Lesson 8

The Humiliation Of Christ

Philippians 2:5-8

We have come today to one of the most magnificent texts in all of Scripture, Philippians 2:5-11. This passage has had many wonderful things written about it. It has been called "the gospel in miniature", "the handbook of Christian living", "the most important passage in Philippians", the "most difficult passage to interpret in the epistle of Philippians", the scripture which describes the "multitude of truths concerning the person and work if Christ", "the gem of Philippians". This passage is indeed a gem, a diamond.

But a diamond is even more beautiful when it has a setting. I want to take a moment to give you the setting of this passage, to put it in its context. Paul is writing a letter from Roman imprisonment to the church at Philippi. The subject of this letter it joy in the Lord. The idea that Paul explains is the a Christian can have joy, no matter what happens to him, if his mind is as it should be. In chapter 1, Paul says that we can have joy in spite of problems if we have a single mind. In chapter 2, Paul is telling us that we have joy in spite of people if we have a submissive mind. We must humble ourselves (2:3). In our text for today, Paul is using Christ as an illustration and as a model of one that has an humble submissive mind. He writes (read text, 2:5-11).

Verse 5 is the exhortation of the text; verses 6-11 are the illustration. Christ is our example, our illustration, our model of a humble mind. Verses 6-11 tell us about Christ. We learn in 6-8 of Christ's self-humiliation. We see in verses 9-11 Christ's exaltation by God. Christ humbled himself and God exalted Him. Now for the purpose of today's message, I must limit myself to the first half, that is, Christ's humiliation (6-8). Next week we will complete the thought considering Christ's exaltation.

It is believed that verses 6-11 were a hymn sung by the churches about Christ. The words, even in Greek, are very rhythmic and poetic. Whether that is true or not, I do not know. But I do know this, this text summarizes the person and work of Jesus Christ. From this text we clearly see His deity, His pre-existence, His incarnation, His humanity, His voluntary death on the cross, and his ultimate triumph and reign! These verses are loaded with doctrine, but as we shall also see, they have a very practical application.

I invite you to notice with me, today, three things about Christ Jesus.

I. Christ, The Sovereign, 2:6.

Verse seeks clearly tells us of the deity and pre-existence of Christ.

A. Christ existed in the form of God, 6a.

1. The existence of Christ - "being".

If you think about it, that one word indicates that Christ existed before He was born.

He pre-existed his own birth, (John 1:1,14).

2. The essence of Christ - "in the form of God"

The word "form" in Greek is "morphe". This is the place in scripture where that Greek word is used. Other occurences of the word "form" is a translation of a different Greek word "stratum" Morphe means "the very nature and essence of". Christ inwardly possessed and outwardly displayed the very nature and essence of who? God! Do you see what a clear statement that is of his deity?

And if that is not enough, Paul goes on to say...

B. Christ Was Equal With God, 6b.

The phrase "thought it not robbery to be equal with God" is not an easy one to understand. It means, equality with God was not a thing to be attained or grasped greedily by Christ. This is in direct contradiction to Lucifer (see Isaiah 14:13-14). To Lucifer, a created being, an angel, being Lord was a thing to taken. But not to Christ. He did not have to steal the throne of God, to apprehend it and hold it, He is equal with God. The word of equal is "isos". It means an exact equal. Christ equals God. He is of the very nature and essence of God. Christ is God. He is Sovereign. He is Lord (2:11).

II. Christ, The Servant, 2:7-8a.

Paul wants us to see that although Jesus Christ is God, he humbled himself. There was by Christ a self- humiliation.

A. He Abandoned His Supreme Position, 7a.

"He made himself of no reputation". He emptied himself. What did he give up? His deity? No! He relinquished some of his privileges as God. ILLUSTRATION: If a man of royal went incognito as a ordinary man, would he cease being royalty? No. But he would give up some of his privileges as royalty. That's would Jesus did. What privileges did he relinquish?

1. His heavenly glory - John 17:5

2. His independent authority - John 5:30

3. His omniscience - Mark 13:32.

4. His eternal riches - II Cor. 8:9

5. His favorable relationship - Mt.27:46; II Cor. 5:21

Christ's first step down was to "make himself of no reputation", to abandon his supreme position. Secondly ...

B. He Accepted A Servant's Place - "took upon him the form of a servant". Christ divested the king's robe and donned a slave's rags. He became a bond-servant, a slave. There is notable parallel between what Paul writes about Christ and what John reports that Jesus actually did in John 13:4-5 (w/v.7) and John 13:12-13 (w/v.9,11). For his disciples, Jesus, literally became a servant.

C. He Approached A Sinful People - "was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man". What a description of the incarnation! He who was in the "form of God" took on the "fashion as a man"! Made in the likeness of men, he grew (Lk.2:52), he hungered (Mt.4:2), he was tempted (Heb.4:15), he wept (John 11:35), he wearied (John 4:6), he died.

D. He Adopted A Selfless Posture - "he humbled himself". Step by step, Paul is showing us the descent of Jesus, from a high and holy sovereign to a humble and lowly servant.

III. Christ, The Sacrifice, 2:8.

Christ became lower than a servant. He became a sacrifice!

A. He Obeyed To The Point Of Death - "obedient unto death". That is the ultimate test of obedience, one who is willing to die, rather than disobey. You cannot speak of Christ, without speaking of his death. For it is in his death that we provided the means by which mankind could have eternal life.

B. He Died On A Cross - "even the death of the cross". But there is an even lower step to which Christ descended. Not just death, but death on a cross. Crucifixion was regarded not only as the most painful means of death but also the most shameful means of death, a criminal's death, a sign of being accursed by God (see Dt.21:22-23; Gal.3:13; Heb.12:2).

There you have the humiliation of Christ. There is how much Christ humbled himself. Paul uses Christ as an illustration, a model of humility of mind, describing the steps of Christ's descent from the supreme position of God to the death on the cross. Paul will go on to say that God exalted Christ. Christ humbled himself, God exalted Christ. This is not just a doctrinal statement about the person and work of Christ. It is a practical illustration of humility which is followed by exaltation. *Luke 14:11 "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted". Christ completely humbled himself and God exalted him.

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus". Do you understand the total self humiliation of Christ? Do you have the mind of Christ? Are you willing to humble yourself to a servant or still more, to a sacrifice?