What a wonderful song to lead us into the passage that we're in this morning, and what a wonderful passage to just so happen to be in this morning in a service that included a baptism. We're in Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2, and we'll begin in verse 5. had this mind amongst yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that in 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. Let's pray. Father, as we do each and every week, we now come to Your Word together. We pray that we come submitting to Your Word. I pray that we come to be fed by Your Word, be nourished by Your Word, and we pray that You would do this for us. Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, we ask that You would feed us, nurture us, comfort us, guide us, encourage us through what You would say to us through Your Word. I pray that You would help me to preach Your Word faithfully, to say what You would have said to Your people this morning. In all this we ask, In the precious and holy name of Christ, Amen. So we're still building on that verse from back in chapter 1. Let your manner, verse 27, let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ. A life that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ. What does this kind of life look like? That's what we've been looking at ever since that verse back in chapter 1. We've seen some wonderful things, and we'll finish that aspect of this letter out this morning. You remember from the end of chapter 1, we saw that a life that is worthy of the Gospel is visible in Christ. It can't be denied. We are cities on a hill in the salt of the earth. A life that is worthy of the Gospel is united with other believers in Christ. And finally, a life that is worthy of the Gospel is fearless of the things of this world in Christ. Then last week we looked and built on the unity of the church as a part of this life that is worthy of the Gospel. We looked at the foundations and the flow and the fruit of unity in the church. This morning we see further argumentation for what this one single mind that Paul talked about last week looks like. He told them, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Remember we said that having one mind doesn't just mean that we simply agree with each other. What Paul means by having one mind is that we have together grown and come to a knowledge of the truth that begins with the person of Christ. And in that knowledge of the truth of God, of the truth of the Word of God, we are of one mind. We are one mind united in the truth. There are many people in our day and in the history of humanity who are of one mind and who are dead wrong in their one-mindedness. That is not what Paul calls for. He calls for us to be united in the truth. Now, Paul is going to help us understand what the fruit of this mind is by looking at the example of Christ. have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus." The incarnation of Christ is one of the fundamental bedrock Christian doctrines. And the theological implications of the incarnation of Christ are in view in this passage. that we have before us. Many commentators consider these words were probably an early hymn of the early church, which was sung just like the hymns that we just sang and the one that the choir just sang. And then through the pen of Paul, of course, it became inscripturated and now is a part of the very inspired Word of God. And it makes sense. A song, as you know, is a quick and easy way to pack a lot of truth into a very small time frame. You get three or four minutes worth of really solid truth in a hymn. This passage is known as a Christological gem. We could take weeks to plumb the depths of what is here in this passage. It speaks of the deity of Christ. It speaks of the humanity of Christ. It speaks of the exaltation of Christ. It speaks of these glories of who Christ is. in both His incarnation and in His resurrection. And yet, none of those truths are the main point of the passage. All of those truths instead serve to feed the main point of the passage. And so instead of getting bogged down too much, I don't want to do that, because Paul presents these truths about Christ with one goal in mind, with one purpose. He wants us to strive to imitate the principles that we glean from the life of Christ. Imitate Him as the Spirit of God conforms us more and more into the image of Christ. So while this particular section is deeply theological, it is also very extremely immediately practical. That's what Paul wants it to be. Perhaps this passage raises more than any other the connection between orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Right doctrine and right living. You can't live right without believing right. And Paul connects them beautifully in the way that he connects them here. So He gives them the command, have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus. Have this mind. It points back to verse 4 that we looked at at the end of last week. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. And even back to verse 3, in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Have this mind. pointing back to verse 4, but also pointing ahead to what he's about to say about Christ, which is yours in Christ Jesus. You know this mind by looking at the example and the life of the earthly ministry of Christ. So he looks forward also to Christ and His example and what He desires for the Philippians to have as they consider their Christ. And ultimately, remember, the goal and the theme, going all the way back to verse 1, is the unity in the church, this one-mindedness in the church. And the way that Paul is going to show us the mind of Christ is by outlining Christ's dissension from glory into the creation. His descension from His heavenly throne into the cosmos, if you will. And first, He shows us the lowliness of Christ, the mind of Christ, the lowliness of Christ. Verse 6, though He was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing. It's a lot packed into that few phrases and so we'll unpack it for a moment. First, He was in the form of God. This is a statement of the deity of Christ. He was in the form of God. He existed in the form of God. Literally, it's the nature of God. He was in Himself the very nature of God. It's the same word that's used again in verse 7 when it says He took the form of a servant. He took the nature of a servant. It's the same connotation, but from the divine perspective. He existed as God. This is a direct statement by Paul affirming and upholding the deity of Christ Jesus. To the Colossians in chapter 2, verse 9, he said, for in Him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. Jesus was not partially God. He was fully God. The whole fullness of His deity dwells bodily. John 1, 1-3, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. And then verse 14, And the Word became flesh. The dual nature of Christ, His deity and His humanity on full display. He is God. He was God. He is God and He will always be God. For Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Hebrews chapter 13. This is important for you to get because some of you guys have kids who are going to college. Some of you have grandkids who are growing up very quickly, and they will be going to college. And they are going to get out into the world, and they are going to get out into college, and their faith will be challenged in the secular universities that many of them will go to. And they are going to meet people who will point to this passage to say that Jesus was not God, because it says He made Himself nothing. He emptied Himself. When He became human, He ceased to be divine. He was a step up above humanity, perhaps, but He was not completely, totally divine. He ceased to be God. And you need to arm yourselves. Those of you who will be going to college need to arm yourselves, and those of you who will be mentoring those who go to college need to arm yourselves with answers to those kind of questions. When our faith, you know, Peter said, always be ready, right? To give a defense for the hope that is within you. Be ready to answer that question from this passage. These are the kind of conversations that are being had. out there in the world. He was in the form of God and then made himself nothing, therefore he was not God in his incarnation. So let me give you a couple of answers and as we move through this passage hopefully you'll glean some more. What does Paul mean when he says he was in the form of God? He existed in the form of God. That verb for was, some translations translate it as existed. That verb form is a present active participle in the Greek and what that denotes, it denotes the current continuing of a previous state or existence. And Paul uses that verb form. He doesn't mean like we would mean past tense. It was that way then, and now it's not that way. What that verb form means is that it was that way, and in the present state, He continues to be that way. He was in the form of God, and by implication of the tense of the verb, He is now in the form of God, and will always be so. Also that word for form, it's morphe in the Greek. It is part of the essential, never altering, never changing essence of a person. It's in the form of God. That is who He is. Foundationally and fundamentally, He is 100% divine. We're not talking 50-50 here, God and man. We're talking about 100% God, 100% man in the person of Christ. The dual nature of Christ. So first we see Paul's affirmation that he was in the form of God. He was very God of very God. But secondly, and this gets us into his lowliness, we see that he did not grasp at it. Though he was in the form of God, he did not count his equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing. That word for count is the same word from back in verse 4 that we looked at last week, you know, regard, do nothing, or let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Count others, verse 3, more significant than yourselves. It's to regard. It's to make an informed decision. He considered His own glory and He made Himself nothing in becoming the incarnate Son of God. He goes right to the mind of Christ, Paul does, and he says, Christ did not count this equality with God a thing to be grasped. The King James translation translates it this way, it's kind of confusing, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, which is a little misleading unless you know what's going on here. What he's saying is that in His incarnation, Jesus did not grasp to His equality with the Father, or He did not cling to His equality with the Father, but instead, literally, He says He made Himself nothing. Literally, He emptied Himself. He poured Himself out and made Himself of no reputation. That's another way that you could translate that. He made Himself nothing. He poured Himself out. He made Himself of no reputation. That is the lowliness of Christ. And understand that Paul is not here saying that Jesus never mentioned His divinity. He's not saying that Jesus never taught about His deity. In John chapter 5, this is after He healed the man at the pool, you remember, the waters would stir and Jesus comes and the man says he can't get into the water and so He heals the man, and it happened to be the Sabbath. We read in verse 16 of John 5, this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. Jesus answered them, My Father is working until now, and I am working. And the Jews understood exactly what Jesus meant Because in verse 18 we read, this was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. The Jews understood the implications of what Jesus was teaching. He taught that He was the Son of God, and by extension, He taught that He was equal with God. Jesus taught His deity. Even in His high priestly prayer, when He prays for the Father and He prays for us, He says in John 17, verse 5, Now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed. Jesus acknowledges that His own glory was the very glory that He shared with the Father before His incarnation. So Jesus certainly taught that He was God. And He acknowledged that He was God throughout His earthly ministry. So what does it mean then that He didn't count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but instead made Himself nothing, or emptied Himself, or made Himself of no reputation? Back in John chapter 5, we just read 16 to 18, in verse 19 Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise." When it says that he didn't grasp at his equality with God, what it means is that in his incarnation, as he walked the earth in his earthly ministry, he never used his divine status for personal gain. He never used His divine power for personal pleasure. He never used His divine power in a way that would simply be cheap magic tricks for the adulation of the crowds. In fact, what do we see over and over again in His earthly ministry? When His miracles and His work among the crowds began to swell the crowd, and it was clear that the only reason that they were around was because of what Jesus could do for them, like in John chapter 6, He taught the truth about Himself and thinned the crowd very quickly. In John 6, for example, He feeds the 5,000, and then He walks on water, only the disciples see that, and the crowds meet Him around on the north side of the Sea of Galilee. And they come to Him only because they're ready for breakfast. They had just had dinner the night before, and so now they're ready for breakfast. They're hungry again. And Jesus teaches them what the miracle was intended to teach them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst." And He continues to teach, continues to teach, until this crowd of probably upwards of 10,000 to 15,000, counting the women and children, were reduced all the way down to the 12,000. It's kind of been labeled here in recent days as the great church shrinkage sermon, instead of the church growth sermon. And then he looked at the twelve and he said, are you going to leave two? And Peter said, no, you have the words of eternal life. He could have used his power for his own personal gain. He could have built up his reputation. In that same chapter they were ready to make him king. He could have been the king of Israel. And he could have taken out all of the enemies of Israel with a swipe of his finger. But he didn't do it. You remember the temptation in the wilderness? Two of the three temptations, one was for earthly power and prestige, but two of the other three were temptations for Him to use His divine power for personal gain. Make bread out of these stones, throw yourself off the temple, and the angels will carry you. And both times He rejected. the temptation of Satan. Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. And do not put the Lord your God to the test." He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Not only did He not use His privileges of being God for own personal gain, but He made Himself of no reputation. And in His lowliness, in His humility, in His obedience, all of which we're fixing to get into, He subjected Himself, the very God and Creator of the universe, subjected Himself to the most humiliating torture and death that mankind has ever conceived. which in that time was reserved for the lowest and vilest of the culture. It was reserved for the most wretched of evil men, for insurrectionists, for murderers, for terrible people. And he subjected himself to that. And even then he was tempted to use his power for personal gain. said to Him in Matthew 27 and 40, you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself if you're the Son of God, come down from the cross. And He could have. He could have commanded the entire legion of angels at His disposal to smite all of His enemies from the face of the earth, which would have been everybody. And He didn't. He came in the form of a servant. He came full of grace and truth, according to John 1. He came to be the Lamb of God, to take away the sin of the world. He came to give up His life on His own. No one could take it from Him, He told them in John 10. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to pick it back up. No one takes My life from Me, I lay it down of My own accord. That's the lowliness of Jesus, subjecting Himself to the will of His Father that sinners might be saved. And that ties right back into verse 3 and 4, doesn't it? Count others more significant than yourselves. Have this mind in you, which is yours in Christ Jesus. First, it's lowliness. Second, it's servanthood. First, lowliness. Second, servanthood. Taking the form of a servant. being born in the likeness of men." That's the end of verse 7. This is really a marvelous statement by Paul. In just these couple of verses, he has affirmed both first the deity of Christ, and now he is affirming the humanity of Christ. Both natures existing together in the flesh of Christ in perfect harmony. 100% God and 100% man. It is both and, it is not either or. He is both. Historically, this doctrine has been called the hypostatic union of Christ. Hypostasis is a stasis in which two things exist individually and then union, but together. The hypostatic union. Jesus is both divine and human. Jesus has both a divine nature and a human nature. and He did not give up one or the other even after His resurrection, for now He has a glorified body by which He sits at the right hand of the Father." This is a fascinating statement. He took the form of a servant. He took the form of a doulos. Some translations use bondservant, which gets it a little closer. Literally, it's slave. And typically what you would see in Greek is whenever the word doulos is used, so also is used kurios, master. Master and slave. This is a word that is used all over the New Testament, and usually in most translations it is translated as servant or bondservant. But literally, it's slave. And what do we know about a slave? They own nothing. They possess nothing. They have the clothes on their backs, and many times they don't even own that. They are completely subject to their Master, and they are completely obedient to their Master. That's what it means when it says that Jesus came in that form. He came in the form of a doulos, of a slave. To who? To His Father. He completely submitted Himself to the will of His Father. That's what we just read in John, right? The Father is working until now, and I am working. John 6 says, I'm here to do the will of Him who sent me. That's what Jesus came to do. When Jesus emptied Himself and became one of no reputation, He became a lowly man, born in a manger to poor people, Mary and Joseph. When He came into this world, He didn't come announcing His arrival to the kings of the earth. The angels announced his arrival to a bunch of shepherds, tending their flocks. His lowly spirit and servanthood of Christ was prophesied in the words of Isaiah. Chapter 53, He grew up before Him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. He was nothing! And He made Himself that way. He could have come, as I said, in all His glory, which He intends to do in the end, when He rides in on His white horse with a flaming sword coming out of His mouth to smite His enemies at the end. He will come again and He will come in power. But when He came to be the Savior of the world, He came in the form of a servant. being born in the likeness of men, submitting Himself to the Father's will. That's what it means that He was born a servant. Willingly submitting Himself to His Father's will. It's the mind of Christ. First is lowly, considering itself nothing. It's serving, counting others as more significant than themselves. Thirdly, it's humble. The humility of Christ is on display. Verse 8, "...being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Jesus humbled Himself and His humility resulted in action. He humbled Himself to the Father's will. And when He did so, He did what needed to be done. And He became obedient to the point of His own death. point-blank way that Paul says this. Literally, it's written emphatically. Death appears side by side in the Greek. It's obedient to the point of death. Death on a cross. It's an emphatic statement. Crucifixion, as I've already said, is the most humiliating method of death ever devised by mankind. It is the most excruciating method of death ever devised by mankind. Here's Frederick Farrar in the life of Christ. A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly. Dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, shame, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of intended wounds, all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness. The unnatural position made every movement painful. The lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish." It was a method of death that was intended to keep a person in the most pain possible for as long as possible without death providing release. Or as he says here, without unconsciousness providing release. This is not only the way that Jesus died, this is the way that the Father planned for Jesus to die. It's not like Jesus came into the world with the intent of dying and wasn't really sure exactly what that death would look like. He suffered for the sins of the world under the instrument of death that would cause the most suffering possible in the body. under the instrument of death that would cause the most humiliation possible, and even the greatest curse possible. You know that the Romans did it. It was developed even earlier than the Romans, although they're the ones that perfected crucifixion. And it itself was invented because, in the end, in God's plan, God intended to use it to sacrifice His Son. for sinners. In the law of Deuteronomy 21-23, it talks about how a man is cursed if he hangs on a tree. And Paul makes that connection. The lowliest and most demeaning death possible, so that Paul could write to the Galatians in chapter 3, verse 13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree. That's what the humility of Christ resulted in. Obedient to the point of death, death on a cross. And He did it willingly, not begrudgingly. He did it joyfully, for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. Hebrews chapter 12, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. So do you have that mind which is yours in Christ Jesus? Lowly? Servant? Humble? That's the kind of mind that the Lord is calling us to have here as we live together in a body. But there's one more thing to see in this passage and this is very sweet. The Scriptures over and over gives us different motivations for what it commands of us. Sometimes the motivation is the fear of discipline. You know, we do something wrong and we might be disciplined for it. The fear of displeasing God, the not wanting to displease our Father, and sometimes the Scriptures give us glorious motivations as we are reminded of our reward in heaven, to motivate obedience now. And that's exactly what Paul does, exactly what Paul does as he begins to outline the exaltation of Christ. Verse 9, therefore, don't you love the therefores of Scripture? Based on everything I just said, this is a reality, therefore, because He was lowly and gave Himself up and made Himself of no reputation, and because He humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of all this, therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name." What's the point? This does not end in the death of Christ. Yes, He humbled Himself to the point of death, even death on a cross, but God highly exalted Him. He raised Him. Yes, He died, but He was raised from the dead. And not only was He raised from the dead, but He ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of the Father. Colossians 3.1, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of the throne of God. And what does He do there at the right hand of God? What does He do as He sits upon His throne, crowned with many crowns? Does He rule as a tyrant would? No, but He does do something, and He does something that is very sweet for all who believe. Romans 8, verse 34, "...who is to condemn Christ as the one who died, more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." Christ in His exaltation and in His ascension sits at the right hand of His Father and intercedes in His role as High Priest of the New Covenant by His own blood for His sheep. It's a beautiful thought that now He sits in heaven and intercedes by means of His own blood for those who believe. Hebrews 7.25, Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For indeed it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. is our Christ. God highly exalted Him, and secondly, He bestowed upon Him an exalted name, the name that is above every name. To bestow is to freely give or to freely deliver. The Father did not begrudgingly crown Jesus with this name that is above every name, but He joyfully and happily gave Jesus this title. For the end, that at the end of everything, every knee would bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth." Meaning every knee and every tongue will confess. It's a parallel to the knees bowing and every tongue confessing. Jesus Christ is Lord. That's the name that He gave Him. Lord, Sovereign, King. That's the title, the ranking that He has been given. And you wonder, what does the exaltation of Christ mean for me? How is this motivation for me? Why does Christ being exalted matter for me when it comes to having this mind of Christ? Matthew 23, 12, whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Or James 4.10, Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. 1 Peter 5.6, Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you. What Christ's resurrection, ascension, intercession, what His exaltation means for us, is that we can trust that when God promises to raise us from the dead, to live with Him forever, we can believe His Word. He is raised from the dead in order that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. As I said earlier, we've been buried with Him in baptism in which we were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead. Although we were dead in our trespasses and sins, God made us alive together with Him. We can believe in the promise of God that we too will be exalted. We will be, Romans 8 again, co-heirs with Christ. as we reign at His right hand forevermore, and live with Him in our heavenly home of which we are truly citizens even now. We are strangers and aliens in this dark world. Our citizenship is not here. It is in heaven. And when God says one day we'll go home, we can trust Him, for Christ has been raised. and has gone before us, like He told His disciples, to prepare a place for us. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for the many reminders that we have in Scripture of who Christ is. We thank You for the reminders in Scripture of who You call us to be as Your children. We pray that You would Help us. We believe, but help our unbelief. Help us to have the mind of Christ. This lowly, servant, humble mind. And as you said, as we humble ourselves, we will be exalted with Him. We pray that You would help us to continually cling to the cross, believe in the righteousness of Christ and His sacrifice, the blood that was shed, the body that was broken on our behalf. It frees us to have this new mind, this new heart. We thank You for the blood, we thank You for the sacrifice, for the redemption that You have provided. that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. In all this we ask in His name, amen.