So Much to Say, So Few Words - Philippians 2:5-11
Billy Sunday, a great preacher from the early 1900’s, once said: “There are two hundred and fifty-six names given in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I suppose this was because He was infinitely beyond all that any one name could express.”
To sum up who Jesus is in one sermon is absolutely impossible. After the Apostle John wrote a whole book about who Jesus was and what Jesus did, he writes these words: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25)
So today, as we continue to go through the Apostles’ Creed, looking at what we believe as Christians, we’ll take only a glance at three stages of Jesus’ ministry to us, how He served us, how He loved us. We’ll tie together the passage in Philippians 2 called the Kenosis hymn (v5-11) with the Apostle’s Creed. Let’s read the Apostles’ Creed together.
I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into Hades;
the third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church universal,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Taking the section about who Jesus is, we’ll first look at…
1. The Cradle
v6-8a: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man,
Creed: I believe…in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary
We celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas. We rejoice in the love of God freely given to sinful people, as seen in the wonderful gift of His Son. We hold the truth as sung by the angels that first night: "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11) We believe that the Holy Spirit came over the teenager Mary, a virgin, and she became pregnant. We believe that God the Son, the Son of God, stepped out of heaven and became a human being.
The cradle was a symbol that God was still very much aware of the hurts of His people. They were forced to obey a godless civilization who had taken over their own. With the exception of only a handful of people, everybody thought the Messiah would rescue the people from Roman bondage. Only a select few understood that the Messiah cared more about being free from sin, a freedom of the heart, a freedom that cried: You don’t have to sin anymore! You can be right before God! I can get rid of the power of sin, as well as the penalty of it!
Many people stop thinking about Jesus at this point. As if He never grew up, never did anything important after being born. But we believe the best was yet to come!
2. The Cross
v8b: he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!
Creed: He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into Hades.
Although Jesus’ first 30 years were uneventful, at some point that all changed. He embraced a call to serve others, to point others to God. That same call is ours. In all we do, God asks us to show His love to people. For Jesus that meant leaving his life as a carpenter and becoming a full-time wandering minister.
He cared for people who had no-one else. He fed people by using what he had. He touched people who were horribly lonely. When going about His daily life, He stopped to help others. He showed concern for Jews and non-Jews. He shared that the heart was more important than the appearance.
And He made enemies. These enemies asked for His death. He went through a mockery of a trial and was declared innocent – yet He still suffered the death penalty. He was buried in a friend’s tomb just before sundown on Friday night. And we believe that we descended to Hades, not hell, but the place of the dead. He preached to all the godly men and women from the time of Adam and took them with Him to heaven.
The cross is the pivot point of human history. Everything rises and falls on the cross. The cross evened the playing field so that Jews and non-Jews all get into heaven on the same grounds: faith in Christ. The cross showed that fame, money, popularity, prestige, good looks, good health and a good family mean very little as to your entry into God’s grace. The cross displayed that we are all equal in the eyes of God: helpless, in need of someone to come save the day.
Someone once said: “I wish I could describe Him to you. But He’s indescribable. He’s indescribable. Yes. He’s incomprehensible. He’s invincible, He’s irresistible. I’m trying to tell you, the Heavens cannot contain Him, let alone a man explain Him. You can’t get Him out of your mind. You can’t get Him off of your hands. You can’t outlive Him, and you can’t live without Him. The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him, but they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. The witnesses [at his trial] couldn’t get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him. That’s my king. Yeah!”
3. The Crown
v9-11: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 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.
Creed: On the third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
Indeed the grave couldn’t hold Him. Christians believe that as good as Good Friday was, Sunday was even better. As low as you can be, as bad as circumstances can be, as hard as life can get, remember: Sunday’s coming. Christ allowed Himself to suffer the worst possible death. But God rewarded Him with a crown. God crowned Him King, and made Him ruler of all. Jesus was declared all though the heavens that He was lord of all, as seen in God lifting Jesus up out of the grave. A few reasons He did it:
1) to show hope for us, that we too might rise from the grave and live forever
2) to show that God is stronger than even death, our arch-enemy
3) to show God’s paradoxes: the way to win is to lose, the way to life is death, that way to go up is to go down, the way to be exalted is to be humbled, the way to a crown is a cross
Bob Carlyle, who sang Butterfly Kisses a few years back, also sang these words in the song Heaven: “Sometimes this tired old world starts bringing my heart down, but you gotta bear the cross if you want to wear the crown.” To have reward, you must first undergo hard times. Jesus told us that we too must follow God’s will for us; sometimes it comes like a cross, a burden that seems too heavy to bear. What is your burden today? What are you afraid to bear? What are you holding out on? What is God saying to you, that you are telling Him “no”?
One last thought about Jesus being the King: we believe that one day He is coming back. While people all through the ages have disagreed as to when, we do know that it will happen. Hopefully Jesus’ return will be before all hell breaks loose here on earth. There is a certain amount of doubt about that. All that really matters is that you are waiting for Him, that you are ready.
And so, presented with the facts of Jesus, where do you stand? Can you say, “I know who holds tomorrow and I know who holds my hand”? Has your life been touched recently by the truth of His Word? I’d like to share a thought written by a named James Allen Francis over 50 years ago. It’s called “One Solitary Life”.
He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.
He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend.
Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned--put together--have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary life.
So I ask you: As we look at His cradle, has His love touched your life? Have you shared that love with others? As we look at the cross, are there areas you’re holding out on? Is God leading you to do something, but you haven’t said yes yet? What part of serving God are you staying away from? And finally, the crown: is Jesus the ruler of your life? It’s been said that He’s Lord of all, or not Lord at all. Are you humbling yourself, waiting for God to lift you up, or are you trying to boost yourself up? And are you ready to meet your soon-coming King?
“He’s enduringly strong, He’s entirely sincere, He’s eternally steadfast. He’s immortally graceful. He’s imperially powerful. He’s impartially merciful. That’s my king. He’s God’s Son. He’s a sinner’s savior. He’s the centerpiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself. He’s august. He’s unique. He’s unparalleled. He’s unprecedented. He’s supreme. He’s preeminent. He’s the loftiest idea in literature. He’s the highest idea in philosophy. He’s the fundamental truth in theology. He’s the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion. That’s my king.
He’s the king of knowledge, He’s the well-spring of wisdom, He’s the doorway of deliverance, He’s the pathway of peace, He’s the roadway of righteousness, He’s the highway of holiness He’s the gateway of glory, He’s the master of the mighty, He’s the captain of the conquerors, He’s the head of the heroes, He’s the leader of the legislators, He’s the overseer of the overcomers, He’s the governor of governors, He’s the prince of princes, He’s the king of Kings and the Lord of Lords. That’s my king. Yeah! That’s my king.“
This we believe.
BULLETIN NOTES:
So Much to Say, So Few Words - Philippians 2:5-11
To sum up Jesus’ life in one sermon is impossible.
John 21:25 – even all the books in the world couldn’t say enough.
But we’ll try to get a glimpse of who Jesus is from the Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth;
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into Hades;
the third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church universal,
the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
We’ll look at:
1) The C__________________ - v6-8a
Jesus’ birth sums up and shows us God’s love.
We believe that God walked as a man on earth as Jesus Christ.
Many people want Jesus to fix their s______________________
without changing their h______________________.
But God wants to clean us up on the way to heaven, too.
2) The C__________________ - v8b
Jesus’ death was the pivotal point in history – everything rises and falls on it.
This showed that nothing besides faith in God (which is open to everyone)
is necessary to get right with Him.
“Death couldn’t h____________________ Him
and the grave couldn’t h______________ Him.”
3) The C__________________ - v9-11
After Jesus suffered for us, God raised Him up, and made Him ruler of all.
Why did God raise Jesus from the dead?
a) to show us h______________ - we can live forever
b) to show us that God is s___________________ than death
c) to show us God’s p_____________________
that is, what we see isn’t what is real – the way to go up is to go down!
“You’ve got to bear the cross if you want to wear the crown.” – Bob Carlyle
In what areas are you afraid to follow God whole-heartedly?
Where has the life of Jesus touched your life? Where does it need to?
