“Living He Loved Me” Philippians 2:1-11
Sermon by Don Emmitte, Grace Restoration Ministries
Today we begin a series developed from the chorus of a wonderful song by Casting Crowns. The lyrics of the song were originally written by J. Wilbur Chapman in 1911. However, John Mark, Hall and Michael Bleecker rewrote the tune in 2009 for Casting Crowns. The chorus is:
Living He loved me,
Dying He saved me,
And buried He carried my sins far away,
Rising He justified freely forever,
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day.
The original hymn actually appears in our Baptist Hymnal on page 193! I suppose I, like many others, was not struck with its powerful message until the tune was contemporized. At any rate, the theology and inspiration of these five statements in the chorus are incredible basics of our faith. The first in the series, Living He Loved Me, is a principle laced throughout the Scripture, however, I have chose Paul’s letter to Philippians to center our focus today.
TAKE YOUR BIBLES PLEASE…
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 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. 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 2:1-11 ESV).
Martin Luther was correct when he said, “The mystery of the humanity of Christ, that He sunk Himself into our flesh, is beyond all human understanding.” Perhaps that is what strikes us so clearly in the chorus. That the God of all, the only God, creator, sustainer, and almighty God of life itself would make himself human, in every way just like us, is indeed a great mystery. This is the declaration of the Apostle Paul.
Our text today is one of the most well known and moving passages in Paul's writings. It is known as the Kenosis Hymn (from the Greek word ekenosen, "he emptied"). There is a lack of consensus on how exactly to interpret the passage, and still less agreement on the role it should play in the life of the community of faith. However, few would deny the centrality of this particular passage in the Book of Philippians or its broader importance for a deeper understanding of the person and work of Christ. The act of Jesus’ incarnation is the clearest and most profound act of love we could imagine.
THERE ARE THREE DISTINCT PRINCIPLES PAUL DECLARES:
First, Jesus Laid Aside the Form of God for Us (vv.6-7).
…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.
The language is important in these verses. Since the Greek is awkward translated into our English, “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,” it has made it difficult to truly grasp the intent of the apostle’s declaration. It is not as some have suggested. Some have tried to point to an image of a loss that Christ suffered in becoming human and therefore His humility was show in at he did not “cling” (grasp) to it. This is the root of the translation in the King James Version of “robbery.” Vincent argues that, instead of “robbery” it should be translated “a highly prized possession.” Christ, therefore, did not regard His equality with God as a “highly prized possession” to be held onto. Instead, “He counted humanity His prize, and so laid aside the conditions of His preexistent state, and became man.”
So, let me dig in a bit at this point. God, and all of who he is, came to a place where he recognized that my redemption was such a highly prized object, he willingly, happily, eagerly left His glory and came to earth to live just like me. This is the heart of the gospel. It is this message of love that overwhelms me. It is like a huge wave washing over me. To think that he cares for me, not merely a Creator to created, but Father to child is overwhelming! Perhaps it would help a bit to go to John’s declaration:
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. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5 ESV).
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:14 ESV).
The Word did not pretend to be a man or play at being human. The Word became flesh. The Word did not "beam down" in full bodily form. The Word did not enter into flesh, as if to suggest that there was a man, a human being, into which the Word made entrance. He doesn't say the Word "dwelled or abided in" human flesh. I became a student, a husband, a pastor, a counselor, a father, a grandfather, and other things. But this isn't what John is saying. What John means is that the eternal Word, God the Son, entered into this world by being born as a human being.
LISTEN, WATCH THIS… it isn't correct to say that Jesus has always existed or that Jesus was in the beginning with God. The Son of God has always existed. The Second person of the Trinity, the Word, was in the beginning with God. But Jesus is the human name given to the second person of the Trinity when he took to himself flesh. It is a declaration of the incredible love the Father displayed in the act of allowing the Son to become flesh!
I don’t want to be common in explaining this clearly, but I also don’t want us to “spiritualize” the incarnation. We tend to do that with such lofty declarations. To become human meant that He restricted himself in every regard to all of the deficiencies of humanity. Just think of some of them that we take for granted as a part of life. He became a baby, a helpless, dependent infant. He could have taken the form of humanity as an adult and skipped all that, but his love for us was so great he saw identifying with us in every aspect of our humanity as a great prize! So, the One who is omnipresent crawled before he walked. The One who speaks and the universe jumps into place babbled before he talked. The One who is omnipotent becomes completely dependent on a mere human to be fed, to be bathed, to be consoled when he cried, and all of the other things we see as “normal” in taking care of a child! LIVING, HE LOVED ME… OH, GLORIOUS DAY!
Second, He Made Himself Nothing, Became a Servant For Us (v. 7b).
…but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
It might be instructive to understand who Jesus was before the incarnation. I like the way Max Lucado put it in the book, God Came Near:
"The omnipotent, in one instant, made himself breakable. He who had been spirit became piercable. He who was larger than the universe became an embryo. And he who sustains the world with a word chose to be dependent upon the nourishment of a young girl. God as a fetus. Holiness sleeping in a womb. The creator of life being created. God was given eyebrows, elbows, two kidneys, and a spleen. He stretched against the walls and floated in the amniotic fluids of his mother" (Lucado, God Came Near, 25-6).
The Word became flesh… God became human
The invisible became visible…the untouchable became touchable
The eternal life experienced temporal death
The transcendent one descended and drew near
The unlimited became limited… the infinite became finite
The immutable became mutable
The unbreakable became fragile… spirit became matter… eternity entered time
The independent became dependent… the almighty became weak
The loved became the hated
The exalted was humbled… glory was subjected to shame… fame turned into obscurity… from inexpressible joy to tears of unimaginable grief… from a throne to a cross…from ruler to being ruled…from power to weakness.
LIVING, HE LOVED ME… OH, GLORIOUS DAY!
Third, He Became Obedient Unto Death for Us (v. 8).
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
I could spend the final moments of this message describing that death… and it was gruesome, beyond our modern imagination. It was vicious. Even saying that is somehow sanitary on the surface. It doesn’t nearly convey the depths of suffering that Jesus endured when He gave up His life for us. Remember, he was betrayed by Judas and deserted by his disciples; beaten by the Temple guards; rejected by the very people He came to save; scourged, his fleshed torn from his body slowly; mocked by the soldiers and crowned with thorns, his beard plucked from His face; stripped naked; and, nailed to a cross and hung up to die.
However, I find no “glory” in his death. For me to shout Oh, Glorious Day! I am drawn to reason for his death. Jesus said,
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 ESV).
When I was a student at Texas A&M I frequently visited the student center. For every Aggie the MSC is a home away from home. It is a place where students and guests can go to do a variety of things. However, this facility is unique because it is also a memorial. After the world wars, the alumni wanted to build a memorial to honor all those Aggies that had lost their lives during the World Wars. At the same time, the students wanted to build a student center. The alumni and the students put their ideas together and the MSC was built. It was dedicated on Muster Day (April 21st) of 1951 to all Aggies that gave their lives in wars past or future. In front of the MSC there are 55 trees that surround O.R. Simpson Drill Field to honor the 55 Aggies that gave their lives in World War I. In addition, in the front hallway there are seven pictures framed of seven Aggies who served during World War II and received the Congressional Medal of Honor. Under their photographs specimen medals are displayed along with brief explanations of their heroic efforts. Their sacrifice is so remembered in the very fabric of Aggie tradition. In fact, as a reminder of how eternally linked their sacrifice and friendship are there is a bronze plaque with John 15:13 inscribed on it.
JESUS DECLARED ME HIS FRIEND BY HIS DEATH! The dictionary defines “friend as a favored companion.” Aristotle was once asked, “What is a friend?” He replied, “A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”
I am grateful to the friends that I have made as I have traveled through this life. The Lord has allowed my life to be blessed by my having enjoyed the friendship of some very special people. However, there is a Friend who is more special than any other I have ever met in this life. The incredible detail of this friendship is that I did not call him friend first. He called me friend! And, he did so with the greatest of sacrifices! Think about that for a minute.
NOW… DO YOU SEE IT? LIVING HE LOVED ME! OH, GLORIOUS DAY!
