The Humility of Christ
Text: Philippians 2:6-11
Core Idea: The height of Christ’s glory models for us the life of humility, the depth of His condescension enables and empowers us to live humbly, and the magnitude of His exaltation shows us that the path of humility is the path to true greatness. Then let us aim to have the same mindset as Christ in our relationships with one another.
INTRODUCTION
Well, we are going through the Book of Philippians – reflecting on what it means to press on with joy in all circumstances. And last week, we saw Paul earnestly urging us to pursue unity knowing that our oneness in Christ is the strength of the gospel. To put it differently, the fate of the gospel is largely dependent on the unity of the church because if we’re not united, the gospel will either lose its power or never reach where it’s most needed. Right? How can we say that this is a message of love when there’s no love in us? How can we go if we’re constantly bickering with each other in the church? Then knowing that we’ve been encouraged from being united with Christ, comforted by the love of God, and blessed by the community of the Spirit, Paul calls us to be one in heart, mind, and purpose. Now, the truth is that unity is often gained slowly and lost quickly because of our sins. In fact, Paul shared two specific sins that easily divide the people of God – selfish ambition and vain conceit. They both come from the heart that is starving for glory. Because we so desperately want to matter, we do everything we can to manufacture that glory through our power, possessions, and positions – even at the cost of others. No wonder these two sins threaten the unity of the church. Then how do we guard our hearts from these sins that divide us so that we can pursue unity? Paul shares that we ought to cultivate humility. What’s humility? It’s self-forgetfulness that produces other-centeredness. It’s to count others more significant than ourselves. It’s to give attention to other’s needs more than our own – not that we don’t care about any of our needs, but that we ought to reprioritize our lives so that we can give the largest share of our attention to others at home, work, school, church, and beyond.
Then an important question remains, “How do we cultivate humility in our hearts?” This was Paul’s answer – verse 5, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” Paul’s way of correcting our characters and behaviors wasn’t to guilt trip us (telling us to try harder) or to give us a to-do list – instead, he takes us to Christ. Phillips Brooks said, “The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.” In other words, if we’re to cultivate humility in our hearts, we must have a right estimation of who we are by looking at ourselves in light of our sin and in light of Christ. This is why my prayer for all of you every Sunday is that you’ll never leave this place being paranoid about all the things that you need to do or the things that you shouldn’t do – that will only result in guilt and shame. Instead, my prayer for you is that you’ll leave this place thinking more about Jesus– to reflect on who He is and what He has done for you, to be awestruck by His beauty and glory. Then with that in mind, let’s turn to Philippians 2:6-11 – and may this passage help you do just that (to have your heart be saturated with Christ). Let me read this for us.
6 [Jesus] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; 7 rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Let me share three things from this passage and show you how they can help us cultivate humility in our relationships.
· THE HEIGHT OF HIS GLORY
· THE DEPTH OF HIS CONDESCENSION
· THE MAGNITUDE OF HIS EXALTATION
1) THE HEIGHT OF HIS GLORY
Verse 6, “[Jesus] who, being in very nature God.” Let’s stop here for now. The word “being” in Greek is huparcho which literally means “from (hupo) beginning (arche).” So, here, Paul’s telling us that from the very beginning, even before the creation, Jesus was always in the form of God – not that He looked like God or that He acted like God, but that He really was and is God. Now, this is not the only place in the Bible that teaches about the divinity of Jesus. Let me just share two. Colossians 1:15-17, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in Him, all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” This is where we need to start our conversation because without seeing the height of Christ’s glory, we will never understand what incarnation truly meant for Jesus. Let me explain – here’s what it means for Jesus to be God. It means that there was never a time when Jesus didn’t exist – He’s the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 21:6). He’s the source of everything that exists, and He does not need anything that exists. In fact, everything that exists depends on Him for its existence. He alone sits on the throne of the universe, and He rules it according to His all-wise and holy will. He’s never surprised, never unaware, never unprepared, never confused, and never distraught. His judgments are never mistaken, biased, or wrong. He does what He pleases, and what He pleases is always right and best. He’s holy and righteous but also patient and tender. He hates sin but also forgives all who come to Him in genuine repentance. He’s the source and definition of goodness, love, grace, and mercy. There’s simply no one like Him. I could go on and on because there’s so much more that I could say, but my words will never do justice in describing the height of His glory. If everything I said (and more) is really true about Jesus, how can we not bow down before Him in worship and amazement? Treating Him just as a friend or a teacher becomes out of the question – just liking Him without submitting to Him doesn’t make sense. If we truly believe that Jesus is God, we must reorient ourselves to center around Him, not the other way around. Is that how you see Him today?
When we have the eyes to see that Jesus alone is worth the worship, surrender, and love of every human heart, we begin to understand why what Paul says next is utterly mind-blowing. Verse 6, “[Jesus] who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.” Do you see the gravity of these words? Jesus had everything – but He made Himself nothing. The word “nothing” in Greek is kenoo which literally means “to make oneself empty, to pour oneself out.” That’s exactly what Jesus did – He could have used His divinity for His own advantage, but He voluntarily emptied Himself and became a servant. The word “servant” in Greek is doulos which literally means “slave.” Does it sound familiar? We talked about this in Chapter 1. But at that time, we focused on the fact that we are slaves of Christ – that we ought to submit wholly to His will and seek to please Him in all that we do because Christ is our Master, and we are His possession. But here, Paul shares that Christ took on the nature of a slave for us. Think about how shocking these words are if we consider the height of His glory. He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Creator God – and yet He willingly took on the nature of a slave so that we may be lifted up. This was the extent of Christ’s humility. He could’ve held onto His rights, His privileges, and His blessings as the King of glory but He gladly gave them up and completely lowered Himself for us.
Then what does this mean for us? Why is it important for us to see Christ emptying Himself? Because it shows us what it means to live in humility – here, Jesus is modeling for us what true humility looks like. In other words, this is what it means to be humble – letting go of our rights and privileges and taking on the nature of a slave for the sake of God and others. Unfortunately, the description of many of us is quite far from that – in fact, it’s the complete opposite. Even though we were mere creatures, we considered ourselves equality with God – something that should’ve never happened. We wanted everything to be about us – so, we treated God and others like our servants (for our own advantage). All that to say, our hearts were completely saturated with pride and self-centeredness. Pastor C.J. Mahaney defines pride this way, “Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence upon Him.” Pride isn’t just wanting our way, but being convinced that our way is better than God’s way. But listen to what Proverbs 16:5 says, “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” Did you hear that? God intensely hates pride. There’s something that God actually hates – our pride. Can we just let this sink in for a second? Then considering that God opposes the proud (Jam. 4:6), we should never take our pride lightly. We should be disturbed by the fact that our pride causes us to be entitled and demanding, judgmental and condemning. We should mourn over the fact that our pride breaks our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationships with others. If we truly understand the weightiness of this issue, we must be actively at war with pride.
Then what does it mean to be at war with pride? Where do we even begin? Well, it’s certainly not by having a list of things to do. It actually starts by reflecting on the wonder of the cross. Think about it. How can anyone be arrogant when they are standing beside the cross? John Stott says, “Every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to be saying to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.” Then as each day begins, before you do anything else, just take a few minutes to meditate on the cross, give thanks to God for all that He has done for you through the cross, and then look for ways to serve others. When we give thanks to God, it guards us against being entitled – instead, it reminds us that everything in life is a gift from God, that whatever grace we receive from God is so much more than what we’re worthy of and indescribably better than what we deserve. Then friends, let’s first look to Christ as we aim to imitate the way of the cross daily knowing that this kind of humility can bring radical transformations to our relationships.
Now, before we move on, I wonder if hearing this challenge to be at war with pride and pursue humility is causing you to think something like this – “But I don’t have what it takes to live this way. I want to but I just can’t because no matter how hard I try, I continue to find myself valuing my needs above others. I’m not strong like Jesus.” If this is you, don’t let your hearts be discouraged just yet because Paul’s about to show us the source of power that will enable us to live this way.
2) THE DEPTH OF HIS CONDESCENSION
Verse 7, “He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!” Here, Paul shares that Jesus is not only God but also a man. Now, this is not to say that “being God, He instead became a man” – rather, it’s that “being God, He also became a man.” Do you see the difference? It’s not that He lost His divinity but that He gained His humanity. He is both God and man. Then the obvious question that many of us must be asking is, “How is this possible?” Well, I don’t have the time to go through this in detail today (hopefully another day) but let me just share that the doctrine of incarnation is not a contradiction but a mystery, in that our minds may not be able to comprehend it fully but it’s the truth, nonetheless. Many people have wrestled with this issue, and countless books were written on it, but no one was able to clearly explain the logic. It still remains to be a mystery and it probably will remain a mystery here on earth – which is why this is something that we must come to embrace with faith. A mystery is a hard thing for us to swallow in our pride – but my prayer for you is that this will actually lead us to respond in worship knowing that we have a God who is so much greater than we can ever imagine.
Okay, back to the text. The first thing I want to point out here is that Jesus didn’t have to come as a man – but He did. He willingly made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a slave – and as a result, His whole life was a display of true humility. Look at His birth. He wasn’t born in an influential city like Rome or Jerusalem. The Creator God was born in Bethlehem, in a manger, in poverty. He had to flee to Egypt when Herod tried to kill Him, labored as a carpenter (earning His bread by the sweat of His brow), suffered from hunger and thirst, was tempted by the devil, hated by the religious leaders (who tried to literally throw Him off the cliff and kill Him with stones). And yet He still remained humble. In fact, even though He knew that this path of humility would ultimately lead Him to death, He persevered through it – that’s exactly what we see on His way to the cross. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus fell on His face and sweat drops of blood. He was betrayed by one of His disciples. He was forsaken by His followers. He was captured by His enemies. He was accused by false witnesses. He was condemned as a blasphemer. He was mocked, spat upon, and struck in the face. A crown of thorns was placed upon His brow. He was ridiculed, tormented, and scourged with a whip of bone and glass. And that’s not all. He had to carry His own cross and be crucified between two criminals. Those who passed by scoffed at Him. For three hours, He hung in darkness and pain. And if that wasn’t enough, He died experiencing the fullness of God’s wrath. On the cross, the Prince of Life, the Lord of Glory was killed. Then we can’t help but ask, “Why? Why did He give up everything He had only to be taken to the cross? Why did He remain humble? Why didn’t He abandon this path and stand up for Himself?” Because of His love for us. Friends, Jesus Christ went to the cross for sinners like you and me. He was cast low so that we might be lifted high, so that by His wounds we might be healed, so that all who are joined to Christ by faith can know the forgiveness of God. But here’s something even more amazing – Hebrews 12:2 says, “For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Did you hear that? Jesus joyfully gave Himself up for us because He knew that this was the only way to save us. He remained completely other-centered because He knew that this was the only way to give us life.
This is amazing news. But what does this have to do with us cultivating humility? Why is it important for us to see the depth of His condescension? Because the cross becomes the power that makes it possible for us to live in humility. We are not by nature humble people. Left to ourselves, no matter how hard we try, we will never choose the path of humility. In fact, that’s exactly what the Bible tells us. It tells us that even though we’ve all been fearfully, wonderfully, and beautifully created by God to enjoy an intimate relationship with Him, we all chose to turn away from Him and live for ourselves. Now, if we were to die in this state of rebellion, the Bible makes it clear that we’ll spend eternity separated from God in judgment and condemnation – which is why the cross is good news for us. It shows us that in love, God made a way for us to be rescued. It tells us that He sent His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to live a life that we couldn’t live (a life without sin) and die the death that we should’ve died (being punished on our behalf). But that’s not the end of this good news because it says that Jesus didn’t stay dead – three days later, He rose from the grave to conquer the enemy we could not conquer on our own. This is our God. Then no matter who you are or what you have done, if you place your trust in Him, God will forgive you of all your sins and restore you to the relationship with Him for all of eternity. Jesus died for you and me so that we can now live the life that we were created to live – to humbly love God and others. Brothers and sisters, our journey to humility must begin here. “Be like Jesus” is not the gospel – the gospel is that Jesus died for you. Then if we want to practice true humility, as strange as this sounds, we must first be served by Jesus. Unlike other religions, Christianity doesn’t say, “Serve God and be saved.” Rather, it says, “Stop trying to save yourself through serving. Confess that you cannot save yourself and let Christ serve you because only He can cleanse you of your sin, only He can transform you from the inside out.” This is the essence of the Christian life. Now, if you’re having difficulty understanding this, think of a parent-child relationship – especially the little ones. These little ones never serve their parents – never. (I know because I have one.) Day after day, they have to be served in order to survive. The parents have to feed them, change them, wash them, clothe them, put them to sleep, carry them, and make sure nothing harmful is around them – even if they don’t want the parents’ service. Why? Because the reality is that if they resist their parents’ service to them, if they don’t receive their parent’s service, they will certainly die because they don’t have what it takes to take care of themselves. They are utterly dependent on their parents to live.
Then in the same way, no matter how gifted or skilled we are, no matter how much we know, have, or accomplished, the reality is that we need God to survive. We need Him to serve us so that we can be freed from the shackles of sin that bind us. But remember that after we’ve been served, God will tell us, “Be like Jesus” because this is what it means to live a life worthy of the gospel. Friends, we can be humble not because we’re so great, not because our willpower is strong, but only because Jesus condescended Himself for us. The work of the cross makes it possible for us to be humble. Then let me ask you, “Are you living out of the new potential that has been given to you through the work of Christ on the cross, or are you still living like someone who’s enslaved to sin? Will the way you live resemble the way of the cross or the way of this world? In your relationships, will the people God places in your life be more aware of your demands and cravings or your service to them?” Friends, turn to Him and ask for His help – let Him serve you so that in your relationships with one another, you’ll have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.
3) THE MAGNITUDE OF HIS EXALTATION
Verse 9, “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Here, Paul tells us that God has exalted Jesus to the highest place and that every knee should bow before Him. Now, reading this portion left me with two questions. First, since Jesus is God, wasn’t He already at the highest place even before He came to the earth? Wasn’t He already worthy to receive the worship and honor of all creation even before He died on the cross, rose from the grave, and ascended into heaven? Then what is Paul saying here? Is he telling us that Jesus somehow became greater because He humbled Himself? The answer of course is no. The essence of who Jesus is hasn’t changed – He was God before and He continues to be God now and forever. And for that, He is worthy to be praised – which leads me to my second question.
What does this have to do with our humility? Wasn’t Jesus’ crucifixion the climax of true humility? Why didn’t Paul finish his illustration with the cross? Wasn’t that enough to inspire and empower us to be humble? What’s the point of bringing up Christ’s exaltation in the conversation about humility? Because Paul wanted to show us that the path of humility is the path to true greatness. Greatness in our culture is defined by power, position, and possessions – it’s about how influential you are, how high your status is, and how much you have. So, they tell us to climb the ladder and seize that opportunity even if it means that we have to trample on others to achieve it. But that’s not how the Bible defines greatness. Jesus says in Matthew 23:12, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” James 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” In other words, the way to go up is not to go up but go down – it’s completely counterintuitive. But that’s exactly what Paul wanted us to see. Jesus wasn’t dismissing our desire to be great – He was simply redefining greatness. He was calling us to pursue after the right kind of greatness. And this text clearly shows us that Jesus was exalted not because He was so great in the eyes of the world – it was because He humbled Himself.
Of course, our sin continues to blind us from this truth – which is why we still give everything we have to pursue the kind of greatness that this world praises. Sin makes everything about us when it’s all about Him. Sin presses us into the center of our universe even though Christ alone is worthy to sit on the throne of our lives. Isn’t this why it feels so good to win an argument – get recognized and promoted before everyone else? Sin causes us to forget God, forget others, forget the very reason we were given life in the first place which is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Then think about this past week. How have you put yourself at the center of your universe? Have you ignored someone in need because you were too obsessed with your own needs?
Friends, let this passage draw you to think of yourself less and think more about Jesus, think more about others because true greatness is demonstrated through serving, not attaining status. Let’s not live like kings but servants who have been graciously rescued by the true King. Let Him redefine your understanding of greatness so that we would joyfully empty ourselves to serve the people in our lives.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, the height of Christ’s glory models for us the life of humility, the depth of His condescension enables and empowers us to live humbly, and the magnitude of His exaltation shows us that the path of humility is the path to true greatness. Then as we look to the cross, let us aim to have the same mindset as Christ in our relationships with one another knowing that this is what it means to live a life worthy of the gospel. Let us love because He first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19).
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Read verses 6-7. Why is it important for us to see the height of Christ’s glory in our pursuit of humility? What does it look like for you to make yourself nothing in order to value others above yourself at home, work, school, church, and beyond?
2) Read verse 8. Why is it important for us to see the depth of Christ’s condescension in our pursuit of humility? How does the cross guard us against pride? How does the cross empower us to live in humility? Why do we need to be served by Christ in order to serve others?
3) Read verses 9-11. Why is it important for us to see the magnitude of Christ’s exaltation in our pursuit of humility? If true greatness is achieved through the path of humility, how does this truth inspire us to cultivate this kind of humility in our lives today?