************ Sermon on Philippians 2:6-8 ************
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on December 5, 2004
Philippians 2:1-11
Philippians 2:6-8
"He Humbled Himself"
Introduction
Today is the second Sunday of advent. We remember and celebrate the first coming of Christ Jesus. We prepare our hearts for Christmas. We look forward to His second coming.
As we celebrate advent and Christmas I want to ask the question: why did Jesus come, why did the second person of the triune Godhead take on our human flesh, why the incarnation?
Last week we looked at some wrong answers. Christ did not come, first of all, to be: a teacher, our example, a social and political revolutionary, a miracle worker, the ultimate sales gimmick. Instead, we learned that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim 1:15).
I Christ's Humiliation
A Why did Jesus come? Why the incarnation? Our text today tells us that Christ came to humble himself. How did Christ humble Himself? Our Bible reading mentions three stages or steps in His humiliation: first, He emptied Himself; second, He was obedient; third, He died on a cross.
The first step in Christ's humiliation has to do with what theologians call the "kenosis" theory. "Kenosis" is the Greek word that verse 7 translates as "made himself nothing." It means "to empty." Christ emptied Himself; He made Himself nothing. We are not told of what Christ emptied Himself; but we are told how He emptied Himself. Christ emptied Himself by "taking the very nature of a servant" and by "being made in human likeness."
Christ emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant. Christ emptied Himself by accepting a weak human nature. Imagine that! Christ did not give up any part of His divinity. He did not stop being God. He remained "in very nature God." He remained Lord and Ruler over all. Yet, He accepted the nature of a human servant. He did not come as an earthly Ruler or King, with the pomp and glory of royalty. He did not occupy a place of honor, authority, and prestige among men. From the manger to the cross He walked the path of humiliation. From the manger to the cross His was a servant nature. From the manger to the cross He came to serve rather than to be served.
C.S. Lewis, in thinking about this, says this humiliation of Christ is like you and I becoming slugs or worms or maggots.
As I mentioned, we are not told of what Christ emptied Himself; but, based upon Scripture, we can take some guesses. We know He did not empty Himself of His divinity – He always was and is and will be part of the triune Godhead. We are told He "did not consider equality with God something to be grasped." Most theologians think this is a reference to God's glory. In other words, Jesus put aside – for a while – the glory that was and is His as part of the Godhead. In the Gospels Jesus took great pains to hide or disguise this glory but it could no more remain hidden than can a city set on a hill. More than once Jesus asked the disciples to remain quiet about the wonders they had seen or heard. He asked those He healed to remain silent about the miracle. Though He was and is God, He was not grasping or displaying His glory as God. Yet, we are allowed many glimpses of this glory anyway: at His birth the angels sang, at His baptism there was a voice from heaven, at His transfiguration His clothing and appearance were changed, at the cross the heavens became dark and the dead were raised, and in His miracles we see His glorious power at work. In all of this we have glimpses of glory – the glory He emptied Himself of, the glory He did not grasp, the glory that was fully displayed in His life again after the cross and the grave.
Why did Jesus come? Why the incarnation? Christ came to humble Himself. He came to empty Himself.
B Why did Jesus come? Why the incarnation? Christ came to humble Himself. The second step in Christ's humiliation has to do with His obedience. Our text says He "became obedient to death." A servant or a slave at the time of Jesus had only one duty – to obey his master. He had no choice in the matter; regardless of the circumstance, his calling was to obey. Often a servant had to take unjust punishment; sometimes he even had to suffer death; yet, he was still expected to obey.
Jesus "became obedient to death." He was a true servant or slave. He did not rebel. He did not resist. "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work" (John 4:34). Without back talk or questions He accepted the will of God for His life – even though that will included death. We are to think here of what the prophet Isaiah says:(Isaiah 53:7) He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
Though He was and is and always will be one with the Father, Jesus gave to Him total and complete obedience.Topic: Obedience
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Title: Saved Through Instant Obedience
Bible teacher Donald Grey Barnhouse (1895-1960) told the following story: A young son of a missionary couple in Zaire was playing in the yard. Suddenly the voice of the boy's father rang out from the porch, "Philip, obey me instantly! Drop to your stomach!" Immediately the youngster did as his father commanded. "Now crawl toward me as fast as you can!" The boy obeyed. After he crawled a ways the father said, "Stand up and run to me!" Philip responded without question and ran to his father's arms.
As the youngster turned to look at the tree by which he had been playing, he saw a large deadly snake hanging from one of the branches! At the first command of his father, Philip could have hesitated and asked, "Why do you want me to do that?" Or he could have casually replied, "In a minute." Instead, he gave total obedience!
That's the kind of obedience Christ gave to the Lord.
Why did Jesus come? Why the incarnation? Christ came to humble Himself. He came to give total obedience.
C Why did Jesus come? Why the incarnation? Christ came to humble Himself. The third step in Christ's humiliation has to do with the cross. The cross is not a pretty sight. And a crucifixion is a most gruesome and horrifying sight.
The Romans generally reserved crucifixion for slaves, robbers, assassins, murderers, and the like. By law, Romans citizens rarely were crucified. In fact, the Romans regarded the cross with horror and disgust.
The Jewish nation, unlike the Romans, did not crucify living persons. Rather, they took the bodies of the dead and hung them until sunset. This meant the victim was outside of Israel, separate from the covenant, excommunicated by God and cursed by Him (Deut 21:22,23).
Why did Jesus come? Why the incarnation? Christ came to humble Himself. Christ came to die on the cross.
II Christ's Self-Humiliation
A Why did Jesus come? Why the incarnation? Christ came to humble Himself: He emptied Himself, He was obedient to death, He died on a cross. What is amazing is that Christ did this to Himself. "He humbled himself," says Scripture. Scripture doesn't say, "He was humbled" as if it was something others brought upon Him. No, He humbled Himself. It was Jesus' decision. For instance, Jesus knew that if He went to Jerusalem He would be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law; He knew He would suffer many things and be killed (Lk 9:22). Yet, He deliberately set out for Jerusalem anyway (Lk 9:51). From beginning to end, Jesus remained in control.
B Jesus came to humble Himself. This reminds me of what we read in John's Gospel:(Jn 10:17-18) "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life -- only to take it up again. (18) No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
It was not a case of Christ's life being taken from Him; rather, it was a case of Christ giving up His life.
C Jesus came to humble Himself. I think of how He died. Scripture says, "he bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (Jn 19:30).
When it is time for us to leave this world very few of us will go without a struggle. I have stood or sat by more than one death-bed. So far it has always been the same: a fight for each breath, a struggle to hang on to life, a battle to the very end.
How different Christ is from us. He submitted to death. He embraced death. He died willingly, of His own accord. He delivered up His spirit into the hands of His Father. No one else ever died this way. His birth was unique; His life was unique; and His death was unique too. In laying down His life, He died of His own free will. For the rest of us, death is a necessity because we are sinners. But for the perfect Son of God it was a matter of obedience, of a deliberate decision. "He humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!" Who but our Lord could have done this? It is proof of His perfection and uniqueness and divinity.
III United With Christ
A Why did Jesus come? Why the incarnation? Christ came to humble Himself: He emptied Himself, He was obedient to death, He died on a cross. The Good News of the Gospel, according to verse 1, is that we who believe are "united with Christ." We are united with Christ in His humiliation: more specifically, we are united with Christ in His servant nature; we are united with Christ in His obedience; we are united with Christ in His death upon the cross.
We who believe are united with Christ. This means three things for us today. First of all, it means salvation. What is salvation? What does Jesus save us from? In the most basic sense we have to say that Jesus saves us from death to give us life. Think of a person drowning or in a burning house: a hero or lover jumps into the water or dashes through the flames and pulls that drowning or burning person away from certain death. That's salvation from death to life! Or think of a child who suddenly dashes into the middle of the road. A big truck is coming but the child does not notice. You jump and grab the child and keep him from being run over. That's an act of salvation – from death to life.
When Christ humbled Himself He saved us from eternal death. When Christ humbled Himself He took us from death to life.
B Second, to be united with Christ means that we are to be like Him. Like Christ, we are to humble ourselves. Like Christ, we are to bear our cross (Mk 8:34). Paul says, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (vs 5). To take up the cross is to give Christ service that costs time, money, work, and tears. To take up the cross is to say "no" to every selfish desire. This may lead some to become missionaries. Others will stay at their present jobs but will spend time in prayer, give generously, witness faithfully, and work diligently for the cause of Christ. Doing God's will is their supreme aim.
C Third, to be united with Christ means that life within the church is the way it should be. To be united with Christ means that life within the church has a happy ending. We all love happy endings. We like to see life work out. There is a story about Hollywood producer Sam Goldwyn. He once listened to a director describe in detail the true life story of a famous artist. The director thought it would make a great movie.
"Does it have a happy ending?" Goldwyn wanted to know.
"Well," said the director, "it winds up with the guy in an insane asylum thinking he's a horse."
Goldwyn threw the director out the door. He didn't think any movie with such an ending could be successful.
If we are united with the Christ Who humbled Himself then life within the church has a happy ending. Listen to Paul:(Phil 2:2-4) ... make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. (3) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. (4) Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
When we are united with Christ then the church is one big happy family: members love each other and care for each other; members build each other up and encourage one another rather than tear each other down; members are one in heart and mind.
Conclusion
Why did Jesus come? Why the incarnation? Christ came to humble Himself: He emptied Himself, He was obedient to death, He died on a cross. And, He joins us to Himself.
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