Join us as we continue our “Serving Like Jesus” sermon series and ask an important question: What does God want from our lives? Following Jesus means more than simply knowing what He has called us to do, it means being willing to follow Him wherever He leads. As we study God’s Word, we’ll look at what it means to recognize God’s calling, trust His direction, and faithfully do the things He has placed before us.
God is quite clear regarding what He desires from His saints. Consider the short list:
- Be holy as God is holy (1 Pet. 1:15)
- Be transformed (Rom. 12:2)
- Be filled, or controlled, by the Spirit (Eph. 5:18)
- Be patient (James 5:8). Oh, there is a challenging one.
- Be anxious for nothing (Phil. 4:6). Another tough one.
We could add many more commands designed to change our behavior so we look and act like Christ, but I’ll pause and add just one more.
In Paul’s letter written from a Roman prison to new saints in the new church in Philippi in Macedonia, he speaks about their need to strive for unity by living humble lives:
1 Therefore if 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, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Phil. 2).
A pastor, like Paul, wants nothing more than to see the saints in his church acting just like this.
Obviously, this wasn’t the case at Philippi Bible Church, so Paul had to use his shepherd’s staff to arrest their attention lovingly.
Disunity emerges when some saints pridefully push their agendas on others, or who are always getting offended, or who are upset they don’t get their way, or who can’t, or won’t, forgive another saint for some misdeed, or . . . well, I’ll let you add your own observations. To bring unity, Paul, therefore, sought to point out the sin of selfishness, while directing the saints to consider the virtue of selflessness.
When you consider Paul’s directives here, how do you feel you measure up? Are your actions and reactions building unity, or creating disunity? Is there any hurt you need to let go of? Is there an issue you need to drop? Is there someone you need to forgive? Is there someone you need to ask for forgiveness?
I know of a church that had a huge argument because one family’s son always had to sit near the front and wear a baseball cap that obstructed the view of worshippers behind him. When asked to remove it for the sake of others, the family exploded at church leadership. In later services, the teen continued to wear the ballcap. Talk about in-your-face Christianity. Really? The parents and the son should have read and applied this passage from Philippians. I tell you this story to underscore how quickly disunity can rear its ugly head, and it’s usually over non-issues. Had this family been truly selfless servants who thought of others rather than themselves, the teen would have respectfully removed his hat upon entering the sanctuary.
So, again, I ask you: How are you doing at building the unity of the church body by thinking of others first, and yourself second or third? To drive home the importance of selfless living, especially in the local church, Paul gave the Philippians one of the greatest models for them to consider and emulate:
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2)
William Barclay rightfully calls this text “. . . the greatest and most moving passage Paul ever wrote about Jesus.”[1] It is great because it showcases the selfless servant mindset Jesus possessed when He took on the mission of becoming our Savior from sin. The point is well taken: Since this is how our Savior behaved, how can we behave any differently? If I were to sum up the central concept of these moving and powerful words from Paul, I’d say something like this:
To model the Master’s selfless service is one of the saint’s highest callings in life.
Yes, you can do no better than evidencing His humble approach to doing what was necessary to meet the needs of others, especially their need for redemption.
Paul develops this motif in four well-thought-out movements:
The Command (Phil. 2:5)
Paul starts his teaching with a command because he knows that, as Christians, we are responsible to think and act in a Christlike fashion:
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, (Phil. 2)
5 τοῦτο φρονεῖτε ἐν ὑμῖν ὃ καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ,
The Greek verb phroneite, φρονεῖτε, is a present active imperative. The active nature of the verbal command places the responsibility for it squarely on your shoulders. You are responsible daily to make the mindset Paul describes here your own. You must develop this mindset and work on it, because your mind, by nature, seeks to focus on you, on your importance, on your thinking, on your likes and dislikes, and so forth. Further, we must point out that the verb lexically means, according to Bauer’s lexicon, “to give careful consideration to something, set one’s mind on, be intent on.” [2] This means you should always have this attitude Paul will discuss on the front burner on your mind. Why? Because the attitude he will present was the attitude of Christ, and since you are now related to Him, you are under obligation to model Him to those around you.
In verse 6, Paul jumps right into discussing Jesus’ lofty mindset as He considered the redemptive mission set before Him by the Father. I’ll call this . . .
The Circumstance (Phil. 2:6)
Watch how Paul develops this point:
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (Phil. 2)
6 ὃς ἐν μορφῇ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα θεῷ,
Why present the Greek behind our English translation? Barclay offers an excellent reply:
Greek is a far richer language than English. Where English has one word to express an idea, Greek often has two or three or more. In one sense, these words are synonyms; but they never mean entirely the same thing; they always have some special flavour. That is particularly so of this passage. Every word is chosen by Paul with meticulous care to show two things—the reality of the humanity and the reality of the godhead of Jesus Christ.[3]
I couldn’t agree more. So, based on this, come with me as we work our way through the Greek that explains our Lord’s thinking in coming to this dusty, dirty, diseased, and sin-ridden world to defeat sin and death on a hill called Golgotha and at a tomb located near the crucifixion site.
Before His incarnation, Jesus existed in the form (morphe) of God. What does this mean? In ancient times, morphe denoted an outer manifestation tied to essence. This stood in contrast to the other noun, schema (Phil. 2:8), that also denotes an outer appearance; however, there is this one major difference. Schema can change. Morphe cannot. Hence, Jesus, who is outside of time and space because He was and is God, always had the essence of God within the Holy Trinity. He didn’t earn it. It wasn’t bequeathed to Him. He wasn’t created and then given this form. No, He always had and always will have the very form and essence of divinity because He is divine. That is why He identified Himself to the angry religious leaders in John 8:58 as the great “I Am.” He could rightfully say this because He was, in fact, the eternal form of God.
Further, huparchon, ὑπάρχων, is a present active participle that underscores the fact that Christ has always existed in the form of God because He is God. He didn’t become God. He was God. Lexically, according to Bauer again, this word means “to really be there, exist, be present, be at one’s disposal (or) to be in a state or circumstance.” [4] We are all dependent beings. He is the Necessary Being. Without Him there would be no life, no cosmos, no cosmic glue that holds this massive universe together (Col. 1:16-17). Everything in our world, including ourselves, represents that which was once merely potential, which became actualized by the power of another or something else. Since it is impossible to have a series of potentiality and actuality regress to infinity, because that which was merely potential couldn’t actualize itself, logic demands that there is One, God, who has no potentiality but is pure, eternal actuality. That was and is Jesus.
As Jesus, the Creator of the cosmos (Col. 1:16), the Lord of the massive angelic class, the Designer of the complex and spectacular multiplayered human body, the One who crafted all of the governing laws make everything function, from the complexity of a human cell to the tides that respond to the gravitational pull of the moon, yes, as He considered coming to earth as the God-man, He first looked at His lofty status as God and determined that He didn’t have to hold to this position tenaciously. Put differently, He could temporarily relinquish His position as Lord of Lords, but, by definition, He couldn’t logically relinquish His deity, for then He wouldn’t be God. More on that in a moment. For now, focus on the fact that He didn’t maintain a death grip on His divine status, but was willing to take His divinity and launch out on a mission to defeat sin and death through His selfless sacrifice for sinners.
Why spend time thinking about this rich and deep theology? Good question. The answer is clear: The better we, as Christians, understand what Christ did to redeem us, the better we will be positioned to go forth and evidence His selfless service to others. Really, we can, and should, do no less.
For now, let’s get back to understanding and appreciating Christ’s salvific work that is so instructive for us.
The Condescension (Phil. 2:7-8)
The words which follow are profound, mysterious, and moving, all at the same time:
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil. 2)
The Greek word for “emptied” is the verb kenoo. Literally, it denotes removing items from a jar until the jar is empty. From this word, some have created the doctrine of the kenosis. This theory asserts that Jesus surrendered some of His divine attributes when He became the God-man, attributes like omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience. This theory is erroneous on several grounds.
For one, God, by definition, cannot change because He is perfect. Hence, there is no way He could remove some of His divine attributes. If He did this, then He immediately ceased to be divine.
For another, the Scripture is quite clear that Jesus never ceased to function as God while in a fleshly body. Charles Ryrie’s Basic Theology presents some excellent evidence to support this point:
The Full Deity of Christ Incarnate – He Possesses Attributes that Only God Has:
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- Eternality. He claimed to exist from eternity past (John 8:58; 17:5).
- Omnipresence. He claimed to be everywhere present (Matt. 18:20; 28:20).
- Omniscience. He showed knowledge of things that could only be known if He were omniscient (Matt. 16:21; Luke 6:8; 11:17; John 4:29).
- Omnipotence. He demonstrated and claimed the power of an omnipotent person (Matt. 28:18; Mark 5:11–15; John 11:38–44).[5]
The fact that He knew His opponents’ thoughts clearly shows divine omniscience (Matt. 9:4; Luke 11:17). All of His miracles demonstrate divine power by default. A mere man could not turn water into wine, nor could he control the winds to stop a massive storm on the Sea of Galilee. Therefore, what Paul speaks of here is Christ astonishingly putting His divine status and privilege on hold (Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine, p. 240), not His divinity. Charles Ryrie, therefore, defines kenosis like this: “In the kenosis Christ emptied Himself of retaining and exploiting His status in the Godhead and took on humanity in order to die.”[6]
Jesus, therefore, traded divine status and privilege for the form of a servant. Amazing. He willingly became the God-man, and a servant at that. He could have come to earth as a king, a powerful military leader, or the wealthiest man to ever walk the planet. But He chose none of these. Rather, He chose to come to us as a humble “nobody,” a selfless servant, not as someone who demanded others serve Him. Shocking.
Jesus was fully the God-man. At times, as I’ve stated above, you see His divinity shine through His life. At other times, you see His true humanity. For instance, He became weary so He sat down at the well in Samaria (John 4:6). He, the water of life, became thirsty on the cross (John 19:28). After He fasted for forty days in the wilderness, Scripture says that He, the Bread of Life, became hungry (Matt. 4:2). How Jesus functioned as the God-man is a mystery this side of heaven, but we know from the Gospel accounts that He was 100% God and 100% man while He walked among us.
What is most amazing is that Jesus, the God-man, cared about us so much that He left His divine status in heaven to become the God-man servant who would go to the cruel cross for our sins, not His. Talk about selflessness. Talk about sacrifice. He didn’t have to do this, but He did, because He was the only one qualified to do it. He willingly and lovingly traded heaven for earth, a throne for a stable, the role as the Creator for the role as a carpenter, awesome glory for shame, being a Master to being a servant, and life for death, all so that we would have the opportunity to have our sins forgiven for all time. What grace.
No wonder the writers of the New Testament all wax eloquent about Christ’s redemptive mission:
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Rom. 5)
7 In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. 8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation. (Heb. 5)
5 . . . and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood (Rev. 1:5)
Christ’s selfless service defeated sin and death and has now become the only means by which sinners can become saints forever.
The question to ask in light of all this is: Is Jesus your Savior? There are no others. He waits for you to open the door of your life (Rev. 3:20) to Him so He can wash your sin away and make you His child. Will you step forward and invite Him in?
While you are contemplating your answer, consider one final thought about the person and work of Jesus Christ. His willful degradation for sinners eventually led to His elevation on a cosmic scale.
The Coronation (Phil. 2:9-11)
Most Christians know these verses well:
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2)
There is no greater name in the seen and unseen worlds than Jesus, which means Savior. And there is coming a day and time when all people of all time and all angelic beings will bend a knee before His magnificent throne and verbally confess that Jesus Christ is, indeed, Yahweh, the Lord, in order to give the Holy Father the ultimate glory.
When that day comes, will you confess Him as Lord willingly, or unwillingly because you have no choice? Either way, you will confess Him as the one and true Lord God.
- Every Christian will (gladly) confess
- Every atheist will confess
- Every agnostic will confess
- Every politician in love with power and position will confess
- Every philosopher in love with philosophy will confess
- Every scientist in love with scientism will confess
- Every person who loved their wealth but not God will confess
- Every professional athlete who lived for money and fame, but not God, will confess
- Every religious person who rejected Christ’s deity and humanity will confess
- Every demon who opposed Christ for millennia will confess
- Even Satan will confess Christ as Lord
What about it? Will you confess as one who embraced Him by faith, or who effaced Him by unbelief?
I’m sure this final statement by Paul really grabbed the attention of the saints in Philippi. How so? Idols were everywhere. The city had a temple honoring the imperial Roman gods of Julius Caesar, Augustus, and his wife, Livia. Near the mountain acropolis that loomed above the city stood a temple dedicated to the Roman gods Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. Also located on the acropolis were temples to the goddess Artemis and the Roman forest god, Silvanus. The town also featured Egyptian deities. One side of the acropolis had an area dedicated to Isis, Osiris, and Harpocrates.
When you consider this worship reality in ancient Philippi, then Paul’s words take on a whole new powerful perspective. He just condemned all the false gods of the city in a few short sentences by directing the attention to the true, living God, Jesus Christ. The same applies today, too. All religions that reject Christ or dilute His person are as false as those of ancient Philippi. Salvation is only found in Jesus, the true God who selflessly sacrificed Himself for our sins so we could find forgiveness at the point of confession.
These words of selfless sacrifice would have also spoken to the saints in Phillipi. How so? Around the city were stone pillars that showcased its great heroes, from civic duty and military service. Just outside the city walls, along the Via Egnatia, stands a 12-foot-high monument which reads, “Caius Vibius Quartus, son of Caius, of the tribe Cornelia, soldier of the V legion Macedonia, decurion of the Ala Scubulorum, prefect of the Cohort III Cyrenaica, tribune of the II legion Augusta.” In the massive town forum was another lengthy inscription:
“To Lucius Tatinius Cnosus, son of Lucius, of the tribe Voltina, soldier of the fourth praetorian cohort, singularis and beneficiarius of the tribune, lieutenant, beneficiarius of the praetorian prefect, evocatus of the emperor, decorated with necklaces and with the golden crown by the emperor Domitian Caesar Augustus, centurion of the fourth cohort of the watchmen, centurion of the statores, centurion of the eleventh urban cohort, the veterans who served under his orders in the watchmen having received their honorable leave.”[7]
Philippian believers couldn’t walk around town and not be reminded of the great exploits of their city’s heroes, men who had accomplished much in their lives.
The ultimate hero, however, was nothing like they were accustomed to. He traded being a cosmic king of a divine nature for being a nameless, poor servant to many people who hated Him and eventually crucified Him on trumped-up charges. Yet He became the greatest hero of all time because He single-handedly defeated sin and death on the cross and in a tomb. Now that is something to remember. Now that is something to talk about. Now that is something to emulate.
How so? As we think about the magnitude of Christ’s selfless service for us, how can this not move us, as believers, to selfless service to others, especially those of the household of faith? How can we not look at the hard situations we encounter in our lives and not step forward, sacrificially and selflessly, to alleviate needs? How can we not hear about needs in our local church body, needs to fill volunteer ministry positions, and not be compelled to step forward and say, “Here I am, use me”?
With the fall season fast approaching, as our people return from vacations and ministry begins to crank up, may this be the time you remember your Savior and His humble mindset toward service. And may you more than just remember remember Himand move on. May that remembrance move you to adopt His mindset, which motivated Him to sacrificially serve us. As I said at the beginning,
To model the Master’s selfless service is one of the saint’s highest callings in life.
[1] William Barclay, The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, 3rd ed. fully rev. and updated, The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), 41.
[2] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1065–1066.
[3] William Barclay, The Letters to Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, 3rd ed. fully rev. and updated, The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), 41.
[4] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 1029.
[5] Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1999), 284–287.
[6] Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1999), 299–301.
[7] David A. deSilva, Archaeology and the Ministry of Paul: A Visual Guide, Archaeology and the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2025), 73-74.
