Philippians 2:5-11

WE ARE NUMBER FOURJune 3, 2012

Howard Buck

Phil. 2:5 Have this attitude 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.

Humility, really…These verses are anti-human nature!

The Philippian’s were proud and affluent kind of like a lot of Christians today

Paul says we are to be the opposite of proud, we are to be humble and he hits us with a broadside cannon shot by using Jesus as the example

That leaves us with no argument!!!!!

We want “upward mobility” and Paul demands “downward mobility” and again uses Jesus as his example

Phil. 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

To understand what attitude, let’s look back a bit:

2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;

In order to properly understand how we should function as a church, we first need an “attitude adjustment”!

at·ti·tude (noun)1. manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind: a negative attitude; group attitudes. 2. position or posture of the body appropriate to or expressive of an action, emotion, etc.: a threatening attitude; a relaxed attitude. 3. Aeronautics . the inclination of the three principal axes of an aircraft relative to the wind, to the ground, etc. 4. Ballet . a pose in which the dancer stands on one leg, the other bent behind.

Before we see what Paul wants us to be in our relationship to one another, let’s see why is Paul bringing this up in the first place, what is

wrong with our attitude anyway?...

First, I think Paul is referring to this part of the definition:manner, disposition, feeling, position (orientation), etc., with

regard to a person

Again, why is Paul is bringing this up?...

Because proper human relationships, even with the indwelling Holy Spirit are hard to maintain

They are especially hard when we are asked to put the other person first!!

2:3 … regard one another as more important than himself

Our problem is we are always putting me first!

2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit…James 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist,

there is disorder and every evil thing

We can’t help it, our first reaction to almost anything is to think of ME first

The key is throwing off that initial reaction and doing what God would have us do!!

Paul uses Jesus as his example of how we are to consider each other; literally translated:

“Your attitude (mind) should be the same as that of Jesus”i.e.

Matt. 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST

FOR YOUR SOULS.

John 13:14 "If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

If He, the almighty God can wash feet how can we be so arrogant in our relationships???

2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

The “who” is Jesus“existed” here is past tense, Paul is referring to Jesus prior to

incarnationThere was no Father and Son at that time, just the first and

second persons of the Trinity

Remember, within the Trinity all three persons are equal

Pre-incarnation Jesus existed in the form of God – a Spirit, after the incarnation, He existed (s) as the God/Man..

… did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped

The first of the verse speaks of Him before incarnation (existed in the form of God) and the second part after the

incarnation

We are discussing “equality with God”

This can mean:

1. He already was equal but decided not to cling to equality2. He didn’t need to grasp it as it was already there3. He did not reach for His crown prematurely (He suffered first)

This is one of those context is king questions:

Number 3 doesn’t fit the context at all since it isn’t speaking of the present but of the future

Number 2 doesn’t flow with statements that are to follow

Leaving number 1, Jesus voluntarily gave up His equality with God at the incarnation..

7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

Again, Jesus existed pre-incarnation in equality with God within the Trinity

At the incarnation, He chose not to hold on to that equalityThis verse tell us what He did!

Emptied: ekenosen, kenosis

The verse doesn’t say what exactly He emptied. Yet the context clearly means He divested Himself of something

More to follow..

… taking the form (7)

To understand let’s see first what He became then maybe we can quantify what He “emptied”

Taking doesn’t mean He exchanged anything but rather He added something, this is a very important point

This clearly shows that Jesus kept His Godness and added human flesh He is truly the God/Man

HE NEVER CEASED BEING GOD!!!!

taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men

He took the form of a human, wrapped it around His Godness (God can’t cease to be God) becoming the God/Man for the

purpose of serving God the Father

In order to perfectly “serve” the Father, He could not exercise His attributes unless God the Father told Him to

(I don’t believe this ever happened)

He surrendered the use of His attributes to walk in the will of the Father,

As a man He did not consider Himself as equal to God

God, the second person of the Trinity left His position on the throne of heaven, wrapped His Godness in humanity, set aside His attributes to be fully and

completely led by His heavenly Father

As a man He knew all the physical frailties of being a human, all the pain and suffering of the human body

Omniscience to knowing only what He learned or what the Father revealed to HimOmnipresence to spaceal limitation Omnipotence to the limited strength of a human

ALL FOR US!!!!!!

8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

How obedient was He?...To death, a death He chose to allow

And how terrible of a death?...Death on a cross, can you imagine anything worse?

The being found is an indication that there was nothing different about Jesus in His humanness He was a typical Jewish man of the day..

He gave up His all for us

9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,

Because of His obedience, God rewards Jesus by exalting Him above all

God resurrects Him, glorifies Him, rises Him up (ascension) and places Him at His right hand, exalting Him as LORD

Humility and Obedience to God = Resurrection, Glorification, Ascension and a place of honor (in God’s presence)!

FOR ALL WHO BELIEVE

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,

As the song earlier said, EVERY knee will bow!!!

Why, because HE IS GOD and that fact will be once and for all be revealed to every human past-present-future

Isa. 45:23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Not only will we all hit the ground on our knees we will verbally confess that Jesus the Christ is LORD or all

And, this humbling posture, conciliatory confession will glorify God as He will finally be vindicated to all mankind that:

He exists, He is the creator, He is the sustainer, He is our salvation,

HE IS GOD!!!

Something to take home

A thought:

If the second person of the Trinity could leave His lofty position in heaven and humble Himself to the point of

becoming a man and submitting everything He ever did or even thought to the will of God the Father,

can’t we find a way to be even a little bit more submissive to God in our life???

Finally, if we are truly His followers shouldn’t our life reflect His?

Ok, what do we take home?

A statement on the text:

In the eyes of God, whom shall I regard as more important than me?

GODFAMILY

FRIENDSME

I AM NUMBER FOUR