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HAVING THE MIND OF CHRIST III
Philippians 2:7-8
Bob Bonner
April 27, 2008
One foggy night, the captain of a large ship saw what appeared to be another ship’s lights approaching in the distance. This other ship was on a course that would mean a head-on crash. Quickly the captain signaled to the approaching ship, “Please change your course 10 degrees west.” The reply came blinking back through the thick fog, “You change your course 10 degrees east.” Indignantly the captain pulled rank and shot a message back to the other ship, “I’m a sea captain with thirty-five years of experience. You change your course 10 degrees west!” Without hesitation the signal flashed back, “I’m a seaman fourth class. You change your course 10 degrees east!” Enraged and incensed, the captain realized that within minutes they would crash head on so he blazed his final warning back to the fast-approaching ship: “I’m a 50,000-ton freighter. You change your course 10 degrees west!” A simple message winked back, “I’m a lighthouse. You change...”
Unfortunately, pride, arrogance, and stubbornness are all part of every one of our lives and always will be. You and I will never fully eradicate them no matter how hard we try. Our pride quotient requires constant attention. Tony Evans once explained, “Pride is like growing a beard. It just keeps growing and needs to be shaved daily.” Every day, you and I need to get up and look at our degrees, careers, money, and wealth of practical wisdom gained from years of experience and say, “If it were not for the grace of God...”
The following is a good test or checking point to see how teachable or arrogantly demanding or full of ourselves we might be. The source for this tool for self examination is unknown to me, but it reads:
Sometime when you’re feeling important,
Sometime when your ego’s way up,
Sometime when you take it for granted that you are the prize-winning ‘pup’;
Just follow these simple instructions,
And see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to your wrist.
Now pull it out fast and the hole that remains is the measure of how you’ll be missed!
You may splash all you please as you enter,
And stir up the water galore,
But STOP and you’ll find in a minute,
It’s back where it was before.
Being followers of Jesus Christ, we would like to think that because we have admitted our weakness and need for a Savior, there would be not even a whiff of the stench of pride in our lives. We would like to believe that when the “old man” was put to death, our old pride was buried with him. But the Word of God reveals that although we are new creations in Christ, we still struggle with the sin of pride. It is like a splinter wedged deeply into our souls, and it will only be removed when we rest in our glorified bodies in the presence of Christ.
During the first century, the Christians at Philippi were ardent followers of Jesus Christ. They wanted nothing more than for their lives to make an eternal difference for the gospel’s sake. They loved Jesus wholeheartedly and wanted to love and encourage each other into deeper walks with Him. In addition, they wanted any they could reach to come to know the love of the Savior. And yet, even with this as their passion, they found themselves tripping over their own stubbornness and pride, demanding that either they or their ideas take precedence over someone or someone else’s ideas. As a result, a fracture, a division, came about in the church that threatened its future success and its ability to impact the world for Christ.
The Apostle Paul, who was drawn to these Christians and this church like none other in the New Testament, knew the dangers posed by individuals focusing on self interest. For the sake of the unity and health of the church family, he wrote this endearing letter to the Philippians, exposing for them the results of their foolish behavior and encouraging them to take on the mind of Christ. This mind, an attitude of humility, needed to be a daily lesson to ensure that the church experience ongoing growth and ministry.
The key passage of this entire letter, the one which deals most directly with this issue, begins with Philippians 2:1 and closes with 2:11. We have been taking a close look at these verses for the past several weeks. In verses 1-4, Paul has charged the Philippians to put their self interests aside, to humbly seek after what is best for the whole church family, and to do so in a way that is healing and helpful. And just so they will know what a healing and helpful way looks like, Paul, beginning with verse 5, pointed to Christ’s attitude of humility exemplified in His coming to earth and ministering here.
Verses 6-11 constitute a hymn, most probably written by the Apostle Paul himself, used to teach and remind others of Christ’s example, so that we might constantly examine our own humility quotient against His on a daily basis. This hymn is made up of two major sections. The first is verses 6-8, in which we see the evidence of Christ’s humility on display. Then in verses 9-11, we see God’s response to Christ’s humbling Himself before His creation.
This morning we find ourselves finishing up this first section dealing with the example of Christ’s humility. Last week we examined the attitude of humility that was Christ’s before He ever left heaven to come to earth. Today we look at Christ’s incarnation and His humble life on earth.
If you were to describe studying God’s word as mining for gold, these verses would represent one of the geological veins that have been nicknamed “the mother lode.” They are rich in very important theological truths foundational to our living godly lives. Every word in these verses is worth careful examination so that we may retrieve the wealth that the Spirit of God desires each of us to possess.
In my preparation for this passage, I found myself at one point forced to pause to consider deeply, personally, and devotionally what we are about to touch on this morning. For about 30 minutes I was so stunned at the reality of what these words mean that I began to grieve just thinking about what my life led Jesus to voluntarily do for me. I found myself mumbling, “Lord, I’m so sorry for my sin and what You had to do to rescue me—no, not what you had to do, but what you chose to do because you loved me—even “for the joy set before you” I cannot fully understand or grasp even what I do know from these verses. All I could do earlier this week, as I studied what Jesus did in light of my own life, was to offer up this prayer, “Do what it takes to knock away my pride and transform me into the image of Your Son. Do what You need to do to use my life for Your purposes. Lord, don’t allow my wishes, my methods, and not even my personal preferences about the way things should be done to get in the way of Your working in my life or in the life of our church family.”
After telling us in verse 6 that Jesus deliberately chose not to grasp or take advantage of all that goes with being God, but rather that He chose to surrender Himself for us, Paul now goes on to tell us what happened when Jesus came to earth. Most importantly, Paul lets us in on what His humble attitude led Him to do by way of surrendering Himself fully to us. We read, “…but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
The very first word in verse 7 alerts the reader that what Jesus voluntarily chose to do was not normal, as we human beings consider normal. The word “but” in the original is an intense word describing a contrast that is as stark as black is to white. If our selfish, out-for-number-one functioning represents black, then Jesus’ unselfish, voluntary giving of himself would be seen as pure and brilliant white.
“But He emptied Himself...” Now what does that mean? During the 19th century, Swedish Lutheran scholars tried to make these words say that when He came to earth, Jesus emptied Himself of some or all of His divine attributes like being ever present, all knowing, and all powerful. But that is not only foolishness, something denied elsewhere in Scripture, but it is also illogical. For to say that Christ emptied Himself of any of His divine attributes would mean that He would cease to be God. God cannot be partially God, any more than a woman can be partially pregnant. She is either pregnant or she is not. Jesus is either fully God or He is not fully God. There is no middle ground. This concept of Jesus giving up some of His attributes but still remaining God is such a foolish notion that one theologian called this idea “incarnation by divine suicide.”
Other well meaning and excellent theologians have inadvertently expressed similarly erroneous theology. Take Charles Wesley in his beloved hymn “And Can It Be?” Presumably, to express the greatness of God’s loving acts toward us, and to do so through poetic means of rhyme and rhythm, even he stepped overboard. He wrote these lines:
“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!”
If you take Wesley’s words at face value, they say that the only attribute of God that remained with Jesus when He came to earth was that of being loving. Now, I don’t believe for a moment that this is what Wesley actually believed or even intended. Ye inadvertently, maybe through taking a little poetic license, this erroneous theology is expressed in this hymn.
So what does it mean that Jesus “emptied Himself”? Last time, we saw in verse 6 that Jesus did not “grasp”, or use to His advantage, His divine attributes but chose instead to not fully exercise them when He came to earth. While not taking full advantage of His divine attributes, Jesus at the same time never gave up their possession.
Paul uses this word for “empty” in a metaphorical way to describe how Jesus made Himself as nothing, stripped Himself of all privileges. Other places in the New Testament where this word for “empty” is used by Paul in such a metaphorical way are Romans 4:14, 1 Corinthians 1:17 and 9:15, and 2 Corinthians 9:3. In these passages, Paul uses this same word to mean “to make null and void” or “to deprive something of its proper place and use.”
Hence, the thought is not that Jesus emptied Himself in the sense that He threw something away of His divine essence; but instead, He so humiliated Himself, so limited Himself, in order to be put at the disposal of people. In other words, He became poor that He might make many rich. He took on a lower status to one day raise us to a higher status--from sinners to saints.
One theologian put it this way: “The issue is not ‘of what’ he emptied himself, but ‘into what’ did he empty himself? Into a human form that lived as a servant. Jesus brought the whole of his divine nature into a new and unimaginable state! His likeness to men was real, but it did not express his whole self.” In the end, these words, and for sure the rest of this passage, affirm simply that Christ left his position, rank, and privilege to take on a lower position and rank that had virtually no privileges. Jesus never subtracted any deity from Himself; he merely added humanity, the essence of being human, to Himself.
Here is another observation. I believe that Paul deliberately used this word “empty” to make a play on the words back in verse 3, which described the way the Philippians were acting--with “empty conceit.” Whereas “empty conceit” characterized some who were demanding their rights and insisting on their own way, God so emptied Himself of His rights. He did not demand them so that He could serve our needs.
All of this remains a mystery to me. A mystery is something so deep, so difficult to comprehend, that we cannot nor are we expected at this point in our lives to fully grasp it all. Furthermore, the subject is not fully answered here or anywhere else in Scripture. Yet, the Spirit of God did lead the Apostle to use three phrases in verses 7-8 to explain a little more of just what this “emptying” of Himself looked like. Those three phrases are “taking the form of a bond-servant,” “being made in the likeness of men,” and “being found in appearance as a man.” We will take each one of these marvelous phrases and study them in their proper sequence.
The first of these is “taking the form of a bond-servant.” That word “bondservant” probably would be better understood if we instead used the word “slave”. Jesus didn’t come as a rich and powerful political giant, giving orders, judging the world, or taking it over. But He came as a slave. Slavery in the Roman Empire meant extreme deprivation of rights. A slave was a piece of property to be bought and sold. To say that Jesus took on the form of a slave is to say that he took on the nature or attributes of a slave, the status and rank of a slave. As a human slave, Jesus lived on earth without the advantages He enjoyed in heaven as well as without the advantages that many other humans enjoy on earth. He lived on earth as though He had no personal rights or privileges of his own. For instance, in Matthew 8:20, Jesus tells us of Himself, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Why would Jesus stoop so low and willingly live such a deprived human life? He tells us why in Mark 10:45. He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom in the place of many.” Jesus stripped Himself of all rights, privileges, and securities and came in humiliation for the express purpose of placing himself completely at the service of all humankind.
Perhaps a perfect snapshot of Jesus’ becoming a slave is seen in John 13, where He took on the role of a typical household servant, responsible for washing guests’ feet before they reclined at dinner. What makes this event so striking is that this dinner was in honor of Jesus and His heading to the cross. His disciples should have been washing His feet, but ironically, they were too busy debating which of them was the greatest. So, while they argued among themselves, Jesus quietly stripped off his outer garments, took up a towel, girded his undergarments, and began washing his disciples’ feet. How demeaning this must have been for the King of glory. Yet how gladly He performed this deed.
From there we move to the second key phrase describing Christ’s “emptying” or “limiting” Himself, that of “being made in the likeness of men.” This “likeness of men” is a reference to Christ’s similarity to the human race. As any human child would, Jesus needed the attention and care of loving parents; He grew and developed like other children according to Luke 2:40-52, which in part says that Jesus was “increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.” Like other humans, Jesus understood what it meant to be hungry, to be thirsty, to suffer pain, to feel sadness at the loss of a loved one, and to be disappointed when others fail or betray you. At times, He became tired and needed sleep. He possessed geographical and bodily limitations. Spiritually, He was even tempted. Eventually, He was subjected to death.
In the end, we can conclude that everything we endure in this world, He endured—its pressures, its longings, its circumstances, its disappointments with people. This is the reason the writer to the Hebrews penned these encouraging words: Hebrews 4:14-16, “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Christ knows your problems, not in the sense that He just intellectually understands all of our problems because He is omniscient. But experientially, having been human, He understands what we go through. As a result, we can find comfort that when we need it, He is there for us. He encourages us to come to Him and He will enable us to get through the tough times. He will be sympathetic to your call. He will not turn a disinterested ear and put you on hold. He’s been there and knows what you need, and He will deliver.
Yet, being similar to other humans does not mean that Jesus was identical to all humans, for He was not. Jesus was distinct from other people, according to Hebrews 4:15, in that He was sinless. He was the genuine, uncorrupted article. Christ differed from all other humans by virtue of His consistent obedience to God the Father. Becoming human simply meant that Jesus became subject to the elements around him like all humans. Jesus was so obviously human that even His family and disciples would not have known of His deity had not the angels and Jesus Himself revealed it to them.
Obviously, Christ was different from all other humans in that He was no less God than when He was in heaven. He even used some of His divine attributes at times under the control of the Holy Spirit. He created food, walked on water, gave life to the dead, and forgave sin. He proved His omniscience when he told Peter to catch a fish and take the money he would find in it to pay his taxes. He proved His omnipresence when He said to His yet to be disciple, Nathaniel, that He had seen him miles away under a tree, despite His never physically walking there.
In verse 8, we find the third phrase that describes to what extent Jesus limited Himself. It says that Jesus was “found in appearance as a man.” The first two phrases in verse 7, “taking the form of a bond-servant” and “being made in the likeness of men”, both point to Jesus’ becoming incarnate. But once Jesus grew up as an adult human male, this particular third phrase further describes His degradation as a man. More specifically, the words used in verse 8 describe the verdict handed down against Jesus by the human race.
The word “appearance” in the original language always points to the outward form or shape that one can see. This is a reference to Christ’s physical stature, something that other Scriptures tell us was rather ordinary. Jesus would not have made it as a model for Hollywood. He was ordinary. He had no unique identifying marks like a halo suspended over His head.
Verse 8 goes on to say that it was not enough for Jesus to simply humble Himself from the form of God to the form of a slave, but He humbled Himself through His obedience like a slave to His own creation, to the point of allowing us to wrongfully put Him to death. Have you ever had problems obeying non-Christian or even Christian authority figures who you feel are not worthy of your honor? Well, you are not alone. Jesus felt the same thing; however, He submitted His life to them and obeyed them whether they were worthy or not.
Also, keep in mind that from Adam on, everyone in the human race had to die as a result of their sin. We all became disobedient unto physical death, but not Jesus Christ. Jesus, although human, because He had never sinned did not fall under the curse of death. He could have lived on forever without dying, but He chose to remain obedient unto death.
By the way, this explains why only Jesus, Who was perfect unto death without sin, could die for another’s sin. We all die as a result of our own sin; we cannot die for the sins of another. Our own sin kills us. But Jesus, Who was without sin, is the only one Who can atone for our sin. This is the reason Jesus Christ is the only way for anyone to be saved and forgiven.
Let’s go back for a moment and catch the progressive steps of Christ’s ongoing humbling as He functioned in a slave-like, obedient manner. He was wrongly arrested, falsely accused, and tried illegally. He was mocked, spat upon, beaten with fists, scourged, and had part of His beard painfully plucked out. Yet during all that, He never asserted His rights or power. And He could have at any time stopped those who couldn’t wait to get rid of Him. Jesus told us in John 10:18, “No one has taken my life away from Me, but I lay down my life on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again.” Finally, Jesus allowed Himself to be put to death, a humiliating death on a cross.
Mind you, no one in Philippi would have used the cross as a symbol for their faith; there were no gold crosses embossed on Bibles or worn as pendants around the neck or adorning the steeple of their local church. To those Roman Christians in Philippi, crucifixion was considered a barbaric form of execution of the utmost cruelty. Origen called it “the utterly vile death of the cross.” Cicero said that it was the “most cruel and disgusting penalty.” Crucifixion was reserved for only the most violent of criminals. But Jesus, like a non-violent Lamb, allowed Himself to be led to the slaughter.
Different than the Christians at Philippi and in churches across our country today, Jesus did not strive for some pinnacle of earthly achievement. He didn’t fight for His personal rights, honor, or credit. Instead, his whole life was characterized by self-surrender, self-renunciation, and self-sacrifice to the point of death, so that He could fulfill the will of His Father in heaven. He even submitted to the extortionist tax collectors and honored the position of the chief priests and elders, though they were not honorable themselves. Why? That He might serve as our ransom, our “get out of jail free” card, our way to avoid damnation for our sin.
Back in chapter 1 Paul declared, “For me to live is Christ.” Our verses from this morning bring into focus what Paul had in mind when he wrote those words. Like Christ, Paul determined not to be a grasping or self-centered being, but to be a servant looking out for others, taking the lowest place, being a slave, dying to self. Christlikeness is revealed not in pridefully grasping but in humbly giving of oneself for the betterment of others.
In 3:10 Paul later confirms this belief when he writes of his passion to participate “in the sufferings of Christ, being conformed to his death.” As it concerns our applying these truths and imitating Christ, no one in the church can repeat what Christ did. None of us started where Jesus started. Hence, we could never suffer as he suffered, nor will we ever be exalted to the position He presently occupies.
However, as God’s word directs, we are to continually seek after this attitude, this mind of Christ, this humility, so that God’s work will be done through us. We are to daily look for, admit to, and shave off the hairy indicators of pride and self interest so that we don’t hinder the work of God. And that work is not about changing our country or seeking world peace or saving the planet. God’s work is about changing the face of eternity through the work of the gospel, whose focal point is the changing of people’s lives.
That which stifles the work of the gospel is arrogance among believers. Only as we daily seek Jesus, choose to obey Him, and ask Him to change us from within and live His life out through us will His humility enable us to be effective ambassadors of Christ.
Once again, there is great stress throughout these verses on the fact that humility is a choice. Choose to submit to Jesus as He submitted to the Father, and humility will follow shortly thereafter.
For what should Christians release their rights and self-serving attitude? If there are any, what specific examples of self interest can you point to in the past week that have stifled God’s work of the gospel? What can you do about them today? Is there anything you think you can do to encourage the development of the mind of Christ in your life? What? Is there anything stifling your development of the mind of Christ? What?
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