Philippians 2:6-11 was a very early Christian hymn which Paul quotes to teach the Philippians about humility and service. It contains the heart of the gospel and some of the deepest theology in the whole of the New Testament.
6 (Christ was) in very nature God,
but did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! NIV
GOOD NEWS BIBLE,
NEW CENTURY TRANSLATION,
NEW LIVING TRANSLATION,
THE MESSAGE
6 (Christ was) in very nature God,
6 He always had the nature of God,
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
John 10:30 I and the Father are one
Never forget that the man who died on the cross was much more than a man. He was God – Immanuel God with us. It was God the Son, the second Person of the Holy Trinity, who gave up his life as a ransom for many there on the cross on Good Friday.
Only after his death did people begin to realize who Jesus really was.
Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
Christ was indeed God
but did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
He did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God.
6 Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God.
He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what.
Christ Himself was God in everything but did not think that being equal to God was something to be used for his own benefit.
Christ the Living Word of God did not have to die on the cross. He did not have to come to earth to be born as a man at all. That was His choice. A choice made out of love for us. A choice made out of obedience to the will and the unfathomable purposes of the Godhead.
Christ was truly God,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant.
When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human !
But he gave up his place with God and made Himself nothing.
7 He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.
Here is the Christmas story, the mystery of the Incarnation. The Word became flesh
He EMPTIED HIMSELF – Christ remained God – but laid aside all the power and glory of his divinity to become a tiny baby laid in a manger. A self-emptying which continued throughout His earthly ministry even to his death on the cross.
AND CAN IT BE that I should gain An interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
He left His Father’s throne above, So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam’s helpless race.
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free; For, O my God, it found out me.
“Love, to be real, must cost,” said Mother Teresa, “It must hurt. It must empty us of self.”
YOU LAID ASIDE YOUR MAJESTY, Gave up everything for me,
Suffered at the hands of those You had created.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
He was born to be a man and became like a servant. And when he was living as a man he humbled himself
Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges.
He came to earth as a servant even though He had every right to come as a sovereign
Consider for a moment the humility and the humiliation of Jesus Christ the Son of God
Mark 15:15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. 17 They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. 18 And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” 19 Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spat on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. 20 And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
Christ humbled himself – even to the ultimate humiliation. Christ emptied Himself even of life itself.
and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! NIV
8 He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—his death on the cross. Good news
He was fully obedient to God, even when that caused his death, death on a cross. New Century
8 And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. New Living translation
He lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. The Message
Father’s pure radiance, Perfect in innocence,
Yet learns obedience To death on a cross.
Suffering to give us life, Conquering through sacrifice,
And as they crucify Prays: ‘Father forgive.’
O what a mystery, Meekness and majesty.
Bow down and worship For this is your God, This is your God.
John 15: 13 Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Consider just how costly this obedience was to the Son of God!
Mark 15:25 It was the third hour when they crucified him. 26 The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27 They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. 29 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 come down from the cross and save yourself!”
31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
See here God’s creatures murdering their creator. But death on a cross was even more costly than that for God the Son.
Mark 15:33 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “ Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? ”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, not only betrayed by His friend and abandoned by his disciples, but abandoned by God the Father. THAT is what it cost for Jesus to be “obedient to death – even death on a cross”!!
So how much does God love us? What was really going on as Jesus of Nazareth was hanging suffering and dying on the cross of Calvary?
6 (Christ was) in very nature God,
but did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! NIV
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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Did you see what Paul is saying here about Jesus Christ the Son of God? Jesus who has the Name above all other names, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus before whom every knee will bow, every creature in the whole of creation.
Paul is saying that Jesus was exalted to this highest place and given that name above every name AS A CONSEQUENCE of Him being obedient to death, even death on a cross. From before the beginning of time Jesus Christ was already God the Son, already the firstborn of the Father, already the second Person in the Holy Trinity. From the moment of His incarnation as a baby laid in a manger in Bethlehem, Jesus was already the Living Word, the agent of creation, the visible image of the invisible God and the Messiah that the Jews had been anticipating. But all that was not remotely enough glory for the Son of God who have Himself up for human beings and for our salvation. Not nearly enough honour for the suffering Servant King. So that is why God the Father exalted His Son to an even higher status.
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, (NIV)
Good News 9 For this reason God raised him to the highest place above
and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.
Message Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
So what Paul is saying is that the crucified Risen Christ is even more exalted and glorified than the incarnate Son of God. We saw the same idea this morning in Peter’s first sermon after Pentecost
Acts 222 “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. ….. (King David) spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. …
36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
God has made this Jesus both Lord and Christ, as a consequence of the crucifixion and through His glorious resurrection.
It was as a result of His death and resurrection that Jesus Christ has been exalted even more highly to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
We find the same amazing truth in Revelation 5. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is worthy of even greater honour and praise and glory, because He has taken away the sins of the world.
Rev 5 6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. …
9 “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they sang:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
So the death and resurrection of Jesus do not just have significance for us who are saved by Him. The death and resurrection of Christ have implications for the entirety of creation!
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! NIV
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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
And so, in honour of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees, and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Good News)
Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father. (Message)
