Sermon Tone Analysis

Philippians 2:5-11 is our text for tonight and it is my intention to get through all 7 of these verses but there really is a lot to unpack in this short section of Scripture.

Last week we talked about what I called the stepping stones of the Christian life, the phrases that Paul used in verses 1 and 2 each builds upon the last to highlight what the Christian life looks like and we briefly started talking about humility.

Philippians 2:5-11 may be the greatest section on humility in Scripture.

What do we mean when we talk about humility?

Simply put, it means to be humble.

Humility means that we see ourselves as we really are.

We don’t exalt ourselves or present ourselves as someone we are not.

We aren’t domineering or overly aggressive.

C.J. Mahaney said, “Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.”

As Christians, we see ourselves as sinners that have only been saved by grace and as those that are always in need of God.

Christians aren’t proud but have an accurate view of who they are.

As Christians we are to strive for humility but humility is not always easy because it is not natural to ourselves in our fallen state.

How easy is it for us to be prideful and how difficult is it for us to be lowly?

If we want to be like our Savior, we have to be humble people.

Our humility should echo that of our Lord.

John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace, said, “I am persuaded that love and humility are the highest attainments in the school of Christ and the brightest evidence that He is indeed our Master.”

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the greatest example of humility to ever grace the earth and we are going to see exactly why this evening.

We’ll look at three things tonight: the humility of Christ, the exaltation of Christ, and what His humility means for us.

Paul says in Philippians 2:5-11

The Humility of Christ

Paul begins verse 5 by urging the Church to adopt the same mindset that Christ has.

That little phrase, “which is yours in Christ Jesus” means that this was something that Christ Himself possessed.

From there, Paul paints this beautiful picture of the humility of Christ.

I want to walk through these statements that Paul makes and break them down piece by piece so that you and I can better appreciate the sacrifice that Christ made for us.

Christ was in the form of God

What does Paul mean by this?

Christ in the form of God?

And why does he start here when pointing to Christ’s humility?

You see what Paul is doing is he is telling the reader to stop and think about who the Son of God really is.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

From eternity to eternity, Jesus has been and will always be divine.

For Jesus to be in the form of God is for Jesus to be God.

Paul says in Colossians 1:15-20 exactly what is meant by Jesus being in the form of God:

Jesus is not just a little god under God the Father.

He is very God of Very God, he is co-equal and co-eternal.

His majesty and glory is that of His Heavenly Father.

The One that came to earth 2,000 years ago to die in the place of sinners is the same One that created all things, holds together all things, is the Head of the Church, the firstborn of the dead, the one to whom the fullness of God is pleased to dwell.

Do you understand who it was that came to earth 2,000 years ago?

Do you understand the magnitude of what it means that God in the flesh came to man?

This is unheard of!

To think that God Himself would put on flesh and dwell among man is unthinkable and yet that is exactly what happens!

Paul begins this section on Christ’s humility by having us stop and think of the sheer majesty of Christ and by beginning here, Paul greater emphasizes Christ’s humility.

Even though Christ is God in the flesh, Paul says that He “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.”

What this means is that Jesus did not receive any special priviledges.

He suffered as man suffered, He experienced life as man experiences life.

He was tempted and tried yet was without sin.

Jesus did not use His deity to make life easier for Him.

Jesus remained fully God but surrendered advantages that come with His deity.

Paul continues in verse 7 by saying, “But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”

Christ takes on the form of a servant

Jesus takes on the form of a servant but He is unlike any other servant to have ever walked the earth.

The sheer magnitude of Him going from being worshipped in Heaven to taking on earthly flesh and He doesn’t just take on the likeness of man, He takes on the form of a servant.

Christ’s entire mission is a mission of servitude.

Jesus says in Mark 10:45

Jesus is the supreme example of servanthood.

Keep in mind that a servant always acts according to the will of his master.

Christ perfectly submitted to the Heavenly Father.

Why does the eternal Son of God do this?

Why would the One that all of creation should be subject to embrace the role of a servant?

Martin Luther wrote, “All this he did for the purpose of drawing us to himself.

He wants us to recognize that this poor, weak and humble man is the almighty and eternal God.

Therefore since we could not bear to hear God in his majesty, he humbly adopted flesh and blood, assuming not only our nature, that is, flesh and blood, but also all the frailties with which body and soul are afflicted, as, for example, fear, sadness, anger and hatred.

We are told that he was weak, that he was like any other man in body and soul, that he made himself subject to all human infirmities, that he hungered and thirsted, that he experienced all the wants of flesh and blood.

In this weakness the true and eternal God shows himself.

For me he humbles himself; and for me he is finally crucified, although he is at the same time very God, who redeems me from sin and death.”

In Christ we see an example, but more than that, we see an answer.

We see an answer to the problem of pain and evil in the world, we see an answer to what hope we have in a fallen world, we see an answer to how all the bad will be made good, we see an answer to whether God is for us and not against us, we see an answer to the question of what are we to search for in this life?

But Jesus does more than just put on flesh to be made like us, He takes the death that is due to us.

Look at what Paul says in verse 8, “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming opedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

The Son of God dies on a cross made for sinners

Jesus did not come into this world, live 70 years and die in His sleep.

His entire life made a beeline to the cross.

Jesus truly suffered, He experienced the most shameful and painful death that the Romans could muster.

His agony reached unheard of proportions because not only did He experience the wrath of fallen man, He experienced the wrath of His Heavenly Father.

The cup of God’s wrath was poured out in full on His Son.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:21

Peter says in 1 Peter 2:24

Steven Lawson wrote, “Jesus would suffer the worst of all deaths, the dreaded torturous death by crucifixion.

He was subjected to the most gruesome kind of death known to the ancient world.

This was a death so loathsome that it was reserved only for the worst criminals.

Crucifixion was so despised that Roman law forbade any Roman citizen to be subjected to such cruel treatment.

Yet the divine man, Jesus, would be put to death by being nailed to a Roman cross.

There he would hang naked, publicly exposed, viewed as an enemy of the empire, condemned as a blasphemer against God.”

No one has ever suffered like Jesus of Nazareth.

He wasn’t let off easy because He was God, He wasn’t given a stay of execution.

Jesus suffered beyond what you or I are capable of imagining.

As unworthy as we are, Christ chose the cup of God’s wrath.

Here we are with a debt that we cannot pay and a death sentence that we could never escape and yet Christ, in His love says, “I will take that on myself.”

You will never appreciate the extent of what Christ has done until you see who you really are.

You are not someone that just needed a new paint job, you are someone who needs to be totally remade.

You are not someone who is dying to sin, you were dead in your sins and trespasses.

Paul says in Ephesians 2:5

You aren’t just drowning in the ocean of sin, you are dead at the bottom of the sea.

You don’t need a lifeline, you need a new life.

You need to be born again, you need to be made new by the saving power of Christ and this is done through the healing power of God alone.

Christ’s showed His humility on the cross but have you been humbled by the cross?

The sinless Son of God stood in your place, He took the death that you and I deserved, He experienced the wrath that you and I were due.

Have you been humbled by the cross of Christ?

Christ’s Exaltation

For times’ sake, let’s look at verses 9-11.