The God-Man Jesus Christ

Transcript

We will begin in verse 5, Philippians chapter 2, verse 5. While you’re turning there, let me bring you greetings from Western Seminary and also from Hinson Church, where I get to serve as an elder. They will be praying for us when they get out of bed and start the service this morning. A little bit later. Philippians 2, verse 5. Paul, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, writes this by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, beginning in verse 5.

Have this mind among 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, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

— Philippians 2

(ESV)

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 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

(ESV)

Would you pray with me? Father, we ask now simply that you would open your word up to us, and open us up to your word, that we might behold the light of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And bless us to that end, in Jesus’ name, amen. On March 15th, 1783, General George Washington stood before the officers of the Continental Army. The Revolutionary War for some time had been fought and won, but what the rebels would do to form a government was still in question. The colonists had declared they had fought for and they had won their independence,

but that did not settle the fact of what kind of government would be formed to replace that of George III’s England. And at the time the prospects seemed dire. The soldiers who had sacrificed so much for the colonies were being mistreated. Promises had been broken, agreements had been reneged, wages had been withheld, sufficient food and sufficient clothing were still nowhere to be seen. And the army, quite frankly, had enough. If the Continental Congress would not act, then the army would. A conspiracy was hatched, now called the Newburgh Conspiracy, to overthrow the Congress and establish a military state. And if the military would have succeeded in this, it would have just been one more instance in world history where a revolution succeeded, but in the subsequent chaos of the power vacuum, the ideals of the rebellion devolved into just a power grab. And history, as you know, is replete with such examples.

So General Washington acted. The one, we need to keep this in mind, the one who would have certainly been given power and authority over the military state would not have it. He gathered his officers and ordered them to stand down. He explained to them that the army existed to serve the Congress and the fledgling nation. And then Washington, as he speaks to his officers, he continues to advocate for them. He says, I will take your case before Congress. We must have confidence in them. But the officers were still largely unmoved, because they had heard this kind of thing before. This was nothing new. Washington had to have seen the look in his officers’ eyes, and so he switched tactics. He reached into his breast pocket for a letter from a congressman, but when he went to read the small script, he paused, awkwardly, he couldn’t read the writing.

His officers had never seen their general stumble before. I mean, he was a mountain of a man. He stood six feet, two inches tall. His strength was prodigious. His confidence was infectious, and his bravery was unquestioned. Moving the paper back and forth, not able to read it, he fumbled in his pocket for a pair of spectacles. Perhaps he got them at the general store like I get mine. His officers were stunned. They had never seen this before, this show of weakness. And so Washington begged his officers, Gentlemen, you must pardon me. I have grown old in the service of my country, and now find that I’m growing blind. And the eyes of everyone in the audience were just filled with tears. Nobody actually cared what was in that letter after that moment. They knew that nobody had sacrificed as much for the revolution as their general.

The Transformative Power of Humility

And now they would continue to follow his direction, but they would follow his example as well. Within minutes, the officers had voted unanimously to end the rebellion. March 15, 1783. It stands as one of the most important dates in American history, not because of a battle fought or a treaty signed or legislation passed. It stands as a watershed moment in American history because of an act of humility, an act of humility, if you can imagine that, that ended up being transformative. In our text today, the Apostle Paul, in like fashion, he wants to focus the eyes of his readers on a transformative act of humility, not by a military general, not by a mere man, but by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And so this morning, if you are here, and you do not understand yourself to be a Christian, I would ask you to consider what kind of leader you are looking for.

What kind of person would you consider following? How important is humility on the list of attributes? In the eyes of the world, in our current political situation, I don’t think humility ranks very high. But ought it? What would you do if you encountered one who stands exalted now and forever, in large part because of a lifetime of sacrificial humility? Would he be worth following? For the rest of you, if you understand yourself to be a Christian, you have repented, you have believed the gospel. My charge as we work through this text in Philippians is very simple. I would like for you to fix your eyes on Christ. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Look to him. Contemplate him. He has won for you. He has won for you a salvation that is so wondrous that it took everything that he is in his glorious and complex being

to do everything that he has done, is doing, and will do for you. So let’s turn to the text. Let me give you just a little background. I’m here starting right in the middle of a letter. Paul, who was himself at this time in prison in Rome, he wrote to the Philippians to encourage them to stay faithful in the midst of trials. In this letter, Paul was very specific in how that faithfulness was to manifest itself. He taught that the marks of corporate Christian faithfulness are unity and even joy. That is, faithfulness will inevitably bear the fruit of unity, the fruit of joy. And to encourage the Philippians towards such faithfulness, Paul initially offers himself as an example. The first chapter of Philippians, he basically says, Be like me. I have been imprisoned for my faithfulness to the gospel. But even this seemingly bad thing, this trial, this persecution, this injury,

it has occurred to further the progress of the gospel. Paul famously stated that he was torn between living for Christ or dying for Christ. He would rather go be with the Lord. But he was convinced that he would probably have to stick around for a while so that he could continue to encourage the Philippians and the other churches that he had started. And this was important. This was important for the Philippians because the church in Philippi was really birthed in persecution, wasn’t it? Paul and Silas’ night in a Philippian jail is legendary. You can read about that in Acts 16. That’s how they started, and it was only going to get worse for them. And Paul knew that. He was convinced that tougher times were ahead. So it was crucial that they remain faithful. And so he charged them in verse 27 of chapter 1,

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or I’m absent, I may hear of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

— Philippians 1

(ESV)

So Paul says, Look to me. Perhaps as he’s reading, though, he realizes, looking to me is, that’s not going to cut it. They need someone better. They need someone better.

Fix Your Eyes on Christ

And so he switches gears. In order for the Philippians to remain faithful, it is not enough for them to consider the example of Paul. To be unified, to share the same love, to walk in humility and self-sacrifice, it’s going to take more than the inspiration and insight of Paul’s life, his experiences, to sustain faith in this broken world. If the Philippians were to live blamelessly and innocently in the midst of a crooked generation, if the church was to shine as a light to the world, if the body of Christ was to hold fast to the word of life, they would need more than what Paul could give them. They would need to fix their eyes upon Jesus Christ, and they would need to cling to the gospel. The Philippians had been saved by the life, the atoning death, the resurrection of Jesus, and they needed to know that it took all of who Jesus was and is

in order for him to do all that he had done, was doing, and would do for them. And so he says, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. Now we need to remember that Paul did not initially sit down to explain the ins and outs of the incarnation of Christ, but to encourage the Philippians to stay faithful, Paul appealed to the person of Jesus. That’s where he’s directing their attention right now. Look to Christ. Have this mind among yourselves. And this fact is instructive for us because it tells us that theology matters. Theology matters. And I know, I was introduced, I’m a theology professor, all that. So of course I’m gonna go up there and say that. But no, it really matters. Because we’re not just here united in believing false things. We are here united in believing the truth, and the truth matters.

You see, it’s not our faith that does much for us. It’s the object of our faith, right? You know, oftentimes we hear people say, oh, my faith got me through this. Your faith doesn’t get you through anything. It’s the object of your faith that gets you through things. Now, you believe, and that matters, but what you believe actually matters. And so the most important thing that I can tell you this morning is to fix your eyes upon Christ and consider who he is. Now, who Jesus is complex, and it is wonderful, and it is, I mean, it, the Apostle John said, if all the books that could be written about Jesus were written, you know, not all the libraries of the world could contain them. So, I mean, and that’s true, right? I mean, think about it. We’re going to have all of eternity to just delve into the depth

of the richness of who Jesus is, and we will never plumb the depths of it. We will never plumb the depths of who Christ is, and we will never grow bored. There will be something new and mysterious and wonderful every single day. Every single day. What we know about Christ combined with faith is important because knowledge of Christ is transformative. The scriptures are full of instructions to take on the mind of Christ and be transformed by the renewing of your minds. And the reason is simple. What we know about Jesus affects the way that we act. I mean, the goal of salvation is to be transformed into the image of Christ. I mean, you understand that, right? That is your destiny. That is your destiny, to be like Christ, to think, to speak, to act like him. And so Paul’s instructions are very clear here.

Be like Christ. In particular, he says, be humble like Christ. Be humble like Christ. And to explain just how humble Jesus Christ actually is, Paul dives straight into the deep end of the theological pool. Perhaps there are some here this morning who think that theology is only for the academicians. Just, Todd, just keep reminding me that Jesus loves me. That’s enough. That’s enough for me. I’ll be fine. And let me say, that’s true. Okay, so I’ll just say that. Jesus loves you. Okay, he does. He does. But why and how and what? I mean, the love of Christ for you is important, but what makes it important is that it is Christ who loves you. It is Jesus Christ, the son of God, the incarnate one who loves you. In all of his deity, in all of his humanity, it is him that loves you.

And so as we walk through these next verses, keep the urgency and the reason for Paul’s teaching in mind. He wants the congregation in Philippi to focus on Jesus in order that they might persevere in the trials ahead. Many people think that what follows in verses six through 11 was an early first century hymn. I guess, you know, archaeologists must have dug out a first century Maranatha Sings praise book or something and it was there. I don’t know how they tell it is, but I throw that out for you. You can do with that what you want. So we’ll go through this phrase by phrase. Verse six, who though he was in the form of God, before Jesus Christ was born as a fully human baby in Bethlehem, the son of God existed as God. He was in the form of God. That word form is best understood, I think, as essence.

Form is what a thing is at its core. It’s what makes a thing what it is. I think this is the best way to think of it. If there was a list, a checklist of everything that it takes to be God, and that in order to be God, you have to have every one of those things, the son of God could check every single box. Every single box. Everything that it takes to be God, the son possessed. He was and is completely and fully God. Now, consider the enormity of that statement. The son of God is completely and fully divine. If you are a follower of Christ this morning, you need to remember that the one whom you call your savior is not merely the best man for the job. He is almighty God. The one through whom you approach the throne of grace in prayer

or in times of need, he is not a priest of the failed Levitical caste, or any churchly caste for that matter. He is almighty God. The one who is head of the church is not merely the best pastoral candidate chosen from a pool of good to great mid. He is almighty God. And the son of God brings the entirety of his divine being to the task of being your savior, your redeemer, your great high priest, your Lord.

The Divine Emptying

The next phrase, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, or made himself nothing. The son, prior to the incarnation, the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem, the son, before that, enjoyed equality with God. That is, he had all the trappings and privileges of deity, the existence of deity, being himself fully God. Now, I don’t hardly in any way know what it is like to be God. That’s obvious, right? Imagine all the glory, all the honor, all the majesty that rightly belong to the one who is God. I was here a few months ago and I preached from Revelation 4 and 5 and we talked about the throne room of God, these fantastic beings that were created to praise and worship God, and all of that belonged to the son. It was part of his everyday experience. But Paul taught that the son did not leverage the fact that’s who he was

and that’s who he enjoyed for his own benefit, to avoid a tough task. Instead, we’re told that the son emptied himself or made himself nothing or poured himself out. In the Greek language, that word translated empty, it usually meant poured out, like what you would do with a pitcher of water. So here’s where it gets sticky. How did the son of God empty himself? What does that even mean? Does it mean that he stopped being divine? Does it mean that he divested himself of certain divine attributes? There have been some within the history of the church who have believed that’s exactly what Paul meant. During the 1800s, there was a group of men who explicitly taught that the son stopped being God when he became a man. And they based it on this verse. Now, let me tell you, there are two problems with that interpretation.

First, as we’ll soon see, it’s not what Paul actually taught. And second, think on it. If the son had stopped being God when he became a man, there’s no way that Jesus, even if he used to be God but is so no longer, there’s no way that Jesus could actually save us. I mean, the gospel begins to unravel if it’s just a mere man hanging on a cross. Now, it has to be a man hanging on a cross, but it’s got to be more than that because salvation is of the Lord. And the penalty for sin against an infinite God is infinite. It takes more than just a dude. All right? It takes more than that. It takes Jesus, everything he is, fully human, fully divine, to save us. So I think rather than thinking that the son divested himself of divine attributes, thereby ceasing to be God, we should, well, I don’t know, how about just keep reading?

Keep reading because Paul explains exactly how the son of God emptied himself. He did so by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form. Here, Paul uses three phrases to describe how it was that the son emptied himself. And notice that in each case, he emptied himself by adding something to himself. First, he took on the form of a servant, the same exact word form that was used earlier. And again, we should think of it as essence. Jesus took on the very nature, the essence, the substance, the existence of a servant. Go back to our original illustration about, you know, the God checklist, except make it a servant checklist. If you could compile a list of everything that it takes to be a servant, if there was a checklist of all the necessary attributes for servanthood,

Jesus Christ could check every box. It’s like he’s the prototype servant. He became a true servant in every sense of the word. And in this passage, we’re instructed to look at Jesus, then, as the model and essence of what a servant is. A servant is not motivated by vain conceit or selfish ambition. A true servant is humble, motivated by concern for others. We could also look to the life and ministry of Jesus, all of the great Jesus stories that we know. He washed the disciples’ feet. He fed the multitudes. He healed the sick. I mean, this is just who he was. He was and is a servant. Second, Jesus took on, added, was born in the likeness of humanity. Like every human being after Adam and Eve, Jesus was born. Now, I grant you, Jesus’ virgin conception was extraordinary, okay? I get that. But he was formed in the womb for nine months or so like every other baby.

He was born, yeah, true, with accompanying angelic choir. That doesn’t always happen. I grant you that. But he was born just like every other baby. And, you know, it’s funny that in the Christmas songs, we sing in a way in a manger and we talk about how no crying he makes. I mean, that’s just a bunch of pious nonsense, right? Of course baby Jesus cried. That’s what babies do, right? His, let me, we make a big deal about that night, but the scriptures don’t actually make much of a deal about the birth of Jesus. Have you noticed that? It basically just says Mary gave birth to a son. Oh, you know, like that. Like because there was nothing extraordinary about the actual birth. They just say she gave birth to a son. That was it. That was it. It was so ordinary that it needed no further explanation.

His growing up years were much the same, rather ordinary, needing no elaboration or explanation. You know, there’s a time he went to the temple and he got lost, but that happens. Now, most people don’t say, you know, why were you looking for me? Don’t I have to be in my father’s house? And, you know, Mary and Joseph go, just get in the car. Come on. Just go, right? But there’s not much about his growing up because it was ordinary. It was ordinary. He grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. A third, Jesus came as a man. Literally, the text says, being discovered in the appearance as a man. His humanity was no secret to anyone. It was there for everyone to see. The eyewitness verdict on Jesus by all who saw and knew him was that he was what he appeared to be, a man.

Notice what Paul did not write. He did not write that Jesus emptied himself by giving up his divine nature and replacing it with a human nature. Rather, Jesus emptied himself by adding a human nature to himself. It was, if you will, subtraction by addition. He takes his divine nature and adds a human nature to it. Subtraction by addition. That’s like the new math, right? Except it’s not the new math. It’s the old math. It’s the old math because it’s been around for thousands of years. My professor and mentor, Bruce Ware, he illustrates the concept a couple of different ways. I’ll throw a couple of them out to you, see if any stick. Think of like a fancy sports car with a high-powered engine, glorious, lustrous, taken off on the roads, off roads, comes back muddy, filthy.

The glory of the sports car is now veiled by the dust. The glory is still there. You just can’t see it. Another illustration, like the prince and the pauper. A prince who enjoys the existence of being a prince adds to himself the clothing of a pauper and then goes out into the city to see how the poor live. He looks like the poor. He doesn’t have his entourage of guards. He’s mistreated as the poor. He could, I suppose, at any time call out and say, hey, I’m actually the prince, but he chooses not to. I think both of those illustrations break down, but I think they have some explanatory value there. Jesus’ deity, which was always present, was hidden or veiled to the watching eye by the addition of his humanity. We see this in the life of Jesus. In terms of appearances, we know there was nothing

to commend him to others. His own hometown rejected him. Recall how those who knew him best asked, aren’t you Joseph’s son? We know you. We know you. Much of Jesus’ life and ministry could be classified under the category of does not meet expectations. His followers claimed that he was the messiah, but he didn’t meet any of the stock messianic criteria held by the popular opinion. He didn’t seem like a likely candidate to usher in the long-awaited kingdom of God. Droves of people walked away from him in disappointment. At the end of his life, those who were loyal, who stood by him to the very end, it’s a mere handful. A couple frightened fishermen, a few women, one of whom was his mom. She had to be there, right? That was her job. I mean, it’s an unimpressive list. Hardly the kind of entourage that you would expect

the son of God. But then as the text goes on, we see that it gets worse. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because Jesus took the very essence, the very nature and existence of a servant, we should expect that Jesus would do the deeds consistent with a servant. In obedience to the decree of his father, the son of God became a human. And then he kept on obeying the father his entire life to the very end. Jesus obeyed his father all the way to the cross. Now, talk about not meeting popular expectations. The son of God is nailed to a Roman cross, the most scandalous and ignominious means of death imaginable at that time. And yet it’s here, at the moment of profound disappointment that we have to remember that Jesus is the son of God,

despite all appearances to the contrary. Jesus came to fulfill the plan of God the father. He did not come to do his own will, and he certainly was not beholden to the people of the day, no matter how much he disappointed them. He came to do the will of his father, period. And what was that will? Jesus came to live, to reveal, and then to die to atone for human sin so that all who repent and place their trust in Christ will be saved. And that, of course, is what we have been singing and praying all morning. It is the gospel. God doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. God reconciling himself to you and reconciling us to him without any compromise of his holiness whatsoever, but in love and mercy and compassion, reaching out and saving sinners. And he did that through his son.

Veiled Glory Revealed

So if you’re not a believer here this morning, if you don’t understand yourself to be a Christian, if you have never repented and believed the gospel, that’s basically it, what I just relayed to you. I would encourage you that if that piques your interest at all to talk to anyone else here who identifies as a Christian. Talk to any of the elders who are here. I’m sure they would be happy to speak more about that with you. For the rest of us. Jesus is hanging on the cross. Let’s admit it, he didn’t look the part of almighty God, did he? That’s exactly who he was, and that’s exactly who he is. Unrecognized by most, veiled by the form and role of a servant, Jesus Christ was still and always God in the flesh. And we need to recognize that the glory of Christ is still veiled to the world.

It’s not public, is it? Unbelievers don’t recognize the glory of Christ. To them, Jesus is, I mean, he’s remarkable, but he’s not all that remarkable. He’s wise, but he’s not that wise. Certainly not anywhere close to almighty God. He may have said some clever things, occasionally helpful things, some inspirational things, footprints in the sand and that sort of stuff. Didn’t Jesus say that? I don’t know. He may have lived a life of inspirational conviction, but he’s ultimately not worth following. Sometimes his own followers don’t recognize his glory. I mean, and I get it, because we live in anticipation of his return, don’t we? And we anticipate by faith, not by sight. And the only body of Christ that is visible to us or apparent to our senses is the church. And the church is, at times, far from triumphant, isn’t it? Failures by the body of Christ are painful.

They cause doubt, they cause disillusionment. I mean, we want to believe in Christ. We want to follow him. But sometimes his followers get in the way, and I love the verse where a man comes to Jesus and he says, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. It’s almost like he’s saying, I want to believe. You’re worth following, but help me to believe. Help me to believe. And it’s at that time that we need to go further into this text. We need to keep going. Look at verse nine. Therefore, therefore, because of this, because he went to the cross, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that 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.

The Exalted Lord

So, my brothers and sisters in Christ, we must fix our eyes on the exalted Lord. The cross, at least according to the world, is not the road to exaltation, but it is the path to glory as decreed by God. It is at the cross the sin and death were defeated. It is at the cross that Satan and his minions were crushed. It is at the cross that the curse is undone, making possible the recreation of the new heavens and the new earth. It is at the cross that people are ransomed for God, and it’s at the cross that the new covenant is initiated with better promises and better blessings than any prior covenant that God had ever made. It is at the cross that the path is laid down for the sending of the Holy Spirit, and so it is no wonder, right? It is no wonder that the Gospel of John refers

to the death of Christ as the glorification of Christ. It’s paradoxical. We don’t expect someone hanging on a Roman cross to be glorified, but only because God, who is bigger, had better things planned. At times it seems as though things are spinning out of control, going from bad to worse. International terrorism, natural disasters, racial tensions, economic injustice, so-called political solutions, they seem to be more and more counterproductive all the time, and it can be tempting for Christians to wonder if the Lord truly has his hand on the wheel, but the biblical testimony is sure. The very one of whom it is said, he is before all things, and by him all things hold together, is the same one who said, I will build my church. This is Jesus’ church, and he is almighty God. That means that in good times and bad, Jesus is building his church.

Even when things look darkest, Jesus is on mission, and we are told here that every knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess, and because of that, I think we ought to be bold. We ought to be bold. We ought to be bold in our evangelism, bold in our service. I mean, we don’t follow a mere tribal deity who we happen to like, because that’s who our parents forced us into liking. We need to be convinced that Jesus Christ, the head of the church, is Lord of the cosmos, and he has divine rights over every single person, no matter how disinterested they might feel at the time. You should be confident that your neighbor, who it seems like he’s got everything going for him, he actually needs the Lord, and his life would be better off following the Lord. That is how great,

that is how big Jesus Christ actually is. I mean, all that Jesus is, know this, all that Jesus is, he is for you. I mean, the church that Jesus leads, it’s no cold and faceless institution. It’s not like that. If you’re a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, you need to know that the one who is Lord of the cosmos and Lord of the church is your Lord, personally, vitally. The great theologian Garth Brooks is fond of crooning, I’ve got friends in low places, right? Christian, you need to know you have a friend in the highest place imaginable, the highest place imaginable. If you have a friend in Jesus, you have a friend who is fully human, fully human, just like you. Fully human, just like you. Knows what it is like to be you. But he’s not merely human, is he? He’s also God, almighty God,

to whom belong all strength, honor, and blessing. And we must fix our eyes on him, amen? Let me pray. Our Father in heaven, we ask that you would help us in this time to fix our eyes on Christ. May his praise be on our lips. May his word dwell richly in our hearts. And may we have his mind, that we might be unified, that we might be even joyful. Father, we thank you that you have sent your son, that he might be our great high priest, that he might be our good shepherd. For we need him much. It’s our prayer in Jesus’ name, amen.