The Life Lesson of the Incarnation #1

Welcome to the Truth Pulpit with Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hello, I'm Bill Wright. Thanks for joining us as we continue teaching God's people God's Word. Don begins a new message today, so without further delay, let's join him right now in the Truth Pulpit. Scripture tells us why Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, and that is what we want to remember this morning. And it's not just the purpose, not just the redemptive purpose in which he came, but there is so much associated with the reality of the incarnation of Christ that we could spend a year and barely begin to scratch the surface of all that the incarnation says to us about our Lord Jesus Christ. Now at the most basic level in one sense, Scripture tells us that Christ came to save his people from their sins.

Matthew 1 21 says that, "...the virgin will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." In a most fundamental way, Jesus Christ came to earth for a redemptive purpose. He came to offer his life as a sacrifice for the sins of those who would believe in him. He saves sinners who trust in him, and the mere fact that that was his purpose tells us all, each one of us, that we need saving, that we are not good enough on our own. We need to be saved from our sins. Our sins have rendered us unacceptable to the presence of a holy God. And as we start this morning, if you have never turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, I invite you to come to him on this day when we remember his coming to save his people from their sins.

Our Lord, of course, was sinless, and always was, and always will be. For those of us that know Christ, that know the forgiveness of our sins, that have been born again, Scripture says that unless you're born again, you will not see the kingdom of heaven. For those of us that have been born again, the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ has massive implications for the way that our very character is formed, and Philippians 2 helps us see that. And so if you're not already there, I invite you to turn to Philippians 2 once more for our text for this morning. You see, when Christ came to earth, he did something remarkable.

He did something that is utterly contrary to the way that men in our day and age, ever since the fall of Adam, have ever acted. We are motivated by pride and self-promotion to one degree or another. We like to assert our rights. We like to be known as the one up front. We like to be known as the one who does certain things in certain ways, and we have a certain pride about it.

We have our things that we have, and what do we do with those? Well, in our Lord Jesus Christ, he brings such a clarity to the way that Christians are supposed to live, and the very purpose of Philippians 2 is to help us see that. You see, when Christ came to earth, he was not only coming for our redemption.

That's central. That will always be front and center in what we say. But Scripture tells us more, and it says that when Christ came to earth, he manifested the supreme lesson in genuine humility. In genuine humility. What is humility? Humility is that spiritual virtue in which you lower your estimation of yourself for the sake of obedience to God and service to men. You consciously, deliberately put yourself lower.

You put yourself under. You consciously serve with what you have, and that is what Christ was doing, and that is what Paul is speaking to here in Philippians chapter 2, as we're going to see. Now, I'll mention this again a little later on in the service. It was two years ago this week that we had our first meeting as a congregation soon to be born, you might say. And in the ensuing two years, it has been a great delight to see the joy and the unity that marks the people that are associated with Truth Community. This is a wonderful place to be. I hope you that come regularly would agree with that. I am so blessed and glad that we are together in ministry together for the name of Christ.

There is a peace and there is a unity that marks our life right now that is something to treasure, something to protect and to guard with the way that we interact with one another. Not every church is like that. As many of you know from sad past personal experience, and the church in Philippi was not necessarily like that. That's why Paul in part had to write this letter. You see, the Philippians were troubled by internal division. There was conflict inside the body of Christ, and you can see that in the way that Paul wrote to them.

Look, for example, at Philippians chapter 1 verse 27. He sets the theme of the letter that he's calling for the people to conform themselves to. And in Philippians chapter 1 verse 27, he says, conduct yourselves in a manner that is 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.

That is his theme. That's what he's trying to accomplish in this letter, is he's trying to develop that unity of spirit and that unity of mind, and he says that is the mindset, that is the congregational corporate spirit that is worthy of the body of Christ. We are under one Lord, we have been indwelt by one common spirit, we have one word which has been given to us, we share a common life in Christ, and Christ came to redeem a single people, corporately speaking, and so there ought to be a unity that marks the people of God. To have churches in open conflict with one another is not only a bad testimony, it contradicts the gospel of Christ. And so disunity in the body is a matter of grave concern. And you can see as you continue to read the book of Philippians, you can see what Paul is addressing.

He even names people by name as being part of the problem. For example, look at chapter 2 verse 14, he doesn't name names here, but you can see the undercurrent of disunity that was marking the body at that time. Philippians chapter 2 verse 14, do all things without grumbling or disputing. Well, he wouldn't say that unless there was grumbling and disputing in the midst of the body.

The reason that you give a command like that is because something is going on that needs to be corrected. And so while there's this great common salvation that they were enjoying, there was this great Christ that had saved them. One Christ, one Lord, one baptism, Ephesians 4 speaks of, one, one, one, one, yet there were divisions that were not worthy of the gospel of Christ. And I'm glad that I wasn't on the receiving end of chapter 4 verse 2. As an inspired apostle writes to a congregation, he says in chapter 4 verse 1, Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. That sounds great, but put yourself in the shoes of these two women who come up in verse 2. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Whoa!

Whoa! To be called out by name because of the conflict, the lack of harmony between one another would be a cause of shame and embarrassment and rightful conviction. This is not living in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ to need to be called out like that. There's obviously grumbling and disputing going on, and Paul goes from the general to the increasingly more particular until he identifies two women who were in the midst of conflict with one another and no doubt had gathered people around them within the body. And so in verse 3 he goes on and he says, Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. He calls on other men in the church and he says, Get involved and bring these women who are Christians, these women who have served in the gospel but now are in conflict, you've got to help them, you've got to be involved in reconciling them together because this conflict cannot continue.

It is not worthy of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so that gives us a little bit of background about the problem that Paul was addressing when he wrote this letter. Now, here's the thing, and as we remember the incarnation of Christ in a particular way this week, here's what wouldn't be immediately obvious to you. Here's what wouldn't be immediately obvious to us unless God had laid it out for us in His Word.

The answer to disunity is found in the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The answer to the petty conflicts that we have with one another is found in reflecting on our Lord Jesus. And that is what Paul is making clear in Philippians chapter 2, our text for this morning. With all the background that I've given you so far, go now to chapter 2 verse 1.

We won't spend much time here. We're really just laying the groundwork to think about our Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 2 verse 1 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. He says if there's anything like that in your Christian life, do me a favor. Verse 2, Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do you see how precious unity in the body of Christ is? Do you see that the inspired apostle was so concerned to see a proper unity in place? Make my joy complete, the same mind, the same love, united in spirit, one purpose.

It's all speaking to a unity. A commonness of mind, a common love, a common devotion to one another. Not conflict. Not conflict, but common love. I remember many, many, many years ago, going back a couple of three decades maybe, when we were in a congregationally governed church, and it was time for a church business meeting. And those of you that have come from congregational churches and have experienced any conflict in a business meeting, I know that you're cringing even as I mention that.

I'm cringing with the memory of what I'm about to describe. There was some kind of long-forgotten conflict now. It was conflict at the time. And I stood up and I said something and pointed to Scripture as I did. And later on in the meeting, a big barrel-chested guy with a big thick beard, nothing against thick beards, I just remember this aspect of the man's appearance. He got up, he got up and he didn't like what I had said. And he said, there's been a lot of Bible thumping going on in this church and I just want to set it straight, kind of thing. And then he went on and said whatever he had to say. Well, look, that had a rather chilling impact on the expression of love in the body for somebody to say that.

To speak that way in public. And it's not that it was directed at me, I don't care about that, but it's just a matter that to speak that way in the body of Christ, to address one another with such condescending, demeaning terms, to impute bad motives simply because someone said the Scripture says such and such. Oh, we see, don't we, that that is not the way the body of Christ is supposed to function. We gather together as sinners redeemed under the blood of Christ, as sinners equally humbled at the foot of the cross, as sinners now saved by grace, indwelt by a common spirit, saved by, mark this, saved by the love of God in our Lord Jesus Christ. Having been the recipient of such amazing love and grace, would we turn and bear fangs against one another?

The very thought is horrendous. That's not how Christians act. That's not how a body of Christ should conduct itself. And this is what Paul is addressing. We want to understand, as believers here this morning, we want to understand that what Paul is laying out here is supposed to be the spirit that marks every true body of Christ. Every local assembly of believers is to be marked by this spirit of which he speaks, this common, united spirit and purpose. And so he goes on in verse 3.

How do you get there? How do you go from this kind of conflict to this kind of reconciliation, this unity? Well, follow him as he unfolds his commands and his instruction. He says in verse 3, do nothing, look at Philippians 2 verse 3 with me. He says, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility, there's our word, 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.

Now, what he's done here is he's given us a command. He said, here's how you're to think. Here's how you're to conduct yourself. And to adopt this attitude of humility in which you lower yourself, you consciously put yourself underneath the considerations and needs of someone else. You put other people first instead of insisting upon having it your way. That is part of the fundamental attitude of being a Christian. Now, watch this.

Watch this in the text. It would be one thing, and those of you that have been parents, I'm quite confident that you have failed in the same way that I have in which I'm about to describe. Your kids are fighting.

This doesn't apply if you've only got one unless, you know, there's something really unusual going on there, but you've got more than one kid. And they're in conflict, and it's so easy to want to just step in and authoritatively dismiss it without addressing the underlying problem. Stop fighting!

Don't do that! You go to your rooms or whatever, and you just by authoritative declaration try to end the conflict and bring a superficial peace to it just so that the headache of it all will go away. Well, look.

Look. Look at this passage in Philippians chapter 2, and watch what Paul does as he speaks to the church. He's trying to get them to stop the conflict, but he doesn't simply stay, stop fighting with one another, and then move on to discuss something else. He calls their attention to Christ. He calls their attention to Jesus Christ and says, get your eyes off of yourself, as it were. In the midst of this conflict, you need to remember Christ.

You need to remember the Lord Jesus. And so he doesn't simply say stop fighting. He calls their attention to the Lord, and what he's showing us is that right thinking about Christ in the body of Christ creates right relationships. It starts with thinking rightly about our Lord.

Look at what he says. Now remember, in verse 4, actually verse 3, he says, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. Verse 4, don't look out for your own personal interests, but for the interests of others. Now, when we get to verse 5, which is a very famous text describing the theology about our Lord, understand that why he is talking about Christ in verses 5 through 11, he's talking about Christ to give them an illustration.

He is illustrating for them the attitude that he wants them to have. Verse 5 is a hinge verse going from the exhortation to live in unity. It's a hinge verse that says, and here's the illustration of what I'm talking about. Verse 5, he says, have this attitude in yourselves. What attitude, Paul? The attitude that I was just talking about in the first four verses. The attitude of unity. Have this attitude of unity. This attitude of humility.

Have that attitude in yourselves, which, here's the hinge. Now he's going from his exhortation to his illustration. He says, have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Now here's what I want you to see this morning, is that in everything that we're about to see going forward, we're getting an illustration of what the mindset of a Christian is supposed to be like.

And we get the standards set really high by looking to Christ. Paul is illustrating the attitude that will help them change. What he's saying is, is that our Lord Jesus Christ had humility. Our Lord Jesus Christ was animated completely by humility when he came to earth. The incarnation tells us something magnificent. It opens the window, it pulls back the curtains, and it lets us look into what Christ is like in his inner man.

This is holy ground that we are approaching. And what we're going to see is that the incarnation gives us three lessons that will help us not only in our own personal spiritual growth, but it will help us maintain and deepen and preserve the unity which we have in our body. First of all, the first principle of humility that the incarnation teaches us is that, first of all, humility serves others. Humility serves others, and the power of this is remarkable. Verse 5, have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.

Who? Okay, so now he's going to describe Christ for us as he sets forth the attitude that we're to cultivate in our midst, in our hearts and in our corporate life. 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. Now that is a theologically potent verse. When it says that Christ existed in the form of God, the word form is a term that refers to the essential nature of something. He's saying that Christ existed with the very essence of God.

It's a clear statement of the deity of Christ that Jesus Christ was God himself. He was God himself, and he was God before he was born. He was God before creation. He was God before time. He was God without beginning. Jesus Christ existed in the form of God. He had the full essence of God.

Do you know what that means? It means that before time began, before Genesis 1-1, Jesus Christ shared the very glory of God with God the Father as a full participant in that glory, as a full participant in the essence of God. Everything that marks God the Father also marks God the Son. He was God existing in unparalleled glory, in unparalleled authority, in unparalleled majesty. The recipient of the worship of angels and the one who stood over all in his very being. He existed in the form of God.

Not a physical form, but the very essence, the very nature of God. All of the prerogatives, all of the rights of being God belong to Jesus Christ. This one, this one who spoke the worlds into existence had that kind of power, that's who Jesus was. We cannot, in our sinful state, think thoughts that are high enough and lofty enough to be worthy of who he is. And that's who he has always been and always will be. This unparalleled one over all the universe, that's who Christ was.

Now, picture as if this were even possible. Think, let's put it that way, think about that glorious position that Christ had. No one had any claim on him. No one could tell him to do anything because he was God. He's the final authority. And here's the question as we now think about our Christ looking back and we kind of peek back into pre-existence before time and we ask ourselves a question like this. What will Christ do with that position of his? What will he do with the position of unparalleled authority and majesty that belongs to him? What will Christ do with that?

The world is created, mankind falls. Christ is ruling from heaven. With all of the prerogatives and attributes of deity at his disposal, what will he do with it? Will he, this is what this verse is talking about, will he exploit that position to his own advantage? Will he use it to preserve his own position of loftiness in heaven in disregard to the troubles and toils of sinful men?

What will he do? Will he keep it to himself and leave us to our destiny date with hell and judgment? Will he leave us in our sins? Will he leave us to our sorrows? Will he leave us to the rightful fruit and consequence of our own rebellion against God?

What will he do? Will he just stay there since no one could have challenged his authority? Not our Christ. Not our Lord Jesus. He did just the opposite.

He did just the opposite. Instead of staying where he was in his position of unparalleled might and glory, our Lord Jesus Christ in the incarnation laid aside all of the privileges of being God and entered into human existence in order to, as we said at the start, to bring salvation to sinners, to bring salvation to unworthy objects of his love like you and me. In Matthew chapter 20 verse 28, Jesus said, remember, we're talking about God here, right? We're all clear.

We're all on the same page on that, right? About who Christ is. God himself. God in unparalleled glory.

And, beloved, if you shed an emotional tear at the singing of the children earlier, by all rights our Lord Jesus Christ is entitled to rivers of tears, of appreciation and worship in light of what we're about to see here. In Matthew 20 verse 28, Jesus said that the Son of Man, a self-reference, he could have just as easily said, I did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. This is absolutely unknown in the earthly concept of privilege and authority. Our men of renown today use it to their own advantage.

Our leaders and people of means love to use it for themselves. I don't even need to illustrate it for you. Christ, who is over them all, stepped down underneath them all, as it were, and came to earth, not so he could command his creation to serve him, not so that he could command mankind to serve him while he's here. Beloved, beloved, I run out of words to describe the glory and majesty of Christ. Instead of being over and commanding, he gets under mankind and serves. Where does that come from? Who told him to do that?

Who was above him to tell him to act that way? Well, my friend, there is no substitute for reading the Word of God for yourself and spending the time day by day going through the Bible in a systematic way so that you have a full exposure to everything that the Word of God says. It's remarkable the way the Spirit of God works through the Word to minister to our hearts in that way. And to help you do that, we have a couple of different Bible reading plans available on our website, thetruthpulpit.com. If you would go to thetruthpulpit.com, click on the link that says About, you'll find a sublink there that takes you to two different Bible reading plans that you can choose from.

It's free. It's there available to help you in your reading of God's Word. And I know that the Spirit of God will use that in your life if you're not used to reading God's Word on a regular, systematic basis.

Make this the day that you start something new and move in that direction. And join us again next time here on The Truth Pulpit as we continue teaching God's people God's Word. That's Don Green, founding pastor of Truth Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Thank you so much for listening to The Truth Pulpit. Join us next time for more as we continue teaching God's people God's Word.