"An Attitude that Saves!" Philippians 2:5-8

“An Attitude that Saves!"

Captivated by Christ: An expository sermon series on Paul's Letter to the Church in Philippi (message #14)

Pastor Jerry Ingalls

July 25, 2010

The word of God from Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV), “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!” [prayer]

For the Apostle Paul, theology and action are always bound together. His orthodoxy (beliefs) mandated his orthopraxis (lifestyle). And the same should be true for us, but that is not always the case! The chasm between our heads and hearts is much greater than the physical 18” separation.

Philippians 2:5 is a critical passage in understanding Paul’s intent of the Christ hymn in Philippians 2:6-11. Verse 5 proclaims, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” and then verses 6-11 lay out the theological framework of the mind of Jesus Christ. But it is verse 5 that gives verses 6-11 a pastoral emphasis.

Paul’s emphasis is not on repeating a theological treatise for our head knowledge, but rather to persuade and compel the Philippians (and to us today) to live a life in which disunity, discord, and personal ambition were dead. Paul’s continued emphasis is to teach the Philippians how to live life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:27); a life of unity where the predominant attitude is the attitude of humility as most visibly demonstrated in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit has given us a sacred privilege in these passages we are going to be studying the next 2 weeks. We have the privilege to enter into the mind of Christ as we view the Cross from the eyes of our crucified Lord. This is holy ground and we stand upon it not to satisfy intellectual curiosity, but to be transformed into the very character of Jesus Christ; the One by whom we each have been saved. And we too should have attitudes that save!

Let's examine this attitude: First, AN ATTITUDE THAT SAVES LEADS TO A LIFE OF SECURITY! (not safety; security!)

Philippians 2:6 begins, “Who, being [hyparchon] in very nature [morphe] God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped [harpagmos]”

Let’s dive into this verse. When Paul describes Jesus Christ as “being in very nature God”, Paul did not simply choose the verb “to be” rather he picked the Greek word hyparchon which means ‘to be really and truly’, ‘to be characteristically’, ‘to be by nature.’ This word is then coupled with the Greek word morphe which means the essential form of something, which will never alter. Paul’s choice of words means, “Jesus was essentially, unalterably, and unchangeably God!” This is an essential starting pointing to know the attitude of Jesus Christ!

Hebrews 1:3a states, “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” Jesus Christ is fully God and He knew this reality about His being; Jesus was not deceived to think He was anything less than the Son of God, one with the Father!

Listen to these powerful words of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of John 10:28-30, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

Paul continues in verse 6 stating, “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped”. This used to be a very confusing passage for me because I would define the word “grasp” as an intellectual grasping, like to grasp at a concept. Did Jesus really not understand that he was one with God? That doesn't fit what Scripture teaches! So I dug deeper and I learned that the Greek word is the verb harpagmos meaning ‘to grasp at’ or ‘to snatch’ meaning “something to be held onto at all costs”. Here it is: Jesus Christ did not have to clutch to His full divinity as something he could lose; it has always been His and will always be His. He did not have to white knuckle His rights as if they could be taken away from Him!

Jesus Christ is fully God and He has security in knowing this because regardless of what you or I think or what you or I do, He is still God and nothing can change that. This verse essentially means: Jesus Christ is God and he did not have to tightly hang onto this reality as if someone could take it from Him because this is who He is and nothing was going to change the fact that Jesus Christ is God!

Jesus Christ was secure so he did not need to prove to everyone or himself that what was true was true! He could be mission-focused and others-focused because He had security in who He is! And here is the good news for us: 1 John 3:1a declares, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

In the same way, that Jesus’ morphe (His essential ontological nature) is God, so are we fundamentally changed in our ontological nature when we receive eternal life through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!

When you ask accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive forgiveness of sins, you are placed in the hand of God as a child of God. You go from being dead to your sin, to being born again, alive in the Spirit, secure in the hand of God. As Jesus Christ promises each of us in the Gospel of John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”

We should have the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus. We can live a life of security because we know who we are—we are forever Children of God who cannot be snatched from the Father’s hand.

Therefore, we too can be mission-focused and others-focused! It is amazing how we can be humble when we have security in who we are in relationship with God. It is amazing how we can work toward unity together when we know we are secure in the hand of God. Friends, we need to wrap our minds around the reality that so much of our sin, rebellion, and disunity comes from a place of insecurity inside of our own hearts. We hold on to anything that makes us feel better about ourselves, rather than have full security in the greatest reality that can never be taken from us—we are children of God forever in the Father’s hand and no person or thing can snatch us from His hand! Amen!

And this lifestyle of security then leads to a second lifestyle reality of Jesus Christ: AN ATTITUDE THAT SAVES LEADS TO A LIFE OF SERVICE!

And the very famous and often misunderstood Philippians 2:7 continues, “But made himself nothing [kenoo], taking the very nature [morphe] of a servant [doulos], being made [ginomai] in human likeness.”

The entire Christ hymn and especially this verse, are summarized in Paul’s declaration in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

The Greek word kenoo comes from the verb kenosis which means to empty. Jesus Christ did not divest Himself of being fully God. The focus is not on what did He empty himself of, but rather Paul’s focus is on, “into what did He empty Himself?” The Scripture says, “taking the very nature [morphe] of a servant [doulos], being made [ginomai] in human likeness.”

Jesus Christ condescended to our level and took on flesh! He gave up the serenity, peace, and glory voluntarily and willingly to be a human! This is the mystery of the Incarnation! Because of grace, Jesus Christ was morphe God and morphe servant (the word doulos is more accurately translated slave). We learned this in the last teaching point, morphe is the essential form, not play acting, not a façade; this was a reality! Jesus Christ was secure enough in His Divinity to let go of it and become fully human—a servant!

The verse concludes with a clarifying statement that unites these 2 realities that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. Paul uses the Greek verb ginomai which means that Jesus’ humanity was completely real, but not a permanent state. This word has the idea of a changing phase that passes and moves on. Jesus Christ took on the reality of humanity for only a time. But what we saw in the very beginning of verse 6 was that Jesus Christ is essentially, unalterably, and unchangeably God.

There is a reason why for a period of time God took on the form of slave as a human being. You are the reason! Jesus Christ speaks to this reality in Matthew 20:26-29 that speaks to the heart of why He came as a servant: “Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." The reason God came to us was to serve all of humanity by giving his life as a ransom for many. Jesus Christ (His very coming and triumphantly His teachings, miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension) is the final and unanswerable appeal for unity. He is our exemplar of attitude and conduct! Jesus Christ emptied Himself of the privileges of divinity in order to become humanity for this one purpose--to save us by serving us!

How does your attitude save? What do you need to let go of in order to have an attitude that saves? Are you clutching too tightly onto something which does not allow you to serve others?

Jesus Christ desired only to serve humanity; not dominate us! Jesus Christ desired to humble Himself; not exalt Himself! Jesus Christ renounced all He had so that we can have all of who He is! This is love and this is the attitude of Jesus Christ who saves! And this leads us to our last teaching point: AN ATTITUDE THAT SAVES POINTS TO THE ONE WHO SAVES!

Philippians 2:8 climaxes, “And being found in appearance [schema] as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

We have established from verses 6 & 7 that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully human, and now we find Paul highlighting that Jesus was found in appearance as a man. The Greek word schema is a word that directly holds a comparison to morphe. Whereas morphe is what something essentially is, schema is what something appears to be. This is the external appearance. From the vantage point of those who saw Jesus of Nazareth, they saw the carpenter from Nazareth, a family member or home grown celebrity, who was creating quite the fuss by performing miracles, teaching with great authority, and taking on the religious establishment. He appears to be just like other men, but He is not! And the fact that He is not just like other men is key to everything we believe and the essential ingredient of the Cross!

Paul uses shock and horror to make his point: "he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

As Christ-followers, we see the Cross as the greatest event of all history. This is the symbol we wear on our bodies, place on our churches, have over our beds and doorways. The Cross is a reminder of all that God did for us so that we can be saved! We are reminded of the great truth of 1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree [the cross], so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

We are healed by the blood of Jesus Christ; by His sacrifice upon the Cross! The Cross is the promise of deliverance; the assurance that we are accepted by God Almighty. The Cross is Life, but at the same time it represents the most brutal form of execution the Romans utilized in dealing with rebels, murders, and the worst of criminals. The Cross was a sign of death, pain, humiliation, shame, and scorn! "Even death on a cross!" is the exclamation point to the depth of love, humility, and obedience our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated so that we can be saved!

Our deliverance from sin, our salvation from death; our unity with God the Father is NOT dependent on our intensity of faith, our consistency of Christian life, our purity of heart. No, our salvation is dependent upon the One who went to the Cross and took all of our sins upon Himself so that we who are unrighteous can be righteous. 1 Peter 3:18 teaches about the Cross, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.”

Jesus Christ is like no other human being who ever walked. While he was fully human in His time on earth He never once sinned! He was the perfect man, the God-man, who was willing and able to satisfy the wrath of God for all of humanity's sin. He was worthy because of His right standing with God to stand in your place and mine and receive your and my punishment for sin. "The righteous for the unrighteous"!

Why did Jesus Christ do this? We enter into holy ground of the mind of Christ--"to bring you to God"; this is how much God loves you!

When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are no longer like other people! Your sin (past, present, and future) has been taken away and by His wounds you are healed! Though we continue to struggle in this life; we now have right standing with God because of the Cross! And Paul is highlighting this for the purpose of teaching us why and how we should live our lives as Christ-followers.

An attitude that saves must be the attitude of Jesus Christ! When we follow the way of the Cross (love, humility, and obedience) then we point people to the One who saves! We point to the Cross when we carry our cross! And this means we must be willing to go to places that will be painful; say things that won't always be popular; love people who are not lovable; forgive people who have hurt us. Jesus Christ commands of us this lifestyle in the Gospel of Mark 8:34b-35, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Our lives are for the purpose of pointing to Jesus Christ! When we focus on our lives, then we will lose focus. What sustains us is the reality that we are not like other people; we have been "bought at a price"; we have been "born again"; we are representative of Jesus Christ.

We may look like everyday people, but never forget that is not who you are! You may be found in the appearance of a banker, a contractor, a mom or dad, an insurance salesman or chef, unemployed or retired, volunteer or student, but remember that is not who you are. That is just the outward appearance! Who you are is an ambassador of Jesus Christ!

Paul reminds you who you really are in 2 Corinthians 5:17 & 20 states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.”

Have you asked Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior?

Do you forget who you are and why you exist when you are at work, at school, on the road, with your friends, when you see that one person? Now is the time to rededicate yourself to who you are really are!

Prayer & Response Time

Blessings,
Jerry

"Jesus Christ must become greater; I must become less." - John 3:30