinking about these things, thinking, going through, cataloging, doing an inventory of your life, and everything that you would think of would be affected by the things that we find in God's Word. And so Paul is illustrating in Christ.

And what is it about Christ? Let me read the text finally that we're going to consider here. Verse 5, have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Now, before we get into the text and my three points, I want you to see how this attitude of humility is the central theme of the passage that we're considering here.

Look at it. He says in chapter 2, verse 3, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Humility is what he is teaching here. And he illustrates with Christ, and as he closes up the illustration, which is of profound theological depth, he says in verse 8, talking about Christ, what did Christ do?

Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So humility here is the defining virtue that is being discussed and explained in the passage that we are considering. And so Paul illustrates with Christ the nature of humility so that the people of Christ would apply it to their hearts and adopt it in their relationships. And what we find, I believe, as we go through these things, as we talk about humility and Christ's humility, we find that which humbles ourselves by contrast. As the perfect humility of Christ is held up as a spotless mirror before our own characters, it inevitably exposes the pride and selfishness of our own lives. I want to tell you in advance that when the Spirit of God pricks your heart today, when the arrow of the Spirit lands in the middle of your heart, don't resist that.

Embrace it. This is something that God brings to us from his Word in order to change us, to cleanse us in the confession of repentance, to be cleansed by the blood of Christ, and then to be changed going forward in a way that produces permanent results within our lives, within our hearts, within our homes, and within the body of Christ. A divided church is somehow a proud church. At least segments of a church are marked by pride because humility could never produce division, the humility of which we speak here today. And so Paul uses the person of Christ to show us three principles of humility that apply to us, that we are to consider.

That's what we're going to look at by way of review. It is just so striking to think that Christ, who is truly supreme, shows an attitude which none of our politicians ever manifest. This kind of humility is otherworldly.

It is godly. It is that humility which marks the very deity of our Lord Jesus, and let's consider it now. First of all, I want you to see the service of humility.

The service of humility. When Jesus Christ was on the earth, he was God in human flesh. He still is, but when Christ came in his incarnation, God became a man. Full deity took on full humanity, and two natures resided in the one person of Jesus Christ. Now, think about the significance of that for just a moment, one aspect of the significance of it, and when we talk about the Lord Jesus Christ, we're talking about he who is of the very essence of God. He is deity. He is Lord of all. And, you know, step back from that somewhat familiar truth, perhaps, and ask yourself kind of a preliminary question. What is God doing on this cursed planet?

Doing that! Why would God leave heaven in order to walk in humanity on this cursed sod? Well, there's something in him. There's something in Christ.

There's something about his character that prompted him to do that. Verse 6, look at it with me. Who, speaking of Christ, he's now going to, in this relative clause, he's going to describe something about Christ to us. Who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. Now, when it says that he existed in the form of God, that's really an important word.

This word form refers to the essential nature of something. What he's saying is that Christ, before his incarnation, existed in the essential nature of God. He shares the very essence of God himself. Everything that God the Father is in perfect deity is true of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 14, you know, if any man has seen me, he has seen the Father.

He can say that because there is no distinction in essence between the Father and his Son. God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit all share in the one indivisible perfect essence of God. That eternal uncreated essence that is by very nature who God is, that's who Christ was and is and always will be. Christ, look at it there in verse 6, although he existed in the form of God, he lived in the essence of God, he had the essence of God is what that is referring to. Christ was like that, that's his essence. You want to talk about authority?

You want to talk about being a boss or being the head of your home or being the head of your children and talk about your little realm of authority and who you are, blah blah blah? Well, let's multiply authority by infinity and look at the lordship of Christ and that's who we're talking about. Before his birth, Jesus Christ shared in the glory of heaven. Angels worshiped him and we struggled to find the vocabulary to express these things adequately to talk about the majesty of who he was in his essence before his incarnation. Uncreated God, no beginning, the full essence of God, the one through whom God made the heavens and the earth, John chapter 1 says that nothing has come into being apart from him. This is the one of whom we speak, high exalted glorious deity, and that's who he was before his incarnation. All of the sharing in all of the attributes of God, all of the prerogatives of deity were at his disposal.

And what you and I must understand as we're walking through this text is that that deity that is Christ's is the foundation for everything that follows and that instructs us in what humility looks like. And the question is then, what did Jesus do, so to speak, what did he do with that deity? How did he handle the fact that he was God and is God? We say was only because we're looking back to that which in time precedes us, understanding that he always is God, always was, always will be. Even our verb tenses start to fail us when we talk about the majesty of Christ.

What did he do with his deity? That's Don Green bringing you part one of a message called The Humble Christ. Friend, if you've missed any part of today's teaching, you can listen again at your convenience simply by going to thetruthpulpit.com. You'll find this message along with all of Don's teaching as well as a host of other helpful resources. Again, that's all at thetruthpulpit.com. Before we leave you, here again is Don with a closing word of encouragement.

Don? You know, my friends, I recently did a little Google search and found that there are more than 7.5 billion people living on our planet. That's a lot of people. You'd think there'd be no room for anyone to be lonely, but you and I both know that it's not like that. All of those people are no comfort at all if you are personally discouraged or finding yourself in despair.

You know, sometimes the weight of isolation can make you wonder whether it's worth the effort to keep living. Well, my friend, I want you to know this, is that Jesus Christ speaks kindly to you if you are in that condition of heart today. He said, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. My friend, even in the midst of your discouragement, know this, Jesus Christ graciously receives guilty sinners and offers mercy and love to them who have nowhere else to turn. So do this, find a Bible, read the Gospel of John, and as you do that, ask the Lord Jesus Christ to make himself known to you. He has promised that he who seeks will find. My friend, there is hope for you in Christ today, and I pray that the Spirit of God would lead you to that one who loves your soul and freely offers his kindness, mercy, and care to you even today. Thanks, Don. And friend, that's all the time we have for today. I'm Bill Wright, inviting you back next time for more from the Truth Pulpit.