Down Is The New Up - Sermon On Philippians 2:5-11 Series

Scripture constantly promises that God will exalt the humble. But what if you don’t desire exaltation? This message will help you see why we must pursue exaltation from God and how we can do so by fulfilling what is lacking in Christ’s suffering.

Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Introduction

Were you ever that kid that, when they were picking teams you got picked last? Or you were like me – you didn’t get picked at all? You just had to watch. Or did you ever come in dead last in a race? Or you got the worst grade in the whole class? You rank eleventh in a group of nearly a dozen. Sometimes we come in last when there’s only one other person. You get into a conflict with someone and you come out … on the bottom. One of the hardest things about life is lowliness. Sometimes we’re so lame we lose even though there’s no other person. I’m all by myself, and I try to do something, and it’s a flop. And it’s not always something very difficult either. There are times I try to put something in my mouth with a fork and miss – I hit my lip and the food falls off the fork. Talk about a fail. And when we fail, we hate it. Everything in us recoils against lowliness. It’s like we just were not designed for that. Animals don’t seem to mind lowliness. A dog makes a mistake, or barks out of turn - I don’t see him getting all embarrassed. Why is that? What is God’s design for us when it comes to being lowly and being lifted up?

God is Supreme in Every Category

Think for a second about the opposite of lowliness. What do you suppose it would be like to hang around the smartest person in the world? Or what about the nicest person? Of all the people alive on earth, somebody has to be the kindest – what would it be like to be around that person? What about the most beautiful person? What about the richest or most generous person? Or the strongest person? What about the most morally upright person - the person with the least amount of evil in his heart of all people alive? Or the most enjoyable person? Whoever it is on this planet that you would get the most enjoyment from hanging around – what would it be like to spend a day with that person? Who do you suppose all those people are?

I can tell you. They are all the same person: God. And I can say that for sure because that’s the definition of God. If there is a Supreme Being, then, by definition, he would have to be supreme, which means the ultimate in every category. So if there is a God, he would have to be smarter than the smartest person, nicer than the nicest person, kinder, more loving, wealthier, more generous, purer, holier, more beautiful, more spectacular, more interesting, and more enjoyable than anyone or anything else. That’s what supreme means. Think of everything in existence as being like a giant mountain. At the bottom of the mountain is everything evil, ugly, or worthless. The better things in life are a little ways up. The really, really good things in life are farther towards the top. On that mountain, something has to be at the peak. There is a word in human language for that, and the word is, “God.” The Supreme Being. He is not just supreme in power; he is supreme in every category. The notion of someone or something being better than God in any category is absolute nonsense, because it would mean God isn’t really God.

That’s why if I love anyone or anything more than I love God, something is seriously wrong with me. God is supreme in every way, and he should be acknowledged as such. And to fail to do so is a moral evil.

We have been studying through the book of Philippians here at Agape, and we are just now arriving at the most famous passage in the whole book – 2:5-11. In the weeks to come, the plan is to study this section phrase by phrase in detail, because it is such a rich and important passage. But before we embark on that endeavor, I thought it would be good today to back up and take a look at the section as a whole, and ask three questions: