The Humbled and Exalted Christ: Part 1

The Humiliation and Exaltation of Christ in Philippians 2

Saying that, I'd like to speak to you this morning about during this Christmas season as we approach to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ from Philippians, Christ humble and exalted. In Philippians chapter 2, Christ's humility and exaltation is brought forth in clarity.

So as we look at this, and from the book of Philippians chapter 2, this is known as the epistle of joy. The epistle of joy, this little brief letter is written by the hand of the apostle Paul in a dungeon, a very cold dungeon, much colder than this building this morning, and very dark.

He was in chains, but he knew that the Word of God was not bound. Apostle Paul, as so many people say, well, the Bible I reject because it's written by men, but it was written by men, but they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

They were moved by the Holy Spirit. Small as it may be, this little epistle is jam-packed of the divine truth by the Holy Spirit of God. Keep in mind that this small epistle is one of the great portraits of our Lord Jesus Christ in Scripture.

So chapter 2, beginning at verse 5, I'd like to begin this morning with verse 5 and read through verse 11. We've already pretty much, in the last past two Lord's Days,.

We have looked at verse 1 to verse 4.

Paul is speaking about unity within the church and how to have true unity through humility. And he's talking about unity within truth, the written truth, but not only the written truth, but the living truth, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Mind of Christ and the Call to Humility

Now he goes before, as this letter basically goes before the Philippian church, the believers will read this, and now he gives us the perfect model of humility. So hear the word of the living God. Beginning with verse 5, he says this, Have this way, this mind or attitude, way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who also existing in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men, and being found in appearance as a man.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

May God bless the reading of his word to our hearts this morning. Please bow with me in prayer. Our Father and our God, you have set, as Psalm 2 says, you have set your King, the Lord Jesus Christ, on your holy hill in Zion, and have glorified your beloved Son.

Now Father, the choice is set before us. If we humble ourselves before your mighty hand and kiss the Son, you will exalt us in due time. But Lord, if we refuse to kiss the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son will be ground to powder.

Oh God, help us to see the seriousness of the word that you have for us this morning. Help us, dear Lord, to see the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ, the majesty. He who has humbled himself, you have exalted, you have glorified at your right hand and now it makes intercession forever for his saints.

Father, as the old hymn says, may we look full in his wonderful face and then the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. So Father, I pray, give us grace this morning to hear, to see, the hearts to perceive, to understand your word, your truth.

Oh God, I know I cannot do justice to this text this morning, so I pray, Lord, your blessed Holy Spirit will do the work, be the interpreter for us, be the true teacher, and change us forever. And we ask this for your honor and glory in Jesus' name, I pray, Amen.

The Hymn of Christ: Humiliation and Exaltation

Now the text before us this morning is no doubt one of the greatest portions of Scripture found in the Holy Bible that speaks of the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus Christ. It's very likely that verse 6 through 11 in this chapter was a hymn of praise to the early church.

They sang this. We read it, but they sang it because it meant so much to them. And certainly the theme of all the Christian faith is summed up in this one wonderful hymn, this text in which we have seen that gives preeminence to Jesus Christ in all things.

It basically has two parts to it. It's very simple, but it's profound. The first being the humiliation of Jesus Christ and the second being the exaltation of Christ. His humiliation. His exaltation. It's summed up in that.

So then this Lord's Day morning I would like to use these two parts basically that's found in verse basically beginning with verse 5 to verse 11 as my heading. We will look at the humiliation of Jesus Christ first in today's message and then I'll pick up with that Lord willing next Lord's Day at His humiliation to the point of death to the death of the cross and then we will look and gaze at His great exaltation how the Father exalted Him and how He rose again on high and He has been glorified and now He is forever the glorified Christ.

He is exalted and God has exalted His Son. Now the humiliation of Jesus Christ and the exaltation again are two great themes that make up, that sums up the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. It sums up His sufferings and it sums up the glory that followed His sufferings.

May God help us this morning as we look into this great text because beloved I'm telling you as I've been studying this this past week and the days in which I had to redeem the time and study this great text it has such depth to it that I am profoundly I have no words to tell you of the greatness of the person of Jesus Christ the more I study into His word that as we look into His humiliation all the way to His glorious exaltation and as we think and contemplate on the person of who He is and how great He is and we're talking about folks not another prophet or another person we're talking about the second person of the Trinity that took on flesh we're talking about the one that created all things He created you He created me but not only in personhood and He created you He created all things the universe we exist for Him sin has blinded mankind from seeing this and as we look into the depths of the person of Jesus Christ and His person and His works but we're going to look mainly at the person it's humbling it's humbling.

I cannot have words enough to say so may God help us as we look at this now the writer of Hebrews says this about Jesus that He endured the cross despising the shame for the joy that was set before Him it's a great verse and that's basically what the pattern in which God had for Christ but first there's always His humility and He came from heaven from glory into the darkness of this world in which He created but sin has darkened it and He is the great light.

Isn't He? Isn't it? What it says when the Messiah would come He'd be a great light and great darkness. So Jesus Christ is that great light Christ understood and experienced His sufferings in the light of His exaltation.

He knew this He endured the full weight of the cross.

Before Him.

And the reason why and how He could endure the cross is because He could see.

The joy.

That was set before Him.

The exaltation.

This is how He endured the cross and this is how we will endure the cross.

Is for the joy.

That is set before us. Paul is now going to uphold or hold up I should say in the eyes of the Philippians believers an example of the Lord Jesus Christ in both of His humiliation and His exaltation. Now keep in mind this is a church that's been in great discord and is having a problem with unity.

And He goes to Jesus Christ as the perfect model to hold before the eyes of the Philippians. And I don't know about you if this church was in discord and arguing and quarreling and having some issues.

And then He gives an exhortation here how to be in encouragement in Christ in any consolation of love in any fellowship of the Spirit in any affection of compassion. He says fulfill my joy that you think the same way by maintaining the same love being united in Spirit and thinking of one purpose.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain glory but with humility of mind regarding one another as more important than yourselves. And then He goes to the example who lived that out and that is Jesus Christ.

And that's where we go this is where we land. And at this point to this section of Scripture in chapter 2 and this is Paul gives this purpose and detail to Christ's humiliation and exaltation in this section as a perfect illustration of a practical point.

Now keep in mind that when he's thinking of humility by the Holy Spirit we're talking about.

Perfect humility here.

We're not talking about anything flawed in Jesus because in Jesus Christ there was no flaw whatsoever.

Perfect.

And then he begins in verse 5 let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

Basically.

In the LSSB have this way of thinking. It's an attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. This is the foundation in which he begins before he unpacks everything about the person of Christ.

What kind of attitude did Jesus exhibit. What characterized his behavior toward others you ever think about that. Greg King put it this way. He described the bond and the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ as a selfless mind.

He also had a sacrificial mind a servant mind selfless sacrificial.

Servant.

That's the way the Christian is to think. And Jesus this is the way he lived this out in his days as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief and in his perfect life as he fulfilled all righteousness he lived that perfect life and he was the perfect model.

And this is where Paul goes to the Lord. Jesus consistently thought of others he never thought of himself even and to the point when he was praying in Gethsemane the great drops of blood.

Wasn't for his own.

It was for us it was for his people. Lord Jesus lived a perfect holy life. In other words this text basically speaks of his humiliation exaltation and it has personal application for us by the way. And we should have this the same mind the same attitude which was also in Christ Jesus.

He's the master isn't he. He's the Lord he's our Lord. We are his slaves we are his servants we are his followers. And there should be no self-centeredness in our lives whatsoever and that's why we are to take up our own cross.

First of all Jesus said deny your own self and take up your own cross and follow him.

Well.

Jesus gave us.

The perfect example of humility. Scripture says that we are to humble ourselves before the mighty hand of God so that he would exalt us in due time.

Jesus says.

Everyone that humbles himself will be exalted and he that exalts himself will be humbled. So here Jesus gives us the example.

You see.

The humiliation the exaltation that's the order in which God has that's the lesson that's the point.

That's the attitude.

That's the attitude and the apostle begins by holding up the perfect model an example of Christ's humiliation. Look at verse 5. So verse 5 again connects. It connects to the exhortations that's found in verse 1 to 4 which we've already seen.

Last Lord's day. Now we come to the hymn of Christ and this is the heart of it. So in essence what Paul is doing here. He's directing and being moved by the Holy Spirit and he's addressing the pride.

Issue.

The discord issue that is among the Philippian believers and keep in mind that pride is the very root of the discord and after he brings this out this section out it literally destroys pride.

It destroys it.

Comes to the hymn of Christ verse 6 who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. That's what the text says. Now what does that mean. Notice how he begins here. He says who.

That's a very important word.

Who is he speaking of.

Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ. I believe that question still remains the single most important question to be answered. Who is Christ. Peter as you know in Matthew 16 by the revelation of the Father cried out and he said this Christ says he first begins by saying who do men say that I am.

And they answered. And he pulls them in into this and they're thinking about this. Who do. Others say some Elijah, some Jeremiah, some John the Baptist. And then Jesus gets to the point.

Who do you say that I am.

Who do you say that I am. Peter says thou art the Christ the son of the living God.

Thou art the Christ.

The anointed one the son of the living God Jesus said flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. This is not something that you thought of Peter that came from a revelation from the Father that's the confession of the church folks that Jesus Christ is the Christ, he's the Christ.

The anointed one, the son of the living God. The first thing we have to confront in the statement of the scripture here is that who is Jesus Christ. So Paul is going to affirm that Jesus Christ is the eternal son of God, he's the living God he is the Christ, he's always been God and that he's perfect essential being, his personhood he's unchanging, immutable unaltering, his nature is in the very form of God and that's what he says in the text.

Now in saying that he brings up the most important question in a sense here we could say a question is issue. What does the word form mean. Now this is very important notice what he says, although existing in the form of God, let's look at this.

What does that mean. This is a very important word. The Greek word basically means morphe. Morphe, it always signifies a form which truly and fully expresses being. It's his being which underlines it, it refers to underlying the reality and not the very appearance only, who Jesus.

Is.

That he is in the form of God. Notice in verse 7 he's the form, taking the form of a slave.

A slave.

A bond slave.

The form.

The morphe of God means that he is divine. Just as he's taken the form, the morphe the bond slave, he's entailed by his humbling himself, embracing that identity in his incarnation when he was made flesh.

This is deep waters folks. We're talking about God who always existed the one great God the father, the son and the spirit.

Three persons.

But we're talking about the second person of the trinity, that's God and then he comes in in the incarnation and is made flesh a great descent of humiliation. Here it is the essential nature and the character of God that is visible, manifest and revealed in all that who Jesus Christ is.

And that's why he says, who although existing in the form of God. You know, if you remember I believe it's in John chapter 14 as Jesus answered Philip's question. And Philip's question was this Lord show us the father and it will be.

Sufficient for us.

And Jesus said to him have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me Philip. He who has seen me, Jesus said has seen the father so how can you say show us the father. You remember what the scripture says.

Earlier in Matthew says Emmanuel, God.

With us.

Jesus is Godded with us. He's the second person of the trinity that left and sent by the father to the world for a mission. So the father is not the son. By the way the modalists basically believe this.

This is by the way the oneness Pentecostals that basically believes that Jesus.

Is the father.

And he's the Holy Spirit, that's erroneous.

That's heresy.

He's the second person even though he's God, he's the second person of the trinity, he's not the first and he's not the third person, he's the second person of the trinity. I know it's a mystery but and he's God, but so the father is not the son and the son is not the father as the modalist believes and those who are the oneness Pentecostals reject that.

But what Jesus was saying to Philip is he is, he and the.

Father are one.

That's what he's saying, the father is God and Jesus the son is God and the Holy person, I'm sorry, the Holy Spirit is God. We talk about the trinity here again, a great mystery but he's deity. He's divine.

Let me give you some let me give you a little something that the early church fathers put together from the Nicene Creed. That was absolutely critical because this heresy that was going around at that time and it's still around as I just mentioned to you from the oneness Pentecostals the modalists, it was back in that day and they had to attack it in the Nicene Creed.

They had to formulate a creed from the scriptures to combat this erroneous teaching of who Jesus is and how they believed. Jesus was listen to what the Nicene Creed says, fully God and fully man. Jesus Christ was in the form the morphe of God so he's his very essence so we learn that he existed from all eternity as God.

More to say on the Nicene Creed in a minute, so it does not mean that he merely resembled God. Don't think of that he's just not the resemblance of God but again he is actually God in flesh. He's the express image of God and in the truest sense of the word Jesus Christ is one person yet he's the only person by the way that has two natures and that's what we must keep in mind.

One Lord Jesus Christ is the creed says the only son of God eternally begotten of the Father God of God, light of light, true God of true God begotten not made of one being with the Father through him all things were made for us and our salvation.

It goes on to say he came down from heaven was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became fully.

Human.

That's the creed and that's based upon scripture.

So the.

Nicene Creed says that. And in case you wonder where our early church fathers gets this it's basically from the scriptures Colossians. Listen to Colossians chapter 1 verse 15 to 18 which he says. The Apostle Paul once again says he speaking of Christ is the image of the invisible God firstborn over all creation.

For by him all things were created that are in heaven that are on earth visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones or dominions principalities or powers all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things consist.

And he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning of the firstborn from the dead and that in all things he may have the preeminence that means he is to have first.

Place.

Praise God.

Praise his name because he is in all things he is Lord right. Notice how many times he says all things all things were created all things created through him.

For him.

Before all things and in him all things consist all things all things. Jesus Christ is the essential very form of God himself. So Paul is saying here that Jesus Christ exists to his very nature in the unchanging character of God.

It's great. This is an incredible theology. But he is equally with God one with God he is always one with the Father.

So Jesus himself.

Can say that he did in John 17. I and the Father are.

One.

We are one. Why is Paul bringing this out. There is unity in the church or disunity or should I say he is bringing back unity. This is the way unity is to happen disunity in the church but unification comes through Jesus Christ, he is the Lord of the church and he can say Jesus said you have seen me, you have seen the Father he is the Word he is the Logos, he has created the.

World, he is the Word.

He was.

With God and the.

Word was God.

He is the Morphe, he is the form of God, beloved. That's the wonder and the mystery of the incarnation. Is it not. And that's what we look at Christmas time. That's what we need to teach our children, who is Jesus.

1 Timothy 3 says it without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness, God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles believed on in the world, received up in the glory.

Did you see that, did you see the pattern.

Did you.

See the order. Great is the mystery of Godliness, God was manifest in the flesh he comes in the flesh, he descends.

He humbles.

Himself, he's born in the feeding trough, in the manger then eventually he goes to the cross and it's not upward, it's downward, then it's upward he's received.

Up in glory.

Beloved. That's what the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus is this fresh image of the invisible God, verse 6, and that where Paul starts as the foundation is laid for what true humility really looks like and from the glorious presentation of the deity of Jesus Christ now the apostle begins to track that mystery of the incarnation of.

Christ, there's a tracking.

Here.

He establishes that Christ is God in verse 6 and then scripture so clearly says in many places in the bible that as verse 6 says, who being in the form of God he did not consider it.

Robbery, he did not.

Consider it robbery or regard equality with God a thing to be.

Grasped, robbery.

To be equal with God. Why? Because he is God he is God, even though Jesus Christ is God and being in the form of God in his nature and essence. Then he says he did not consider it robbery, I want you to think about this, something to be held on to be equal, he did not regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped.

He did not regard equality with God. But here is the great plunge beloved here is when we see to begin to see the condescension to take place and it's right here it is of utmost importance I should say to distinguish between personal and positional equality with God.

This is so important.

As to his person.

Christ always was he always will.

Be.

Equal with God but it would be impossible for him to give that up.

But.

Positionally equal, equality is different this is what we must understand from all eternity. Christ positionally was equal with the Father enjoying the glories of heaven that he made the same authority, because he is God.

Right. He is the word, he is the logos. But the word here grasp helps us, it's an important word because it basically means that Christ did not consider this position something that he had to hold.

On to.

At all cost, when a world of lost mankind needed to be redeemed he was willing to relinquish, that means to give up his personal rights, his positional equality with God all the comforts and the joys of.

Heaven, he did not.

Consider them to something to be grasped, in other words he did not cling to it, he did not hold on to it, but he let it go. Folks were talking about the one that created all of it, and yet he says I'm going to let, we haven't even seen how glory looks like, it's so awesome, and even from the words of scripture, Paul said when he had a vision of it, he says I came back and I saw the third heavens and he says he was so humbled by it, he says he says it like this, it was it's even so great it was unlawful for me to even.

Utter it.

He did not have the words.

Jesus.

Created all of it, we're not talking about an angelic being folks, we're talking about the creator, he left it all behind for one purpose.

First of all the first purpose was for.

The glory of God, the second purpose was for your eternal.

Redemption.

Our salvation.

He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, Jesus did not grasp all the glories of heaven, all the privileges he enjoyed, though he created all of it, did not consider it robbery, for example, let me give you an example here, and it's a little example, but it helps us a little bit.

A robber, when a thief comes. What does a thief do? He doesn't tell you when he comes, and he sure doesn't give you a telegram when he's coming in to break in your house. I had this happen when I was a child.

We had no idea that a thief was going to come and rob us and basically after some weapons expensive weapons my father had.

And.

We had no idea, my mom and I went to town. We came back and the whole house was ransacked, turned upside down, but that robber didn't give us a telegram that he was coming. He came in. And what were they doing?

They were grasping for things they wanted.

Right?

That's what a robber does, that's what a thief does, he runs in, he grabs he grasps, he runs, he clutches, and he steals. The treasures came to mean something he clutched to something he held tightly to because it starts out with the robber who's hanging on tightly to whatever he's after and he steals.

Right?

Because he's very greedy and that's what he wants and he figures he's going to get it and they get it. Well Jesus Christ, that's an example. Jesus Christ being in the form of God and equal with God God refuses to cling or grasp to all that he.

Created.

He did not consider it robbery.

To clutch to it to cling to it to that equality he refuses to cling to the privileges the rights that go along with equality. Jesus refuses to grasp it and clutch it. All the glory the glorious realities that he created, he lets it go he gives it up and keep this in mind.

He gives it up for a season.

Because he goes back to it that's where he's at now, right? He's at the right hand of the Father. He's back to what? But he made a full circle and now he's there in flesh glorified in a glorified body representing his people making an intercession he's praying on the right hand of the Father.

Here's a great verse Paul gives. Speaking of the incarnation, it begins with the unselfishness of Christ how he volunteered, lays down aside and lays aside all the privileges aside all those.

Glories.

For our sake.

2 Corinthians 8 and 9 says this for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. Wow, did you hear that?

You know the grace that's what made it happen is God's grace. God is rich in mercy. He's rich in grace. Grace of God. The grace of our Lord Jesus, that though he was rich, he made the glories of heaven, he owns it all.

I would say Jesus is the richest of all, isn't he? He is the treasure but yet all that he created. He was rich and yet for your sake he became poorer that you through his poverty.

Might become rich.

We'll look at that later in closing, but it all begins with Jesus in his love and grace being willing to let go of all the glories of heaven that he had with the Father for a season. He did not clutch or grasp to that glory like a robber would, but he let it go, to let come to this dark, sin-cursed world to redeem a people for himself so that he would have a people to worship him and love him for his very own all for the glory of God and that's where Paul goes, it's all for the glory of God.

It's God's glory, it's not about us it's about Christ, it's about what Christ has accomplished verse 7 but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond slave and coming in the likeness of men, listen to that literal translation here is but he emptied himself.

The question immediately arises now of what did the Lord Jesus Christ empty himself, that's a great question. What did he empty himself of. The word empty himself basically is the Greek word that comes the theological word kenosis it means, kenosis basically means it's the doctrine of Christ is self-emptying in the incarnation.

And answering this question one must use great great care beloved and for the reason that there's so many different interpretations.

On this.

Many human attempts to define what it means that Christ emptying has often ended up by stripping Christ of his attributes of his deity. Some say for instance that when the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth he no longer had all knowledge, all power.

Even some say he was subject to the limitations of all men and that he became liable to error. He accepted common opinions and myths of his day, that's what some say about the self-emptying. But these opinions of men were utterly we deny beloved.

And I want to tell you why. I say this based on the word of God the authority of God's word that the Lord Jesus did not lay aside any of his attributes of God when he came into this world in the sense of what it means that again he did not empty himself.

Of his deity.

He was still divine he's God, in other words he did not exchange his Godhood for manhood.

He's the God.

Man, again Jesus has two natures and he's the only one that has two natures. That's why he is the most important person in all of history and without Jesus Christ. And this is why Jesus said this. It's an absolute truth and we must tell people this he says I am the way the truth of the life and no man comes to the father.

But by me, religion don't get us to heaven, coming to church doesn't get us to heaven, by turning over a new leaf doesn't get us to heaven, our good works doesn't get us to heaven, it's the works of Jesus it's the person of Christ.

That's why Christ he says.

Without me you do not get to heaven he is the only way and people don't like hearing that and especially in our day when people say this religion gets us to God, this religion gets us to God, we deny that only one way to heaven.

He's not the best way. He's the only way. And when you tell people that they buck up against it and they say it cannot be it must be other ways but I'm telling you it's without Jesus Christ, if we don't believe in Jesus Christ, if we don't repent of our sin and come to him and trust him as the only savior and lord, you perish.

People don't like to hear that but he is the only way. Actually the great mystery of the incarnation of Christ is that our lord Jesus is that one person with two natures as the creed once again says very God of very God and very man of very man.