Jesus: Our Greatest Gift Series

JESUS: OUR GREATEST GIFT

Philippians 2:5-11

A local radio show recently asked their listeners to call in and tell them about the greatest gift that they had ever received for Christmas. The callers reminisced on their childhood and mentioned bicycles, trains sets, dolls, basket balls, footballs, baseball gloves, engagement rings, cars, etc. Others were more sentimental, they mentioned receiving a favorite pet, children being born, or soldiers returning home from war.

You can probably remember certain gifts that you received that were a little more special than the rest. But without a doubt, the greatest gift that any of us could ever receive is salvation through Jesus Christ.

God has provided us with a gift that is beyond compare. In Philippians 2:5-11 Paul reveals many reasons why the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is far above anything else one could ever receive. I would like to examine this passage and consider “Jesus: Our Greatest Gift”

It is important for us to comprehend the reality that God planned the birth of our Savior before the world was ever created. His plan is fascinating, it is comforting, and it is a plan that provides us with great hope and assurance. I would like to begin in verses 6-11 and see that:

I. OUR GREATEST GIFT INVOLVES A PERFECT PLAN v6-11

God's plan for saving lost mankind was not an afterthought. The Father did not have to quickly devise a plan of redemption when Adam sinned. God knew before He created Adam and Eve that they would fall into sin. Thankfully for us, God's plan of salvation was (and is) an eternal plan. In Revelation 13:8 Jesus is described as, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world".

God declared that those who would be saved would be saved through His Son, Jesus Christ. There never has been, nor will there ever be any other means of salvation. In the beginning God created a perfect world. In time, Adam & Eve sinned in the Garden and their sin has been passed down to you and me. Paul said in Romans 5:12, “…by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

One of the many devastating consequences of sin is that man was separated from God. God is holy, righteous, & just and His holiness requires punishment and atonement for sin. Sinful mankind was in desperate need of a perfect, spotless, sinless sacrifice. The only one worthy and able to make such an atonement on our behalf was the Son of God, Jesus Christ.

For thousands of years the prophets proclaimed that a Messiah would arrive to deliver men from their sins. In accordance with God’s divine timeline, a young virgin named Mary gave birth to His Son in a little town called Bethlehem. In His incarnation, Jesus came to fulfill God's perfect plan. This glorious birth that we celebrate each year eventually led to a cruel cross and then an empty tomb, and it all started with a perfect plan.

- As we continue to examine this passage we will also see that:

II. OUR GREATEST GIFT INVOLVES A SUFFICIENT SAVIOR v6-7

When we read Luke’s account of the birth of Christ we see a baby wrapped tightly in swaddling cloths. But God saw a sufficient sacrifice; He saw the Savior of the world! Our selected text reveals some of the many glorious attributes of our Savior. In Philippians 2:6 Paul references:

A. JESUS’ DEITY

"(Jesus) 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”

Jesus Christ is God! He is infinite, eternal and unchanging. Jesus was God before He came into this world and Jesus was God throughout His time here. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God literally and physically came into this world and dwelt among men.

- In verses 6-7 we also see:

B. JESUS’ HUMILITY

The simple definition of humility is “the state of being humble”. There is no greater example of this in history than the fact that Jesus humbled Himself and became a man. When Jesus came into this world, He "took upon Him the form of a servant".

When Jesus walked the earth, there was no halo around His head, He did not have a glowing countenance that would have caused Him to stand out from the crowd. To the common Jew who passed Him on the street Jesus would have looked just like any of the Disciples who followed Him. This is actually something that Isaiah prophesied about long before Jesus’ arrival. Isaiah 53:2 says, “He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him”.