(Ask congregation to think about a person who has been a role model in their life - get them to share about the characteristics of this person)

READ Phil. 2:1-11

Here we find Paul talking about the perfect role model.

 Last week we talked a lot about our attitude - what it should be in trying situations. Well today we find Paul taking this theme one step further saying in verse 5 that our attitude should be the same as Christ.

 These few verses we are looking at this morning hold within them the truth of God's character, His sacrificial giving to us, his desire to love, his desire to be in relationship with us, and his action in taking the initiative to bring us back into that love relationship we were always meant to have.

 Look at verse 6:

a) Christ's Identity (v 6)

This verse describes to us in just a few short words Christ's incarnation - that is, his personsonification - God in man. His pre-existence, His equality with God, and His identity with humankind.

 The phrase here saying "very nature" means in the very form. It is saying that in all there is - He is God. He is the very form of God.

 Compare this with Hebrews 1:3 which says:

These verses show us that not only is Jesus the exact representation of God, but he is God himself—the very God who spoke in Old Testament times. He is eternal; he worked with the Father in creating the world. He is the full revelation of God. You can have no clearer view of God than by looking at Christ. Jesus Christ is the complete expression of God in a human body.

 What Jesus taught and what he did are tied inseparably to who he is. John shows Jesus as fully human and fully God. Although Jesus took upon himself full humanity and lived as a man, he never ceased to be the eternal God who has always existed, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and the source of eternal life. This is the truth about Jesus, and the foundation of all truth. If we cannot or do not believe this basic truth, we will not have enough faith to trust our eternal destiny to him.

 Now, seeing Christ for who he truly is, the next half of verse 6 says that he "…did not consider equality with God something to be grasped."

 You might be saying to me at this point, "Hang on a second Scott, I thought you said He was fully God, but now implying that Jesus Himself said equality with God wasn't something you could get a hold of.

 This phrase means that Jesus did not think it to be robbery to be equal with God. The word translated to robbery can also mean 'snatched at' or to 'catch'. In other words, what Jesus is saying here that Jesus did not have to snatch at equality with God, because he had it as a right. It also means that he didn't have to clutch selfishly at quality with God, as if to hug jealously to himself. Instead He willingly laid down his life for our sake.

 What a God!!! Here is God himself, in human likeness, who had every right to walk amongst us shouting "I am God - kneel and worship me or else I will snuff you out."

 On Wednesday night I was watching the show 'Airport' which is a program that shows the happenings at Heathrow Airport in London. One segment on the program showed the richest man in the world - the ? of Brunei - arriving at the airport. He arrived in his private jet with his wives and entourage arriving in another privately owned 747. When he walked down the stairs, there were about 20 people lined in a row individually bowing down to him and kissing his hand as he walked by. After this, there were 40 limo' drivers waiting to drive him and his entourage away.

 Jesus wasn't like this - although as God he could have been and had every right to. But He came to serve. The thing about Jesus is that His equality with God led Him to view His status not as a matter of privilege, but as a matter of unselfish giving. We find this truth expressed in verses 7 and 8, which say:

2. Christ Our Servant

Philip. 2:7-8

but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!

 

What Christ did prove that He wasn't out to exploit His position, but He acted out His love through the giving of Himself.

 Here we find the phrase again "the very nature". The first mention was as we looked at before, that Christ is the very nature God. But here we find that He took on Himself the very nature of a servant. Remember that we looked at this word last week, which means slave. Paul was saying that he is a slave to Christ - just as we should be. But the significance here is that Christ - God Himself - made Himself a slave to us.

 We are also told here that He 'emptied Himself'. That means to nullify something, to make something of no account. Therefore, Christ emptied Himself by revealing the form of God to us in the form of a slave, and in human likeness.

 Now remember that slaves in the Greek and Roman societies were deprived of the most basic of human rights. So, in the same way, Christ refused to exploit His privilege of deity, giving up that right, to become a slave unto death upon a cross.

 Now, I am aware I am pushing this point hard, but I want us to get the truth of this from our heads to our hearts. Jesus Christ, God Himself, came to this world to serve us, to love us, to lead us - to give to us a model to live by. He took the initiative. He deserves our 100% commitment.

 

3. All Glory is Due to Christ (vv9-11)

At the last judgment even those who are condemned will recognize Jesus’ authority and right to rule. We can choose to regard Jesus as Lord now as a step of willing and loving commitment to Him, or be forced to acknowledge him as Lord when he returns. If we wait to then, then our acknowledgement of Him will be too late. The thing is, Christ may return at any moment, so are you prepared to meet him?

Not only has Christ been a slave to us, He has blessed us immeasurably. Have a look at the phrases Paul uses in verse 1. He says

• If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ
• If you have any comfort from His love
• If you have any fellowship with the Holy Spirit
• If you have any tenderness and compassion

All these are the fruit of knowing Christ in a personal relationship. When Paul uses the word 'if' here, he isn't using the word with a sense of doubt, rather, he is saying 'since you have these things'. Since you have had encouragement in your relationship with God, since you have been comforted by his love, since you have fellowship with the Holy Spirit.

 How good can God get? Do these things tug at your heart strings - I know they do mine. Not only has Jesus given us an example to live by, not only did He come into this world fully man, not only did He die on a cross that we may have a way to enter into a relationship with God, not only did He make Himself a slave to us, that we would know the heart of God - But He also encourages us, comforts us, has compassion for us, indwells us by the Holy Spirit. How can we ever ask for any more?

 What Paul is saying here is "You have all of this, so then, make my joy complete in you by being like minded and have the same love for each other as Christ gave you". In other words, Paul is saying, "Put this love, this relationship, into action".

3. PUTTING HIS LOVE INTO ACTION (vv 2-4)

Often people excuse selfishness, pride, or evil by claiming their rights. They think, "I can cheat on this test; after all, I deserve to pass this class," or "I can spend all this money on myself—I worked hard for it," or "I can get an abortion; I have a right to control my own body." But as believers, we should have a different attitude, one that enables us to lay aside our rights in order to serve others. If we say we follow Christ, we must also say we want to live as he lived. We should develop his attitude of humility as we serve, even when we are not likely to get recognition for our efforts. Are you selfishly clinging to your rights, or are you willing to serve?

 Jesus was willing to serve - even though we are His creation, He was willing to serve His creation. We had gone on our own tangent, whinging just as the Israelites had in the desert experience, which we find in the book of Genesis. We say things like, "If God is so loving, why does He allow suffering in the world", or "If God was real why doesn't He show Himself to me," or "If God were real why can't my life be better". Note the emphasis here, it's all about me, and what I want. Where do we take some personal responsibility. It is us who created suffering in the world. God has and does reveal Himself to us, and a life that is submissive and obedient to God can be and is better. All we need to do is let God be in charge - He has already proven to us He cares, He loves, and He can be trusted.

 The one danger, which threatened this Philippian Church, was disunity. And there is this danger in every healthy church where satan wants to get his claws in and bring down God's people. William Barclay says: "It is when people are really in earnest and their beliefs really matter to them, that they are apt to get up against one another. The greater the enthusiasm, the greater the danger that they collide."

 Paul warns not to look towards personal interests and biases. He warns us not to lose sight of one of the most important aspects of the Body of Christ - unconditional love. Paul says, don't do things out of selfishness, don't give yourself the pleasure or time for useless pride (which is what vain conceit means) BUT consider others better than yourselves, look after not only your own interests, but the interests of others. And then after saying this he points to Christ and says, "folks, let your attitudes be the same as Christ's. He did all this and more".

 God's purpose for us, isn't that we advance ourselves, as the rest of society tells us we should do, but to advance each other. Lift each other up. Love each other despite our differences because, as Christians, we have far more in common, then we do for that which is different.

 So then, what the Lord is appealing to us about in this passage today is this:

 He calls on us to take the daring step of conforming our own character into the character of God that Christ has exemplified for us. Just as Jesus expressed His divine character in His unselfish obedience to God, so we too should express our Christian character by placing the interests of others ahead of our own in obedience to God's Word.

 In this passage God reminds us of the final day, when He will respond to the lives of His obedient servants with joyful approval, just as He responded to Christ's obedient life.

 The fact is, all of us will one day give an account to God for our stewardship of the time and resources he has given us (cf. Rom. 14:10; 1 Cor. 3:15; 2 Cor. 5:10). This passage shows us the path we should take, through Jesus' incarnation, humiliation, and glorification, as we await that final day.

 With God, all things are possible.

Leonardo da Vinci had started work on a large canvas in his studio. For awhile he worked at it - choosing the subject, planning the perspective, sketching the outline, applying the colors, with his own incomparable genius. Then suddenly he ceased, the painting was still unfinished, and, summoning one of his students invited him to complete the work. The student protested that he was both unworthy and unable to complete the great painting, which his master had begun. But da Vinci silenced him. "Will not what I have done inspire you to do your best?"

 Our Master began two thousand years ago--by what he said, by what he did, and supremely by what he suffered. He illustrated his message and he has left us to finish the picture.

By Scott Douglas, Burdekin Baptist Church, 1^st November 1998