Last time we answered two very important questions: “What does the Incarnation mean for Jesus?” and “What does the Incarnation mean for us?”
What does this mean for Him?
Jesus, who had come to earth as God and King, put on a body. He was God, but He restricted the independent use of His deity, His divinity, His omnipotence, His omnipresence and His omniscience so that He could put on and confine Himself to a frail human body in order to one day do His redemptive work on a cruel rugged cross.
But He didn’t put on the flesh of a fully grown and matured human being, He put on the flesh of a weak, very much dependent embryo who would grow in the womb of a woman named Mary, who would one day give birth to Him and lay Him in a farm animal feeding trough that served as a crib.
Last time we learned that Jesus not only took upon Himself a body of flesh, He entered into our suffering. He suffered by experiencing all the spiritual, emotional and physical limitations of flesh—
Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted just as we are, yet without sin.”
Lastly, we saw last time that not only did King Jesus come into this world in order to enter into our suffering, He entered into this world to suffer for us.
1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”
He came into this world to suffer for sins, our sins! The holy Son of God, who was from all eternity one with the Father, was separated from the Father at Calvary. In the Gospel of Matthew 27:46, the author records these words, “And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is, My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?”
God turned His back on His Son when Jesus was on the cross because He could not look upon sin, especially the sin that was now being laid on His own Son.
What does coming in the flesh mean for King Jesus? It means the Creator of the Universe taking upon Himself the limitations of a human body. It means entering into our suffering. It means suffering for the sins of those who would one day believe on Him.
What does it mean for us?
C. S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity wrote, “The Son of God became man to enable men to become the sons of God.”
King Jesus, God the Son, would leave the glory of heaven and take on flesh and enter into our suffering and die on the cross for our sins. He would be led to the cross for our forgiveness.
Romans 4:25 says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
What does this mean for the believer? The follower of Jesus Christ is a recipient of all the graces and the blessings of salvation. Last time we quickly mentioned 53 blessings that come when we trust Christ for salvation.
Today we are going to delve a little deeper into what the Incarnation meant for Jesus. We are going to look at a section of Scripture that examines the humility demonstrated by God the Son when it came to His becoming human.
Kenosis (Self-emptying/self-limiting of Jesus)
As Jesus came to earth as a baby, destined to grow up and be the Lamb of God to be sacrificed for the sins of the world, He voluntarily limited the use of His divine attributes.
Jesus came to this earth as God but he surrendered the involuntary use of His divine prerogative to the will of God the Father. The Apostle Paul gives his readers a description of this process in Philippians chapter 2.
In this chapter Paul begins by exhorting Christians to have the mind of Christ.
(Phil 2:1 NASB) If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
Here Paul appears and asks four rhetorical questions. One modern paraphrase (GW) presents those questions as follows:
So then, as Christians, do you have any encouragement? Do you have any comfort from love? Do you have any spiritual relationships? Do you have any sympathy and compassion?
But there are Greek scholars that tell us that the first class conditional in the Greek assumes the condition to be a reality. As a result, many translators translate the word “if” at the beginning of each of these statements to the word “since.” Making Paul say, “Since Christ encourages you, and since His love comforts you. And since God's Spirit unites you, and since you are concerned for others….”
When translated as conditions of reality and when coupled with verse two, these statements become very important to the Christian reader.
This Paul is saying, ““Since Christ encourages you, and since His love comforts you. And since God's Spirit unites you, and since you are concerned for others,
make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”
In other words, Paul is saying, “if Christ encourages you, and if His love comforts you and if God's Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others, then you will do everything in the power of God to be of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit and being intent on one purpose with other believers.”
Some friction is normal in the church
There is nothing abnormal about Christians having challenges when it comes to getting along with each other. Even in a healthy church, such as the one in Philippi, conflict was a problem. Thus Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians: “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel…” (Phil 4:2-3a).
Two prominent women in the Philippian congregation, those who had been Paul’s co-workers in ministry, were stuck in some sort of conflict and needed help from Paul and others to try and get along.
Then there is that classic example of the divisiveness of the Corinthian believers. The Apostle Paul, who planted the church in Corinth, wrote what we call 1 Corinthians because of the internal conflict in that church. And by the time Paul wrote 2 Corinthians, he was responding to the issues and the tension that the church had with himself.
Yet just before He would go to the cross to die for the sins of believers Jesus prayed that they would be as one.
“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)
Jesus had an attitude of meekness and humility. Meekness is strength under control. As God, Jesus had the ability to destroy His accusers and those who sought to put Him to death but He refused to retaliate. Why? Because He wasn’t merely looking out Himself; Jesus was always seeking to do the will of His Father in Heaven.
And so with the humility of Jesus as the basis and the context, Paul continues in Philippians 2:3:
(Phil 2:3 NASB) Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself;
(Phil 2:4 NASB) do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
(Phil 2:5 NASB) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Paul exhorts us to be like Christ in our attitude. Notice again what Paul writes:
(Phil 2:3 NASB) Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself;
(Phil 2:4 NASB) do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
If Jesus would have been thinking about Himself He would have never allowed Himself to be nailed to the Cross. If Jesus would have merely looked out for His own personal interests, He would have never subjected Himself to the cruel treatment He experienced at the hands of sinful men.
Thanks be to God that Jesus thought more about our need for salvation and that our need was more important than His own comfort.
Paul exhorts us to be like Christ in our attitude and not to merely look out for our own personal interests.
Think for a moment about all that Jesus went through before He was nailed to the cross. He was betrayed by Judas. He couldn’t even get His disciples to pray with Him in the Garden before His arrest. When He was arrested, all the disciples fled the scene. Peter denied Him three times. He was mocked. He was scourged with a whip that had strings of bone and iron. A crown of thorns was thrust upon His head. They pulled His beard out. He had to carry His own cross up the Via Dolorosa.
He went through all of this and more before He was even nailed to the Cross and before He took upon Himself the sins of the world. Yet some of us can’t even make it to prayer meeting, worship service, LIFEGroup or another ministry event because we are busy doing something else, or we want to sleep in or are just tired.
Paul exhorts us to be like Christ in our attitude and not to merely look out for our own personal interests. Then the apostle goes on to explain to us exactly what it means to have the attitude of Christ.
(Phil 2:5 NASB) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
(Phil 2:6 NASB) Christ… who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
* The word “existed” in verse six is the Greek verb huparcho, hoop-ar'-kho which carries the meaning of continued existence.
* The word “form” is morphe, mor-fay, which speaks of the outer appearance or manifestation.
These two words are telling us that in eternity past and in His outer appearance, Jesus Christ manifested His divine attributes. In other words, before Jesus came to earth as a baby He manifested Himself in a glorious array as the second person of the triune Godhead.
Paul is telling his readers in verse six, “Ain’t no ‘if’, ‘ands’ or ‘buts’ about it, before His incarnation, Jesus exhibited all the divine attributes of deity…He was God!”
Other passages of Scripture present this same truth:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word…the Word was God.
John 1:3 All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath been made.
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Philippians 2:6 goes on to say that Christ, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.
While Jesus was performing His earthly ministry, He made a very provocative statement. John 5:17 says, “Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is always working, and I too must work.’”
His enemies, the apostate religious leaders, knew exactly what Jesus claimed about Himself. This is why John 5:18 says, “The Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but was also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”
In Philippians 2:6 Paul affirms Christ’s claim of equality with God: “Christ… who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…”
The Greek word translated “equality” (isos) describes things that are exactly equal in size, quantity, quality, character, and number. Our English words, isomorph (equal form), isometric (equal measures), and isosceles triangle (a triangle with two sides of equal measure) are all English terms that describe equality.
Paul is saying in Philippians 2:6 that while Jesus was equal with God in all the dimensions of deity, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.
Though He had all the rights, privileges, and honors of Godhood, Christ didn’t grasp them. The word translated “grasp” originally meant “robbery” or “a thing seized by robbery.” It eventually came to mean anything clutched, embraced, held tightly, clung to, or prized.
Paul is saying that though Jesus was always and forever God, He refused to cling to His favored position with all its rights and honors. He was willing to give them up for a season.
Jesus did not grasp at His equality with God as if it had to be retained by effort. Though having existed in the form of God from all eternity, He was willing to empty Himself, taking the form of a Servant, and ultimately being obedient to the point of His death on the Cross.
Phil 2:7 NASB) but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, and being made in the likeness of men.
(Phil 2:8 NASB) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Now some have interpreted the words “emptied Himself” found in Philippians 2:7 to mean that Jesus emptied Himself of His deity for the time that He spent on the earth.
Nothing in this passage teaches that the Eternal Word of John 1:1 emptied Himself of either His divine nature or His attributes. God may change form, but He cannot cease to be God. Jesus could have exercised His divine attributes at any time according to His Father’s will.
The word “form” in verse seven is the same word used in verse six (morphe, mor-fay), which speaks of the outer appearance. In this case it is the outer manifestation of a slave and the human nature which corresponds to it.
Here it is saying that Jesus took the form of a slave and looked and acted like a man. Paul elaborates on this in verse eight when he writes, “and being found in appearance (fashion) as a man.” This phrase is taken to mean that Jesus manifested other characteristics of humanity such as weariness, thirst and other limitations.
When God the Son became man, He didn’t stop being God. Jesus voluntarily laid aside the use of His divine attributes and the glory and honor associated with them and submitted to the Father’s will.
While hanging on the Cross, Jesus could have taken His enemies out; but it wasn’t His Father’s will. In Matthew 26:53 when they come to arrest Jesus, Peter pulls out a sword and begins to fight. Jesus tells Peter to put away his sword and then says, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”
Think about it. A legion indicated a group of at least 6,000 Roman soldiers, although the total number could be higher. So Jesus said that He could call on the Father who would dispatch “more than” 72,000 angels.
Let’s take this image just one step further. Angels are powerful! In fact, Isaiah 37:36 records that a single angel destroyed 185,000 men in one night. So if a single angel had that kind of power, how much combined strength would there be in twelve legions of angels?
So while hanging on the Cross, Jesus could have taken His enemies out; but it wasn’t His Father’s will.
Isa 53:10a – “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin…”
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isa 53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isa 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
Taylor University is a Christian college in Indiana. Years ago, they were pleased to learn that an African student, Sam, was going to be enrolling in their school. This was before it was commonplace for international students to come to the U.S. to study.
Sam was a bright young man with great promise, and the school felt honored to have him. When he arrived on campus, the President of the University took him on a tour, showing him all the dorms. When the tour was over, the President asked Sam where he would like to live. The young man replied, "If there is a room that no one wants, give that room to me."
The President turned away in tears. Over the years he had welcomed thousands of Christian men and women to the campus, and none had ever made such a request.
"If there is a room that no one wants, give that room to me." That's the kind of humility Jesus modeled in the Incarnation.
Romans 5:6-8 (GW) says, “Look at it this way: At the right time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for ungodly people. Finding someone who would die for a godly person is rare. Maybe someone would have the courage to die for a good person. Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God's love for us.”
Back in our text (Philippians 2:5) the Bible says, “Have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” While God doesn’t expect any of us to go to a cross and die for the sins of the world (none would qualify anyway), He does expect us to have the mind or the attitude of His Son Jesus…meaning:
* If there is a job that no one wants to do, I'll do that job.
* If there's a visitor that no one wants to talk to, I'll talk to that visitor.
* If there is an argument that is winnable, I’ll take a loss for the sake of maintaining unity and fellowship.
* If there's a parking space that's far away from the church, I'll park in that space.
* If prayer is scheduled at a time that's less convenient for people, I'll be there to pray at that time.
* If there's a hardship someone has to endure, I'll take that hardship.
* If there's a sacrifice someone needs to make, I'll make that sacrifice.
Christmas is a time to remember and celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world, a birth that would ultimately lead to the most important and the most selfless act ever, as the innocent Jesus would come to willingly give His life for sinners.
The challenge we face today in our consumer driven society is to actually keep the real meaning of Christmas at the center of our celebration. This is always difficult for Christians as we can get so focused on buying stuff and giving our family ideas of what to buy for us that we lose sight of what this the season is supposed to be reminding us of.
Let’s have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Have His attitude and His love when it comes to people. Live in harmony, and keep one purpose in mind. Don't act out of selfish ambition or be conceited. Instead, humbly think of others as being better than yourselves. Don't be concerned only about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others.
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