Introduction

Welcome, church! I am excited to be back with you all once again this week, as we continue in our movement toward Easter with the series we started last Sunday called Passion.

Remember, while Jesus was hanging on the cross, it wasn’t the nails that kept Him there. It wasn’t the threat of the Roman legions or the hatred of the Jewish elite. Rather, it was His passion for humanity that led Him to take the punishment of our own sins upon Himself. Jesus gave up His life so that we might have eternal life.

As we learned last week, He was fueled by unconditional and sacrificial love. And God the Father, so loved the world, that He gave His one and only son. God gave us the greatest gift, Jesus, through whom we might all experience everlasting life and forgiveness.

And as you may have heard, “It is more blessed to give than to receive…” Acts 28:35

In 2 Corinthians 9 the Apostle Paul is talking about generosity and giving. He concludes the section by proclaiming, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15) The gift He is talking about is, of course, Jesus. And it was a gift to all humanity that Jesus left His heavenly post to be with us.

He was fueled by love, as we’ve already discussed, but if love was the fuel then there were also several other additives present in the life of Jesus. As we’ll learn today, one of those irreplaceable additives was humility.

Jesus was and is the humble king who serves a world in desperate need.

Jesus gave up His life so that we might have eternal life.

Main Teaching

Let’s look together at a specific passage of scripture that helps us understand how Jesus displayed His passion for humanity while both on the earth and on the cross. Turn with me to Philippians 2:5-11. This is the Apostle Paul writing, and here’s what he has to say about Jesus.

Notice that Paul calls us to have the same mindset as Christ before we are told what that mindset is. I wonder how many of us have some level of a conditional faith. “God, I will go and do what you are calling me to do, but only if it aligns with my own priority list, schedule, and comfort zone.” Paul, more than many, came to understand that those who are used by God for great things are often outside of their comfort zones. He knew that all of his life had to be surrendered to God.

Which begs the question for us today, have you surrendered everything you have to God? Have you surrendered your thoughts to God… your mindset?

George Bernard Shaw said, “Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” And if you’re going to think like Christ and have the mindset of Christ, I imagine most of us here today, need some fairly drastic mental reform.

Thankfully, the Bible has some very specific instruction and encouragement about the mind and the thoughts therein.

One of the most well known comes from the book of Philippians which says, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium