Life Project Blog

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.

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Philippians 2:1-4

You will notice that this passage begins with the word “therefore” and as we know, this word is used when one is drawing a conclusion from what had come just before. In this case, you’ll recall from the last post that Paul has been exhorting the Philippians to behave in a manner that is “worthy of the Gospel”. If we are going to behave in this way, the way Jesus Himself behaved, then we need to do certain things, to make some adjustments, and in this passage, Paul tells us what they are.

Paul sets out an “if – then” statement here as a manner of encouragement for the readers. Here’s the “if”:

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, (v. 1)

It is as if he was saying, “Look people, if you’ve gotten anything from your relationship with Christ…”  If we’ve received any encouragement, comfort, common sharing, tenderness and compassion… Then:

then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. (v. 2)

So, if you’ve received any of those blessings, then here’s what Paul wants you to do.  You’ll notice that these are all things associated with unity as believers.   He could have simply told them to quit fooling around, arguing and disputing amongst themselves and be like Jesus!

Verses 3 and 4 carry on his thought: We are not to do things out of selfish interests, self-centeredness or conceit.  We should be humble, and put others ahead of ourselves. We should not be concerned with our own interests, but with the interests of others.  Can you think of a shorter way of saying this?

Good, I thought you’d see it: Love one another. Yep, that’s the key!

OK, remember in the last post where I said that being imitators of Christ was the sign of the New Covenant?

Guess what?

That means that we should love our neighbor as ourselves.  It doesn’t mean follow the rules, for rules are way too shallow; it means love your neighbor as yourself. If we do that, we won’t need to worry about any rules, we’ll be in no danger, for the whole Law is fulfilled if we love God and love our neighbor.

In the next post we’ll pick up in verse five, where Paul gives us a practical example of what this means.

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel  without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Philippians 1:27-30

Paul winds up the first chapter of this letter with an exhortation to stand firm in unity, come what may.  You might notice that this is a common New Testament theme, important as it is for all of us to heed.   He urges the people to conduct themselves in a way that is “worthy of the gospel”, an interesting way to approach the subject.  The rest of the letter will show what this “worthiness” looks like.

The reason that Paul gives for this is also quite interesting, for it might not be what we would have expected.  Notice that his concern doesn’t revolve around any legal concept, as so many teach, but rather one of testimony.  Paul tells them that if they behave in this way, he will know that they are standing firm; he states this as though their manner of living were a sign of some sort.  The Philippians should stand firm fearlessly, in the face of any opposition… but who would oppose good behavior?

Then, in the latter part of verse 28, Paul comes right out and tells them that the way they conduct themselves, particularly in the face of opposition, is a sign to the world that they will be destroyed, while the followers of Christ will be saved by God.  Have you ever thought of behaving yourself as a sign before?  Have you ever thought of it as a sign that those who don’t behave well will be destroyed? Maybe not.

When God made His covenant with Abraham, there was a sign of the covenant which was circumcision.  Everyone would know that a man who had been circumcised was a covenant partner with God.  When God made His covenant with Moses, there was a sign of the covenant; keeping the Sabbath.  Everyone would know that the Israelites were God’s covenant people because they kept the Sabbath.  The New Covenant established by Christ has a sign also, and that is that we are imitators of Jesus Christ, and this is what Paul is referring to here.  Everyone who sees a person living as Christ would live knows they are seeing Christ’s covenant partner. This imitation of Christ has little to do with following a written code of rules and regulations, it has everything to do with loving others and putting others first. It also has to do with putting such a high priority on His love that we will be willing to endure hardship at the hands of those who oppose Christ.

The last part of this passage refers to suffering and enduring a struggle.  Our struggle isn’t really with any person or persons, for those who oppose the gospel really don’t have a clue what is at stake. Our struggle is with the spiritual forces that are in opposition to Christ, just as Paul’s struggle was.  Recall that Paul didn’t seem to hate his captors, far from it in fact, for He was there in jail, sharing Christ’s love with them, and this is exactly the kind of thing he is calling upon each of us to do.