but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men.But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
10 sermons cite this verse
… in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. There's an earthquake in those words. There's a turning upside down of the world. Here's the first thing, everybody. This text, they think, is Paul's adaptation of an ancient hymn. So he's writing this around the early years of the 50s of the first century, let's say 20 years after the death and resurrection. But if this is a hymn that was being used in Christian liturgies, and if it took, as indeed it did, a while for things to get around the ancient world, this hymn probably goes back certainly to the 40s of the first century, perhaps even the late 30s. In other words, it's probably one of the oldest texts we have, certainly the oldest liturgical texts we have in Christianity. And what's affirmed at the very heart of it, the divinity of Jesus, though he was in the form of God, he didn't deem equality with God a thing to be grasped, but rather emptied himself. …
… he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men and being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Now think about this. If Jesus had had the same life purpose that most of us have. Peace, prosperity, pleasure, and the avoidance of pain. If that had been Jesus' life purpose, if he lived to please himself, he would have never given up the perks of heaven to come to earth. The only reason that he gave up his rights as God came to earth, suffered that excruciating death, took the sins of the world was he had a bigger purpose in life than pleasing himself. He lived to please God the Father and to meet our needs. And we are never more like Jesus Christ than when we willingly give up our privileges and rights to serve a greater purpose. You are never more like God than when you go not to the top, but to the bottom. When you make serving others the goal of your life, true humility means subordinating our desires for the well-being of others. Jesus said it this way. If you want to be like God, you have to learn to be a servant. In Matthew 20 verse 26, he said, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant. Now, we've been talking in the theoretical for the …
… And where Paul closes this whole thing, his central treatise right in the middle of this amazing book is in Philippians chapter two, verses five through 11. and he says this he says in your relationships with one another have the same mindset as Christ Jesus you see the battle in the mind the mind of the flesh the mind of the spirit and he says to you if you want to see it differently have a different mind have the mind of Jesus because when you have the mind of Jesus you will see it differently and he says this is of our Savior who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be used for his own advantage. You see, he's throwing shade on the first Adam. Adam thought he would be like God and he trusted his own wisdom and he looked at something and said, oh, it's pleasing and he ate it and he didn't see that it would kill him. …
… did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross. So what did it set Jesus back to redeem the world? He paid that ransom by sending himself back, being mistaken as nothing but a carpenter. He stepped back from the glory of heaven's throne. He set himself back from showing his relationship to the Father who praised him at baptism and at the transfiguration. But he was obedient unto death, even death on the cross. And on the cross, he put himself under the sins of the world, as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 5, for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Maybe one more phrase will sum up our questions. When we wonder at the cost of something, we might think or even dare to say, so, it's beautiful, but what are the damages? …
Well, this Lent, we are walking with Jesus through the final week of his life. Last week, we began the Lenten season with Palm Sunday. On Sunday of Holy Week, Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey. He overturned the money changers' tables and those who were selling merchandise, selling doves for sacrifice, and he drove them out of the temple. And by the time he left the temple that day, the religious establishment was furious and wondering what had just happened. and were plotting already against him. So now we turn to Monday of Holy Week, Monday of that final week of Jesus' life. And he's gonna make his way from Bethany back to the temple. Let me just show you once more. This is a map of Jerusalem. This is the top of the Mount of Olives over here. There's Bethany. He's gonna come down the Mount of Olives, this time not riding a donkey, as near as we can tell. And he makes his way back over. …
… own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Somewhere in the middle of the Lord of the Rings films, Frodo is sitting with the wizard Gandalf Lamenting his mission He had been tasked with returning the Ring of Power To the fires of Mordor So that it could be destroyed It was claimed that whoever had the Ring Had the power to rule over all Middle-earth Up to this point in the films Things were not nearly as bad as they would eventually be And yet Frodo says I wish it need not have happened in my time And Gandalf, with his wisdom of years, responds So do I, and so do all who live to see such times But that is not for them to decide All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us The end of the story is that Frodo, a hobbit Is the most unlikely character to bring an end to what was the reign of terror …
… others and not just in it to make sure you're taking care of yourself and then tom rainer goes on and adds he says we must adopt the mindset of christ like in philippians chapter 2 verse 5 through 11 that says let this mind be in you that was also in christ jesus we quote this we know this i've preached this and we still miss this let the mind of christ be in you well what did christ do in philippians chapter 2 verse 5 through 7 is what they call the christ hymn it's the christ hymn what did he do a couple things he did he did not consider equality with god as something to be used as his own advantage i'm about to walk back through this he emptied himself kenosis emptying himself by assuming the form of a slave he humbled himself he became obedient to the point of death he told the lord whatever you want me to do i'm going to do that so let's walk back through this although christ was equal with god had power prestige platform privilege he didn't let it go to his head he did not use it for his own advantage but instead he used his platform his privilege his his his uh his prestige to help somebody else that's why god can't elevate some of you because god knows if he gives you power and puts you over somebody else you will lose your whole mind you don't even have a position and you arrogant you don't even have a title and nobody …
… May I tell you that Philippians chapter 2 tells us that the Lord thought it not a thing to be grasped, but to be equal with God, yet made Himself of no reputation, took upon Him the form of a servant, and became obedient. And the Bible says, Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him. Jesus took the low way, and God exalted Him. The devil took the high way, and God has brought Him down, and will bring Him down to the very pit. Now, what I'm saying is this, that we are never more like Jesus when we have a submissive spirit. We're never more like the devil when we have a rebellious spirit. Now, if God the Father is the head of Christ the Son, does that mean that Christ the Son is inferior to God the Father? Not at all. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are co-equal and co-eternal. It would be sheer blasphemy and a distortion of basic Christian doctrine to say that there is inferiority in the Godhead. …
… who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, that is others, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, humility, and became obedient unto death, harmony, even the death of the cross. It's Jesus who has done this. Now, you see, God says that you are to let this mind be in you. It's not by struggling that we obtain this. It is by surrender that we let the mind of Christ be in us. Now, notice how he finishes this in verses 13 and 14. For it is God, look at it, folks. We talked about this the other night. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmuring and disputing. Do you see it? How do you do it? It's God. …
… but emptied of himself taken the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross now here's what he was saying Paul said, I'm learning how to be a servant. In whatever circumstance I find myself even obedient in servitude, even if I know it means my death. You see, Paul had made a commitment in his life. Listen, the commitment he made had something to do with being able to live in a small circle, totally surrounded by frustrating circumstances, but unmoved and unruffled by those circumstances. Because, you see, his focus was upon the positive. His focus was upon God. And his focus was not upon his circumstances. Now, look in chapter 4 again, if you will, just for a moment. Look, if you will, beginning in verse 17 here. Now, he's speaking about giving again. He says, not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. …