In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:5-9
Paul continues to describe what it is like for us to be humble and “worthy of the Gospel” using in this instance the very example of Jesus Himself.
Jesus was by His nature God. Imagine what it could be like for Him to set aside the glory of heaven to be born in a stable. What earthly prince would so lower himself? He took on the very nature of a servant when He became a man. Now many of us might not be used to thinking of ourselves that way, but in God’s sight, that’s what we are: His servants and all of the riches on earth cannot change that simple fact. So Jesus took on our form, that of a servant, was born in the most humble circumstances into a working man’s family. No privileges, no fancy title, no big name, just a working class guy.
As if this were not enough, Jesus, by nature God, became the servant of all, taking this to the point where He was willing to sacrifice Himself for the rest of His servants. Yet not only did He give Himself up for us, He gave Himself up to be crucified, of all things, the most terrible painful method of execution I know of. Think about it: There He was, beaten, ridiculed, tortured, stripped naked and nailed to a cross and then lifted up for all to see as He bore our sins. The people in the crowd, and there were plenty there, hurled insults at Him while He died very slowly in agony. A barbaric scene to say the least. And what had He done to deserve such treatment? Nothing at all.
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 acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11
When it was all over, He was placed into a borrowed tomb. When they could finish His burial some 36 hours later, He had already risen from the grave! He returned to His glory, and as a result of His remaining faithful to God’s purpose, His is the name at which every knee should bow.
The reason that Paul has written this, is that this is how we should live as Christ’s followers. It is this kind of humility, purpose and selflessness that we should strive for. There is no greater example of love in action that the example of the life of Jesus; He is our role model.
Oh yes, how could I forget to mention that because of what He did in all of this selflessness, you and I have eternal life, and as His co-heirs, we too will arise in glory when the great day comes.
Life Project Blog 
Amen! Very encouraging message.
Thank you Yvonne!
“Jesus brought God’s light into the darkness by revealing that God loves us so much that he would rather let us kill him than allow sin to kill us.” –Cherilyn Clough, Servant God, p285
Amen!
Reblogged this on kdramaostersheet.
It’s so hard to be humble when we look at the world and follow it’s teachings of self-centeredness. Thanks for the reminder that Jesus should be our role model and not those of the world!
you’re quite right; this is counter cultural and counter-intuitive… and awesome!
POW! Simply awesome!!! Thanks you for this awesome reminder and for breaking it down in such a way 😀
Thank you very much, I appreciate it!
“Imagine what it could be like for Him to set aside the glory of heaven to be born in a stable.”
I love having my imagination directed toward the subject of the majestic, sovereign, and eternal nature of Lord Jesus Christ. And (once again), you’ve stirred up a response too big for a Comment box. I like your blog, brother. Now, I’m thinking about the One who was the Word of God from the beginning which became the Son of God about 2000 years ago- two covenants with Israel (one coming to an end and the other just getting started) in one body.
So amazing, thanks!
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Thanks, Don. You continue to hit me right where I am. I linked you up in today’s post. Thank you for sharing the insight you’ve received.
Well thank you, I really appreciate both your comment and the link!
Reblogged this on A Christian Warrior and commented:
Are you more important than your friends?
How about you enemies?
If you follow Christ then they should be more important than your needs.
Hard but that is what Jesus showed to us.
As always, I am amazed. I use your writing as my daily devotional. A reminder of what Jesus did for someone like me. Because of Who He is, I give Him glory!
Yep, mine too!
“Now many of us might not be used to thinking of ourselves that way, …”
Don, what you caught with those words was the word “choice” – free choice. All too easy to regard service and servant as a duty/obligation/hierarchy. And then a short step to “look at me – how humble I am”.
Then your words: “in God’s sight, that’s what we are …” struck me as “what else is there?” rather than duty and hierarchy.
Mmmm … never done that before! Odd how different details catch at different times! Thank you.
It is interesting, Paul, very much so. For instance, I think of duty/obligation sometimes; I get that. But hierarchy never occurs to me, yet I can see it now that you mention it. Yeah, and the “look at me” part… lots of that out there. It always seems to help for me to think of this from God’s view, well to the extent I can imagine it anyway. I doubt He looks at us a really cool dudes who have it all together!
Hey Don. I have children. They sometimes get it. Mostly don’t. But you know what – I have the coolest kids ever!! 🙂
Guess that’s it 🙂
Amen! What an awesome gift He gave us!
Sure is!
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Which is the most important?
Jesus was asked twice, by two different men, the same basic question about which is the most important or greatest commandment in the Law. Here is how Jesus answered that question:
#1
“One of the teachers of the law… asked him [Jesus],
‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “ is this: ‘Hear, of Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than THESE.” [Mark 12:28-31, Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Leviticus 19:18]
#2
…an expert in the law, tested him [Jesus] with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’”
Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these TWO commandments.” [Matthew 22:36-40, Deuteronomy 6:5, Leviticus 19:18]
But in contrast with Jesus, Paul the Pharisee didn’t know the greatest, most important, first commandment according to Jesus. Paul made up his own rule. Paul wrote:
“The entire law is summed up in a SINGLE command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” [Galatians 5:14, Leviticus 19:18]
And again, Paul wrote:
“He who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not covet, and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this ONE RULE: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” [Romans 13:8-10, Leviticus 19:18]
Jesus said it’s TWO commandments, with the greatest, most important, first command to
.1) first, love God with everything you’ve got, and
.2) second, love people.
Paul said no, it ONE commandment- to love people.
This is very similar to The Beatles- “All you need is love. Love is all you need. Love, Love, Love.” (In other words, the second commandment, the love of man, without the love of God. Love as me, myself and I define love to be, and continuously redefined by sinful men.)
In essence, it is also the same principle as what Eve did in the Garden of Eden, forgetting about the Tree of Life, which is the first tree in the middle of the Garden, and instead referring to the second tree as “the tree that is in the middle of the garden.” [Genesis 3:3 & 2:9 2:17, 3:24]
Kind of like the Pharisees with Jesus, who were pushing the false idea that we can consider ONE commandment in the Law, alone in isolation, to be “the greatest commandment in the Law.”
Or like today, false teachers in the Chrislam – Purpose Driven – Seeker Sensitive – Emergent – Liberal – Ecumenical – New Age – world church movement pushing the false idea that the ONE RULE is “Loving God and Neighbor together.”
The Lord God Jesus the Jewish Messiah, Son of Yahweh the Most High God of Israel, said:
“All the Law and the Prophets hang on these TWO commandments.”
Not one. TWO.
Sometimes, Paul was wrong. Jesus is always right. I’m following Jesus.
Here are answers to 2 common objections:
.a) What about the so-called “Golden Rule”?
Jesus spoke the 3 chapters of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, including 7:12. Jesus didn’t make PART of this one verse out of context into “The Golden Rule” or “one rule.” Jesus did not use the term “Golden Rule,” it’s simply a tradition of men. The sentence begins with “So” in the NIV and Amplified Bibles, and “Therefore’ in the NASB and King James Bibles, which ties 7:12 to the previous sentences. So 7:12 cannot stand alone as One Commandment.
.b) What about the so-called “Great Commission”?
Jesus spoke the words recorded in Matthew 28:18-20, including “make disciples of all nations.” Jesus never used the term “Great Commission,” it’s simply a tradition of men. Yes I agree it’s a commandment given by Jesus, it’s not optional, and it applies to us today. We need to carry this out, with our own God-given abilities and talents, using the skills, and circumstances we have. But we don’t need to put words in the mouth of Jesus, we can let Jesus speak for himself, and we can listen to Him – and obey Him.
Evangelism is part of the Second Commandment given by Jesus, to Love people. Evangelism is not the most important commandment, and it isn’t the entire Second Commandment. So if our priorities are “The Great Commission and the Great Commandment,” we have our priorities upside down and confused, and we are not listening to the voice of Jesus. Never mind what Paul said. Let’s listen to the voice of Jesus first, and get our priorities straight.
The people who will protest most loudly against this truth are the modern “Pauls:” traveling evangelists, speakers, writers, abusive absentee mega-church pastors, Crusaders, and self-appointed “apostles” like Paul, who find it “profitable” to “be like Paul” rather than follow Jesus the Jewish Messiah.
Matthew,
Well, you’ve done it, you’ve blown my mind…. and that is not easy to do. Honestly, I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry, so I’ll pray instead that God will show you the harmony between Jesus and Paul. I’m sure a careful and prayerful reflection on 1 John would help.
I’m not sure what else I can say.
I hope you don’t mind, but I will plan on posting about this comment. No names, unless you request it, no finger pointing or any of that, rather some ‘instruction’ in resolving apparent contradictions in Scripture. If you do object, please let me know, and I’ll approach it another way…
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Very humbling. Compared to what Jesus lived and died, we are very blessed even if we are poor and/or mistreated. Compared to Jesus, my role model, I am tremendously blessed.
Me too!
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