The answer to that question means true power as a Christian, or it means impotence.
How Am I Regarding Others as More Important than Myself?
Philippians 2:1-11b
Pastor Kerry Kinchen, Bridgeway Bible Church
Please turn to Philippians 2:3-11. As you are turning there, I want to ask you if you have ever heard of a scientist by the name of William Beebe? Dr. Beebe is dead now. But, years ago, Dr. Beebe was a naturalist who studied birds. He was the co-developer of the bathysphere, which was the first deep sea exploratory vessel. Dr. Beebe was also a friend of President Theodore Roosevelt. Often, Dr Beebe would relate his experiences with Roosevelt while visiting his home. What would happen is that as they visited, night time would come, and they would end up going outside. Roosevelt would look up into the starry sky and locate a certain point of light that could barely be seen. It is in the lower left corner of, what is called, the Great Square of Pegasus. After finding it, and pointing it out, Roosevelt would recite a statement that sums up so much of what I am wanting to preach about this morning. Roosevelt would point and say,
That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our sun.
Then Roosevelt would grin and say,
Now I think we are small enough. Let's go to bed.
The question I want us all to consider this morning is;
How small is small enough?
We may want to believe otherwise, but we are selfish beings. Being selfish means that we are not always, consistently, selfless. We are big, and bigger is not always better. Paul the apostle, by God's Spirit, wants us to learn a certain way of thinking that gets us to recognize how small is small enough. God wants us to make it our ambition to do everything we can to be small enough. To be small enough is to operate in such a way that selflessness produces godliness. The Biblical standard is where our selflessness is supposed to produce something. It produces doing love. So, this morning we are going to learn about doing love, and also being love. Please read our passage with me, starting in 2:1, Paul 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, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude [mind] in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:1-11
Let's prepare our hearts to learn and apply life changing principles from God's word in this sermon titled as a personal question:
How Am I Regarding Others as More Important than Myself?
[prayer]
Paul has been encouraging the Philippians up to this point, and we have learned a lot from his words. Paul's urging is to be unified in selfless desire for God's will. Our unity in the Spirit, in the bond of Christ (in a real, living, active way) is God's will. This is the thrust that Paul is pressing. We are all the body. Each of us has been rescued and transported out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Christ. We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom as we live together on earth. Paul says that we are to be citizenizing here in our sojourn. To citizenize, is what "conduct yourself" means in the Greek, in 1:27. It means that we are to walk the worthy walk of the good news. So, while here on this planet, let us act like the heavenly body of Christ that we really are. We need to focus upon our commonality in true fellowship. We need to do this with grace, while diminishing our differences, preferences, and prejudices. We all know that sometimes there is way too much focus upon our differences, and preferences. Focusing upon our differences, preferences, failures, and shortcomings, brings disunity and disfellowship. Usually it's crazy stuff. There are all these spurious reasons for disunity, but they are really non-issues in light of our eternal glory in Christ. I've seen it personally. I've experienced it. Many of us here know what I mean. We see it in the Bible, where Paul, Peter, James, and John rebuke the early churches for this kind of thing. But, along with all of this, there is something else we need to diminish. In fact, it is one of the biggest principles we each individually need to work on. I'm talking about purposeful diminishment of our own self. It is the question of whether we are being small enough. This is the substance of our great marching orders. It starts like this,
"3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;" Philippians 2:3
As we come into this section, we can not help but notice that this is a nonnegotiable, clear-cut, command. By God's Spirit, Paul is gentle, but Paul is resolute--he's stern. Paul is encouraging, but Paul is exacting. He is telling us what God wants from us by way of commandment. There is no room for bargaining. Think about this, because a lot of folks in our day are opposed to calling New Testament statements, of something that you must do, by the word command. They don't like commandment kinds of language, or law language. They think that if you call something that God commands you to do, "a law" then you are somehow in error. You are likened to a kind of legalist. What happens is that some misinformed Christians think you must necessarily be going back to the Old Covenant Mosaic Law at Mt. Sinai, to that Law given to Old Covenant Israelites. But, we are not doing that, because Paul is not doing that. Paul is giving us a New Covenant command. The command is from God, and yes this is part of God's New Covenant Law for you and me in the body of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ. You see, if we were thinking that we should be against law then we would be called antinomians. To be without laws, commands, and rules, is called antinomianism, (which is to be literally against [anti], law [nomian]). But we, who are in the New Covenant, are not antinomians. We are supernomians. Supernomianism means that we have a higher law. We have a higher standard of direction placed upon us than merely 613 Old Covenant Law commandments. Supernomianism is to abide by love, in love, through love, from love, for love, with love, as living love with Love living in us. It is where we outwork love in our lives and actions by the power of God's Spirit, through His word. Supernomianism is something that God disciples us in through the New Testament, like here in Philippians. What I want us to notice is that supernomianism, which is Spirit led Lordship, involves things that we do. Supernomianism also involves things that we don't do. So yes, supernomianism in the New Covenant contains within it, a list of do's and don'ts. Paul says, do nothing from selfishness, rivalry, strife, or empty conceit. Selfishness and empty conceit is prideful competitive rivalry. It is not love. It is where I am not yet small enough. The Greek noun that selfishness is translated from here, is often translated as strife in the Bible. Selfish strife is listed as one of the works of the sinful flesh in Galatians 5:20. There is,
"20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, ...
[same Greek word for selfishness that Paul uses in Philippians]
... jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions," Galatians 5:20
When we take what Paul says are the evident deeds of the selfish sinful flesh in Galatians 5, we get the sense of what Paul means in our text under study. Self centered interests, and pride is the base root of sinful disunity and lack of doing love. It is sin at its best, which is sin at its worst, and we are all intimately familiar with it. The Corinthian Christians were very familiar with this too. In 1 Corinthians 1:11, we see that contentions, quarrels, and selfish strife permeated the church as an overwhelming infection. It was maiming, and dividing the body. It's a destroyer. It hurts you. It hurts the body, and it diminishes God's glory that He deserves from a spotless bride who was cleansed to reflect His glory.
That other thing that Paul mentions is just as horrible. We are way too aquatinted with it also. It is empty, futile, dissipating conceit. In Spanish it is called vanagloria. It is pride. It is when you think you are bigger than you really are. Vain glory, is empty glory, because it is pride that is hollow. There is a right pride. Right pride is when we glory in our Lord. This kind of pride has substance behind it because our magnificent God is the substance of what praise and worship is all about. It is eternal pride in our eternal God Who alone is worthy. Therefore, right pride, is the glory of God, and in obedience and love we give all glory, honor, and praise to Him. In fact, it is only by His Holy Spirit that we can worship Him in the first place, and so by His Spirit, He gets the glory. If God did not enable us to do so, then we would be dead in our sins. Lost people, bring glory, honor, and praise to themselves and anything other than the One true God. They glory in a lie. It is the lie that Eve and Adam succumbed to in the garden. It is the lie that we saved people can also easily succumb to at any moment, because it is a lie that is so appealing to our flesh. But God is saying to us, (now that we are saved), that we need to think bigger than that by thinking about being small. "Nothing" means nothing from selfish strife, rivalry, or empty conceit. We think of James 1:20 and we recognize that even the anger of man does not achieve God's righteousness. So, we must be careful. We must have the right motivations in citizenizing worthily, in advancing Christ's kingdom. If we don't do this, then we end up advancing ourselves. We might be doing something like looking at numbers of people who have made decisions for Christ in connection to something we have done. We might be looking at the numbers of baptisms our church can turn out. We might be looking at how well we can speak publicly--or at how well we can articulate our arguments about life to people. We might be looking at how much money we give away. Do nothing from selfish strife, rivalry, or empty conceit. God is concerned about the right motivation. We might be concerned about how holy our children look, or how other children look; or how much we impress others in the way we look like holy and mature Christians this week. Or how much we are impressed by how others look like holy and mature Christians this week. We must be careful. We are supposed to be lights reflecting God's glory. We are supposed to be diplomats for Christ. We are supposed to be living examples of His grace. We are supposed to be living examples of His holiness. We serve Him. And so as we stroll along in our daily life walk in Christ, God draws a line in the sand at a certain point; He says don't go there if you answer yes to the questions:
Am I acting from selfish strife, rivalry, or empty conceit while serving Christ?
Am I acting from selfish strife, rivalry, competition, or empty conceit in respect to the body of Christ?
or
Am I doing it all for Him, in Him, where his glory should be diminishing me, and magnifying Him?
But people who just want to look good so that they can be thought of as being good, (or better) are never thinking that they are big enough, and so they keep doing things to get bigger. The furthest thing on their mind is how to be small enough. They are full of themselves but they are empty. The question is;
Is this you?
Think about this a moment: Some of those things I just listed really do look good. They really are impressive. You know, like a lot of people coming to Christ; appearing holy to the world--those things look good--knowing your Bible, or giving away a lot of money. All these kinds of things look great. Therefore, it seems like God would be pleased with these things, right? So the danger is that we can think that somehow our empty pride is justified because we are doing nice things, pious things, and religious things. I think of this, and I wonder how many people in ministry are in competition. I am not talking about the sincere soul who is struggling to preserve the faith for God's glory and the edification of the body. I'm talking about ministers who have their own big reputation in mind. Somewhere, somehow they got off kilter. They want to be big, and so the end that they are trying to achieve is empty. To do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit means more than, don't quarrel, or don't fight. It means don't do ministry, don't do prayer requests, don't do giving, don't do rebuke, and don't do teaching, or anything if it means doing it from selfish strife, rivalry, and empty conceit. Now a question for each of us to ask ourselves is,
How do I go about doing nothing from selfish rivalry, or empty conceit?
We must be careful not to condemn ourselves in such a way of over analyzation that we do nothing, from nothing, for nothing. In other words, we can critique ourselves to such an extent that we think that anything that we do, because we are the ones doing it, could be selfish, (and since it could be), we go the next step and think, Well then, it must be selfish. But such over examination is absurd and ends up freezing you. It could seem very logical to think that to do nothing simply means to quit doing all together. But that is not what Paul means. What Paul means is that we do nothing from selfish rivalry, or empty conceit, by telling us to do something else. This is the key. God's supernomianism is not given to us so that we quit. Further, supernomianism doesn't leave us hanging in some mystical gap where we can't figure things out and so we give up, or we go to another extreme where we think we are relegated to say,
"I will just be led by the Spirit because I don't really know what to do."
Supernomianism tells us to do nothing in sin, and then it tells us what sin is. Then it goes on and tells us what to do as clear leading of the Holy Spirit:
"... with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves" Philippians 2:3
There it is. So we really do know what to do, don't we? We don't have to get all mystical about it, do we? But, you see, this one simple little statement is why some people would rather do nothing only. Think about it:
With humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.
People would rather avoid having to regard others as more important than themselves, so what happens is, that in doing nothing at all, they still have not achieved what God wants, which is the outworking of love from the heart. In humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves, is a simple statement to make, but oh how difficult it is to,
A) own that statement as your marching orders from your God,
and
b) stay there and do it on a consistent basis.
This is why God had Paul write to the Philippians--to remind them of what to do. God, through His word, constantly urges us to achieve what He wants. The point is that Christians need to be reminded of these things. This is why Paul's initial letter to the Philippian church went beyond just those members of the body, and became part of the Bible to remind you and me of what to do.
Now think about this: When it comes to the Law of Christ, humility of mind, as the starting point, is our base. It is the mind of Christ that we are to emulate, but in this is a great principle that is hidden to the natural mind. Humility is death to self, but the opposite is true about its power. It is hard to see this, but humbleness is the muscle of the New Covenant Law. When we truly grasp this power principle in the respect of what it truly is, and truly means, then we can begin to answer the question: How am I regarding others as more important than myself?; The answer to that question means true power in ministry, or it means impotence.
Okay this leads us to consider the mind that pushes this power principle into the realm of practical everyday living. You and I are to truly think that other people are really more important than we are. After we do nothing from self importance, we must esteem others as being superior. This is when the lights come on because this is when small is finally starting to get small enough. And so, what is happening in this is something that does not quite sound right at first, because typically when we think about humbling ourselves, we think about not considering ourselves at all. But, God does not say that we are of no consideration whatsoever. We must consider our self like the Apostle Paul considered himself,
"for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody." 2 Corinthians 12:7
Paul considered himself, and in his self consideration, he concluded where we need to be, "I am a nobody." That's the way it works folks.
First--You look at yourself, and then you think,
I am a nobody.
Secondly--You look at others, and then you think,
He is the somebody; She is the somebody.
In your relationship, in the body which is God's appointed association in your life, everyone else is the somebody. In the body of Christ that I interact with, they are the big ones. I am the small one. Sure, God thinks that you and I are somebodies (in Christ) but God's teaching here isn't concerning what He thinks about us, right? He's teaching us concerning how we are to be in respect to others. In our differences as people who do not get along, that person is better than me because they are the somebody, and I am the nobody in the body. And when we do this, God's love for others gushes out of us to produce the precious fruit of the Spirit that tastes good to everyone, and makes us all satisfied, and healthy in true fellowship. Paul said in Galatians 6,
"2 Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
[Paul is talking about supernomianism]
3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself." Galatians 6:2-3
Do you see how this is consistent? We absolutely must start here, because this is an essential mindset for fulfilling the law of love. If we don't start here, then we will be selective about who we love. If we don't start here, then we will be selective about how to love, and our standard of selectivity will be based upon sinful judgments and personal preferences coming from a selfish sinful somebody. The main point on the doing side of this is that humbleness is a process of action. Humbleness is a process where you and I are daily moving along, and in conviction and true love, we count ourselves as nobodies to accomplish God's high standard of supernomianism where we go from selfishness--to selflessness in doing love. So, Paul says in Philippians 2:3, that first, we are not to do something. Then next, we are to do something. After this, Paul clearly states what it is that we are to do; Look at verse 4,
"4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Philippians 2
In other words, selflessly love. Now if we are already looking at ourselves properly, and so we have already made the consideration that God wants us to make, where we think we are nobodies, (which means that we think of others as being more important than ourselves), then we can see how much our own personal interests matter in the grand scheme of the way God sees things in the body of Christ. If we are only looking at ourselves as somebodies who are more important in our daily goals, comforts, and opinions, than others, then we need to ask,
"Why?"
"What are we doing with the conviction when God confronts us with His word?"
God has placed love in all of His bondslaves, which are His children, which is the body of Christ. But, if you and I are not becoming nobodies in the balance of our own personal interests that are weighed against those of the somebodies who are around us, (which is the personal interest of others), then we are not doing love. This is why this teaching is so important. God wants us to see the example of Jesus so we can look to Him. If we don't look to Christ, and His example, where He lived out living love, as Love, then, though we have Him in us, the expression of Him out of us is halted. We are in sin. I think of James again, where he speaks of faith without works is dead faith. James camps out long and hard on the law of love in his epistle. The sense that James is enlightening us with is that love without works is dead love. Living love, is a Christlike mindset; it's a heart-attitude, but it its also a discipline that we develop, and God will keep convicting you by His holy Spirit to manifest it.
By the way, nobody said that all of this is easy. The reason is because, though we are born again, we are still born into this existence as creatures of flesh. So, the humbleness motivation is not something that we naturally desire to do in our flesh. Every single day, I Kerry am faced with the sobering reality that counting myself as nothing is not something that Kerry naturally desires to do. But, in our salvation, God tells us that our flesh is recognized as crucified in relation to the sin inherited from Adam. So, what I have to do is through the preaching of the word, or reading it, or being reminded of it, I have to wake up and consider myself in this co-crucifixion, where I have been crucified with Christ, but nevertheless I live, yet it is not me, but Christ living in me. I don't condemn myself, and give up. No, I am convicted by the Spirit and the word, and I go on with Christ in me as my hope of glory. So, Paul says, "nevertheless I live." We all recognize this principle then, that though we are positionally seen as dead to sin and alive to God, we are still alive, and we still have our own minds and our minds must be renewed to have the mind of Christ in us that Paul commands. This is what we are faced with every single day. So, nobody said that this was easy, or that it is something spontaneous. To look out and away from selfishness, and in selflessness to the interests of others, means that we must do what we are not used to doing, which is to go from the attitude of a mere human, to the attitude of the God-man, which is Jesus Christ. As we citizenize by the law of our heavenly Kingdom, we are looking at thinking, and doing something that is foreign to the natural man. So, to get our bearings straight, we need to look to the Supernatural Man, because that is the only way we are going to achieve this. To do this, we look at what Paul says next in the greatest sermon illustration ever given in all of history (Paul gives it; God uses it, and is it--I'm just borrowing it),
"5 Have this attitude [mind in the Greek] in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2
Isn't this one of the most amazing passages in the whole Bible? When we really know Who Christ Jesus actually is, then we can not read this passage and fail to be struck with how amazing this statement is. This statement is our premiere example of how to act like God is telling us to act. Christ, (the King of kings and Lord of lords, the God-man) really did humble Himself. So, when God commands us to have the mind where we count ourselves as small, He also tells us that we must consider this in light of Himself. Jesus, the mighty Messiah, the God-man, emptied Himself. What that means, is that the King became like a lowly slave in the greatest act of love, in the greatest rescue operation imaginable. Who can understand this thoroughly? Who knows the mind of God in all His comprehensive intelligence, and personality? But this is the beauty about this. We don't need to understand everything. We have a glimpse from God, and it is the humbleness lesson that is enough to understand. But there is more. What does Paul say was the mind that was in Christ?
6... although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped," Philippians 2:6
But wasn't Christ, God in the flesh? Yes, He is 100% God and 100% man. Christ certainly understood Who He was. What does this mean to say that Christ was God, but He did not regard His equality with God a thing to be grasped? What this is, folks, is ultimate humility in action. Christ Himself is the greatest object lesson of what God is teaching us. Quit looking at yourself, and look to Christ. The God-man humbled Himself to the point of setting aside His equality in regards to His immense power, majesty and glory, to take the form of a frail servant who would be nailed with spikes on to wood, to suffer, and to die. Even the death itself was something that the eternal Son had never personally experienced before emptying Himself in His work of dwelling in a begotten bodily form. This is the point that Paul is clearly getting across from these passages, and it is an amazing teaching that we should look to every single day as pride and lack of love raises up its ugly head in our lives.
But, at this point, I think it is important that we recognize that many people mutilate these passages for a personal doctrinal agenda that is false, so they miss the precious gem that is here that God wants to bless us with. What I mean is that the Jehovah Witness cult, for example, will use this passage to teach that Jesus is inferior to Jehovah. They say that after all, Jesus did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, and so we should not regard Christ as having equality with God, in the sense of being God. Then there are the Bible critics. They like to cite this, and claim it is a Bible contradiction. The scriptures claim that Jesus is God, like the first part of the verse, where Paul says,
6... He existed in the form of God, ..."
Paul does this in other places too, like for example in Colossians, where he says,
"9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form," Colossians 2:9
Yet the critic says that Paul here, contradicts this when he says that Jesus did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. They are totally missing it. Aside from the wrong interpretations, false doctrines, and purposeful distortions of this passage, Paul clearly says that Jesus existed in the form of God, and that in such a state, Jesus did not regard His equality with God a thing to be held to tightly; clenched. But, there should be no mistake about the fact that Paul is saying that Jesus is God, and further Paul is not saying that Jesus became un-god. We absolutely must recognize this because this fact is what makes what God did so amazing, and why Christ Himself is the greatest sermon illustration in all history. Paul's statement about the deity of Christ has been reaffirmed throughout church history, and in the Scriptures. Some classic texts that declare this are: John 1:1, and 14, where John explains that,
"1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ... 14 And 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."
The Word was God in the beginning. Later at the predetermined time, God impregnated a virgin by the person of the Holy Spirit (Who is also God), and then the Word became flesh. Isaiah prophesied His coming 700 years before He came,
"14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Emmanuel." Isaiah 7:14.
This prophecy was fulfilled by the virgin Mary being impregnated with Christ--the one called Emmanuel. In Matthew 1 we see the significance of what Emmanuel means,
"23... you shall call His name Jesus ... Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us.'" Matthew 1:20-23
Christ was both named Jesus, and God with us. This is Who Paul is talking about in our passage under study. God with us is the greatest example of humility that has ever been accomplished. From the outset, on through every stage, Jesus humbled Himself, because though He existed in the form of God, His regard was in what He must go through in love. It was His equal majesty, glory, and honor that He had with the Father before in eternity past, that He held onto loosely in his ministry as sacrificial Lamb. The ultimate act of self diminishment, was His rejection, suffering, humiliation, and crucifixion, and the whole time, His mind was to be patient, humble, and loving--looking at others as being better than Himself. This, folks, is why Christ is our ultimate example. This is why I say that this is one of the most amazing passages in the whole Bible. And in our amazement, when we really know Who Christ Jesus actually is, then we should be convicted of the fact that small enough is not something that we can ever say we have fully attained. Our Creator, Who is the Creator of all matter and energy; and so much more, literally stooped down to to the level of His creation, to exist in a developing human body (from fertilized egg to adult) and both before, and while going through every single stage, He knew that all along, His mission was to be rejected, tortured, and murdered by His own creations. Do we think we are humble? Do we think we love the body? How small is small enough? God has been telling us hasn't He? What our Lord did, was consider Himself, and recognizing His infinite worth, temporarily set aside His majesty and glory in an act of humility to bring salvation to people, in the ultimate act of fulfilling love to its greatest extent. Let's examine (a little more) what Jesus humbly decided not to grasp. God said in Isaiah 42,
"8 I am Yahweh, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another ..." Isaiah 42:8
Talking to the Father in His pre-cross ministry, Jesus said,
"4 ... I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." John 17:4-5
God is calling us to let go of our pride. God is calling us to look to Him, because He is the ultimate example. God is calling us to look at the body of Christ the way Jesus looks at the body of Christ. There are so many passages that weave together to express this beautiful attribute of our Lord. This is the tapestry that God has given us to look to in understanding our pattern for living the love of God. We read it restated in 2 Corinthians,
"9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor" 2 Corinthians 8:9
Over and over again we see Christ humbling Himself and looking at others as being better than Himself. This passage repeats the grace and love connection, and that is really the essence of what this is all about. Love is the power, where becoming poor is powerful. Christ goes from rich in His infinite power and glory; But God is love, and so the progression goes to becoming poor for the sake of all whom He saves. Yet, His poverty was like a hurricane of power. It seems like a gentle breeze, but His humility just blows us away. The point is that Christ's exaltation with the Father is also power; but so is His humbleness. Paul says that the cross has power in 1 Corinthians 1:17, and so that leads us to the ultimate expression of this in our passage,
"8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2:8
God cannot die. But God's flesh, that He made and indwelt did die. The death was torturous, humiliating, and severe. For our sake He became powerfully poor. He became small enough. These are the facts that are laid out for us to analyze against our own thoughts and attitudes. What this means for us practically, is that we need to consider, as a mindset of humbleness, that others are more important than ourselves, even though, in Christ, each of us is just as important as each other, but we go ahead and we let our own grasp loosen on our equal importance in regard to our brothers and sisters importance. There it is. It is all about the thing not to be grasped. Get that and you get the whole package. Let me repeat it this way:
We need to consider, as a mindset of humbleness, that others are more important than ourselves, even though, in Christ, each of us is just as important as the other. Our equality, is there, but it is not grasped. Smallness for our self is grasped. Bigness for others is grasped.
Power is perfected in weakness. Love is perfected in smallness. This is the mind which was in Christ Jesus. Ultimately Christ received back His glory, and we need to consider this. There does come a day when our humility ends in exaltation. Paul finalizes the point in respect to Jesus by saying in verses 9-11
"9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:
When Paul says, for this reason also, Paul is talking about all that He said about the humbleness process that Jesus, as the Messiah, willingly went through to fulfill all righteousness. He, by His own volition, had to humble himself to such and extent that He would be a sweaty, hungry, fatigued, sleeping, waking, walking, breathing human, then rejected and killed. Through staying humble in all of His human experience, and being rejected, Jesus was able to operate as the High Priest Who offered up Himself as the great sacrificial Lamb in the power of the cross. It is only in this humbling action, that Christ would resurrect to be glorified as the eternally living sacrificial Lamb Who purchased His people on the cross, absorbing their wrath on the cross, and covering their sins on the cross. Power is perfected in weakness. The resurrected Christ is exalted forever as the ultimate Lover. As King of kings and Lord of lords, every knee will bow before Him forever. So, Christ's prayer was answered wasn't it? He was glorified with the glory that he had with the Father before He came in the form of a man. Now He reigns, He grasps again, and He possesses the name which is above every name, where all must confess that He is Lord to His glory. But additionally, He has given Himself all the people of His humble love as a gift to Himself. The principle for us to glean here is that there will be a day that exaltation will come for all of us too, but that day is not now. Our day, right now is to be small. Jesus said;
"12 ... whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 23:12
Christ is experiencing it now. You and I will experience our own exaltation into a glorified state in our resurrection. We will go from our humble state of being in the likeness of dying flesh, into the exalted state of being in conformity to Christ in the heavenlies. We will exist as the spotless gifts of His love that He purchased for Himself in His humility. Paul asserts this great hope later on in 3:21, where he says it is Christ:
"21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has, even to subject all things to Himself." Philippians 3:20-21
My urging to all of us here is to ask ourselves the important questions this morning. We need to ask ourselves in pure honesty:
How Am I Regarding Others as More Important than Myself?
Am I looking to the pattern of Christ?
Am I falling short of making it my ambition to be nothing, so that I can treat others as somethings in my sphere of living?
Am I going beyond mere lip service, and actually being of real service to my brothers and sisters?
Am I selective?
In other words;
Do I pick and choose who I think is better than me based upon my own personal list of contingencies?
I urge all of us here to look to the example of our Lord. Roosevelt used to look up at the vast heavenly stars with Dr. Beebe and contemplate how small he was. Let us look to Christ and His example of real love, and think about whether we are small enough. Let's make it our ambition to be nobodies so that we can love the body the way God is teaching us to love the body.
