Living as a Servant, part 4

The Great Example of Jesus

We find one of the great songs of the early church in Philippians 2:5-11. In many Bibles, it’s written like a poem or song lyrics, because it was a worship song. Sung by the very first followers of Jesus, it is a song filled with challenge and wisdom for us still today.   

Paul challenges his readers to “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus” (verse 5), and then he uses their worship song as the illustration. “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became 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 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” Philippians 2:6-11 NIV. 

These six verses, break down into three sentences. First, Jesus made Himself nothing. Secondly, He humbled Himself. And thirdly, God exalted Him.
 

Using Jesus as our example, this early hymn of the church shows us the steps into humility. You would think that when God came to earth, He would demand worship from everyone. But no, when God came to earth, He made Himself nothing. He became like an ordinary human. He humbled Himself, living a life of service, and then He humbled Himself even until death on a cross.
 

Going beyond simple humility, Jesus suffered the kind of death that was filled with shame. This did not happen to Jesus accidentally; this was the path HE chose to walk. Friends, let that sink in for a few moments: This was the path Jesus chose to walk.
 

Bible scholar, Gordon Fee tells us that this passage is the complete picture of what God is like. He wrote, “Here in Philippians, this ancient worship song does not leave Jesus in the grave. We see that God the Father exalted Jesus and raised Him to life. Indeed, the Father raised Him high above every other name. Now that’s a song worth singing! But it’s more than a worship song. The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus is our example. Paul tells the church in Philippi to "have the same attitude that Jesus had.”
 

The challenge to us is this: we are tempted to defend ourselves during times of trouble or persecution. When people misunderstand us at work or school, when people publicly ridicule us for our beliefs, when our own family members don’t understand our faith, we face the temptation to argue and dispute. But the Apostle Paul says that we should have the same humility of heart and posture as Jesus did. 

Friends, this isn’t just an isolated Scripture; this message is repeated many other times in Scripture. Here’s just one example. Four different times, the Scriptures say, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” And, isn’t that the polar opposite of how our world functions? As we know, the world would say to someone like Paul Ai, “Keep your blanket! God wants you healthy. You can’t preach to the other prisoners if you have pneumonia...” - while Jesus’ example to us says, “Think of others before yourself. Humble yourself before me and I will lift you up!”
 

This reminds me of the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who said, “When Christ calls a person, He bids them to come and die.” You see friends, exaltation is the Father’s work. And it requires faith from us to trust that the Father, in His sovereignty, will raise us up in His time and in His way.

Continued tomorrow