
The Humble Christ Exalted
Clearly Knowing Jesus Christ
This morning we’re going to continue our series through the book of Philippians. In previous weeks, I’ve mentioned that this part of the Bible was originally written as a letter to Christians in the ancient city of Philippi. One of God’s servants, Paul, had taught the Philippians about Jesus Christ and had gathered them to form a church. Then he went on to do the same in many other cities. But now, many years later, Paul has sent them this letter to encourage and instruct them. And in God’s wise plan, this letter that he gave through Paul is also intended to teach us.
Up until this point, Paul has been teaching by showing how Christ has affected his own life. Knowing Christ has produced within Paul deep affection for the Philippians, and confident joy in the midst of severe trials, and humility before God and his fellow Christians. And Paul wants the knowledge of Christ to affect the Philippians in the same personal kind of way.
But in our text this morning, Paul takes some time to verbally explain the person and work of Jesus Christ. He wants to make sure that the Philippians really know who Jesus is. Even though these people have been in the church for years now – he doesn’t assume that their knowledge of Jesus is clear or complete. He doesn’t assume that when he’s talking about Christ, that they know exactly who he’s talking about.
Paul knows he needs to keep defining and explaining and reminding about the core realities of the Christian faith – because otherwise the truth can easily be forgotten. It has been said before that one generation proclaims the gospel, the next generation assumes the gospel – they assume that people know what the gospel is instead of taking the time to teach it – and as soon as that happens, the generation after that loses the gospel.
So we need to be clear on who Jesus is and what He’s done. We need to make sure that we don’t just treat these truths like interesting trivia, but that we understand why they matter. It’ll have a profound impact on how we live.
So if you have your Bibles, turn with me to Philippians, Chapter 2. I’ll be reading verses 5 through 11. Philippians, Chapter 2, verses 5 through 11. But before I read our text, please pray with me.
[Pray and Read Text]
Revealed Truth About Jesus Christ
World history holds some interesting mysteries. For one thing, one of the first European settlements in the Americas was called Roanoke. And if you’re familiar with the story, a ship went back to Europe to get supplies for the colony, but when the ship and its crew returned, everyone was gone. And to this day, no one has figured out where the people went, or what happened to them. There’s also the question of who really shot John F Kennedy – whether there was just one gunman, or two. It’s possible that you’ve been introduced to another mystery through Indiana Jones – what ever happened to the Ark of the Covenant that was in the temple at Jerusalem? People have come up with guesses, but no one knows for sure.
This is part of what it means to be human. Our knowledge is finite. Our ability to figure things out is limited. And remember, I’m just speaking about earthly mysteries. If we can’t even figure out earthly things all the time, we shouldn’t be surprised if we encounter mysterious things when it comes to knowing God.
God’s spiritual nature and his infiniteness prevent us from knowing him comprehensively. But we can still know him truly. Because God has revealed himself and spiritual truth in His Word. And specifically, our text this morning reveals clear truths about Jesus Christ – about his person and work – so that we’d be motivated to adopt his same mindset and manner of love.
We were introduced to this mindset and manner of love last week, in verses 1 through 4. Paul has given the Philippians practical instructions. He’s been saying they need to practice harmony and humility. And in verse 5, Paul gives an indication why they should do it – because that’s the mindset of Christ. Then, in verses 6 through 11, he shows them, practically, what Christ’s humble mindset looked like.
And as we go through the text, here, I want to point out four aspects of Christ’s person and work that help us to learn from his example of his humility. These will be my four points. First, we’ll look at Christ’s equality with God. Second, we’ll look at Christ’s Emptying of Himself. Third, we’ll look at Christ’s Obedience. And Fourth and Finally, we’ll look at Christ’s Exaltation.
Christ’s Equality with God
So first, Christ’s Equality with God. In verse 6, Paul is speaking about Jesus Christ. And he says, “…though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God something to be grasped.”
Look again with me at that first phrase. It says that Christ “was in the form of God.” The text here is saying that even before he was born as a baby in Bethlehem, the person of Christ already had existence, and he existed in the form of God. But what does that actually mean – for Christ to be in the form of God?
To say it simply, it means that Christ had existence before he existed as a human. And the existence that he had was divine existence. Christ’s nature was a divine nature. That’s what it means, that he was in the form of God.
Now, this forces us to acknowledge here one of the great mysteries of Christianity – that in one sense, a distinction can be made between Christ and God. But in a different sense, they’re essentially one and the same. Both are true. You’ll find the same tension in the Gospel of John, Chapter 1. You’ll find a similar point of tension in Psalm 45, verses 6 and 7, and in Psalm 110. Christ is both God and distinct from God.
This is because the God of the Bible is essentially one, but in that essential oneness, there are three distinct persons. In one respect, God is one. In a different respect, God is three. And the three persons of the one, living and eternal God are the Father, the Son – Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. There’s one name that Christians are baptized into, according to Matthew 28, verse 19. But that one name is of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
So when we’re speaking about Christ, we’re speaking of someone who has a divine nature. This Christ, the Son, is just as divine as God the Father. And so they’re equal – equal in eternality and authority and sacredness. And the divine Son has equal rights – he has every divine right that the Father has. He has the right to receive absolute worship, from all his creatures! He has the right to be served by their perfect obedience! He has the right to the comforts and joys of heaven. He has shared equally in divinity with the Father. But our text says even though he was in the form of God he did not count equality with God something to be grasped. He didn’t seize onto his rights. He didn’t insist on them.
This statement wouldn’t be all that significant if Jesus Christ wasn’t divine. If Jesus was just a man, like Unitarians believe, or if he was just some sort of archangel, as Jehovah’s witnesses claim – then it wouldn’t be a big deal that Jesus Christ didn’t count equality with God something to be grasped or insisted upon. But the reason that this statement is included is because it’s unexpected and mysterious! Jesus was divine – equal to God – and yet he didn’t make use of his rights. He didn’t grasp onto them.
It’s like a prince, who has every right to be treated like royalty, but who doesn’t demand being waited on by his maids and servants. Or it’s like an employee, who doesn’t insist on being paid as much as his co-worker, even though they’re doing the same job. Or it’s like an American citizen, refusing to insist on the protections he deserves under the Bill of Rights. It almost seems wrong. We understand that it’d be totally fair and appropriate for these people to say I should be treated equally! I should receive the same benefits! I deserve better.
And if this is true for us, for mere human creatures, how much more should God have the right to insist on his rights! How much more should God grasp on to his all the things that are due to him. And yet the Bible reveals something extraordinary! Though Jesus Christ was equal to the Father – in the form of God – he didn’t insist on being treated like it! He did not count equality with God something to be grasped. It’s surprising! Strange, even! And that’s just the point that Paul wants to catch our attention with.
Christ’s Emptying of Himself
But even though it’s remarkable that the Divine Son wouldn’t insist on his equality with God the Father, the text has even more to tell us. Christ “did not count equality with God something to be grasped” – verse 7 – “but emptied himself” – he emptied himself! – “by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” And this brings us to my second point, Christ’s emptying of himself.
When the text says that he emptied himself, it means that he willingly abandoned his privileges and glory – he bankrupted himself. Imagine a great King giving up his castle fortress, his finest horses, and his royal clothes, laying aside his lavish banquets and hot baths. This king doesn’t even take with him a small pouch of golden coins – but he leaves those comforts all behind! This is what it means that Christ emptied himself.
Of course, he continued to be King, by virtue of being himself. Christ continued to be truly God. He didn’t empty himself of his divine nature. He didn’t snuff out his own divinity like a candle. Because divinity isn’t something that can be silenced or subdued or turned off like a light switch. Instead, the text is indicating that Christ emptied himself of all his royal entitlements and splendor. Jesus himself suggests as much in John 17, verse 5, when he says, “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” Before the world existed, He shared equally in immortal glory and honor with the Father – but something happened. The glory that Christ previously had – it was interrupted. Why? Because he was emptied of it.
And you’ll see in verse 7 that Christ’s emptying took place, not by having something removed, but by having something added. The text says that He emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Christ, who was in the form of God, took on a human form – a human nature. That’s how he emptied himself! That’s how he made himself low.
So do you see what this means? Compared to the wisdom and glory and power and authority and beauty of God, being human is a position that’s humble and weak! 1 Corinthians 1:25: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
As human beings, we tend to have a heightened sense of self-importance. We’re impressed with the glory of what people have been able to accomplish. We’ve invented lightbulbs and cell phones and the internet! We’ve built skyscrapers that are a half mile tall. We’ve learned how to split atoms. We’ve sent men to the moon. We must be magnificent!
But Christ puts things into perspective for us. When He took on a human nature, he wasn’t taking a sidestep into an equal position. It wasn’t even just a short step down. When he became human, he didn’t become something impressive and magnificent, but he became empty of all the royal splendor that was rightfully his! He took the form of a servant is what the Bible here tells us! That’s what human beings are created and called into! We aren’t the King! We’re servants! To have a human nature means to have the nature of a servant. To be human means to serve – to serve God, first and foremost, and secondarily, to serve other people.
So when Jesus Christ took on our humanness, he took on the position of a servant. He gave up his kingly rights by taking on the life of a peasant. He put on the flea-infested clothes. He took up residence in the huts made of mud and straw. He drank the same, cloudy water. Jesus took on a humble human nature – the form of a servant – and this is how He emptied himself.
Now it’s interesting, though, that human nature is described here in terms of being a servant. Because even though people were made to serve God and enjoy him, they haven’t done that. Throughout the Old Testament, starting with Adam, and continuing through the people of Israel – over and over again, the story is consistently the same. Human beings have been inconsistent, unfaithful servants. They rebel against their King. They violate basic morality. They disobey God’s instructions.
But Paul is aware that in the writings of the prophet Isaiah, God had revealed that a new servant was coming. A servant who would be faithful. A servant who would succeed where all the previous servants had failed.
Isaiah 42:1 – “Behold, my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.” Isaiah 49:5, “And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him—for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD and my God has become my strength—he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Also, Isaiah 52:13, “Behold, my servant will act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted.” Isaiah 53:11, “Out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”
Hundreds of years before Christ was incarnated – before he took on human flesh and a human nature – God foretold that a faithful servant was coming. And Paul is making the connection that Jesus Christ took the form of a servant, to be the Promised Servant – the Servant of servants, to carry out the will of God. Whereas all other people had only ever been offenders against the law of God, Jesus Christ was perfectly obedient.
Christ’s Obedience
And this connects to my third point as we work through the text – Christ’s obedience. (Point 3: Christ’s obedience). See verse 8: “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
Throughout the history of the church, people have recognized that there are two aspects of Christ’s perfect obedience which warrant our attention. For one thing, Christ was obedient in carrying the sins of his people to the cross, and dying for them. This is often referred to as Christ’s passive obedience. In accordance with the will of the Father, to save sinners like us, Jesus willingly submitted himself in obedience to judgment and death.
Yet in addition to this, Christ was also obedient, in that he perfectly obeyed God’s law, as well. This is what’s referred to as Christ’s active obedience. In accordance with the perfect, moral standard of God’s law, Jesus Christ alone was truly and totally without sin. He was never jealous over the possessions or the positions of other people. He never lied. His anger was always righteous and never selfish or prideful. His thoughts and desires were always pure. His heart was always motivated by perfect love for His Father, and for his neighbor. He obeyed! Night and Day, week after week, year after year! He lived his life in perfect righteousness.
And the obedience of Jesus – both his passive and active obedience – his obedience is the basis for our salvation. By his passive obedience, dying on the cross, he has taken away the polluted garments of our sins and blame. And by his active obedience, he gives to us his righteous deeds as clean clothes, as royal robes. Just as I read earlier from Psalm 53: “…the righteous one, my servant, [shall] make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.” By the obedience of Christ, the iniquities of his people are borne away, and those who were once sinners are counted as right and righteous in the courtroom of God.
So Christ’s obedience here, it’s something that’s powerful and praiseworthy and wonderful. It sets us free from an anxious fear of what God thinks of us. It draws us to want to know Him more. It enflames our love and gratitude for him! We can’t be saved by our own obedience – which is inconsistent and incomplete. But salvation is granted through faith in the perfect, spotless obedience of Christ.
And yet – the focus of our text isn’t on the loftiness of Christ’s obedience, but on its lowliness. Paul’s main point here isn’t to explain how we can be saved from death, through Jesus Christ. Instead his point is to show us how saved people should live, like Jesus Christ.
When we come to Christ to be saved – I hope you understand – we’re not just coming to be saved from the guilt of sin, or the embarrassment of sin, or the consequences of sin. Christ is calling us to come to be saved from the sin itself. He wants to supply us with grace, so that our narcissism and greed and lusts and foolishness are all put away, and put to death – so we can more and more walk with God in faith and love and obedience.
So Christ’s obedience isn’t just a one-time act that did something in the past. His obedience is also an ongoing example that teaches us in the present.
Christ’s emptying of himself to become man, and Christ’s obedience to the Father’s will, to the point of death are both demonstrations of profound humility. Even if we abandoned our houses and bodies and brains and our playthings, and we stooped down to take on the form of pond scum – even then, we would not have humbled ourselves as much as Jesus Christ. Because He, the immortal Son, took on mortality. The Infinite, Eternal One subjected himself to the constraints of time and space. The Great Commander of stars and galaxies humiliated himself by acting in servile obedience. The Author and Giver of life, “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
And Paul tells us, “have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.” For Christians who are in Christ by faith – who share together in His Spirit – this mindset is for us to have together. If our God was willing to empty himself to serve our needs, how much more willing should we be, to empty ourselves of our pride and demands, to serve Him (and to serve people made in his image)?
And keep in mind here, the Son of God emptied himself – verse 7 says. He humbled himself by becoming obedient – as we see in verse 8. Christ did this willingly! It was his own choice. He didn’t wait around for someone to bribe him. No one coerced him or guilted him into it. But he initiated and engaged voluntarily, to become a servant and to obey.
Brothers, sisters – do you have the mind of Christ? In your home, is your posture to serve your God, by caring for your family members? Or do you have a short temper, and lingering bitterness when people don’t treat you the way you wanted? In your schoolwork – are you just concerned about getting your own schoolwork done? Or are you looking to the needs of classmates who are struggling? When you think about God – I understand that some of you might confidently say that if it came down to it, you’d be willing to pay the ultimate cost and die for him. But if this is so, are you also willing to live for him?
Do you have the mind of Jesus Christ? It’s so easy to try to grasp on to some of the privileges or rights we feel entitled to, to exalt ourselves in this world. But we’re called to something better. We’re called to entrust ourselves to our Master, as obedient servants.
Christ’s Exaltation
Now, from an earthly perspective, obedience to our heavenly Father doesn’t always appear to be all that rewarding. But in verse 9 of our text, there’s a sudden transition. We read “Therefore” – in light of Christ’s humble obedience – “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.”
Though Christ humbled himself to the lowest of positions, even to the point of death on the cross – that’s no longer the case! He who was once humbled under the hand of God has now been exalted. And in 1 Peter 5:6 indicates that there’s a principle here that’s also true for us! We’re commanded, “Humble yourselves, all of you, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.”
The exaltation of Jesus Christ is evidence that those who humble themselves before God will be lifted up. The last will be made first. The servant will become an adopted son and co-inheritor of the kingdom. The confidence we have of coming glory is what frees us to bring ourselves low.
Just about everyone else in the world is desperate to prove how good they are, how deserving they are, how right they are. But as Christians, we don’t have anything we need to prove. Our sin is defeated. Christ is our righteousness. Enjoying every delight in the kingdom of God, forever – it’s coming! And this frees us to bring ourselves low in service to other people. It frees us to admit our weakness. It frees us to insist upon the preciousness of our Savior.
And yet – Paul doesn’t spend time, here, to explicitly say, “You should humble yourself, because then God will exalt you.” I think this idea is implied – but it’s not Paul’s main point.
Instead, in verse 9, Paul is now reminding us who we should be humble under. He has shown us the mind of Christ in verses 6 through 8. Now he’s showing us the majesty of Christ, in verses 9 through 11. He no longer wants us to try to imitate Jesus – but now he urges us to adore him.
Because God hasn’t just exalted Jesus Christ – he has highly exalted him. He hasn’t just given him a royal title – such as the Earl of Sandwich, or the Duke of York – but he has bestowed on Jesus Christ the name that is above every name. And then Paul reaches back into the writings of Isaiah again, where we were just reading about God’s predicted servant a short time ago. And he takes words that the LORD God spoke about himself – and he applies them to Christ! Isaiah 45, verse 21: “Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: “To ME every knee will bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.”
And here in Philippians, Paul clarifies and confirms, “At the name of Jesus, every knee [will] bow – humans, angels, demons – and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is LORD.” Christ is the true and living God. He is the one righteous God and Savior. Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father. And our posture before this Jesus should be obvious. We must fall on our faces in humility, in service, and in obedience. So as we close this morning, let’s pray that we would joyfully, willingly, humbly obey as we look to Christ as our Savior, and as our Lord.